San José advances plan for Diridon Station to Mineta International Airport autonomous shuttle connector

The two largest transportation hubs in San Jose, Calif. – Diridon Station and San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) – may host an autonomous shuttle connection in the future following approval by the city council to enter a pre-development agreement with the San Jose Connection Partners team.

The city views the Diridon to Airport Connector as “a new approach to transit”, with the aim of building the connection faster at a lower cost and offer an enhanced rider experience than traditional transit systems.

The pre-development agreement is the first of a multi-phase agreement that would develop a business case for the proposed transit solution and validate the project’s feasibility. This first phase is expected to last between six and 12 months. The city will then evaluate the technical, commercial and financial viability of the transit solution and determine whether or not to move to the second phase of the project, which would cover preliminary engineering and environmental review.

"Diridon Station is poised to become the most significant rail and bus hub on the West Coast in the decades ahead," said San José Mayor Matt Mahan. "It just makes sense to connect this central station with San Jose’s exceptional airport, which serves more than 11 million people per year. I’m hopeful a public-private partnership will enable us to deliver a seamless connection cost-effectively for both riders and taxpayers."

The San Jose Connection Partners team is led Plenary Americas as the lead developer and equity provider and includes:

• Glydways (transit technology provider)
• Webcor/Obayashi (lead design and construction contractors)
• HNTB (lead designer)
• ACI (operations and maintenance provider)

The proposed transit technology would utilize small, autonomous vehicles driving along a fixed guideway. The proposed system is designed to initially carry more than 2,000 passengers an hour in each direction.

"The San Jose Connection Partners team is incredibly excited to partner with the city of San José in creating an innovative, new transit solution to better connect the San José Mineta International Airport and Diridon Station," said Dale Bonner, executive chairman at Plenary Americas. "We look forward to working with the city and key stakeholders on this project."

The decision to recommend San Jose Connection Partners follows the city’s Departments of Transportation, Aviation and Public Works issuance of a request for proposals asking teams how they would work with the city to design, finance, build and operate a new transit line.

"This is an early step in an exciting, first-of-its-kind project for San José. The city is working to give people more car-free options that are safer, cleaner and more pleasant than sitting in traffic," said John Ristow, director of transportation, city of San Jose. "We’re hoping this project serves as a model for future transit solutions that can be quickly expanded across San José."

San Jose Director of Aviation John Aitken added, “San José Mineta International Airport is on a positive growth trajectory, and our new airport branding sums up what travelers can expect at SJC: Fly simple. This new transit connection to our terminals will provide another convenient option for our passengers.”

While the goal of the project is to develop and deliver a transit connection between SJC and Diridon Station, the city explains if the Airport to Diridon Connector Project is successful, it could be expanded to other corridors across San José and the South Bay.