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    1. Bus

    Big Checks Issued to Cities and County for Local Streets and Roads

    Jan. 31, 2019
    The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has announced that hundreds of millions of dollars collected from Santa Clara County residents since April 2017.
    Related To: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)
    VTA
    The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has announced that hundreds of millions of dollars collected from Santa Clara County residents since April 2017.
    The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has announced that hundreds of millions of dollars collected from Santa Clara County residents since April 2017.

    The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has announced that hundreds of millions of dollars collected from Santa Clara County residents since April 2017 are ready to be spent on critical transportation infrastructure needs.Nearly two years after Santa Clara County voters approved 2016 Measure B followed by a drawn out judicial process, the California Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal on a meritless legal challenge.

    This paved the way for the lower courts, which also ruled against that challenge, to allow VTA to disburse the tax revenue being accumulated in escrow, as of January 30, 2019.To date, VTA has collected approximately $360 million – a portion of that going directly to the 15 cities that comprise the county, and the county, to start making an immediate impact to their local streets and roads.

    “We are ready to provide $9.5 million dollars in advance to cities to relieve the ‘pot hole pain’ they’ve endured for so long,” said VTA Board Chair and Santa Clara City Councilmember Teresa O’Neill. “We look forward to signing the agreements with all of our partner agencies in Santa Clara County, so we can get this much-needed work done to improve mobility for the millions of people who rely on us to keep them moving where they work, live and play.”

    After this initial advance, funding for the remainder of the local streets and roads projects will come in the form of reimbursements once those projects get underway.“I am pleased that we finally have a legal resolution to the frivolous lawsuit that sought to overturn the will of 72 percent of the voters. With this victory, we can immediately put hundreds of millions of dollars to work paving our roads, improving our highways and expressways and upgrading our mass transit systems,” shared San Jose City Mayor and former VTA Board Chair Sam Liccardo. There are 8 other 2016 Measure B Program categories that will receive funding for various improvements throughout the County. VTA is tasked with administering these funds which will total about $6.3 billion over 30 years.