from: board.secretary sent: tuesday, september 01, 2015 4:47...

From: Board.Secretary

Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2015 4:47 PM To: VTA Board of Directors

Subject: From VTA: Response to an A&F referral; September 2015 meeting list; SVRT Video

VTA Board of Directors:

Attached are the following:

1) Staff response to a question from the A&F Committee related to Item #6.6 of the 9/3 Board Agenda: El Paseo Limousine (El Paseo) contract for ACE Shuttle Services. The

document describes the training, wages and benefits of El Paseo operators.

2) List of September 2015 meetings

VTA recently released a video regarding Drone Technology at Future BART Stations. This

video provides an up-close look at how imagery captured by drones that canvassed the project’s

corridor contributed to project data collection. To view the video, please

click: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzhR01T4K5w.

Office of the Board Secretary

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

3331 N. First Street

San Jose, CA 95134

408.321.5680

[email protected]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzhR01T4K5wmailto:[email protected]

8/31/2015 VTA Service & Operations Planning

El Paseo – ACE Shuttle Contractor Operator Training, Wages and Benefits Operator Training New operators hired with the proper DMV licensing are given a skills proficiency test. Once passed the operator is then required to complete 40 hours of behind the wheel training with a trainer to learn the multiple ACE shuttle routes. New operators hired without the proper licensing are put through 60 hours of classroom training. They are instructed based upon the commercial drivers handbook and take the DMV test. Once operators have received their commercial permit they are required to complete the 40 hours of behind the wheel training with a trainer. Also, a trainer rides with each operator once every 90 days to ensure they continue to operate the vehicle and route in a safe and profession manner. Wages The current hourly pay scale for ACE shuttle operators is $15 - $19. Effective January 1, 2016, with the start of the new contract, rates will increase to $18 - $23. The current 15 ACE shuttle operators average $17.25 per hour. All ACE shuttle operators are full time. Operators receive an annual increase of 2-4% based upon changes in the consumer price index. All current ACE shuttle operators that are employed when the contract is awarded will receive a $1,000 bonus in January 2016. Benefits El Paseo currently pays the first $225 of an operator’s monthly health insurance coverage. Effective January 1, 2016 this amount will increase to $400. At this time three operators use the in house Medical, Dental and Vision plan. Four operators are covered under their spouse’s plans, three have benefits through retirement plans & five employees haven’t disclosed their information but are expected to move to the employer plan in January. Every full time operator receives three days of sick pay per year. Effective January 1, 2016 a new safety incentive program will be introduced. While details are still being developed, the program will be structured with each operator starting with a bonus amount for safe driving of $750. Any occurrences during year would reduce the bonus amount based upon the nature of the occurrence. The safety incentive bonus is then paid at the end of the year. Also, effective January 1, 2016 paid holidays will be added based upon tenure with the company. Year 1 - 3 paid holidays; Year 3 - 4 paid holidays; Year 5 - 5 paid holidays; Year 7 - 7 paid holidays

* Meetings Subject to Change. 8/27/15

VTA PUBLIC MEETINGS AT-A-GLANCE SEPTEMBER 2015

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETINGS:

Regular Meeting Thursday, September 3, 2015 5:30 p.m. County Government Center Board of Supervisors Chambers 70 W. Hedding San Jose Workshop Meeting Friday, September 25, 2015 9:00 a.m. VTA River Oaks Campus Auditorium 3331 North First St., San Jose BOARD STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS: Governance and Audit Thursday, September 3, 2015 4:00 p.m. County Government Center Committee Conference Room 157 70 W. Hedding, San Jose Transit Planning and Wednesday, September 16, 2015 11:00 a.m. VTA River Oaks Campus Operations Committee Conference Room B-104 3331 North First St., San Jose Congestion Management Thursday, September 17, 2015 10:00 a.m. VTA River Oaks Campus Program and Planning Conference Room B-104 Committee 3331 North First St., San Jose Administration and Thursday, September 17, 2015 12:00 p.m. VTA River Oaks Campus Finance Committee Conference Room B-104 3331 North First St., San Jose ENVISION SILICON VALLEY MEETINGS: VTA River Oaks Campus, 3331 North First Street, San Jose Community Organizations Tuesday, September 22, 2015 1:30 p.m. Auditorium and Transportation Advocates Stakeholder Meeting Ad Hoc Committee - Thursday, September 24, 2015 10:00 a.m. Conference Room B-104 Envision Silicon Valley BOARD ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS: VTA River Oaks Campus, 3331 North First Street, San Jose

Committee for Transit NO MEETING SCHEDULED Accessibility (MEETS QUARTERLY - Next Meeting October 7, 2015) Citizens Advisory Wednesday, September 9, 2015 4:00 p.m. Conference Room B-104 Committee and 2000 Measure A Citizens Watchdog Committee Bicycle and Pedestrian Wednesday, September 9, 2015 6:30 p.m. Conference Room B-104 Advisory Committee

* Meetings Subject to Change. 8/27/15

Technical Advisory Thursday, September 10, 2015 1:30 p.m. Conference Room B-104 Committee Policy Advisory Thursday, September 10, 2015 4:00 p.m. Conference Room B-104 Committee

VTA POLICY ADVISORY BOARD (PAB) MEETINGS: VTA River Oaks Campus, 3331 North First Street, San Jose

Diridon Station Joint Friday, September 18, 2015 3:00 p.m. San Jose City Hall Policy Advisory Board Wing Rooms 119-120

200 East Santa Clara Street San Jose El Camino Real Rapid Wednesday, September 30, 2015 3:00 p.m. Conference Room B-104 Transit Policy Advisory Board

REGIONAL JOINT POWERS BOARD (JPB) MEETING:

Caltrain Thursday, September 3, 2015 10:00 a.m. SamTrans Office 2nd Floor Auditorium

1250 San Carlos Avenue San Carlos Capitol Corridor Wednesday, September 16, 2015 10:00 a.m. Oakland, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Boardroom MARKETING AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OPEN HOUSE / PRESENTATION / PUBLIC MEETINGS:

