Peery Park Rides

The City of Sunnyvale and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) were set to launch an app-based, on-demand transportation program operated by Via on Tuesday, March 4. This free rideshare service will operate in Sunnyvale’s Peery Park commercial district and nearby neighborhoods.

The two-year pilot program is funded with a Metropolitan Transportation Commission grant and the City’s community benefit funds from Peery Park development projects. Rides can be booked through the Peery Park Rides app or by calling 408-539-6196. The app matches riders headed in the same direction into one vehicle, creating quick and efficient shared trips. Wheelchair-accessible vehicles are available upon request.

Service hours are Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. The service area is bound by Highway 101, Fair Oaks Avenue, El Camino Real and the Mountain View border.

For more information, visit https://city.ridewithvia.com/peery-park.

Tea party takes

Three students at Challenger School in Sunnyvale were winners in the annual American History Essay Contest sponsored by the Los Altos Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Fifth-grader Shreya Venkata, seventh-grader Pranati Pradeep and eighth-grader Aaradhana Ignatious Johnson shared their essays at a Feb. 21 DAR meeting. They each received a medal, certificate and $50 cash prize.

Their essays then competed with entries from the other 10 chapters in the local California DAR District. Venkata and Johnson also won at that level.

The students’ work addressed the theme “Enjoying a new kind of Tea Party,” about the pre-Revolutionary War protests by the Colonists against the British.

Entries for next year’s contest are due by early November, and the year’s theme will be announced around August. For more information, visit https://losaltos.californiadar.org in September or email [email protected].