After 25 years, Santa Clara's light rail has failed to live up to its promise, proving to be “among the least successful in the nation” reports Mike Rosenberg, while “serving as a constant reminder that the car is still king in Silicon Valley."
Despite expanding out over a stretch of 42.2 miles, with 62 stations, and serving 32,000 one-way commuters, Silicon Valley's VTA system is still considered to be one of the most costly, slow, inefficient and under-utilized in the nation, writes . It cost $2 billion to build and costs $66 million a year to operate. Each vehicle costs 30 percent more than the national average to operate and carries 30 percent fewer passengers. And the system is heavily subsidized by taxpayers, at the second worst rate in the nation. Critics see it as an innately flawed failure, yet advocates point to decreased freeway traffic while remaining optimistic that usage will increase in years to come.
VTA transportation manager Kevin Connolly contrasts its failures with San Francisco's successes, “[i]n our case we tried to graft a big-city transit type of mode onto a suburban environment, and it's still kind of a work in progress." Routes were planned along onion fields, rather than along existing, dense corridors, and “the density never materialized in Silicon Valley,” notes Rosenberg.
Those who remain optimistic acknowledge there is much improvement to be made. "In general, we can't lose sight of the fact that we have to do the basics better," says Connolly. "We have to be faster, we have to connect with better destinations." Proposals in the pipeline include adding more tracks for express trains, as well as reductions in service costs, which could lead to more funding.
FULL STORY: 25 years later, VTA light rail among the nation's worst

Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.

Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.

New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives
The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.

Proposed Transit Line Would Connect Downtown Tucson to Airport
Based on community input for a 15-mile transit line, residents want to see a focus on affordable housing development and anti-displacement measures.

Strip Malls as a Housing Solution
The American strip mall may be a dying breed of commercial development, but could the buildings serve a new use as sustainable housing?

Study: Most of Vancouver Is a ‘15-Minute City’
A large majority of Vancouver residents can access a grocery store in 15 minutes or less by bicycle or on foot.
Urban Planning Partners
Sandy City
Ada County Highway District
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Redwood City
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.