And ballot Measure A, specifically. The political forces that want expensive, inefficient public transportation at any cost argue that ridership will not increase until the entire system is built out. The fact is no American light rail system built in the last 20 years has ever relieved traffic congestion significantly. The Santa Clara light rail carries only a fraction of the Blue Line's traffic. But it cost 5 times more to construct than a freeway lane.
Light rail is an economically unjustifiable loser.
Silicon Valley companies are generally well run because most of our managers realize that we are immutably subject to the laws of physics and economics. Electrons and photons aren't Democrats or Republicans. They don't accept campaign contributions, but they will put a company out of business if it fails to act logically. Unfortunately, governments are run by politicians who do take contributions, and they never go out of business, despite egregious violations of physical and economic principles. It's clear that Silicon Valley public-sector management performance is not meeting the standard of excellence set by the private sector.