San Jose, Calif. – The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has been named the Outstanding Public Transportation System among “large” transit agencies throughout North America. This top industry award from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) honors a public transportation system member who has demonstrated achievement in efficiency and effectiveness among agencies providing more than 15 million but fewer than 50 million annual passenger trips. VTA provides more than 25 million trips annually for buses, light rail, and paratransit in Santa Clara County.
VTA General Manager/CEO Carolyn Gonot offered her gratitude for the acknowledgment, saying, “Every employee at VTA, from our maintenance workers, bus and light rail operators, to middle managers, administrators, and executives, have worked extremely hard and been resilient over the past three years. We are immensely proud to receive this honor.”
The award recognizes VTA’s excellence amid unprecedented challenges over 2021 and 2022, continuing to provide essential service during COVID-19 and making significant strides in restoring service to pre-pandemic levels, after emerging from a traumatic shooting attack and a crippling cyberattack in the Spring of 2021.
VTA excelled in multiple categories measured for the award under Gonot’s leadership, which mirrors the timeframe of this award. By the end of 2021, pandemic-impacted bus service was restored to 91% of pre-pandemic levels, while light rail service was at 75%. Key milestones included the restoration of all suspended routes and increased frequency on high-demand routes. Success is attributed to the network redesign, which focused on high-frequency service throughout the day. Ridership growth is also a significant achievement, with steady major increases over the last three years, launching VTA into the top 5 agencies in the nation for ridership recovery.
Board Chair and Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez offered her support, saying, “VTA provides one of the most critical services our local government can offer, the ability to get people where they need to go. It is a privilege to help lead this agency and gratifying to see its hard work recognized on an international level.”
Chair Chavez and General Manager/CEO Gonot will accept the award at a formal presentation at the APTA Annual Transform Conference to be held in Anaheim, Calif., this fall.