40 Years of Investment: Santa Clara VTA Stays the Course
In the last decade, transportation agencies across the country faced serious challenges as the great recession, combined with more fuel efficient cars, reduced funding available for much needed infrastructure maintenance and investment. In Silicon Valley, there is an estimated $4.5 billion gap between available funding and what is needed to keep our roads in good repair. In addition to funding constraints, most of Silicon Valley is now physically built out, limiting options for expansion of the highway and road system.
To keep Silicon Valley freeways moving, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) employed innovative approaches and leveraged the latest technology to maximize the efficiency and performance of the infrastructure already in place. Developing an “Intelligent Transportation System” (ITS), which uses big data and mobile communications, has improved our ability to plan for and respond to varying travel demands during peak and non-peak hours. VTA installed smart ramp meters to manage traffic flow onto freeways.
In 2012, VTA launched the first phase of its Silicon Valley Express Lanes Program on the SR 237/I-880 interchange in Milpitas. Express Lanes allow solo drivers to pay a fee to access carpool lanes during peak commute hours. Through ITS and dynamic pricing, the level of demand is managed in the express lanes to maintain free-flowing speeds even when general purposes lanes are congested. Plans for extension of the network include express lanes on U.S. 101 and SR 85, improving travel times in these corridors and generating revenue that can be reinvested in other transportation improvement projects.
