The visual centerpiece of the event will be a 60-foot wrapped Valley Transportation Authority bus (VTA image).
Media contact: Brandi Childress, VTA Public Information Officer, 408-464-7810
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese and Valley Transportation Authority General Manager and CEO Nuria Fernandez will “Stand Up for Transportation” at 10 a.m. April 9 outside the SJSU Event Center near South Seventh and East San Salvador streets.
On national Stand Up for Transportation Day, officials across the country will call on Congress to renew funding for the federal transportation program called Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, also known as MAP-21.
The Bus
The visual centerpiece of the event will be a 60-foot wrapped VTA bus. Federal funding allowed VTA to purchase new, hybrid diesel-electric buses to replace aging, less energy-efficient diesel buses.
VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Project broke ground in 2012 largely due to $900 million in federal New Starts funding. Now in its third year of construction, BART to San Jose is expected to serve 23,000 riders when completed in 2017.
SJSU and VTA
San Jose State faculty, staff and students with ID ride VTA buses and light rail at no cost thanks to an agreement between VTA and the Associated Students of SJSU.
Approximately 12,470 riders took part in the program in 2013. Students driving alone to campus decreased from 60 percent in 2001 to 33 percent in 2013, according to the SJSU Annual Sustainability Report.