3/1/2018 10:40 AM | Stacey Hendler Ross

VTA wants to make traveling across Santa Clara County by bicycle safer, more convenient and seamless. So we’re updating our Countywide Bicycle Plan to reflect the changes that will meet those goals.

The plan establishes a network of Cross County Bikeway Corridors that will provide continuous, complete bike connections across Santa Clara County. The plan also identifies locations where new and improved bike connections are needed across freeways, rail lines and creeks. Lastly, the plan identifies ways to make it easier for people to use their bike with transit, including bike access to major transit stops, bike parking at stops, and bicycle accommodations on board.

The last time this plan was updated was 2008, and with the growth of Silicon Valley since then, we know there are significant issues to address with the update. Over the past 10 years, we’ve also seen advances in bicycle infrastructure design, advances in planning for bicyclists, and a cultural shift toward bicycling. More people, and a greater diversity of people, are interested in bicycling, and they want bikeways that are physically separated from cars.

VTA now has the capacity to model how building new bikeways will affect travel patterns, congestion, and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the local jurisdictions in Santa Clara County have built many new miles of bike lanes and trails. The new Countywide Bicycle Plan will reflect these changes.

A draft plan is available for public review and we welcome your comments to let us know if we’re headed in the right direction. We’ll be taking public comments and questions through March 19. Or, if you’re up for a ride over to VTA headquarters March 7, (take the Guadalupe Creek Trail) we’ll present the draft plan at the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meeting, open to the public, beginning at 6:30 p.m. VTA Headquarters are located at 3331 North First Street, San Jose.

FMI:  http://www.vta.org/projects-and-programs/planning/bike-plan