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DIY - Do It Yourself Complaints (and Compliments) That Get Results!
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| MAKING YOUR CASE The Basics
VTA Board Contacts (by City and Area)
Contacting Other Elected Officials
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Do you have a compliment or complaint about Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Bus and Light Rail Service? Do you want to be better informed on VTA's Board meetings and workshops? We can help - from letting you know the right official to contact, to helping you write effective letters. Here are several steps to best register your concerns:
Note that this portlet is based on one used by the transit advocacy group in New York City that helped inspire us - the Straphangers Campaign.
What is your compliment, complaint, or inquiry about?
| Compliments/Complaints | Comments/Mailing List Information |
| Bus/Light Rail Service and drivers | VTA Board of Directors (and their mailing list) |
| Bus Stops | Downtown/East Valley Bus/Light Rail Project |
| Customer Service & Community Outreach | Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Corridor (BART) Project |
| Police/Security | Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) |
| Paratransit/OUTREACH | Highway 17 Express Bus Service |
| VTA Policy | Caltrain |
| Capitol Corridor | Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) |
Keep in Mind:
Addresses for Complaints or Compliments
All letters should be sent to the individual department that you are issuing a complaint or compliment about. A copy or separate letter should then go to the VTA's General Manager, Michael Burns.
Michael Burns, General Manager
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
3331 N. First Street, Building B
San Jose, CA 95134-1906
phone (408)321-5559
fax (408)955-0891
VTA
Bus/Light Rail Service and
Drivers
When contacting, please indicate the number of the vehicle, found at the front, sides, and back, the route number and destination, time of day, and/or the operator's badge number, found on the right sleeve of his/her uniform.
Donald A. "Dan" Smith
Chief Operating Officer
Operations Administration Division
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
3331 N. First Street, Building B
San Jose, CA 95134-1906
phone (408)321-7004
fax (408)922-0143
In addition, make sure to let VTA's Customer Service know about the issue at (408)321-2300 as well.
To find out whether a bus stop near you will be getting a new bus shelter soon, or to qualify a stop to receive a bus shelter, please contact Mona Babauta, head of VTA's Bus Shelters program, at (408)321-5769.
Customer
Service and Community Outreach
(Please
include the full name and title of anyone you spoke to in Customer
Service)
David J. Terrazas
Customer Service Manager
Marketing and Customer Service Division
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
3331 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95134-1906
phone (408)952-4296
fax (408)955-0893
VTA's Community Outreach program runs workshops that describe various transit and highway projects taking place within Santa Clara County. They also manage some public input for these projects. You can contact them at:
Community Outreach
Marketing and Customer Service Division
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
3331 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95134-1906
phone (408)321-7575
fax (408)321-7576
VTA's Community Outreach, as well as other areas of Customer Service, can be contacted thru the web form on VTA's web site or by calling (408)321-2300 during daytime hours.
Police
and Security
(include
date, description of, place, and time of incident. Include badge number
if possible)
Santa Clara County
Office of the Sheriff
55 West Younger Ave.
San Jose, CA 95110-1721
phone (408)299-2101
fax (408)283-0562
Captain Luther Pugh
Chief of Security, Protective Services
Operations Administration Division
3331 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95134-1906
OUTREACH is the public paratransit provider for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. You can reach them thru their website at www.outreach1.org or
OUTREACH
926 Rock Ave., Suite 10
San Jose, California 95112
phone (408)436-2865
fax (408)382-0470
TDD (408)436-0155
email admin@outreach1.org
Issues regarding OUTREACH paratransit should also be directed to VTA's Chief Operating Officer as well
Send to VTA's General Manager, Michael Burns with a copy sent to the VTA Board of Directors.
Caltrain is a 77-mile commuter rail system that serves communities between San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, San Jose, and Gilroy. Caltrain's Customer Service number is 1(800)660-4287 while their administrative number is (650)508-6200.
Compliments or complaints about Caltrain should go to its CEO, Michael J. Scanlon, in addition to their customer service department:
Michael J. Scanlon
CEO, Caltrain/SamTrans
1250 San Carlos Ave.
San Carlos, CA 94070-1306
The VTA has three (3) local representatives on the Caltrain Joint Powers Board (JPB). Here is how to contact them:
Don Gage
County Supervisor, District 1
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
70 West Hedding Street
San Jose, CA 95110
San Martin Office
(408) 686-8742
80 Highland Avenue
San Martin, CA 95046
Pager (408) 681-4609
email: don.gage@bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us
Gage is the current Vice Chair on the Caltrain Joint Powers Board.
Ken Yeager
Councilmember, District 6
City of San Jose
801 N. First Street, #600
San Jose, CA 95110
phone (408)277-5166
fax (408)292-3781
email District6@ci.sj.ca.us
Forrest Williams
Councilmember, District 2
City of San Jose
200 E. Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA 95113
email: forrest.williams@sanjoseca.gov
phone: (408)535-4902
Altamont Commuter Express (ACE)
The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) is a commuter rail system that serves communities between Stockton, Fremont, and San Jose. The service runs on weekdays only, with three trains running between Stockton and San Jose during the morning rush hour, and three trains running between San Jose and Stockton during the evening rush hour.
Compliments or complaints about the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) commuter rail service should go to Stacey Mortensen at the address below, in addition to their customer service. The Customer Service number for ACE is 1(800)411-7245.
