Santa Clara County Transportation Digest

San Jose could hand out more speeding tickets next year thanks to Assembly Bill 645, which legalizes the state’s use of surveillance cameras in school zones and “safety corridors” to catch speeding drivers for a five-year pilot program.

Beginning next year, VTA will have the ability under state law to ban troublesome passengers who attack frontline transit employees. But there's a catch—the transit agency won’t actually be able to wield that authority until it completes a series of critical steps.

Caltrain will be suspending its service between San Francisco and Millbrae stations the weekends of Oct. 7 and Oct. 14 to give way to the rail line's electrification project.

After a monthslong debate between local leaders, San Jose is set to receive 200 temporary housing units for homeless residents in North San Jose—with help from the local transit agency and the state.

Caltrain’s board declared an emergency to fast-track the repair but couldn’t get the permits between June 15 and Oct. 15, when construction is allowed in the creek, according to Rob Barnard, Caltrain’s deputy chief of design and construction.

Eager to take advantage of new federal and state grants, Palo Alto is preparing to speed up its tortuous, decade-long effort to choose preferred alternatives for redesigning three rail crossings.

Milpitas has an exclusive rideshare service much cheaper than Uber for locals to get around town—but not many people know about it. The Simple Mobile Access to Reliable Transit (SMART) program is a city rideshare service with a fleet of six vehicles.

Hydrogen fueling stations will get 15 percent of funds in a state program — even though Californians own only about 12,000 hydrogen cars. The funds come from fees paid by drivers.

Palo Alto’s effort to redesign its rail corridor got a boost when the city received more than $30 million in grants—a gift that could add some urgency to the complex project.

Caltrain will test an electric train that can charge its battery when running on tracks with overhead power and then use that battery power in non-electrified stretches, the transit agency's leaders announced.

With only 12,000 hydrogen cars on the road, and just two models for sale, California lawmakers are debating how much state money should support them.

A lawsuit seeking class-action status on behalf of three owners of Tesla vehicles in California alleges the company grossly overvalued how far the cars could travel on a single battery charge.

Individuals with overdue payments from toll violations on Bay Area bridges can now take advantage of new programs designed to make paying off late fees easier, said the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

The Valley Transportation Agency has released plans to help support Santa Clara and San Jose small businesses during the construction of the Silicon Valley BART extension project.

A battle is brewing over the future of self-driving trucks in California, and local tech companies are keeping a close watch on Sacramento as it weighs major changes to the industry.

As part of a new “Safe Streets for All” plan, Palo Alto is preparing to improve dangerous corridors. County data suggests Crescent Drive, Middlefield Road and El Camino Real could get attention.

Clarrissa Cabansagan began riding a bicycle at seven years old. Fast forward 30 years and not only is biking part of her daily life, she has also spent her adult years finding ways for bike transit to be safer across the Bay Area.

A new proposal by Caltrans to install bike lanes along El Camino Real has Palo Alto officials and bike advocates wondering what—if anything—the city can do to influence the proposal.

The City Council approved an extra $683,000 to design the project on Shoreline Boulevard, as well as a $6 million increase in the construction budget.

Over the last several years San Jose has watched its traffic fatalities in the city increase exponentially. Now city officials are banking on a state bill to move those numbers downward.

The Mountain View City Council approved plans to reduce the number of lanes on El Monte Avenue from four to three to improve bike and pedestrian safety.

In December, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County spent $17 million to buy Rocks Ranch, a 2,600-acre property near San Juan Bautista that has been eyed by developers. The group is working to build a crossing so that wildlife can traverse Highway 101 without being killed.

An ambitious plan to replace the flood-prone Pope-Chaucer bridge between Palo Alto and Menlo Park is on the verge of faltering after the agency overseeing the project concluded that project would place downstream areas at risk.

Caltrans is putting out a new weekly newsletter with updates on repair work to a stretch of Highway 84 near Woodside that's been closed since March due to landslide damage.

Seeking to make progress on its ambitious climate-change goals, Palo Alto is preparing to launch new programs to construct electric-vehicle charging stations at apartment complexes and carbon-free HVAC systems in commercial buildings.

In its long journey to redesign its rail crossings, Palo Alto is now queuing up plans to build underpasses for pedestrian and bikes first so that they'll be able to cross under the tracks as roadway work progresses.

After a total shutdown because of a landslide, nearby residents are imploring Caltrans to reopen a stretch of Highway 84 near Woodside that has been closed since early March.

As Palo Alto moves ahead with plans to redesign three local rail crossings, city leaders have agreed to pay Caltrain for assistance.

California's public transit agencies are seeking $5 billion over five years to keep buses and trains running, but time is running out in the budget process at the state Capitol. To address criticism, they submitted a new accountability plan.

After seeing city revenues—and services—oscillate wildly during the pandemic, Palo Alto is hoping for a little stability as it prepares to adopt a budget that will add traffic enforcement and expand library hours.

Towering weeds and grasses are blocking the line of sight of motorists trying to use freeway on-ramps and off-ramps throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Caltrans says it’s working to clear the weeds, but it’s slow-going.

As the industry invests $40 billion in new US electric car plants, the rapid transformation raises labor and supply chain issues. Automaker Ford says, “we’re all in.”