San Jose
– The future and significance of BART in Silicon Valley is the
topic of Commonwealth Club of California symposium in San Jose
Thursday.
San Jose – The future and significance of BART in Silicon Valley is the topic of Commonwealth Club of California symposium in San Jose Thursday.
The keynote speaker will be Will Kempton, director of the California Department of Transportation, and the event features a panel discussion on how the project, tagged at at least $4.2 billion, could affect other regional and local transportation projects.
BART is by far the most expensive item in the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s VTP 2030, a long-term capital expenditure program the VTA will adopt this summer.
The project is on hold because expected state and federal funding has not come through, and sales tax revenue, the project’s principal funding source, has been lower than expected. The VTA plans to put a new half-cent sales tax measure on the ballot next November to raise money for several projects.
The symposium aroused some controversy when Mountain View City Councilman Greg Perry, a vocal opponent of the project, was removed from the panel. Groups including the Sierra Club, BayRail Alliance and Transportation and Land Use Coalition have formally protested his removal.
The public is invited to speak at the event. It is scheduled for 12:30pm, in the Sheriff Department’s auditorium, 55 W. Younger Ave., San Jose. For reservations, call (415) 597-6705.
