You may be asking, “There’s all these transit projects in the news, what’s the progress?”
Well, we’ve got the scoop for you on three major transit projects happening in San Jose + California as a whole — on both their status and 2024 goals.
🚈 San Jose BART stations
Est. completion date: 2040
VTA is planning to extend the Berryessa Line to four stations: 28th Street/Little Portugal, Downtown San Jose, Diridon, and Santa Clara.
Early November 2023, the city finalized the purchase of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) that will dig a tunnel with five miles of train tracks — expected to take 3-4 years to complete. The TBM will take six months to assemble on-site, so major tunneling won’t start until 2025.
Surface construction began at all four future station sites in late November 2023, and you can get updates by signing up for notifications.
🚉 Diridon Station Area Plan (DSAP)
Est. completion date: Unknown
First introduced in 2014, this project was approved by City Council in 2021 to be built in conjunction with Google’s Downtown West project. The DSAP envisions Diridon Station as a major transit hub — one that could be the gateway for BART extensions + the new High-Speed Rail.
As of last fall, five partner transit agencies started work on the Diridon Station Business Case, which evaluates the costs + benefits of proposed station designs, while also considering public input from 2018-2020.
The next steps for this year include developing station design alternatives, establishing a governance structure, and securing funding.
This is what the new high-speed trains could look like.
Rendering via California High-Speed Rail Authority
🚄 California High-Speed Rail (HSR) Phase I
Est. completion date: 2030
This project has been the talk of many towns, as Phase I aims to provide fast transportation (220 mph to be exact) from SF to LA in under three hours.
Environmental clearance for 422 miles has been completed, with only 72 miles (Palmdale-Burbank + LA-Anaheim) left.
In December 2023, the US Dept. of Transportation granted $3.1 billion to the High-Speed Rail Authority to advance the already-active construction of 119 miles of train tracks in the Central Valley.
