SPUR Transportation Policy Area Header

Transportation

We believe: Walking, biking, and taking transit should be the safest
and best ways to get around for people of all ages and abilities.

Our Goal


• Reduce emissions from transportation.

• Reduce driving.

• Build complete communities around transit.

• Make Bay Area transit work for the 21st century.

• Eliminate traffic deaths.

a bus traveling unimpeded in a transit-only lane

SPUR Report

Making Roads Work for Transit

Transit delays and unreliability can make riding the bus a nonstarter for those who have other ways to get around. Giving transit vehicles priority on Bay Area roads can deliver the speed and reliability improvements needed to get more people on buses and out of cars.
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cyclist riding on a road with separated bike lanes

Policy Brief

Accelerating Sustainable Transportation in California

To fight climate pollution, California will need to build out the infrastructure to make walking, biking and riding transit the default ways to get around. SPUR makes the case to extend state legislation that is making it faster to build commonsense sustainable transportation projects.
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A mostly empty parking lot viewed from above

SPUR Report

The Bay Area Parking Census

For decades, parking in the Bay Area has been both ubiquitous and uncounted. SPUR and the Mineta Transportation Institute have produced the San Francisco Bay Area Parking Census, the most detailed assessment of parking infrastructure ever produced for the region.
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Updates and Events

SPUR Comments on BART Silicon Valley Phase II Planning Process

Advocacy Letter
SPUR urges VTA to begin the planning process for Phase II of the BART Silicon Valley extension to ensure sufficient time to develop solutions to some of the project's biggest challenges. SPUR believes this collaborative planning process should take place before the required CEQA/NEPA public processes.

SPUR Supports Update to Transportation Impact Analysis Guidelines

Advocacy Letter
Reforming the TIA guidelines is an action that SPUR has specifically identified in our recent policy report, Freedom to Move: How the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Can Create Better Transportation Options. We found that reforming VTA guidelines like these are necessary to let VTA transit thrive, reduce auto-dependency and to facilitate great urban design in VTA’s 15 member jurisdictions.

Inspiration From Helsinki: Car-Free Living That Really Works

News /
Is the transportation always greener on the other side of the fence? Helsinki, Finland, recently announced a plan for a transit system that would make car ownership a thing of the past within the next 10 years. SPUR examines how the Bay Area could take inspiration from this integrated, single-payment, mobility-on-demand system.

Transit Envy

Urbanist Article
SPUR's recent study trip to London revealed a number of transit innovations worthy of admiration: excellent wayfinding and walkability, iconic buses and successfully implemented congestion charging.

What Can We Do About Highway 101?

News /
Despite more than $1 billion in capital investments on Highway 101 over the past 20 years, the connection between San Francisco and Silicon Valley still has some of the worst traffic delays in the Bay Area. Alleviating traffic on 101 will require viable alternatives to driving through both transportation and land use changes. SPUR proposes a three-pronged approach to managing growth in the corridor.

Freedom to Move

SPUR Report
Santa Clara County grew up around the car. Now traffic is stalling economic growth, social equity and quality of life. How can we get the South Bay, its people and its economy moving in a more sustainable way? SPUR's new report offers seven strategies to expand the range of transportation choices.
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