Almaden Art & Wine Festival Sunday, September 20, 2015 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Almaden Lake Park Corner of Almaden & Coleman San Jose

Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Saturday & Sunday, September 26 & 27 Race start times vary by event

Downtown San Jose

Meetings at a Glance is a list of scheduled VTA public meetings. Meeting schedules are subject to change. Please call Board Secretary’s Office at (408) 321-5680 and/or the VTA Community Outreach Hotline at (408) 321-7575 to confirm meeting dates and locations. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; VTA will make reasonable arrangements to ensure meaningful access to its meetings for persons who have disabilities and for persons with limited English proficiency who need translation and interpretation services. Individuals requiring ADA accommodations should notify the Board Secretary’s Office at least 48-hours prior to the meeting. Individuals requiring language assistance should notify the Board Secretary’s Office at least 72-hours prior to the meeting. The Board Secretary December be contacted at (408) 321-5680 or e-mail: [email protected] or (408) 321-2330 (TTY only). VTA’s home page is on the web at: www.vta.org or visit us on F acebook at: www.facebook.com/scvta. (408) 321-2300: 中文 / Español / 日本語 / 한국어 / tiếng Việt / Tagalog.

mailto:[email protected]://www.vta.org/http://www.facebook.com/scvta


Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 11:14 AM

To: VTA Board of Directors

Subject: LAFCO's Notice of Availability and Public Hearing for Cities Service Review Draft Report


Per LAFCO’s request, we are forwarding the e-mail below regarding the Notice of Availability

and Public Hearing for Cities Service Review Draft Report (attached).

Thank you.




San Jose, CA 95134

408.321.5680

[email protected]

From: Abello, Emmanuel []

Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 11:01 AM

To: jeannefire@; fred.schulenburg@; kathy.athey@; twhitley@; jwoodworth@; lmonack@; criosgarcia@;

cindy.murphy@; Board.Secretary; Parman, Russell; lluu@; jchiu@; ito@ CGeneralUser@;

ahstrickland2013@; rcollins@; cynauman@; mking@; staceyallenjohnson@; KjShenefiel@;

ken.kehmna@.; derek.witmer@; sabbors@; amackenzie@; contact@; christine@; nhowe@; CGriffen@;

Cameron, Dawn; Burns, Michael; Bonilla, Denise; [email protected]; dina@; smoreno@;

jnewby@; rtanaka@; pscott@; ranchersfeed@; pwalter@; aldercroft.hcwd@ sanmartincwd@; Lopez,

Felix; luca.rutigliano@; pamela.courtney@; dks@; kpowell@; chris.ernst@; Palacherla, Neelima; Noel,

Dunia

Subject: LAFCO - Notice of Availability and Public Hearing for Cities Service Review Draft Report

Dear Special District Managers, Clerks and Staff:

Attached for your information is the Notice of Availability and Public Hearing for the Cities Service

Review Draft Report. The Draft Report is available for public review and comment on the LAFCO website

at www.santaclaralafco.org under “Announcements.” LAFCO will hold a Public Hearing for the Draft

Report on October 7, 2015 to consider and accept comments on the Report. No final action on the Draft

Report will be taken at this public hearing. The attached memo provides additional information about

www.santaclaralafco.org

the public hearing and the Draft Report. Please feel free to forward this email to those who may be

interested in the Draft Report or the upcoming LAFCO Public Hearing.

Special District Clerks:

Kindly forward the attached Notice and the foregoing information to the members of your board of

directors.

Thank you,

Emmanuel Abello, LAFCO Clerk

Local Agency Formation Commission of Santa Clara County

70 W. Hedding Street, 8th Floor, San Jose, CA 95110

Ph: 408-299-6415 / http://www.santaclaralafco.org/

NOTICE: This email message and/or its attachments may contain information that is confidential or restricted. It is

intended only for the individuals named as recipients in the message. If you are NOT an authorized recipient, you

are prohibited from using, delivering, distributing, printing, copying, or disclosing the message or its content to

others and must delete the message from your computer. If you have received this message in error, please notify

the sender by return email.

http://www.santaclaralafco.org/

VIA E-MAIL

DATE: September 1, 2015

TO: City Managers and County Executive City Community Development/Planning Directors and County Planning Director City Public Works Directors City Council Members and County Board of Supervisors NASA’s Ames Research Center/Moffett Field Stanford University LAFCO Members

Interested Parties

FROM: Neelima Palacherla, Executive Officer

SUBJECT: CITIES SERVICE REVIEW DRAFT REPORT

Notice of Availability & Public Hearing

The Cities Service Review Draft Report is now available for public review and comment on the LAFCO website at www.santaclaralafco.org. The Draft Report reviews the 15 incorporated cities within Santa Clara County, as well as certain unincorporated areas (i.e. Moffett Field, San Martin, and Stanford University). The Report includes a service review and sphere of influence update for each of the cities and a review of current practices and potential opportunities for collaboration amongst cities and other local agencies or organizations to achieve common goals and efficient delivery of services. Special areas of focus include shared services, sprawl prevention/infill development, and agricultural land preservation.

LAFCO will hold a public hearing in order to consider and accept comments on the Draft Report. No final action on the Draft Report will be taken at this public hearing.

LAFCO Public Hearing: October 7, 2015

Time: 1:00 P.M. or soon thereafter

Location: Board Meeting Chambers

70 W. Hedding Street, San Jose, CA 95110

You may provide written comments on the Draft Report by mail to: LAFCO of Santa Clara County, 70 West Hedding Street, 8th Floor, East Wing, San Jose, CA 95110 OR you may email your comments to: [email protected]. Written comments received by September 22nd will be included in the staff report with a response from the consultant.

Written comments received by Wednesday, October 7th will be considered and addressed in a Revised Draft Report that will be available in late October for public review and comment on the LAFCO website. A second LAFCO public hearing to consider adopting the Report is scheduled for December 2, 2015.

