The City of San José Department of Transportation this week announced the release of a request for proposals (RFP) to develop a grade-separated transit solution to connect Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport (SJC) with Diridon Station near the city’s downtown.
San José officials will select up to two proposers to enter into a pre-development agreement, adding that one proposer will eventually be chosen to provide the transit technology, develop a business model including securing private funding and design a dedicated transit system that avoids street-level crossings.
“As Silicon Valley’s Airport, we welcome the technology and innovation that this project has the potential to bring to our region,” said John Aitken, SJC director of aviation. “As a hub for new airline technology, we see this transit-based connection to our terminals as yet another measure for upgrading our passengers’ experience. This is a tremendous opportunity to support the development of new travel technology, and we couldn’t be more pleased to have this highly sought amenity on the horizon.”
This is the latest step in a project that began with request for information (RFI) in 2019, asking interested firms to discuss potential solutions that could provide “grade-separated mass transit infrastructure and operations at significantly lower cost than traditional transit projects.”
The RFI received 23 responses with a broad range of innovative approaches including personal rapid transit, mixed-flow autonomous vehicles, Hyperloop, monorails, and magnetic levitation vehicles. Firms do not need to have previously submitted a response to the RFI to be eligible to respond to the current RFP, city officials said.
