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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


The Case for Increased Rail Service in South Santa Clara County

News /
Multiple commuter and passenger rail projects are in the works in the South Bay, but most of them target just a few travel corridors. Left behind are many areas with more limited transit options and a high dependence on automobiles. One of them is South Santa Clara County, where the opportunity to expand Caltrain service could greatly improve commute times and reduce carbon emissions.

My Rider Is Your Rider: What the Bay Area Can Learn from Germany’s Collaborative Transit Planning

News /
In cities and regions across Germany, dozens of transit operators work together to provide riders with one simple and convenient transit system that is competitive with driving for many trips. It’s a far cry from the Bay Area, where transit services all have separate fares, schedules and maps. How were Germany’s cities able to align multiple operators into one seamless system?

The Politics of Potholes in Oakland: Fairness, Equity, City Budgets and the Public Good

News /
In recent weeks the Oakland Department of Transportation has begun publicizing its new $100 million, three-year paving plan. Ordinarily a plan that triples annual spending would meet with universal acclaim. But this plan — which incorporates equity in deciding how to spend money on paving streets — has some parts of town happy and other parts up in arms.

Four Goals Cities Should Keep in Mind When Planning for Shared E-Scooters and Bikes

News /
The success of e-scooters and other micro-mobility vehicles has created challenges over safety and the allocation of street and sidewalk space. As cities look for ways to better balance their rise, new regulations should focus on four objectives that will promote their use while keeping cities safe and welcoming for everyone.