Please contact me at (408) 299-5127 or Dunia Noel, LAFCO Analyst, at (408) 299-5148 if you have any questions. Thank you.

http://www.santaclaralafco.org/cities-service-reviewmailto:[email protected]


Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 5:02 PM


Subject: VTA September Board additional materials - Envision SV comments (7.4); and Revised Memo,

SR85 PAB Appts. (7.6)

Importance: High


Attached are additional documents for the VTA Board of Directors’ meeting scheduled for

Thursday, September 3, 2015:

1) Agenda Item #7.4 –Email with comments on Envision Silicon Valley (ESV) criteria for project selection; Letter from Carl Guardino with comments on metrics for ESV

2) Revised Memo, Agenda Item #7.6 – Appointments to the State Route (SR) 85 Corridor Policy Advisory Board

Revised reflecting the addition of the following appointments:

Marcia Jensen, Representing the Town of Los Gatos (Member)

Rob Rennie, Representing the Town of Los Gatos (Alternate Member)

Copies of these documents will be provided tomorrow.

If you have any questions, please reply to this email.

Thank you.




San Jose, CA 95134

408.321.5680

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

-----Original Message----- From: David Coale Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 2:16 PM To: Board.Secretary Cc: Adam Stern; Bruce Hodge; Adina Levin; Pierre Delforge Subject: Criteria for project selection for Thursday's meeting Dear VTA Board Members, We are writing to comment on your criteria for project selection for the possible sales tax measure. We have been following this potential tax measure very closely and are surprised that, with transportation accounting for about 40% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the state, even higher for Santa Clara county and Palo Alto (60%), that there has been little mention of this in the selection criteria for projects. As the Governor of Washington state said, (paraphrasing) we are the first generation to feel the effects of climate change and the last ones to be able to do anything about it. With a 30-year sales tax measure, reduction of GHG emissions and measurable goals for this, are very important and must be part of the plan. We would like to see real goals of a 50% reduction in GHG emissions overall for projects funded by this possible sales tax measure with a reduction of single-occupancy vehicle trips by 30%. We believe having real measurable goals is the only way to see that our tax dollars are spent in an effective, equitable and efficient manor. This would also force the projects to be more coordinated across the county. These types of goals also match what is happening on the state and federal level with respect to GHG reductions and should be front and center. With goals such as these in place we would see more bike and pedestrian projects throughout the county. Caltrain, which is at capacity now and is the backbone of the Peninsula, would be set at a higher priority for electrification and other improvements. Traffic demand management (TDM) would be selected over expressway widening projects. We should know by now that road-widening projects only increase the amount of cars and only provide for temporary relief. Even the County Roads and Airport Department, which developed these expressway projects, admits this to be true. True relief can only come with fewer cars on the road. TDM along with the other projects listed above can deliver congestion relief faster and less expensively than expressway widening and expensive BART extensions. An analogy from the electricity sector is instructive here. Faced with the prospect of building new power generation (roads) the first step is conservation of the resource (reduce vehicle miles traveled by changing to other modes, biking, walking, public transit and carpooling). The next step is load management (this would be TDM and flexible work hours). The third step is more efficient use of the resource (improving our bike, ped, transit and alternate forms of transportation). The last item would be to actually build more power generation and then this would be renewable energy. For the transportation sector this would be electrified rail (CalTrain) and buses and greater promotion of EVs first and then hybrids second. As a last resort for energy generation would be a gas fired power plant. This might be equated to adding HOV lanes. We are asking you to support these priorities moving forward. We believe these types of criteria for project selection will also give us more equitable and more effective solutions to our transportation

Mccarter_MTypewritten Text Item 7.4

problems with greater quality of life then the more nebulous goals that VTA has cited so far. Silicon Valley should be leading the way here and with your help, it can. Thanks again for your efforts in this very important area. Sincerely, Adam Stern Executive Director of Acterra Bruce Hodge Carbon Free Palo Alto Adina Levin Friends of CalTrain Pierre Delforge 350 Silicon Valley PS now if we could only get this funding through a gas tax in the county, then we would really be adding an incentive to get people to stop driving one person per car and use other ways to get to where they need to go.

September 2, 2015 The Honorable Perry Woodward Chair VTA Board of Directors 3331 North First Street San Jose, CA 95134-1927 Dear Chair Woodward and Board Members,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on metrics for Envision Silicon Valley. The Leadership Group strongly supports the following metrics in order to best measure the impacts and benefits of projects in a potential 2016 Transportation Measure. Overall Metrics:

• Voter support o Any projects in a transportation measure should have strong voter

support. There are great needs in Santa Clara County when it comes to transportation, but we need a package that at least 2/3 of voters will pass.

• Connectivity to jobs/homes o Transportation projects in a potential measure should serve not

only today’s housing and job population centers but also plan for future land uses.

Metrics for Road Projects:

• Vehicle Hours Traveled o Reducing vehicle hours traveled is essential to improving mobility

and addressing traffic congestion. • Pavement Condition Index

o The quality of pavement impacts the ability of all road users including drivers, bus riders, and bicyclists to get around smoothly and safely.

• Reduce Single Occupancy Vehicle Trips o How would potential road projects impact single occupancy

vehicle trips and reduce congestion?

Metrics for Transit Projects:

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions o Reducing greenhouse gas emissions are a key benefit of transit

projects. How well would potential projects achieve that goal? • Vehicle Miles Traveled

o How would transit projects reduce vehicle miles traveled by replacing car trips?

