The Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada is joining others in offering condolences on the passing of Ron Diridon. While I never met Ron in person, I know and benefit from his accomplishments. More than anything Ron Diridon is a transportation icon in his adopted Santa Clara County and the Bay Area.
Railroading was always a part of Ron’s life. His father was a railroader and Ron worked as a brakeman and fireman for the Southern Pacific to pay for his college education. He was a proud graduate from San Jose State.
During his career as a public servant he served in the US Navy, on the Saratoga city council and was a County Supervisor for the Santa Clara County, and Chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Bay Area Air Quality Management District and Association of Bay Area Governments. Always his passion was public transportation and climate change. His leadership was instrumental in saving San Jose’s historic train station, the establishment and growth of San Jose’s Valley Transit (VTA) light-rail system and the transition from state to Joint Powers Board governance of Caltrain. He was also an early and passionate advocate for high-speed rail in California.
Ron Diridon’s will be forever associated with the train station he helped save, now named San Jose Diridon Station. It is a hub for the VTA and Caltrain, a stop for the Amtrak Capitol Corridor and the Coast Starlight and is served by Amtrak Thruway connecting buses. In the future it will be served by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, expanded intercity rail to Salinas and the Central Coast and California High Speed Rail.
Ron, a former Cub Scout and Boy Scout, also served youth by serving on the Executive Board of the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council of Scouting. He was chair of the annual Scout-O-Rama event for 13 years.
Ron was a true icon of transportation, and his influence will be missed.