Thanks to the taxpayers of Silicon Valley we have been able to build many of our own transportation projects without depending on state and federal funds which are oftentimes delayed or non-existent. BART is being extended to San Jose and the VTA light rail will soon include a 2.4-mile extension to San Jose’s Eastridge Transportation Center.

Transportation infrastructure is being improved, as seen on Highway 101 at the Brokaw Road exit, the 280/880/17 interchange at Stevens Creek Boulevard, the widening of Highway 101 and the new Yerba Buena Avenue and Capitol Expressway interchanges. Those projects are the result of hard work and all of us must continue to lobby for a new federal transportation bill. The nation’s infrastructure is crumbling while we wait for the White House and federal government to do something about it.

I have served for 18 years on MTC, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and was chairperson from 2015-2017. It is the transportation planning agency for our nine-county region. The money that comes to Santa Clara County and the Bay Area through state and federal funds passes through the MTC. Along with some of my colleagues we’ve been able to streamline transportation systems and reduce Green House Gas emissions under the mandates of State Senate Bill 375. Under my leadership, the Association of Bay Area Governments was merged with MTC to link transportation and housing planning in the region for the first time and to reduce the duplication of work.