VTA won’t let more workers sleep at San Jose yard

by Brian Howey, San Jose Spotlight December 13, 2022December 13, 2022

An RV parked in VTA's Cerone yard parking lot. The transit agency began phasing out a program in 2018 that allows its workers to sleep on-site to avoid long commutes. (San Jose Spotlight photo by Brian Howey)

Adan Miranda used to fall asleep during his long commute. The VTA bus driver lives in Elk Grove, a four-hour drive in traffic, because he can’t afford a home in San Jose.

After nodding off at the wheel several times on his way home in 2003, Miranda signed up for a permit program letting VTA workers sleep in camping vehicles in the agency’s parking lots. Now he only commutes home on the weekends. Miranda said he hasn’t fallen asleep at the wheel since. For decades, the permit program has helped dozens of VTA employees avoid long, exhausting commutes.