Rod Diridon Sr., a longtime Bay Area politician and one of the chief architects of the South Bay’s modern rail systems, has died from complications with cancer, according to local officials and family. He was 87.
Diridon’s public service career spanned decades, and he was widely credited with helping bring BART to Santa Clara County and laying the groundwork for Caltrain’s electrification efforts – moves that helped better connect the Bay Area.
“He was one of a kind,” Liz Kniss, a former Santa Clara County supervisor, said Friday. “He was more committed to transportation, probably than anyone I’ve ever known.”…