Rod Diridon Sr. | |
---|---|
Born | February 8, 1939 |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | San Jose State University |
Occupation(s) | Retired elected official, non-profit leader |
Known for | Chair, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, Chair, California High-Speed Rail Authority, San Jose Diridon Train Station |
Spouse | Dr. Gloria C. Duffy |
Rod Diridon Sr. (born February 8, 1939) is an American politician known for his leadership in mass transportation. He served as chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority from 2001 to 2003. He currently chairs the advisory board of the United States High Speed Rail Association, and he chairs the National Heritage Area Project for Santa Clara County, California. [1] The New York Times calls Diridon "a tireless advocate of public transport for the Bay Area." [2]
Diridon has also been active in Silicon Valley in leadership on environmental issues, the arts and culture, higher education, community organizations, and philanthropy.
An Italian-American, Rod Diridon Sr. was born on February 8, 1939, in Yreka, California, the son of a railroad brakeman and a piano teacher. [3] He grew up in the small town of Dunsmuir, at the foot of Mt. Shasta in Siskiyou County, California. [3] Diridon worked his way through college as a railroad brakeman and fireman. [3] He graduated from San Jose State University in 1961 with a BS in accounting and finance, continuing to earn a Master of Science in business administration with a concentration in statistics in 1963. [3] Diridon then attended US Naval Officer's Candidate School and served on active duty in the US Navy from 1963-1967. [3] Diridon served two combat tours on destroyers in Vietnam as an anti-submarine warfare officer and a weapons officer. [3] His collateral duties included serving as ship's chaplain, cryptographer, auditor, legal officer, and communications officer. He completed his service with the rank of lieutenant jr. grade. [3]
After returning from Vietnam, Diridon became a management systems analyst at Lockheed Missile and Space Corporation in Sunnyvale, California. [4] He founded the Decision Research Institute in 1969, which did statistical research, needs assessments, and organizational consulting for public agencies and candidates for public office. [5]
Chairing his neighborhood homeowners' association in Saratoga, California, Diridon successfully advocated for retention of a neighborhood park, mobilizing the support of 17 other homeowners' associations in the city. [6] He was then approached by local leaders and encouraged to run for the Saratoga City Council. [7]
Diridon was first elected as the youngest-ever member of the Saratoga City Council in 1973. [8] He was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 1974, representing the Fourth Supervisorial District. [7] He served five terms as a member of the Board from 1975 until 1995, and he served six times as its chair. [9] [10] During his service on the Board, Diridon chaired several San Francisco Bay Area regional government agencies, including the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). [7]
The papers from Diridon's 24 years in public office are archived at San Jose's Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. [11]
After he chaired the successful 1976 campaign for the first half-cent sales tax for a transit district in California, Diridon became known as "the father of modern transit service" in Silicon Valley. [12] This tax funded, among other projects, a light rail system for Santa Clara County. [13] [14]
While in office, Diridon chaired nine public rail construction and operation projects. These included the Santa Clara County Rapid Transit Development Project, which created a master plan for transportation for Silicon Valley. [15] Diridon proposed the half-cent sales tax to fund transportation projects and chaired the 1976 campaign that won voter approval of the tax. [15]
From 1975-1991, Diridon chaired the Guadalupe Corridor Light Rail Project Joint Powers Board to design and build that 21-mile project. [15] Following that, Diridon chaired the 1982-1996 project to design and build the Tasman East Corridor and Tasman Corridor West light rail projects. [15] Beginning in 1974, Diridon convened and chaired the Peninsula Transportation Alternatives Project that led to the CalTrain commuter rail system from San Francisco to San Jose and Gilroy. [15] He served on the Joint Powers Board that guided the negotiations to acquire and manage that system until his retirement in 1995. [15]
From 1982-1995, Diridon convened and chaired the Vasona Corridor Light Rail Joint Powers Board that designed and built the light rail line from San Jose to Los Gatos. [15]
He assisted the creation of Joint Powers Boards to begin and operate commuter rail systems between Stockton, in California's Central Valley, and San Jose (the Altamont Express), and for the Capitol Corridor rail between Sacramento and San Jose. [15]
Beginning in 1988, Diridon chaired the San Jose Station Study Joint Powers Board to determine whether the historic main Southern Pacific/Amtrak train station in downtown San Jose should be retained after being damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. [15] The study recommended the retention of the station and expansion of the facilities to accommodate additional rail service including CalTrain, light rail, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, high speed rail, a bus interchange point, and the Capitol Corridor and Altamont Express trains. [15] The construction was completed in 1994.