• Farebox Recovery Ratio o VTA should measure the farebox recovery ratio of any transit

project. • Ridership

2001 Gateway Place, Suite 101E San Jose, California 95110

(408)501-7864 svlg.org CARL GUARDINO

President & CEO Board Officers:

GREG BECKER, Chair SVB Financial Group

KEN KANNAPPAN, Vice Chair Plantronics

JOHN ADAMS, Secretary/Treasurer Wells Fargo Bank

TOM WERNER, Former Chair SunPower

AART DE GEUS, Former Chair Synopsys

STEVE BERGLUND, Former Chair Trimble Navigation

Board Members: MARTIN ANSTICE

Lam Research SHELLYE ARCHAMBEAU

MetricStream, Inc. ANDY BALL

Suffolk Construction GEORGE BLUMENTHAL

University of California, Santa Cruz JOHN BOLAND

KQED CHRIS BOYD

Kaiser Permanente BRADLEY J. BULLINGTON

Bridgelux HELEN BURT

Pacific Gas & Electric DAVID CUSH

Virgin America CHRISTOPHER DAWES

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital KEN DRAZAN

Johnson& Johnson MICHAEL ENGH, S.J. Santa Clara University

TOM FALLON Infinera Corporation

BRANT FISH Chevron Corporation

HANK FORE Comcast

KEN GOLDMAN Yahoo!

RAQUEL GONZALEZ Bank of America

DOUG GRAHAM Lockheed Martin Space Systems

LAURA GUIO IBM

JAMES GUTIERREZ Insikt

MARK HAWKINS Salesforce

JEFFREY M. JOHNSON San Francisco Chronicle

AARIF KHAKOO Amgen

GARY LAUER eHealth

ENRIQUE LORES HP

MATT MAHAN Brigade

TARKAN MANER Nexenta

KEN MCNEELY AT&T

STEPHEN MILLIGAN Western Digital Corporation

KEVIN MURAI Synnex

JES PEDERSON Webcor

KIM POLESE ClearStreet

MO QAYOUMI San Jose State University

STEVEN ROSSI Bay Area News Group

TOMI RYBA El Camino Hospital

ALAN SALZMAN VantagePoint Capital Partners

RON SEGE Echelon Corporation

ROSEMARY TURNER UPS

RICK WALLACE KLA-Tencor

KEN XIE Fortinet

JED YORK San Francisco 49ers

Established in 1978 by DAVID PACKARD

Mccarter_MTypewritten Text Item #7.4

Mccarter_MTypewritten Text

o How many new riders would a transit project generate?

Metrics for Bike/Pedestrian Projects:

• Gap closure o A connected network encourages people to bike and walk. Would this project help

close a critical network gap? • Vehicle Miles Traveled

o How would this project reduce vehicle miles traveled by replacing car trips? • Pavement Condition Index

o The quality of pavement impacts the ability of all road users including bicyclists and pedestrians to get around safely.

• Enhanced Safety – Collision Reports o Bike/Ped projects should enhance safety by targeting areas with high collision rates.

Other/Innovative Programs:

• Vehicle Miles Traveled o How do these projects replace solo car trips?

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions o How do these projects reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Thank you for your leadership in developing these metrics and for taking our comments into consideration.

Sincerely,

Carl Guardino President & CEO

Date: September 2, 2015 Current Meeting: September 3, 2015 Board Meeting: September 3, 2015

BOARD MEMORANDUM TO: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Governance and Audit Committee THROUGH: General Manager, Nuria I. Fernandez

FROM: Board Secretary, Elaine Baltao SUBJECT: Appointments to the State Route (SR) 85 Corridor Policy Advisory Board

3331 North First Street ∙ San Jose, CA 95134-1927 ∙ Administration 408.321.5555 ∙ Customer Service 408.321.2300

Revised Agenda Item #7.6

Policy-Related Action: No Government Code Section 84308 Applies: No

ACTION ITEM

RECOMMENDATION:

Recommend that the Board of Directors approve appointments to the State Route 85 Corridor Policy Advisory Board.

BACKGROUND:

VTA policy advisory boards (PAB) are established by the VTA Board of Directors to ensure that the local jurisdictions most affected by major transportation capital improvement projects are involved and have a voice in guiding the planning, design and construction of those projects. PABS provide input, perspective and recommendations to the VTA Board and administration. The Board established the State Route (SR) 85 Corridor PAB comprised of voting membership from jurisdictions within or near the corridor. These include the County of Santa Clara and the cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, San José, Saratoga and Sunnyvale. In addition, one ex-officio, non-voting member and alternate may be appointed by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

of 2

The VTA Administrative Code provides that each of these voting positions, jurisdictions may appoint governing board members to serve as its representative and alternate member. All appointments by external bodies to VTA PABs require ratification by the Board of Directors.

DISCUSSION:

Submitted for Board ratification are several recent appointments to the SR 85 Corridor PAB made by member jurisdictions. All meet the requirement of being a current governing board member from the appointing jurisdiction. The appointments are:

• John McAlister, representing the City of Mountain View (Member) • Lenny Siegel, representing the City of Mountain View (Alternate Member) • Rod Sinks, representing the City of Cupertino (Member) • Barry Chang, representing the City of Cupertino (Alternate Member) • Howard Miller, representing the City of Saratoga (Member) • Mary-Lynne Bernald, representing the City of Saratoga (Alternate Member) • Walter Huff, representing the City of Monte Sereno (Member) • Burton Craig, representing the City of Monte Sereno (Alternate Member) • Marcia Jensen, representing the Town of Los Gatos (Member) • Rob Rennie, representing the Town of Los Gatos (Alternate Member)

ALTERNATIVES:

The Board could choose to not ratify any or all of these appointments.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There is no fiscal impact as a result of this action.

Prepared by: Stephen Flynn, Advisory Committee Coordinator Memo No. 5181


Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2015 11:54 AM


Subject: VTA September Board additional document - SPUR letter for Envision Silicon Valley (7.4)


Attached is an additional document for the VTA Board of Directors’ meeting scheduled for tonight,

Thursday, September 3, 2015:

Agenda Item #7.4 – SPUR support letter for Envision Silicon Valley (ESV) staff recommendation with additional comments and suggestions

A hardcopy of the letter will be provided at the meeting.

If you have any questions, please reply to this email.

Thank you.




