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Transportation

Our goal: Make walking, biking, taking transit and carpooling the default options for getting around

SPUR’s Five-Year Priorities:


Improve the region’s transit network, and the institutions that run it, so that all people have fast, reliable access to their city and region.

Make it faster, easier, more dignified and less expensive to get around without a car.

Leverage transportation investments to build great neighborhoods and connect people to opportunity.

 

​​ Read our policy agenda

SPUR Report

A Regional Transit Coordinator for the Bay Area

The Bay Area’s two dozen different transit services would be easier for riders to use if they functioned like a single network. This type of coordination is complex, but that’s not why it hasn’t been done. The real reason is that it’s not anyone’s responsibility.

SPUR Report

More for Less

Around the world, building major transit projects is notoriously difficult. Yet the Bay Area has an especially poor track record: Major projects here take decades from start to finish, and our project costs rank among the highest in the world. SPUR offers policy proposals that will save time, save money and add up to a reliable, integrated and frequent network that works better for everyone.

SPUR Report

Value Driven

Roads and parking are expensive to build, but they’re mostly free for drivers to use as much as they’d like. This kind of free access imposes serious costs on others: traffic, climate change, air pollution, and heart and lung disease. SPUR’s new report Value Driven shines a light on the invisible costs of driving and offers five pioneering strategies to address them.

SPUR Report

The Future of Transportation

Will the rise of new mobility services like Uber and bike sharing help reduce car use, climate emissions and demand for parking? Or will they lead to greater inequality and yet more reliance on cars? SPUR proposes how private services can work together with public transportation to function as a seamless network and provide access for people of all incomes, races, ages and abilities.

SPUR Report

Seamless Transit

The Bay Area’s prosperity is threatened by fragmentation in the public transit system: Riders and decision-makers contend with more than two dozen transit operators. Despite significant spending on building and maintaining transit, overall ridership has not been growing in our region. How can we get more benefit from our transit investments?

SPUR Report

Caltrain Corridor Vision Plan

The Caltrain Corridor, home of the Silicon Valley innovation economy, holds much of the Bay Area’s promise and opportunity, but its transportation system is breaking down. Along this corridor — which includes Hwy 101 and Caltrain rail service from San Francisco to San Jose — the typical methods of getting around have become untenable.

Updates and Events


In Pursuit of a Seamless Transit System

Urbanist Article
Two new SPUR white papers offer recommendations for an easier-to-use transit map and the implementation of coordinated regional fares.

SPUR Recommends Prioritization of User Experience at Diridon Station

Advocacy Letter
SPUR recommend that local boards and partner agencies at Diridon Station use the lens of user experience to evaluate the proposed elements and scenarios for the spatial configuration of this multimodal hub. User experience is critical to whether people will embrace the station — be it to take a transit trip, meet with friends in the station area, or live or work in San Jose.

SPUR Comments on Caltrain Service Delivery and Governance

Advocacy Letter
SPUR commend Caltrain for taking on questions about how it should be organized to deliver services effectively as part of the business plan. In this letter SPUR outlines four goals for Caltrain's future service delivery and governance models and provides best practices about how rail networks are delivered and managed in other countries.

SPUR Supports Rail Corridor Plan for San Jose and Inter-Agency Agreement

Advocacy Letter
SPUR supports a Rail Corridor Plan for San José and Inter-Agency Agreement and provides recommendations to help develop the Rail Corridor Plan's scope of work and the Inter-Agency Agreement. This effort can further promote collaboration in developing a seamless and integrated rail network across the Bay Area and Northern California Megaregion.