San Jose's Diridon Station was renamed for Rod Diridon in 1994 at the time of his retirement from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. [16]
In 2000, Diridon was appointed to the California High Speed Rail Authority by Governor Gray Davis and was then re-appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Diridon chaired the Authority Board from 2001 to 2003, serving two years beyond the eight-year limit for the board and stepping down in 2010. [17] During his tenure as Chair, the California state legislature authorized a ballot measure for bond funding of the high speed rail project, Proposition 1A, which was approved by voters in 2008.
Diridon has served as vice chair of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) in Brussels, Belgium. [18] He has chaired the American Public Transit Association (APTA) and its High Speed Intercity Rail Committee, and he co-founded APTA's Diversity Council. [18]
Diridon chaired the National Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC). [19]
In collaboration with then-House Transportation Committee Chairman Norman Y Mineta, Diridon prepared the legislative language for Congress to create a new university-based transportation research center that focused on mass transportation policy studies. [20] Through the 1991 ISTEA legislation, the US Congress authorized the creation of the new center. [21] Santa Clara County voted in term limits for county officials in November 1992, precipitating Diridon's retirement from the county Board of Supervisors. [22] After his retirement at the end of 1994, Diridion became the founding executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), based at San Jose State University. [23] Diridon directed the Institute from 1993 to 2014. [24] He is now the emeritus executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute. [25]
Under his leadership, MTI performed an annual needs assessment with the US Department of Transportation and California Department of Transportation, which identified research priorities. [26] Based on these priorities, MTI conducts peer-reviewed research involving teams of academic and professional specialists, distributing the reports via publications, conferences, and the Internet. [26] MTI research focuses on best practices internationally, through case studies on issues such as transit systems security, transportation financing, and transportation-related land use policies and sustainability. [26] [27]
A needs assessment in the early 1990s identified the lack of a master's degree program teaching transportation systems management in the United States. [28] MTI designed a Master of Science in Transportation Management (MSTM) degree program, which was accepted for accreditation by the California State University Board of Trustees in 1996. [29] Three specialized certificates are also offered—in transportation security, transportation finance, and high-speed rail management. [29] Diridion arranged for the classes to be taught via the California Department of Transportation video-conference system at 28 locations throughout California. [29] With degrees granted through San Jose State University, the program has graduated more than 300 students. [29]
Rod Diridon chairs the board of Lincoln Law School of San Jose, which focuses on educating veterans, moderate-income, and minority students. [30]
Diridon has chaired non-profit boards at the local and regional levels. He served as president of the San Jose Symphony, the San Jose Rotary Club, the San Jose Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees), the San Jose United Service Organizations (USO), and the Central San Jose YMCA. [5] He chaired the Santa Clara County Mental Health Association and is the founding chair of the Santa Clara County branch of the National Council on Alcoholism. [15] He chaired the board of Breathe California of the Bay Area, formerly the American Lung Association. [5]
Diridon is the immediate past chair of the Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters. [31]
Diridon founded CTRC in 1982 to collect and restore historic trolley cars for use on rail lines in San Jose. [32] He chaired CTRC from 1982 to 2014, retired for a year, and then resumed chairing the organization in 2016. [33] In 2014, the CTRC historic trolley barn in San Jose's History Park, where work on the historic rolling stock is completed, was named the Rod Diridion Sr. Trolley Barn. [34]
Diridon served for 20 years as the chair of the Joseph B. Ridder Foundation, administering funds donated by friends of the late newspaper publisher, which funded journalism and mass communication fellowships primarily at San Jose State University. [35] He also co-chaired the late-1990s fund drive efforts for three of the perimeter gate monuments for San Jose State University. He served on the Tower Foundation board at San Jose State University, which advises the university president and raises funds for the university. [36] He established and funded Diridon Leadership Scholarships at the College of Business and the women's athletic program at San Jose State University. [37] He worked to establish a scholarship endowment at the Mineta Transportation Institute, for which he is also a donor. [38]
Diridon founded the San Jose Symphony Foundation and served on its board. [11] He served on the regional Wells Fargo Bank Corporate Advisory board. [30] He chaired capital campaigns and annual fund drives for the San Jose Metropolitan YMCA, the Santa Clara County Music and Arts Foundation, and the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation, and for 11 years, he chaired the annual Jamboree and fund drive for the Santa Clara County Council of the Boy Scouts of America. [15]
Rod Diridon has served on a number of corporate boards, including the San Jose Business Bank and San Jose National Bank. [39] Since 1970, he has been a director of Empire Broadcasting Corporation, owner of South Bay radio stations KRTY 95.3 FM and KLIV 1590 AM, among the last locally owned radio stations in Silicon Valley. [40]
In 1973, Diridon was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in America, by the US Junior Chamber of Commerce.