San Jose, CA 95134

408.321.5680

[email protected]


PRESIDENT & CEO Gabriel Metcalf SAN JOSE DIRECTOR Leah Toeniskoetter CHAIR Rob Steinberg VICE-‐GHAIR Connie Martinez SAN JOSE CITY BOARD Teresa Alvarado Michael Bangs Chris Block J. Richard Braugh Garrett Herbert Karla Rodriguez Lomax Richard Lonergan Suzanne Rice Tim Steele Lydia Tan

September 3, 2015 Board of Directors Valley Transportation Authority 3331 North First Street San Jose, CA Subject: Envision Silicon Valley Evaluation Criteria -‐ Item 7.4 Dear Chair Woodward and Directors, SPUR is a non-‐profit, member-‐supported organization that promotes good planning and good government. We recently published Freedom to Move: How the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority can create better transportation choices in the South Bay. We commend the VTA board for convening an open process to develop goals for the County’s transportation system, and also evaluation criteria to measure how each project compares against these goals. SPUR supports the proposal before you for evaluation criteria. We would like to offer two additional metrics for your consideration. Significantly improving the usability of transit will be the key to achieving all of these goals, whether they are safety or pollution or travel time reduction. For that reason, we would like to suggest two additional metrics related to transit:

1. Transit wait times. This metric would capture both transit frequency and transit connectivity.

2. Portion of population living within walking distance (1/4 mile) of a place with frequent, all-‐day, all-‐week transit service.

SPUR would also like to comment on the decisions that you have ahead of you. Through the Envision Silicon Valley process, you will prioritize investments for the next 30 years. In that time frame:

• BART, Caltrain, and High Speed Rail will connect at Diridon Station. Diridon will become one of the biggest transit hubs in the nation.

• Bikesharing, private jitneys, driverless cars, delivery drones and new small electric vehicles may proliferate.

• Private auto ownership might plummet as shared taxis and delivery vehicles eliminate the need to drive – even in very suburban areas.

• People may pay for transportation seamlessly, using some kind of wearable device.

Also in the next 30 years, Santa Clara County could add roughly 642,000 new residents and 303,000 new jobs1. How will all these new residents and workers want to get around? What investment should we make today? SPUR suggests focusing investments in transportation that improve access to destinations, those that support walkable, livable neighborhoods and cities, support safety and well-‐being, increase equity and minimize damage to the environment. SPUR’s research has shown that, in the past, transportation investments to increase access in the South Bay have often worked against each other. For example, road expansions worked against transit success. Land use and transportation decision have also been disconnected. Going forward, it is imperative that we make transportation investments work synergistically, shifting travel away from the private auto, toward shared vehicles, biking, and walking: the three most cost-‐, space-‐, and energy-‐efficient modes of transportation. With this new direction in mind, SPUR recommends that the board prioritize the following categories of transportation investments, which should pay dividends for decades to come. We will be providing more in-‐depth discussion of these in the near future.

• Development of a transit network structure based on all-‐day, frequent regional transit network (BART, Caltrain)

• Frequent and efficient local and feeder transit service. • Seamless Transit experience: schedule and fare and trip planning integration,

seamless connections. • Mode shift programs and public/private partnerships, targeted at places and at

corridors. • Develop safe streets that work for all users and countywide bicycle network. • Grow parking and road pricing and management programs.

In closing, SPUR would like to remind the Board that not everything can measured, modeled, or forecast. An evaluation process is one input to your decision-‐making, which we hope will be guided by a long-‐term vision for thriving and sustainable communities and region. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Ratna Amin

SPUR Transportation Policy Director

1 Plan Bay Area, 2013


Sent: Friday, September 04, 2015 5:43 PM To: VTA Board of Directors

Subject: VTA Correspondence: Support Floor Memos; Envision Silicon Valley Correspondence; Federal Legislative Update; LeBrun DBE Correspondence


We are forwarding to you the following:

From Topic

VTA ESV Criteria Correspondence – Adina Levin, Jeralyn

Moran, Chris Lepe, Monica Nanez, Vanessa Warheit

Federal Legislative Update

Roland LeBrun DBE Correspondence

Chairperson Perry Woodward Support Letters for the following: AB194(Frazier),

AB516(Mullin), SB9(Beall), SB413(Wieckowski),

SB508(Beall)

Thank you.




San Jose, CA 95134

408.321.5680

[email protected]


From: Adina Levin Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2015 3:42 PM To: Board.Secretary Subject: Envision Silicon Valley Goals and Metrics Dear Board Members and Staff, Thank you very much for engaging in a process to define goals and metrics to evaluate projects for the upcoming Silicon Valley ballot measure. Friends of Caltrain is a nonprofit with over 5000 participants supporting sustainable transportation on the Peninsula Corridor. We have been participating in the Envision Process. We would like to suggest some refinements to this robust set of goals that incorporates many dimensions for improvement of the transportation system. Overall, it would be helpful to set weighting for the metrics, to help prioritize the projects. Since climate change is a major challenge of our time and a major focus of state policy, the greenhouse gas reduction and mode shift metrics should have a very high priority. A few specific comments 1) The document includes a potentially powerful goal to improve transportation experience, but that does not yet have strong metrics. A metric to reduce transit wait time would measure improvements in frequency, schedule coordination, and first/last mile integration to provide more competitive transit trip times. 2) VTA has high priority goals to increase ridership and active transportation. A valuable metric to assess progress toward that goal would be to measure and increase the share of the population within 1/4 mile of high frequency transit stops and high quality bike lanes/trails. This is a very powerful metric to drive ridership and mode shift. This is the metric that Houston used to provide a major increase in transit accessibility with its recent service change. “Almost a million people are going to be in walking distance within a seven-day frequent route, and also a million jobs,” says Luhrsen. “That’s almost a 50 percent increase in people and almost a 60 percent increase in jobs.” 3) VTA has an important goal to strengthen financial sustainability. In addition to Farebox Recovery as a metric, it would be helpful to add Revenue per dollar spent on service delivery. This metric would also reward improved financial returns, while encouraging the use of strategies that would increase ridership (rather than strategies that might increase revenues at reduced ridership). This measurement is the most synergistic with VTA's goals for ridership, GHG reduction, and equity. Thank you very much for your consideration. - Adina Adina Levin Friends of Caltrain http://greencaltrain.com

http://greencaltrain.com/

From: Jeralyn Moran Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2015 6:26 PM To: Board.Secretary Subject: VTA Evaluation Criteria - please EXCLUDE car-centric projects! Dear VTA Board, I implore you to include in your final Evaluation Criteria a high proiority on rejecting all projects that accommodate single occupancy vehicle use! We are at a critical time where Climate Disruption is at our doorstep - alternative forms of transportation are desparately needed -- please do not continue the problem - be part of the answer! NO Lawrence Expressway or Page Mill Rd. "enhancements". Additional expressway widening and capacity projects that accommodate cars must be rejected. Sincerely, Jeralyn Moran Palo Alto resident

