Thank You VTA for increasing equity in bike/ped project funding
On Thursday, Oct. 3, the VTA board voted 8-4 to increase the importance of serving oppressed communities when VTA allocates 2016 Measure B bike/ped capital program funding. This is a big win for equity in silicon valley! We have been advocating for increased equity in the project ranking criterion since last winter.
We want to thank Supervisor Dave Cortese and the city of San José for championing increased equity with the other VTA board members. He first supported this recommendation in a memo to the VTA Board this summer. At that time, the VTA board sent his recommendation back to the committees for more study. The board didn't finally vote until Oct. 3. Supervisor Cortese was again a champion. We are also very grateful to the other supporting VTA board members Supervisor Cindy Chavez, San José Mayor Sam Liccardo, Council members Magdalena Carrasco, Lan Diep, Chappie Jones, Raul Peralez, and Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran. Thank you to everyone who contacted VTA board members to support increased equity. Special thanks to members of the VTA Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee who voted for increased equity and Supervisor Cortese's office for their support.
The exact vote the VTA board took was to “increased Criterion #9 to 10 points and increased the total program points to 125.” Criterion #9 gives points to projects which served oppressed communities. This increased the potential points that bike/ped projects could earn by servicing oppressed areas in the county from 4% to 8% of the total points available. Originally, this criterion was proposed for only 5 points and then it was danger of being eliminated altogether.
SVBC has been working diligently for months to support this outcome. We talked with board members, Policy Committee members, and other key influencers about why we thought the capital program ranking should give more importance to servicing oppressed communities. We wrote three blogs about this issue as it slowly evolved to gain support from the public and decision-makers for our recommendation.
There are two main reasons why we wanted this outcome and they are both related to seeking increase equity. First, there has been less infrastructure investment in these areas in the past. Second, it is more important to have improved infrastructure in poorer areas because more people there rely on walking and biking to get around.
Congratulations on a win toward greater equity in bike/ped project funding in Santa Clara County.