This petition supports the undergrounding of Caltrain from San Jose to San Francisco.

What: Local infrastructure such as public transportation is an important priority to help residents any place they live. One such part in the Bay Area includes Caltrain, a commonly-used rail line in Santa Clara Valley and San Francisco Peninsula. Grade separations, physical separation between railroad tracks and a roadway, are being considered for safety and circulation concerns. I support having Caltrain be completely underground (in the form of a tunnel) -- ideally all the way from San Jose to San Francisco -- as a sensible, long-term solution. 

Why: Here are the two main reasons for undergrounding Caltrain:

1. Finance: Caltrain runs through expensive areas in the Bay Area (i.e. Atherton, Menlo Park, etc.), so undergrounding Caltrain makes sense to protect these highly valued lands and use it for other projects. 
2. Quality of life: Undergrounding the railroad would also improve safety, especially for residents who live near railroads. Quality of life would improve as there would be less noise and congestion while also freeing up hundreds of acres of land for projects like new housing, affordable housing, retail space and office space, green spaces, parks, gardens, bike/pedestrian pathways, and sidewalks lined with new trees.

How: To fund the project, we want to “capture” the value of the land by selling development rights in order to fund the undergrounding project. With the high property value and demand in the Bay Area, I feel confident that the development rights could help fund a significant amount of the estimated costs of this project. We should also pursue  funding from Biden’s proposed $2.3T infrastructure plan, as federal money should go towards projects that would benefit more populated regions with high economic activity, such as Silicon Valley.

Please sign this petition to show your support for this much needed solution of undergrounding Caltrain!

Please visit https://www.gregtanaka.org/congress-issues for more information.

Below are some links for references:

https://www.qtm.net.au/blog/benefits-value-capture/

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Public-Sector/smart-cities-virtues-of-value-capture-19nov.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/31/business/economy/biden-infrastructure-plan.html