2019 Transit Accomplishments
And now on to our ACHIEVEMENTS!
Public Transit/VTA Accomplishments
We’ve had an extraordinary run of achievements and progress in the very brief six months our group Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action has existed, actively involved in increasing and improving public transit service. We were able to launch a big push because of the dedicated work of local public transit activists and their long hours of attending VTA board and other meetings working to get Measure B reallocation onto the VTA board agenda for a year. In particular, our very own Monica Mallon, a youth activist has done an exemplary job of keeping up on transit issues, writing calls to action and updates on social media, speaking to the press and educating reporters and the rest of us on the issues, and more. She is also co-leader of our San José Youth Climate Action Team.
The biggest, most important VTA board meeting of the year 2019 did not go quite as expected, but there were MANY gains.
40+ public comments were made at the December VTA board meeting! - nearly all in favor of reallocating Measure B funds away from highway expansion to public transit. Studies demonstrate that highway expansion only increases the number of cars on the road and does not decrease traffic. Many of our youth members and partner organizations spoke up. And in recent months, many community organizations have joined us in our public transit advocacy! Together we achieved 40+ comments: an extraordinary turnout given that past meetings have typically only had 3-5 public comments!
Oddly, at the December meeting, the board did not discuss Measure B during agenda item 9.5 “the future of transit” as expected. Though most people left after public comments, throughout the regular agenda, our comments and concerns were acknowledged many times by some of the board members. And during the rest of the meeting, Measure B was almost never directly mentioned but indirectly alluded to a number of times. Significantly, Supervisor Cindy Chavez directed VTA staff to prepare proposals for Measure B reallocation, and they will discuss the proposals at the February 6th meeting.
But the biggest achievement was that we helped preserve $100 million for transit ops for the next 20 years! We helped to prevent the TDA lien in the BART contract which will preserve $100 million per year for transit ops (bus service). SVYCA did not comment on the TDA lien. But packing the chambers with people talking about why they want more bus service really helped. Through our collective public comments, we’ve made reps a lot more aware of why bus service matters. This is just one way all our public comments helped with many things beyond what we have been advocating for specifically. That is why we need you and members of your networks to come out on January 9.
Another indirect result of our combined public comments is that the board is now recommending significant changes to the environment section of their legislative priorities document to prioritize climate friendly policies. This document will be voted on at the 1/9 BOD meeting. This is potentially a big climate win!
In December, many also asked the VTA board to declare a climate emergency, as the SCC Board of Supervisors has already done. At the meeting, County Supervisor Dave Cortese directed VTA staff to put a resolution on the agenda for January. “I would like to add to the next regular agenda a resolution declaring a climate emergency that demands immediate action to halt, reverse, restore and address the consequences and causes of global warming,” Cortese said. This is actually stronger than what we asked for. THIS is the leadership we’ve been waiting for! https://www.facebook.com/tssjsu/posts/1380544228770541
Congressman Ro Khanna wrote a letter to the VTA board! Public transit activist Monica Mallon writes: “I'm so thankful for this letter! It had a huge impact last Thursday!” Read it here: https://www.facebook.com/monmall/posts/2883571118333749
The work of our activists is in San Jose Spotlight several times over! Jamie Minden, one of our youth leaders/organizers of the big climate strike on Sept. 20 was quoted! https://www.facebook.com/SVYouthClimateAction/posts/155666779120967
Supervisor Cindy Chavez was elected as chair of the VTA board for the year 2020. Supervisor Chavez has been an ally to our efforts and has indicated she will make better bus services a priority. The tides are changing!
Climate activists and climate scientists have labored fruitlessly for years to sound the alarm and get people to act on the climate crisis. Finally, with the amazing leadership of youth activists like Greta Thunberg and millions of youth striking across the globe, we are seeing great movement happening. Photos of tens of thousands of people striking for climate on Sept. 20 surged around the globe. And yet climate response still lags far behind in the US, even in the progressive, forward-thinking State of California. These four San José council members are still clinging to our fossil fuel past, and business as usual. We need representatives who are actually dedicated to bringing us into our clean energy future. Youth have made a bigger difference in responding to the climate crisis than anyone else before. We ask you to get on board with us, for urgent climate action, to support the Green New Deal and to transform business as usual. Join us.
Here’s a video of some of our other accomplishments in 2019.
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Mark your calendar: The next global climate strike is Earth Day - Wed., April 22, 2020. Get your networks out in force!
Thanks! Happy New Year! Let’s make this the biggest war on climate (not Iran!) We must save our future. We don’t have time to waste on representatives who don’t act on the climate crisis. Business as usual will not address the climate crisis. We need to reinvent our future. We are the leaders, all of us. Get on board! We need you! Let’s lead on climate!
Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action