From: Chris Lepe Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2015 3:26 PM To: Board.Secretary; General Manager Subject: Recommendations for Evaluation Criteria for Potential 2016 Transportation Tax

Honorable Members of the VTA Board of Directors and General Manager Fernandez,

TransForm is committed to ensuring that the 2016 transportation funding measure under development through Envision Silicon Valley (ESV) achieves the greatest benefit per dollar spent in meeting critical community needs. We are pleased that the proposed evaluation criteria for VTA’s call for projects for ESV have been significantly improved from previous iterations; however, we would like to provide the following recommendations to ensure the criteria further advance the Board-adopted goals for ESV.

• Provide weighting to the evaluation criteria in order to emphasize the key goals that the agency is most interested in advancing. The current criteria have no prioritization or weighting, meaning that criteria as important as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing fatal and serious collisions, and increasing ridership will be equally weighted with roughly 30 other factors.

• Provide greater priority on reducing Single Occupancy Vehicle (SOV) use and improving transportation options. There are several proposal criteria that could move us in the opposite direction of a sustainable and healthy transportation system, particularly "reduce vehicle hours traveled per capita" and any metrics regarding "access" that do not state a priority in the mode such as the proposed "increase access to planned growth areas".

o For the "vehicle hours traveled" metric, are we just talking about automobiles? It would be much better if VTA focused on person throughput to give equal weight to all roadway users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users. In other words, saving people hours of travel as opposed to just vehicle hours of travel.

o For the access metrics, what kind of access does VTA want to prioritize? From TransForm’s perspective, considering the significant population growth in the coming years, VTA should focus on improved access via active transportation OR transportation options that have the ability to move more people with fewer cars (VMT reduction).

• The concept of equity needs to be better integrated in the goals as a means of addressing a more efficient, healthy, and sustainable transportation system. Adding the following criteria will help to further promote equity, environmental sustainability, health, ridership, and quality of life:

o Reduce transit travel delay and minimize transfer waiting times. Improving on time performance and reducing waiting is fundamental to attracting ridership to the system.

o Increase the percent of low-income households with accessibility within 1/4 mile of pedestrian/bike lanes/trails and to high-frequency transit stops. This criterion would advance the goal of improving the last mile gaps/connectivity and promote mode shift.

o Increase ridership per dollar spent on service delivery. This criterion would evaluate how projects improve the efficiency of the transit system without pegging it to transit users’ ability to pay, as is the case with farebox recovery.

TransForm appreciates the opportunity to comment on the evaluation criteria for Envision Silicon Valley.

Respectfully,

Chris Lepe

Senior Community Planner,

TransForm -- Want to improve your community and your commute? Let us know what your priorities are for Santa Clara County's next transportation funding measure! Fill out our short survey and attend an upcoming community meeting in Gilroy, Mountain View, Central San Jose, and East San Jose. Chris Lepe, Senior Community Planner, Silicon Valley TransForm 48 South 7th Street, Suite #103, San Jose, CA 95112 (Sign up for our emails at www.TransFormCA.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin, too.

https://docs.google.com/a/transformca.org/forms/d/1aBQqSweOcx89kj9vsCfKjhnqhLp4H5B6ikB6-ktsQNM/viewform?c=0&w=1http://www.transformca.org/events/south-county-envision-silicon-valley-community-meetinghttp://www.transformca.org/events/north-county-envision-silicon-valley-community-meetinghttp://www.transformca.org/events/downtown-san-jose-envision-silicon-valley-community-meetinghttp://www.transformca.org/events/east-san-jose-envision-silicon-valley-community-meetingtel:%28408%29%20406-8074http://www.transformca.org/http://www.transformca.org/http://www.transformca.org/http://www.transformca.org/http://www.twitter.com/TransForm_Alerthttp://www.linkedin.com/company/244721

September 3, 2015

RE: Proposed Evaluation Criteria for Potential 2016 Transportation Tax

Honorable Members of the VTA Board of Directors and General Manager Fernandez,

TransForm is committed to ensuring that the 2016 transportation funding measure under development

through Envision Silicon Valley (ESV) achieves the greatest benefit per dollar spent in meeting critical

community needs. We are pleased that the proposed evaluation criteria for VTA’s call for projects for

ESV have been significantly improved from previous iterations; however, we would like to provide the

following recommendations to ensure the criteria further advance the Board-adopted goals for ESV.

Provide weighting to the evaluation criteria in order to emphasize the key goals that the agency is most interested in advancing. The current criteria have no prioritization or weighting, meaning

that criteria as important as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing fatal and serious

collisions, and increasing ridership will be equally weighted with roughly 30 other factors.

Provide greater priority on reducing Single Occupancy Vehicle (SOV) use and improving transportation options. There are several proposal criteria that could move us in the opposite

direction of a sustainable and healthy transportation system, particularly "reduce vehicle hours

traveled per capita" and any metrics regarding "access" that do not state a priority in the mode

such as the proposed "increase access to planned growth areas".

o For the "vehicle hours traveled" metric, are we just talking about automobiles? It would be much better if VTA focused on person throughput to give equal weight to all roadway

users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users. In other words, saving people

hours of travel as opposed to just vehicle hours of travel.

o For the access metrics, what kind of access does VTA want to prioritize? From TransForm’s perspective, considering the significant population growth in the coming

years, VTA should focus on improved access via active transportation OR transportation

options that have the ability to move more people with fewer cars (VMT reduction).

