The Regional Transit Measure will dramatically improve VTA service to offer faster, more frequent service and improved efficiency to bring back riders and take more cars off the roads.<\/p>\n
The regional transit measure, Measure RTM, is important for the future of the Bay Area, and it\u2019s a good deal for San Jose.<\/p>\n
As a resident and elected official living in San Jose, I knew this measure needed to deliver for the South Bay. That\u2019s why, during nearly three years of negotiation and debate, South Bay leaders fought for what\u2019s now on the ballot: a measure that delivers for San Jose.<\/p>\n
Funds raised in Santa Clara County by Measure RTM go toward transit that directly serves Santa Clara County. The measure would reduce traffic by helping Caltrain and VTA take cars off the road, while also allowing funding for pothole repair and paving, something we explicitly fought to include to meet our local needs.<\/p>\n
Make no mistake, the survival of our regional transit systems is critical to San Jose. Our systems depend on one another. Allowing BART to be hobbled would undermine the future of Caltrain and VTA and worsen traffic throughout the Bay Area. SPUR\u2019s recent \u201cBumper to Bumper\u201d study gives us a glimpse of how bad that carmageddon could be without workable public transit.<\/p>\n
This measure allows us to help save BART, Muni and AC Transit with our votes, but without new Santa Clara County tax dollars going to systems that don\u2019t directly serve our residents.<\/p>\n
So where do locally raised funds go?<\/p>\n
First, we help close Caltrain\u2019s deficit, protecting a service we rely on to get to jobs, schools, games and concerts.<\/p>\n
Newly electrified Caltrain is an incredible success story. Ridership is up, 92% of riders report being satisfied with the service, and the American Public Transportation Association awarded Caltrain its Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award for 2026.<\/p>\n
Without Measure RTM, Caltrain could face deep cuts, including hourly service, reduced nights and weekends, and closing roughly a third of its stations.<\/p>\n
About 6% of our funds would support regional programs that improve wayfinding, transfers and connections so the Bay Area increasingly functions as one integrated system.<\/p>\n
The remaining 84% of the revenue raised in Santa Clara County stays here to improve local transit.<\/p>\n
For Santa Clara County and San Jose specifically, that investment could be transformative. Our current transit system does not match the size and stature of our county, California\u2019s leading economic engine and home to the Bay Area\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n
The Regional Transit Measure will dramatically improve VTA service to offer faster, more frequent service and improved efficiency to bring back riders and take more cars off the roads.<\/p>\n
That matters as San Jose grows and welcomes major events, businesses, housing and visitors. Whether it is a Sharks game, a convention, a concert, FIFA, the Super Bowl or simply a daily commute, we cannot expect our economy and population to grow while forcing everyone onto already crowded roads. A stronger transit network means less congestion, greater access to jobs and a more competitive downtown.<\/p>\n
Some have argued that VTA is not in the same precarious position as other agencies. But VTA cut service years ago to balance its budget, and that service never bounced back. In fact, VTA operates less service today than it did in 2001.<\/p>\n
This should be a moment of transit optimism. Caltrain\u2019s electrification has shown what\u2019s possible when we invest in modern, world-class transit. BART, with new fare gates and a safer, cleaner system, is coming to downtown San Jose. And VTA is ready to modernize and become the system Silicon Valley needs and deserves.<\/p>\n
In just a generation, we transformed Silicon Valley into a global center of innovation and economic connectivity.<\/p>\n
Sustaining that success requires a transportation system every bit as ambitious and forward-looking as the communities it serves.<\/p>\n
David Cohen is a San Jose City Councilmember whose district includes Alviso, Berryessa and North San Jose. Cohen is a boardmember of the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority, which he represents on the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, the owner and operator of Caltrain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Regional Transit Measure will dramatically improve VTA service to offer faster, more frequent service and improved efficiency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1400,3767,184,7,964,181,23,975,88,90,89,198,200,1967],"class_list":["post-498286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-2026-elections","tag-bart","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-commentary","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-opinion","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}