VTA CEO outlines transit projects, revenue plans and SR‑85 work for West Valley cities

Carolyn, chief executive officer of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), told the Cupertino City Council on July 15 that VTA runs bus, light rail and paratransit for Santa Clara County and also serves as the county’s congestion management agency, delivering highway and interchange projects and programming local, state and federal discretionary funds.

Carolyn said weekday bus ridership is recovering to roughly three‑quarters of pre‑pandemic levels (about 69,000 weekday bus riders compared with roughly 90,000 pre‑pandemic), while light rail remains substantially lower (about 12,200 weekday riders, roughly 42 percent of pre‑pandemic). She said access paratransit ridership is up compared with a year ago and that weekend ridership has recovered fully.

The CEO described VTA’s portfolio beyond transit operations: express lanes on SR‑237, I‑880 and US‑101; a transit‑oriented development program with more than 2,000 housing units built or planned; and work delivering highway interchanges for Caltrans, including the recent De La Cruz/Trimble interchange. She said VTA operates the county’s express lanes and has begun directing some of that revenue toward transit operations and bicycle/pedestrian projects.

Regarding the SR‑85 corridor, Carolyn said the Measure B program allocated $350 million to SR‑85 improvements and that about $21 million has been allocated so far with about $329 million remaining. VTA staff are restarting studies on SR‑85 to evaluate transit lanes and congestion‑relief alternatives and said the agency will coordinate with city staff, Caltrans and local officials.

She described a pilot noise‑reduction project on SR‑85 that uses a special pavement expected to reduce tire‑pavement noise for cars traveling up to 60 mph and said early estimates from pilot segments suggest a possible reduction in the order of magnitude of 10–13 decibels in controlled conditions; VTA will report back with measured results.

On BART Silicon Valley, she said the 6‑mile extension segment within the county is roughly a $12 billion program (five miles in subway) and that the Federal Transit Administration has committed about $5.1 billion toward the project; VTA needs a stronger finance plan and continuing work in Washington, D.C., to finalize federal agreements.

Council members asked about how VTA will handle competing mobility services and revenue alternatives. Council member Wong asked whether driverless services such as Waymo could coexist with VTA; Carolyn said shared‑ride services can complement fixed transit by solving first‑ and last‑mile gaps and that VTA has partnered with Uber during service disruptions. On non‑fare revenue, she said advertising is limited but that express lanes and ground leases from VTA’s transit‑oriented development portfolio are expected to become meaningful revenue sources over time. She described a recent downtown Almaden building purchase and plans to ground‑lease development sites as part of a long‑term revenue strategy.

Carolyn invited city staff and residents to provide feedback on SR‑85 planning and noted VTA is recruiting participants for a citizen working group that oversees Measure B funds.