Sounds good, let's fund some local transit and infrastructure improvements. Grade separation will help save lives, the 85 highway will help with traffic, and the BART extension will help people move around the bay more easily without cars.

Sounds like a good plan.

Now let's open up the floor to some comments from people clutching their cash tightly to their chests, hoping everyone else in the bay will magically just go away…

I personally will be voting no, and not because of financial reasons.

"The largest single project listed in the measure, a proposed BART extension from the forthcoming Berryessa Station to the San Jose Diridon Station would receive no more than $1.5 billion."

The plan is to bring BART from Berryessa to the Santa Clara Caltrain station, overlapping Caltrain service between Diridon and Santa Clara.

I'm with @sounds fair. Grade separation is a particular interest because, as @sounds fair says, it will help save lives. Unfortunately, it's also expensive and the proposed $700 million will not pay the full cost of all the needed projects, so cities and other government agencies will have to kick in additional funds.

I just hope Mountain View connects Castro Street and Moffett Boulevard via a subway under the railroad and Central Expressway, instead of their proposed alternative of closing the connection and routing traffic over the Shoreline overpass.

So is there a guarantee of where the money will go, or is it all up to the VTA to decide once it hits their coffers. Seems the current 2 taxes haven't done a thing, and I wonder if the money was diverted elsewhere.

Unless I see an unambiguous commitment to drop BRT and other El Camino silliness, I will vote no.

Once that message is delivered, VTA can come back again in 6-12 months with a different proposal.

No No NO...NO MORE TAXES FOR ANYTHING....

Old goat that hates progress ??

NO,,, just a tax payer that is sick of giving dollar after dollar for these projects that triple in cost, that take years to do and never give any return.

Do it with the money you have..

We pay so little in transit infrastructure spending that it's good that this tax is moving forward. It's only a few greedy and short sighted individuals that oppose this investment.

"sick of giving dollar after dollar for these projects that triple in cost, that take years to do and never give any return"

Have you ever actually BUILT anything substantial before? Cost overruns and schedule slips are prevalent everywhere, even more so for huge, complicated projects that require dealing with tons of local governments.

And "never give any return"? Wow, what an ungrateful attitude.

As you take advantage of the roads, walkways, safe drinking water, police, etc. etc. that tax dollars and underpaid humans have built, maybe take a moment and feel a modicum of gratitude for those who came before you, who were not selfish enough to stop multi-year efforts at improving our area.

I actually love this area enough to invest time and money towards improving it.

Lets see
6500 Million new taxes

-1500 Million BART from Berryessa Station to San Jose Diridon Station
- 750 Million county expressway improvements
- 700 Million grade separation for Caltrain
- 350 Million add two express lanes on Highway 85 (wider, new lanes?)
______________
3200 Million chump change not mentioned what boondoggle that is for?

I'm not against taxing for public transit infrastructure, but taxing north Santa Clara County for something that benefits south Santa Clara County while taking away service from the North, makes no sense.

Welcome to a democratic republic. I am taxed for fire service that I have never used. We have troops all over the world that are being paid for out of my tax dollars. It's called living in a civilization where we pool our money and resources to do great projects that benefit us all. Try to see the big picture and realize that we in the N County have easy, soft lives compared to many tens of thousands of in other less-affluent areas.

It appears the VTA Board of Politicians took no project off the table in rubber-stamping the bureaucrats' proposal to collect more sales tax to squander. Bart to China. Bus-only lanes on ECR. Higher pay and benefits. Special interest contracts. The measure is doomed.

To @ PA Resident

In reply to me you state that you have never used the fire department. However, I believe that if your home caught fire, you would be very grateful that the fire department was nearby and could come to your aid quickly and efficiently.

While looking at VTA, I don't look on public transport as something just for poor people who can't afford a car. I look on an efficient public transportation network as a means to commute without a car and keep traffic moving. I think this is something that is desperately needed in the north of the County, but VTA only thinks of poor people who can sit on a bus that snakes around the neighborhoods before getting to where nobody wants to go. If they buck up their ideas and start investing in good alternatives to personal vehicles with better routes for Caltrain passengers on first and last mile options and getting kids to schools, we might actually start using the service up here in the "affluent" north of the county.

I think it is misguided to oppose this tax because it is primarily for BART extension to San Jose. I do hope , however, that BART will eventually come to Mountain View.

The VTA will bring Bart to Mtn View when you give 'em another 20 billion dollars and they pay half of it to the owners of THE SIMPSONS.

Vote NO. Over the last several elections, voters in Santa Clara County have passed multiple tax and fee increases including VTA’s 2000 Measure A ½-cent and 2008 measure B ¼-cent sales taxes, Santa Clara County’s Measure A 1/8 cent sales tax, the state prop 30 ¼ cent sales tax and the 2010 Measure B Vehicle Registration Fee of $10. Additionally, we’re on the hook to pay back numerous state bond issues including high speed rail, last year’s Proposition 1 water bond and the infrastructure bonds of 2006.

All of this nickel and diming has contributed into making the Bay Area a horribly expensive place to live; especially for people of modest means, who must pay the greatest percentage of their income in these regressive taxes and fees. Each increase by itself does not amount to much, say a quarter cent, but the cumulative effect is to add to the unaffordability of the region.

Before increasing taxes YET AGAIN, waste needs to be removed from transportation projects. For example, VTA needs to eliminate waste and "gold plating" of the BART extension's cost by reducing the scope to eliminate duplicate facilities. Specifically, we need to eliminate the redundant and wasteful section between the San Jose and Santa Clara Caltrain stations. The BART segment from these stations would duplicate both the existing Caltrain line and VTA's 22 and 522 buses to a station that has approximately 1000 riders each weekday.

Why don’t the wealthy high-rollers in the “Leadership Group” suggest taxing their rich companies and leave the little guy alone for a change?

The voters already approved 2 taxes for transit and VTA is currently enjoying the benefits of both of those. Do you think they'll ever stop taxing if we never say no? Do you feel you got good value from the last 2 taxes?

No, they should make due with the current taxes, adjust your administrative budget and move forward.

Enough with the VTA taxes every single election!

I see Solano County had a bit of sanity:
Web Link

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