In 2014, he received the Hall of Fame Award from the American Public Transit Association. [41]
In 2014, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers. [42]
In 2016, Diridon received the Don Goldeen Award from the San Jose Rotary Club for significant contribution to the City of San Jose. [43]
In 2019, Diridon was honored as the "Legacy Champion" in the Community Impact Awards by the San Jose Business Journal. [44]
Diridon is a Life Member of the International Green Industry Hall of Fame. [45]
Diridon is married to Dr. Gloria Duffy. [3] He has two children, Rod Diridon Jr., who is the elected City Clerk/Auditor of Santa Clara, California, [46] and Mary Diridon Ormsby. He has four grandchildren.
Norman Yoshio Mineta was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Mineta served in the United States Cabinet for Presidents Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a Republican.
Caltrain is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley. The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as far as Gilroy. The northern terminus of the line is in San Francisco at 4th and King Streets. Caltrain has 28 regular stops, one limited-service weekday-only stop, one weekend-only stop (Broadway), and one football-only stop (Stanford). While average weekday ridership in 2019 exceeded 63,000, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been significant: in August 2022, Caltrain had an average weekday ridership of 18,600 passengers.
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, more commonly known simply as the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), is a special district responsible for public transit services, congestion management, specific highway improvement projects, and countywide transportation planning for Santa Clara County, California. It serves San Jose, California, and the surrounding Silicon Valley. It is one of the governing parties for the Caltrain commuter rail line that serves the county. In 2022, the VTA's public transportation services had a combined ridership of 21,381,600, or about 72,200 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023.
San Jose Diridon station is the central passenger rail depot for San Jose, California. It also serves as a major intermodal transit center for Santa Clara County and Silicon Valley. The station is named after former Santa Clara County Supervisor Rod Diridon.
The Green Line is a light rail line in Santa Clara County, California, and part of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail system. It serves 26 stations in the cities of Santa Clara, San Jose, and Campbell, traveling between Old Ironsides and Winchester stations. The line connects Levi's Stadium, San Jose International Airport, Downtown San Jose, San Jose State University, SAP Center, Diridon station, and Downtown Campbell. It runs for 20 hours per day on weekdays, with headways of 15 minutes for most of the day. On weekends, train run at 20 minute headways for most of the day. After around 8pm on weekdays and weekends trains run at 30 minute headways.
People in the San Francisco Bay Area rely on a complex multimodal transportation infrastructure consisting of roads, bridges, highways, rail, tunnels, airports, seaports, and bike and pedestrian paths. The development, maintenance, and operation of these different modes of transportation are overseen by various agencies, including the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the Association of Bay Area Governments, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. These and other organizations collectively manage several interstate highways and state routes, eight passenger rail networks, eight trans-bay bridges, transbay ferry service, local and transbay bus service, three international airports, and an extensive network of roads, tunnels, and bike paths.
San Fernando is a light rail station operated by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. The station has two side platforms and two trackways. San Fernando station is served by the Green Line of the VTA Light Rail system.
