To our members:

• Annual transit passes for employees reimbursed by the City
• Abierto public activation program returns
• Meetings and Workshops
• Downtown is hiring
• Street closures and ACE rail update
• Save the Date - Oct. 14 - for SJDA Annual Meeting
• Coming up
• Downtown and Silicon Valley in the News

City of San Jose will reimburse businesses providing transit passes to all their employees

To help get people out of their cars and into public transit, the City of San Jose's Department of Transportation is beginning a pilot program that provides reimbursement to businesses (not residential or colleges/schools) that enroll in VTA’s SmartPass program. 
 
Using the Parking Fund, the City (DOT) will reimburse companies on a first-come-first-served basis, with a total of $100,000 available this fiscal year and another $100,000 next fiscal year.  Large and small companies in any metered district (Downtown, Japantown, East Santa Clara) can qualify.

Businesses must get passes for every employee -- not just some employees -- by signing up on the VTA website.  Once businesses get their passes they will need to go to DOT with proof that they purchased passes for every employee.  

The passes range from $165 for non-profits to $180.  These links off the VTA SmartPass web pages provide more information:
Determining SmartPass Categories
Determining Service Level
Determining your Annual Rate per Participant 

To receive reimbursement for VTA SmartPass enrollment, email DOT at parking@sanjoseca.gov.

Time to apply for Abierto funding

There's still time to apply for a piece of $600,000 in Abierto program funds.  San Jose Downtown Association, Filco Events, San Jose Jazz and School of Arts and Culture are curating applications to disperse Abierto program funds -- intended to bring people back to San Jose and celebrate after two difficult years.

SJDA has four applicants, will accept applications through Sept. 30, and plans to evaluate them the first week of October. 

San Jose arts-based individuals, groups or organizations who plan to celebrate the city’s re-opening through events and public space activations are eligible.  Abierto (Italian for “open”) funding provided by the Mayor’s Budget Office of the City of San Jose will range between $500 and $50,000 per applicant.  

The four lead agencies will process the requests, disseminate the funds and provide logistical support.  Before the end of June, 2023, recipients can take part three different ways:

• Activate in Viva Parks/Viva CalleSJ programming;
• Activate in a one-time program or event;
• Or activate an event or activation series.

Start by completing an Intent to Participate form available at sjdowntown.com/abierto/ and send it to Justin Imamura at justin.imamura@sanjoseca.gov.  Forms are available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese.  A review committee will evaluate applications and recommend grant awards soon thereafter.  

In the first season of the Abierto Program, SJDA allotted funding to Urban Vibrancy Institute for weekly music events; Curatus for South First Fridays STREET MRKT and SubZero; SJSU Department of Humanities and the Arts for a variety of events; Stage One for a short-film series; Friends of Hue for a photo exhibit and School of Visual Philosophy for Second Saturday events along The Alameda.

People and groups still interested can continue applying into October and will be considered by the other curating organizations. 

Santa Clara County Disparity Study Virtual Engagement Meeting

MGT Consulting Group has partnered with Santa Clara County to conduct a disparity study examining its use of Diverse Business Enterprises (DIV-BE) in the procurement process. To successfully complete this study, we need to hear from you! Several community meetings will be held to gather information from businesses that have done and/or attempted to do business with the county. These meetings are open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

Input gathered from these meetings will be analyzed as the basis of recommendations to improve the DIV-BE program. Names will remain confidential. Both Chinese and Tagalog translation will be available. This is the last of a series of meetings.  More about the study here.

Lend Your Voice to Shape Downtown's Transportation Future II

San Jose’s Downtown Transportation Plan is a community-based, strategic plan to build a more vibrant and welcoming downtown. Since 2020, the community has been engaged in finding transportation solutions—big and small—that meet current needs and prepare for upcoming changes with BART, electric trains, connected trails, and more. A follow-up to April’s preview draft plan, the Downtown Transportation Plan team is eager to partner with SPUR to present the most recent public draft plan. This process depends on public feedback to be successful, so come and share your thoughts as the team completes the plan for City Council’s consideration in November.

• Eric Eidlin / City of San Jose Department of Transportation
• Wilson Tam / City of San Jose Department of Transportation