At today’s San Jose City Council Community and Economic Development Committee meeting,  city staff will report information about a grant application to the California High Speed Rail Authority that could create a joint governing body to make decisions about how to develop the area in the Diridon Station with properties that are owned by the City of San Jose.  The grant would also help to develop financing tools to assemble separately owned properties to facilitate development of the Diridon Station Area, in line with the goals of the recently approved Diridon Station Area Plan.

This is excellent news that the City of San Jose is taking steps to move forward the development of the surface parking lots at the Diridon Station Area into the plan’s vision of a lively, walkable place with entertainment/retail, jobs and some housing, and public attractions to make the station area a gateway to the city.

One important question is whether this partnership – which would include the major transit providers to the area – VTA which will also manage BART at Diridon; Caltrain; and CHSRA – can also help refine the station design to facilitate quick connections, along the lines of the best-performing multi-modal stations around the world (the illustration is from Erfurt, Germany, which provides quick transfer between trains and light rail.)