The concept of equity needs to be better integrated in the goals as a means of addressing a more efficient, healthy, and sustainable transportation system. Adding the following criteria will help to

further promote equity, environmental sustainability, health, ridership, and quality of life:

o Reduce transit travel delay and minimize transfer waiting times. Improving on time performance and reducing waiting is fundamental to attracting ridership to the system.

o Increase the percent of low-income households with accessibility within 1/4 mile of pedestrian/bike lanes/trails and to high-frequency transit stops. This criterion would

advance the goal of improving the last mile gaps/connectivity and promote mode shift.

o Increase ridership per dollar spent on service delivery. This criterion would evaluate how projects improve the efficiency of the transit system without pegging it to transit

users’ ability to pay, as is the case with farebox recovery.

TransForm appreciates the opportunity to comment on the evaluation criteria for Envision Silicon Valley.

Respectfully,

Chris Lepe

Senior Community Planner,

TransForm

From: Monica Nanez Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2015 4:29 PM To: Board.Secretary Subject: Transportation Funding Evaluation Criteria : Agenda item 7.4 I am writing to strongly support criteria that will be used to exclusively select projects that improve walkability, bike lanes, and public transportation, and that will exclude projects used to widen expressways or roads. Great cities across the world are created with infrastructure that promotes walkability, bikeability, and a strong public transportation system. Widening expressways is far more expensive, increases pollution, induces demand for more roads, and promotes urban sprawl; we need to move away from this! We have a wonderful opportunity to lead the world in sustainability and it starts with transportation that emphasizes: walkability, biking, and effective public transportation.

Thank You,

Monica Nanez life long San Jose resident

From: Vanessa Warheit Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2015 4:32 PM To: Board.Secretary Subject: Please fund cycling, walking, and transit - don't widen our roads! Dear VTA Board, As you consider the evaluation criteria for Envision Silicon Valley, I would like to express my strong support of TransForm’s recommendations. We have an opportunity to solve multiple pressing problems: air pollution, climate change, childhood obesity and asthma, traffic congestion, community breakdown & isolation. All of these things can be addressed by redesigning our communities and streets putting PEOPLE first: adding better cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, and better/faster/more transit options. We must stop thinking about moving CARS and instead look at how we can move PEOPLE. Sincerely, Vanessa Warheit Palo Alto — Vanessa Warheit *** I’m fasting for the climate, on the 1st day of every month between now and the COP21 climate talks in Paris this December. If this email was written on the first of the month, please forgive any aberrant behavior, as it is likely inspired by low blood sugar. More information on Fast for the Climate is here: http://fastfortheclimate.org ***

http://fastfortheclimate.org/

MEMORANDUM TO: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board of Directors FROM: Kurt Evans, Government Affairs Manager Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority DATE: September 1, 2015 SUBJECT: Federal Legislative Update ________________________________________________________________________ Congress is in recess until after the Labor Day Holiday. When senators and House members return to Washington, DC, in early September, they will need to negotiate a new multi-year budget agreement, finish up the FY 2016 appropriations process, and reach common ground on reauthorizing federal surface transportation programs. At the same time, Congress will have to grapple with raising the federal government’s debt limit. FY 2016 Appropriations: The new federal fiscal year begins October 1. To avoid a federal government shutdown, Congress must pass either an omnibus appropriations bill or a short-term continuing resolution before that date. Currently, Senate Democrats are blocking all appropriations bills until an overall budget deal can be negotiated that either eliminates or raises the “sequestration” spending caps for domestic discretionary programs contained in the Budget Control Act of 2011. If such an agreement can be reached, the 12 appropriations bills (including transportation) would be aligned with the deal’s proscribed spending levels, and then packaged into one omnibus appropriations measure that could be taken to the House and Senate Floors for a vote. It will be a challenge for Congress to complete all of this work prior to October 1. Therefore, a continuing resolution is the more likely outcome in the short term. The House FY 2016 transportation appropriations bill is done, but the Senate’s is being held up on the Floor by the Democratic leadership pending a larger budget deal. While both the House and Senate versions maintain appropriations for federal-aid highway and public transit formula programs under the Highway Trust Fund at their FY 2015 levels, they reduce appropriations for discretionary surface transportation programs that receive their money from the General Fund, though by dramatically different amounts. For instance, the Senate legislation provides only $1.585 billion for the New Starts/Small Starts Program, which is a $535 million reduction from the FY 2015 enacted level and $336 million less than the $1.921 billion recommended in the House bill. Although the Senate and House versions both appropriate the entire amount of funding for those New Starts projects with existing Full Funding Grant Agreements (FFGAs), including $150 million for Phase 1 of VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Extension Project, there is a big difference when it comes to the Small Starts Program. The Senate bill targets only $30 million for Small Starts projects versus $335 million in the House legislation.

2

The other major discretionary grant program that falls under the General Fund is the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Program. The Senate bill recommends $500 million for TIGER, the same amount as in FY 2015. The House version appropriates only $100 million. Surface Transportation Authorization: Before the summer recess, both the House and Senate approved a three-month extension of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), which keeps federal highway and public transit programs in place and maintains the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund until October 29, 2015. President Barack Obama signed this extension into law. The Senate also passed the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act, a six-year surface transportation authorization bill covering FY 2016 through FY 2021 that is intended to replace MAP-21. The DRIVE Act provides an inflationary adjustment to current spending levels for federal surface transportation programs, as well as a small amount of growth over the authorization period. Although the legislation covers six years of spending authority for highway, public transit, passenger rail, and transportation safety programs, it includes enough revenues to pay for only the first three years of the authorization period. Therefore, if the DRIVE Act were to be enacted into law, the Highway Trust Fund would reach insolvency by the end of FY 2018. While the DRIVE Act generally maintains the overall program structure that was established under MAP-21, it does make a number of changes, the most notable of which are as follows: • Creates a new formula-based freight program, with a total authorization of $13.4 billion over six

years. • Establishes a new Assistance for Major Projects (AMP) Discretionary Grant Program, authorized

at $300 million-$450 million annually, for large-scale transportation infrastructure projects generally costing in excess of $350 million.

