SPUR Transportation Policy Area Header

Transportation

We believe: Walking, biking, and taking transit should be the safest
and best ways to get around for people of all ages and abilities.

Our Goal


• Reduce emissions from transportation.

• Reduce driving.

• Build complete communities around transit.

• Make Bay Area transit work for the 21st century.

• Eliminate traffic deaths.

a bus traveling unimpeded in a transit-only lane

SPUR Report

Making Roads Work for Transit

Transit delays and unreliability can make riding the bus a nonstarter for those who have other ways to get around. Giving transit vehicles priority on Bay Area roads can deliver the speed and reliability improvements needed to get more people on buses and out of cars.
a bus traveling unimpeded in a transit-only lane

SPUR Report

Making Roads Work for Transit

Transit delays and unreliability can make riding the bus a nonstarter for those who have other ways to get around. Giving transit vehicles priority on Bay Area roads can deliver the speed and reliability improvements needed to get more people on buses and out of cars.
cyclist riding on a road with separated bike lanes

Policy Brief

Accelerating Sustainable Transportation in California

To fight climate pollution, California will need to build out the infrastructure to make walking, biking and riding transit the default ways to get around. SPUR makes the case to extend state legislation that is making it faster to build commonsense sustainable transportation projects.
cyclist riding on a road with separated bike lanes

Policy Brief

Accelerating Sustainable Transportation in California

To fight climate pollution, California will need to build out the infrastructure to make walking, biking and riding transit the default ways to get around. SPUR makes the case to extend state legislation that is making it faster to build commonsense sustainable transportation projects.
A mostly empty parking lot viewed from above

SPUR Report

The Bay Area Parking Census

For decades, parking in the Bay Area has been both ubiquitous and uncounted. SPUR and the Mineta Transportation Institute have produced the San Francisco Bay Area Parking Census, the most detailed assessment of parking infrastructure ever produced for the region.
A mostly empty parking lot viewed from above

SPUR Report

The Bay Area Parking Census

For decades, parking in the Bay Area has been both ubiquitous and uncounted. SPUR and the Mineta Transportation Institute have produced the San Francisco Bay Area Parking Census, the most detailed assessment of parking infrastructure ever produced for the region.

Updates and Events


Want Coordinated Transit? Make That Someone’s Job

News /
What if the Bay Area’s two dozen transit systems had the same maps, fares and schedules? What if they were designed to function as a network? Could transit be faster and easier for more people to use? Currently, coordinating these services isn’t anyone’s job. A new SPUR report recommends establishing a single institution to coordinate transit operations across a cohesive regional network.

SPUR Leads Coalition Calling on Cupertino to allow for Public Process on Increase in Transportation Impact Fees

Advocacy Letter /
SPUR joined with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, SV@Home and the Bay Area Council to urge the Cupertino City Council to conduct a thorough stakeholder process that includes input from the development community and undertake a feasibility analysis to study the effect on development of increased transportation impact fees. The new fee would raise transportation impacts fees by more than 40%.

Value Driven

SPUR Report /
Roads and parking are expensive to build, but they’re mostly free for drivers to use as much as they’d like. This kind of free access imposes serious costs on others: traffic, climate change, air pollution, and heart and lung disease. SPUR’s new report Value Driven shines a light on the invisible costs of driving and offers five pioneering strategies to address them.

Shining a Light on the Invisible Costs of Driving

News /
For most people in the Bay Area, getting somewhere means driving. It's the default option because it is most often easier and cheaper than any other option. But driving imposes serious costs on others: traffic, climate change, air pollution, and heart and lung disease. A new SPUR report shines a light on the invisible costs of driving and offers five strategies to address them.

SPUR Advocates for Frequent Transit Service in VTA's 2021 Service Plan

Advocacy Letter /
SPUR believes it is imperative for reasons of racial and social equity, the environment, and sound urban planning that light rail and frequent bus routes continue to operate every 15 minutes on weekdays as they did prior to the pandemic and, therefore, support "The 90% Plan" as proposed by VTA staff.

More for Less

SPUR Report /
Around the world, building major transit projects is notoriously difficult. Yet the Bay Area has an especially poor track record: Major projects here take decades from start to finish, and our project costs rank among the highest in the world. SPUR offers policy proposals that will save time, save money and add up to a reliable, integrated and frequent network that works better for everyone.