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City, VTA and Urban Land Institute plan study of University Avenue transit center
Summary
Palo Alto staff and the VTA-ad hoc committee said they will host an Urban Land Institute study and stakeholder interviews in October to explore activation and long-term vision for the University Avenue/Palo Alto Transit Center; findings will be presented to the City Council in late October.
Palo Alto and regional transit partners said the city will host an Urban Land Institute (ULI) study of the University Avenue transit center area with stakeholder interviews and a public presentation in late October.
Chantelle Cotton Gaines, deputy city manager, told the rail committee the VTA Mobility Hub ad hoc committee — which includes the VTA board chair and local officials — is working with ULI and Stanford on a study of the transit center area. She said ULI teams will be on site the week of Oct. 19 for interviews and that ULI will present findings at a public session on Friday, Oct. 24, in the City Council chambers.
“The work that the Urban Land Institute will be doing is in the transit center itself,” Cotton Gaines said, clarifying that the study focuses on the station area — the gateway between Stanford and downtown Palo Alto — and will not cover downtown or Stanford lands. The committee discussed near-term activation ideas such as reopening the station building for a coffee shop and bathrooms, Caltrain-provided restrooms on the east side of the tracks, tunnel lighting and cleaning measures and other short-term improvements intended to make the station more inviting.
City and VTA staff said the transit center is a multi-agency facility: the west side of the tracks is Stanford-owned land leased to the city and sublet to VTA, the east side is Caltrain property, and the site is served by SamTrans, VTA, AC Transit and Marguerite. That mix has complicated implementation of past plans, committee members said; staff said the ULI study aims to produce an achievable, fundable vision rather than an un‑fundable master plan.
Why this matters: The University Avenue station is one of the busier Caltrain stops on the corridor and functions as a regional hub for several transit agencies. The ULI process is intended to build a short-, medium- and long-term picture of station activation and circulation improvements that can increase transit use and improve the station as a gateway to Stanford and Palo Alto.
Next steps: The city will host stakeholder interviews the week of Oct. 19 and a public presentation on Oct. 24. Staff said near-term station activation measures (cleaning, station building activation, lighting improvements) are already underway and will be coordinated with the ULI effort.
