Buckle up Sunnyvale, the city is wheeling out a new free car service as part of ongoing efforts to provide convenient transportation to its residents and workers.
With a touch of a button, people can download the Peery Park Rides app from their phones and request a driver to pick them up from anywhere in northwest Sunnyvale. The Peery Park area is home to thousands of Sunnyvale residents, and acts as a home base to several tech, research and design companies, including Apple and Synopsys.
Dozens of city officials and project leaders gathered in the Synopsys building Tuesday morning to welcome the official launch of the sleek white cars.
“Today we’re not only launching a shuttle, we are launching a commitment to a more connected, more vibrant and more sustainable Sunnyvale,” Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein said.
The rideshare service area is bound by US 101 to the north, Fair Oaks Avenue to the east, El Camino Real to the south and the Mountain View border to the west. Hotspots in the area include the Sunnyvale Caltrain Station, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, downtown Sunnyvale and the city’s Civic Center. Car service hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The two-year pilot program is a collaboration between Sunnyvale and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) through Via, a technology company that provides software for public transportation projects.The program was initially poised to launch in the summer of 2020, but was pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding for the multi-million dollar project was pulled from various agencies, including the VTA , city and Metropolitan Transportation Commission, an agency that supports transportation projects across the seven-county region.
Krista Glotzbach, the director of West Coast partnership at Via, said the rideshare will help alleviate congestion and pollution in the city.
“You can pick people up and take them to where they are going with others who are generally going in the same direction,” she said. “The shared concept is what helps reduce congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emission.”
Residents have been inquiring about an affordable city transportation service for years. The city is a hub for cars, buses and train stations, but some of the city’s more home-bound residents, like students and the elderly, lack reliable modes of transportation.
Last year, city leaders discussed launching an affordable shuttle service were residents could travel anywhere within the Sunnyvale’s borders. Similar rideshare programs already have been established in neighboring Palo Alto, Cupertino and Milpitas. Sunnyvale is still working to make the city-wide program a reality, Klein said, and in the meantime Peery Park can help fulfill those transportation needs.
“Ultimately this is one step towards a citywide shuttle,” Klein said. “That to me is one of the things a city should be doing, looking at transportation options dealing with that last mile option, and that’s what that Peery Park Ride program is providing.”