Stacey Mortensen, Executive Director
Altamont Commuter Express
Stockton Metropolitan Airport
5000 South Airport Way
Suite 201
Stockton, CA 95213
Amtrak's Capitol Corridor serves destinations between San Jose, Oakland, and Sacramento. The service is governed by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Board (CCJPB).
The CCJPB consists of officials from the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency, Sacramento Regional Transit District, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Solano Transportation Authority, and the Yolo County Transportation District.
Please address Capitol Corridor service questions and/or commments to:
The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority
1000 Broadway, Suite 604
Oakland, CA 94607
email: info@amtrakcapitols.com
VTA
Board of Directors
(including
information on their mailing list for various meeting agendas and notes)
The Board of Directors for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) set the policy for Santa Clara County's mass transit system. They also set the policy for highway construction and maintenance in the county. Send comments regarding current and proposed VTA policy to:
Office of the Board Secretary
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
3331 N. First Street, Building B-2
San Jose, CA 95134-1906
phone (408)321-5680
fax (408)955-0891
This will forward your comment to each of the twelve (12) members of VTA Board.
This same contact can be used to place you on the VTA Board of Directors mailing list by stating your name and address to the Board Secretary. This list features VTA Board, workshop, and committee meetings as well as agendas. A requirement to join this list for those concerned with transit issues in the South Bay. Members of the local media get information on VTA-related news and information from this list.
Downtown San Jose/East Valley Bus and Light Rail Project
Learn more information about this project at http://www.dtev-vta.org/. The project extends light rail from Alum Rock, along Capitol Expressway past Eastridge Mall, up to the Capitol Light Rail station. The project also provides for enhanced, light rail-style bus service along Monterrey Highway from downtown San Jose to Santa Teresa light rail station.
You can learn more about this project at
the contact below, where you can also send in any comments you have:
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
Planning and Programming
3331 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95134-1906
phone (408)321-5744
email downtown.eastvalley@vta.org
TDD (408)321-2330
Information on this project in Spanish, Vietnamese, or Chinese (Mandarin dialect) is available via VTA's Customer Service at (408)321-2300 (TDD at (408)321-2330).
Silicon
Valley Rapid Transit Corridor Project
(also
known as BART to San Jose)
Learn more about the BART extension from Milpitas to San Jose and Santa Clara via the web site VTA created for the project.
More information, as well as an outlet for comments on the project, can be obtained via the following contact:
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
Planning and Programming
3331 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95134-1906
phone (408)321-5744
TDD (408)321-2330
email: vtabart@vta.org
Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is the San Francisco Bay Area's transportation planning and financing organization. Every few years, transit agencies like the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) must submit their long-term plans for transit and highway projects to the MTC to qualify for state and federal funding.
The following contact information below can be used to get onto the MTC's mailing list, where information on meetings regarding regional transit is distributed. It's the same information Bay Area politicians and the media receive.
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter
101 Eighth Street
Oakland, CA 94607
phone (510)464-7700
fax (510 464-7848
TDD/TTY (510)464-7769
email info@mtc.ca.gov
You can also use this contact to send in your comments regarding the state of Bay Area mass transit.
Currently, three (3) officials represent Santa Clara County as Commissioners at MTC. The VTA currently has two (2) Board members who represent the agency and serve as Commissioners at MTC. Here is how to contact them:
Ken Yeager
Samta Clara
County Supervisor, District 4
County Government Center, 10th
Floor
70 W. Hedding Street
San Jose, CA
95110
email: Supervisor.Yeager@bos.sccgov.org
phone:
(408)299-5040
Dean J. Chu
1278 Mandarin Drive
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
phone (408)981-6663
Note that Mr. Chu will finish his 4-year term on the MTC Commissioners as a member of the Santa Clara County Cities Association. This is because he lost his reelection bid for his Sunnyvale City Council seat in District 4 in November 2007. This letter (Adobe Acrobat PDF) from Mr. Chu was that request to complete his term.
In addition to Supervisor Yeager and Mr. Chu, the third Santa Clara County representative of the MTC's Commissioners is San Jose Vice Mayor Dave Cortese. Cortese is serving as Commissioner of the MTC under his role as the county's delegate (and past President) of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).
Highway 17 Express Bus Service
The Highway 17 Express Bus Service runs between San Jose and Santa Cruz via Interstate 280, Interstate 880, and Highway 17. Select trips serve the Soquel Park-and-Ride lot next to Dominican Hospital.
The service is a joint effort between Santa Cruz METRO (who operates the buses), the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, and Amtrak California (a.k.a. Caltrans Division of Rail).
The following contact information can be used to send compliments or complaints about the Highway 17 Express Bus service. Make sure to send copies of correspondence to all parties listed below, to ensure they are on the same page.
Les White, General Manager
Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District
370 Encinal Street, Suite 100
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
phone (831)426-6080
Michael Burns, General Manager
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
3331 N. First Street, Building B
San Jose, CA 95134-1906
phone (408)321-5559
fax (408)955-0891
Warren Weber, Chief
Division of Rail
California Department of Transportation
P.O. Box 942873
Sacramento, CA 94273-0001
This is in addition to sending copies of your correspondence to VTA Customer Service as well as Santa Cruz METRO customer service.
You can reach Santa Cruz METRO customer service by calling (831)425-8600.
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