By Harry Neil– This past September, after over a year of struggle and determination, we succeeded in our campaign on the Stevens Creek Corridor. Thanks to your volunteering, public comments, letters, and support, a safer and more sustainable future is coming to Santa Clara County’s most important corridor. From Diridon Station to De Anza College, the cities of San Jose, Santa Clara, and Cupertino, along with Santa Clara County and VTA have committed to investing in safety for all road users, efficiency for all modes of travel, and healthier air for everyone to breathe.
Among the improvements we can look forward to along the corridor, all entities involved have committed to implementing these corridor-wide: protected bike lanes, new street trees, transit signal priority, better maintained sidewalks, and pedestrian oriented street lighting. These next improvements won’t be universal, but will still be included on major sections of the corridor: pedestrian crossing islands, wider sidewalks, bus bulbs and boarding islands, protected intersections for cyclists, and dedicated bus lanes.
The most exciting and the longest-term improvement that the project includes is a fully grade separated light rail line from Diridon to De Anza, which is planned to connect the college to downtown San Jose in just 20 minutes. Another elevated light rail project that VTA is building, the Eastridge to BART Regional Connector, is one of the only transit projects in the United States being built to high American standards but at the same price as low-cost countries for transit construction like Thailand and India. VTA should be able to repeat that success on Stevens Creek, meaning they’ll be able to build a project that would revolutionize mobility in the West Valley for a competitive price.
Thank you again for stepping up to help make our community a safer, more sustainable, just, and easy-to-get around place for all!
FAQ
- Why are the bus lanes not corridor-wide?
When the Stevens Creek Corridor study was first started in 2019, the City Council of Cupertino stipulated that the city would only join if no general purpose auto lanes would be converted to be a transit-only lane. This means that the bus lane will extend to their border, getting buses out of traffic on more than half of the corridor, including the most congested areas near Valley Fair and Midtown San Jose. This will still help service throughout the corridor, including in Cupertino, and later on if the City Council decides they would like the bus lane to include Cupertino, that will be an easy adjustment.
- How much time will the bus lane save?
The Rapid 523 should be able to save around 20% of its travel time with the bus lane, shortening the trip by nearly 10 minutes in each direction.
- What is the timeline on these improvements?
The timeline is a bit vague. Improvements listed as “short term” in the study, like bus lanes and protected bike lanes, should be done within 1-5 years. “Mid term” improvements like intersection redesigns should be done in 5-15 years. “Long term” improvements like the elevated light rail line will be in 15+ years. Transbay Coalition is in communication with staff at the cities and VTA to get clarity on their exact implementation plans.
- How frequent will the bus service be?
Current bus service is every 15 minutes on the 23 and every 20 minutes on the 523, giving a combined 10 minute headway. When we pass the Regional Measure to fund transit, VTA will be able to contribute greater funding to implementing the improvements identified in the study, and will significantly increase the level of transit service on the corridor through their Visionary Network. With VTA’s Visionary Network, the 23 and 523 will both operate every 10 minutes, meaning that riders on Stevens Creek will see a bus every 5 minutes!
- How frequent will the future light rail service be?
Future light rail service will likely be every 10 minutes or better, but it’s too far in the future to be sure.
- What’s the situation with Cupertino?
The City of Cupertino “conditionally approved” the Vision Study in September, meaning that they will continue to participate as their conditions continue to be met.