SCVTA, Google team up on transportation study

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
image description

The North Bayshore region in Mountain View, Calif., home to Google and Linkedin, will soon be the subject of a transit study in an effort to figure out how to move an increasing number of employees there in ways other than solo driving.

 

At Google’s request, with an offer of a hefty amount of funding for the study, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) will examine how best to accommodate the more than 15,000 new employees expected in that area over the next five years.

“The North Bayshore area has the potential to be a world class example of mixed use and corporate enterprise,” said Mountain View Mayor John McAlister. “It is exciting to see Google working with the SCVTA and the city of Mountain View to make sure that footprint will be sensitive to our environment.”

SCVTA and Google have entered into a cooperative agreement to conceptually study a range of transportation options. The study will include an analysis of possible mass transit connections to the area, including a light-rail connection from the NASA/Bayshore station, new bridge crossings over Stevens Creek and the development and/or application of new technologies.

“SCVTA is the expert in transportation planning and we’re proud to work with a visionary like Google on improving the transit landscape,” said SCVTA Board Chair Perry Woodward.

SCVTA and Google, along with the city of Mountain View and neighboring cities, share a mutual interest in finding creative solutions to transportation issues in this area. This is a partnership that SCVTA and Google hope ushers in a paradigm in public/private partnerships.
Work on the study is expected to begin in the Spring of 2016, wrapping up somewhere around July.

 

Tags: