COUNCIL AGENDA: 3/25/25
FILE: 25-291
ITEM: 5.1
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR
AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Mukesh (Mookie) Patel
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: March 20, 2025
Approved Date:
3/20/25
SU
PPLEMENTAL
S
UBJECT: Airport Commission Recommendation to City Council on the San José Diridon Station to Airport Connector Feasibility Validation Report and Phase 2a Recommendation
T
he purpose of this supplemental memorandum is to transmit the Airport Commission’s feedback and action from its special meeting on March 5, 2025, to the City Council. /
s/
Mukesh (Mookie) Patel
Director of Aviation
For questions, please contact Matthew Kazmierczak, Airport Commission Secretary, at 408-392-3640.
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Attachment: Airport Commission Feedback and Action from March 5, 2025 Special Meeting
TO: H ONORABLE MAYOR FROM: Matthew Kazmierczak
AND CITY COUNCIL
S
UBJECT: See Below DATE: March 13, 2025
CO
UNCIL DISTRICT: Citywide
S
UBJECT: Airport Commission Recommendation to City Council on the San José Diridon Station to Airport Connector Feasibility Validation Report and Phase 2a Recommendation
T
he purpose of this memorandum is to transmit the Airport Commission’s feedback and action from its special meeting on March 5, 2025, to the City Council.
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION AND INPUT
On March 5, 2025, the Airport Commission (Commission) held a special meeting to consider the San José Diridon Station to Airport Connector Feasibility Validation Report and Phase 2a Recommendation. Attendance at the meeting included all 11 members of the Airport Commission, City Council Liaison Mulcahy, staff from the Airport Department and Transportation Department, and San José Connection Partners representatives from Plenary Americas and Glydways.
A
fter the staff presentation, the Commissioners discussed a range of items to better understand the policy direction of the project. The following is a summary of the Commissioners’ discussion.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 3/25/25
FILE: 25-291
ITEM: 5.1
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 13, 2025
Subject: Airport Commission Action on the Diridon to Airport Connector
Public Transit Ridership/Airport Passenger Growth
• A better understanding of the intended riders of the system. Concerned that current ridership assumptions are too high.
• Passengers with luggage will not be able to walk the distance used in normal public transit catchment areas.
• Who is trying to get from Diridon to the Airport? Need to identify how many train passengers are going to the Airport.
• Projected ridership of the Connector.
• Airport passenger projections for the next 20-30 years. What growth rate should be used for financial planning purposes? Determination of the appropriate growth scenario and associated revenue and costs.
Technology of the System and Vehicles
• Addressing the plan for what happens if the technology or company fails or is overtaken by other technology or business models.
• Questions about the technology, including the use of a new, unproven system and the selection of a provider with no existing product in service today. • Questions about the proposed vehicle battery technology, given global warming. • Safety and security: What happens if something happens on one of the pods? Who is responsible for safety? How will first responders get access? On Airport property, buses monitor parking lots and bus travelers. Autonomous vehicles won’t monitor parking lots and riders.
• Labor and workforce replacement concerns.
• Questions about cheaper alternatives, such as express buses.
Route Alignment
• Concern that Measure A voters did not identify the route or proposed project. • Concerns with alignment and any elevated tracks in the runway approach, as this has the potential to impact the airlines and one-engine inoperative procedures. • Desire to avoid any alignment within the riparian corridor.
A
n initial vote by the Commission to recommend that the City Council approve staff recommendation failed (5-6). Ultimately, the Commission voted 10-1 to recommend that the City Council:
• Move forward with continuing to study the Diridon Station to Airport Connector project in an amount not to exceed $3.7 million, the funding which the City currently has available;
• Continue to seek funding for potential additional study of the project; • Direct staff to focus its research on the Airport Commission’s many questions on public transit ridership between Diridon Station and the Airport, Airport passenger growth, technology of the system and vehicles, and route alignment; and
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 13, 2025
Subject: Airport Commission Action on the Diridon to Airport Connector
• Direct staff to return to the Airport Commission with the information gathered with the $3.7 million funding before proceeding with any additional rounds of study or expenditure of funds for the project.
/s/
M
atthew Kazmierczak
Airport Commission Secretary
F
or questions, please contact Matthew Kazmierczak, Airport Commission Secretary, at 408-392-3640.