Winchester Transit Center is a light rail station and park-and-ride lot operated by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in Campbell, California. Winchester is the southern terminus of the Green Line of the VTA Light Rail system.
Alum Rock Transit Center is an at-grade intermodal transit center located at the intersection of South Capitol Avenue and Nuestra Castillo Court in the Alum Rock district of San Jose, California. The light rail station is located in the center median of South Capitol Avenue and is the current eastern terminus for the Orange Line of the VTA light rail system. VTA buses serve the transit center both on South Capitol Avenue and in a nearby bus plaza located adjacent to the light rail station.
Tamien station is an intermodal passenger transportation station in the Tamien neighborhood of central San Jose, California, served by the VTA light rail and the Caltrain commuter rail line, along with bus connections. The station has two elevated island platforms, one for each service. The two platforms are connected by a walkway at ground-level that is below the two platforms. The light rail platform is located in the center median of the State Route 87 freeway just north of the Alma Avenue overpass. The Caltrain platform is located between Lick Avenue and State Route 87, just north of Alma Avenue.
Santa Clara Transit Center is a railway station in downtown Santa Clara, California. It is served by Caltrain, Amtrak Capitol Corridor, and Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) trains. It is the planned terminus for the Silicon Valley BART extension into Santa Clara County. The former station building, constructed in 1863 by the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, is used by the Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History.
Cindy Chavez is an American politician who serves as the Santa Clara County supervisor representing district two, which is home to nearly 400,000 residents in Downtown, East, and South San Jose. Her public service career began in the 1990s as a policy analyst for health care, public health, human services and transportation for the Board of Supervisors. She served two terms on the San Jose City Council, where she was also Vice Mayor, and also served on the board leadership of public agencies such as the San Jose Redevelopment Agency, and executive director of Working Partnerships USA and the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council. She has unsuccessfully run for Mayor of San Jose twice. She is a graduate of San Jose State University, is married and has a son in college.
Ken Yeager is an American politician. He served on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, representing District 4. First elected to the board in 2006, he represented the cities of Campbell and Santa Clara, as well as west San Jose and the Burbank and Cambrian neighborhoods. Previously, Yeager served on the San Jose City Council from 2000 to 2006. Before that, he served two terms on the San Jose/Evergreen Community College Board. He was a candidate for the 23rd district seat in the California State Assembly in 1996, coming in second.
Gilroy station is a Caltrain station located in Gilroy, California, United States. It is the southernmost terminus of the Caltrain system, and is only served during weekday rush hours in the peak direction, with trains going toward San Francisco in the morning and returning southbound in the evening. The station building was constructed by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1918 and restored in 1998. Future plans call for extended Amtrak Capitol Corridor service, as well as California High-Speed Rail trains, to also stop at Gilroy. The station was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 as Gilroy Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.
The VTA light rail system serves San Jose and nearby cities in Santa Clara County, California. It is operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, or VTA, and consists of 42.2 miles (67.9 km) of network comprising three main lines on standard gauge tracks. Originally opened on December 11, 1987, the light rail system has gradually expanded since then, and currently has 60 stations in operation.
Established in 1982, the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation (CTRC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to preserve rail transportation in the Santa Clara Valley.
Throughout the history of Bay Area Rapid Transit, there have been plans to extend service to other areas.
Berryessa/North San José station is an intermodal transit center located in the Berryessa district of San Jose, California. The station is served by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) buses. The transit center opened for bus service on December 28, 2019, and subsequently for BART service on June 13, 2020.
Downtown San José station is a proposed underground Bay Area Rapid Transit station underneath Santa Clara Street in Downtown San Jose, planned as part of Silicon Valley BART extension Phase II. The station would be co-located with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's existing Santa Clara light rail station, and be located between the proposed 28th Street/Little Portugal station and a transfer station at San Jose Diridon Station. The station eventually connects to the proposed Santa Clara BART station. Revenue service is envisioned to start in 2029–2030.
The Silicon Valley BART extension is an ongoing effort to expand service by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into Santa Clara County via the East Bay from its former terminus at the Fremont station in Alameda County. Planned since at least 1981, the project has seven stations in three sequential phases.
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