Passenger Trains > Rod Diridon passes

The following was posted on Facebook by the Valley Transportation Authority (San Jose, California, area) earlier this evening:

"At VTA, we are deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Diridon Sr., a visionary leader and tireless champion of public transportation.

"For more than 50 years, Rod advocated for expanded, equitable transit, helping shape the systems our communities depend on today. His leadership and passion connected people, strengthened our region, and advanced sustainable mobility.

"We are grateful for his lasting contributions and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and all who were inspired by his work."

Not being a South Bay guy, I don't have anything to add other than to point out that the main passenger station (Amtrak, Caltrain, ACE, and VTA) in San Jose is named after him. The photo below comes from the VTA Facebook post as well.

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Never met him, but know the name from growing up in the Bay Area. He was quite involved in mass transit stuff, believe he served in some capacity in the early days of CalHSR.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

atsf121 Wrote:
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> Never met him, but know the name from growing up
> in the Bay Area. He was quite involved in mass
> transit stuff, believe he served in some capacity
> in the early days of CalHSR.
>
> Nathan

Yeah, I have the same impression of Diridon as yours. I know some folks treat wikipedia as "fake info" but what's contained there is consistent with what has been discussed here on TO, worked SP, Father of VTA Light Rail, CA HSR chair, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Diridon_Sr.

I was re-reading some past discussions about him using certain keywords on the TO search function.

Very sorry to hear of Rod’s passing.
He was probably the person most responsible for the transit systems in the Santa Clara Valley today. Had the opportunity to meet him several years ago. He was very dedicated to the development of rail transit when others weren’t.

Posted from iPhone

I've met him.  He was a very hard working transit-oriented person.  He grew up in Dunsmuir, where his father worked for the Southern Pacific.  The SP train station in San Jose is named after him.

Stan Praisewater

Free, archived story of his passing from the Mercury News.

http://archive.today/9qBRV