• Provides a modest increase in funding for the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) by

authorizing the program at a fixed amount of $850 million per year, rather than through a 2 percent set-aside of a state’s total federal-aid highway apportionment.

• Makes improvements to the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan

program to increase its utilization, but decreases its authorized amount from $1 billion to $300 million a year.

• Significantly increases spending for the Section 5339 Bus/Bus Facilities Program from the current

level of $428 million in FY 2015 to $816 million by FY 2021. While the bulk of the funding would continue to be allocated by formula, the DRIVE Act sets aside $180 million-$190 million a year for competitive grants, $55 million of which must be awarded for low- or zero-emission buses, facilities, or related equipment.

3

• Provides discretion for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to allow a large public transit agency in an area with high unemployment to use its formula share under the Section 5307 Urbanized Area (UZA) Program for operating expenses on a temporary basis.

• Under the Capital Investment Grant Program (New Starts/Small Starts), establishes an Expedited

Project Delivery Pilot Program to allow FTA to enter into 10 FFGAs for New Starts, Small Starts or Core Capacity projects that are supported by a public-private partnership and that are seeking federal funding equal to 25 percent or less of the project’s total cost. The DRIVE Act takes 10 percent off the top of the annual amount appropriated to the Capital Investment Grant Program to fund projects receiving FFGAs under the Expedited Project Delivery Pilot Program.

• Increases the maximum amount of federal funding that could be provided to a Small Starts project

from $75 million to $100 million. The DRIVE Act also specifies that a project is eligible for Small Starts funding if its total cost is $300 million or less. Under current law, the total cost of a Small Starts project cannot exceed $250 million.

• Changes the overall distribution formula for allocating Section 5337 State of Good Repair Program

funds in a way that would increase the share going to public transit agencies that operate fixed guideway rail systems.

• Requires FTA to conduct a review of existing safety standards and protocols used for fixed

guideway rail systems to determine whether there is a need to establish minimum federal standards. • Increases the Buy America content for rolling stock from the current level of 60 percent to 70

percent by FY 2020. Despite pressure from the Senate, House GOP leaders have no plans to bring the DRIVE Act up for a vote. Instead, the House intends to work on its own surface transportation authorization bill when members return to Washington, DC, after Labor Day. Action in the House would lead to a conference committee, where senators and House members would attempt to reconcile their differences and negotiate a final bill that could be sent to the House and Senate Floors for a vote. It is unclear whether all of this work can be accomplished before October 29, when the current short-term extension of MAP-21 expires. The main point of contention between the House and Senate is how to pay for a six-year bill. Similar to MAP-21, projected Highway Trust Fund revenues are not enough to cover the DRIVE Act’s authorized spending levels. Therefore, the DRIVE Act calls for using roughly $40 billion in General Fund transfers to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent, but only for three more years, and backfilling the General Fund through a series of offsets to prevent the federal government’s budget deficit from growing. These offsets include indexing customs fees, selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, lowering the dividends paid to banks by the Federal Reserve System, extending Transportation Security Administration (TSA) passenger fees for another two years, prohibiting felons from receiving Social Security benefits, and more aggressively combatting tax fraud. House leaders do not support this approach. Instead, they want to fully pay for all six years of a surface transportation authorization bill with revenues that would be generated from a comprehensive overhaul of the federal tax code, which Congress has yet to undertake.

From: Roland Lebrun Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 1:05 AM To: Caltrain Board Cc: SFCTA Board Secretary; Board.Secretary; SFCTA CAC; Caltrain CAC Secretary Subject: ITEM 4.c VTA DBE MOU Dear Chair Tissier and Members of the Caltrain Board of Directors, Please approve funding for the joint DBE Availability and Utilization Study with the VTA as it is the only way we will ever be able to restore equity to a process that allowed consultants to award a total of $47M in contracts to their peers and themselves while completely ignoring the 12% DBE Goal set by the Board as evidenced by page 57 of the attached FY15 Q4 JPB quarterly DBE report. Thank you in advance. Roland Lebrun cc: SFCTA Board VTA Board SFCTA CAC Caltrain CAC

September 2015 Caltrain Board Meeting Roland Lebrun Item 4.c VTA DBE MOU

9/1/2015 Dear Chair Tissier and Members of the Caltrain Board of Directors, Please approve funding for the joint DBE Availability and Utilization Study with the VTA as it is the only way we will ever be able to restore equity to a process that allowed consultants to award a total of $47M in contracts to their peers and themselves while completely ignoring the 12% DBE Goal set by the Board as evidenced by page 57 of the FY15 Q4 JPB quarterly report. Thank you.


meetings-at-glance_sept2015.pdfVTA PUBLIC MEETINGS AT-A-GLANCESEPTEMBER 2015

Item 7.4._ESV Letter_Guardino_090315.pdf/2001 Gateway Place, Suite 101E(408)501-7864 svlg.orgCARL GUARDINOPresident & CEOBoard Officers:GREG BECKER, ChairSVB Financial Group STEVE BERGLUND, Former Chair Trimble NavigationBoard Members:MARTIN ANSTICELam Research JOHN BOLANDKQEDCHRISTOPHER DAWESLucile Packard Children’s HospitalKEN DRAZANJohnson& JohnsonMICHAEL ENGH, S.J.Santa Clara University

Item7.6_revised_sr85appts_090315.pdfPolicy-Related Action: No Government Code Section 84308 Applies: NoAction ItemRECOMMENDATION:FISCAL IMPACT:

from: board.secretary sent: tuesday, september 01, 2015 4:47...

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