Executive Director’s Report
Danielle Schmitz was selected as Executive Director of the Napa Valley Transportation Authority in 2025, following a 17-year career with the agency, most recently as the Deputy Executive Director. A Napa native and graduate of Napa High School and UCLA, Schmitz has led many of NVTA’s major projects and initiatives, including Soscol Junction and the Measure U sales tax renewal. She lives in Napa with her husband and three young children.
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May 2026
• May has been a busy outreach month with Bike Month – thank you to Directors Manfree, Alessio and Sedgley for stopping by the NVTA Bikefest booth. NVTA also hosted a Bike to Work or School Day Energizer Station last week on Soscol– thank you Diana Meehan, Patrick Band and Emily Charrier on your efforts; we had over 60 riders at the booth. Hosted by the Napa County Bike Coalition, the regional Bike to Work or School Day saw over 1,400 participants at energizer stations countywide.
• NVTA, with the assistance of Calistoga, has successfully installed a bicycle and pedestrian counter at Logvy Park that will assist with collecting valuable data needed for future projects and grant applications. The next bike/ped counter to be installed will be in St. Helena or Yountville; Planner Patrick Band is working with staff to identify preferred locations.
• As you can see from the activity across the street at the Napa Valley Expo, we are heavily impacted by BottleRock operations and are gearing up for BottleRock with free and extended bus service all weekend long.
• As noted in the Legislative Report, our federal lobbyist CFM have been working hard on advocating for NVTA’s projects. Congressman Thompson has included the $2 million request for SR 29 improvements through American Canyon in his earmark request to the Appropriations Committee. The request will need to be approved by the committee to be included in the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill later this fall. NVTA should know by the end of the month if it passes through appropriations.
• NVTA is also submitting a Safe Streets for All Grant for SR-29 improvements through American Canyon for the class I multipurpose path on the highway. Applications are due at the end of this month.
March 2026
• NVTA participated in the American Canyon Chamber of Commerce Local Legends luncheon and provided an update on transit and highway projects to the local business community.
• NVTA participated in the Napa County Office of Education 8th-grade career fair on March 12 at the Napa Valley Expo. With over 1,200 students in attendance, NVTA staff spent the day talking about transportation and transit career opportunities. Students were invited to “Build a Street,” teaching them the core basics of how transportation planners think. They also took a quiz to find out which NVTA career was right for them, from bus driver to executive director. Thank you to outreach staff Emily Charrier and Zaira Renteria, as well as the transit team, for their efforts at this event.
• Outreach and transit staff will conduct a travel training for hotel staff in Calistoga on April 8. They have worked with the Chamber to coordinate sign-ups from concierge and front office staff for a Vine Transit training, covering how to request a ride on the Calistoga Shuttle and how Route 10 can help visitors travel throughout Napa Valley. We plan to duplicate this effort in other communities.
February 2026
• We released the NVTA 2025 Annual Report—thank you to Emily Charrier for her work on this.
• Vine Transit has received a CPUC grant that will fund extended service on the American Canyon Shuttle. This will allow service to operate later on weekdays, until 7:00 p.m., and add Saturday service from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thank you to Libby Payan for identifying a grant source to support this need.
• The Yountville Bee saw a 15% ridership increase in the second quarter of FY 25–26 compared to the same quarter the previous year. NVTA is also expanding the service area to include Domaine Chandon. With Panchas reopening, we are hopeful for continued ridership gains.
• Included in your consent agenda is NVTA’s annual independent financial audit report. Kudos to Tony Onorato and the finance team for another clean audit, with no financial findings or material weaknesses noted.
• Lastly, there is no verbal update from Caltrans today, but a map of current projects is included in the packet. I wanted to provide an update on two Director’s Orders. The first is the repaving between Madison and Yount Mill Road. Work is underway and expected to be completed by mid-March, weather permitting. Thank you to Amani and the team for working with local stakeholders on this effort, which was not originally included in the plan but was advanced through coordination between NVTA and Caltrans.
• The second is culvert work on SR 29 between Oakville Cross Road and Rutherford. PG&E gas line work was completed on February 4. The planned nighttime single-lane closure began on February 13, with work taking place between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Remaining work includes a three-week culvert replacement, which may be delayed due to recent wet weather. There will be a four-night full closure from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., originally scheduled to begin tonight, but it will not commence until four consecutive dry days are in the forecast.
January 2026
• I have been voted by my peers, executives of the small transit operators, to serve on the Clipper Executive Board for a two-year term beginning this month.
• I’m sure you heard about the King Tides flooding in Marin in late December and early January. In addition, there was flooding on State Route 37, with inundation on the eastbound lane just west of Mare Island and near Tolay Creek Bridge. On January 3, the eastbound direction was closed from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
• I am happy to announce NVTA was awarded $591,000 in federal rural and small transit funds for the purchase of four new paratransit buses. Well done to NVTA staff.
• On the consent agenda, there is an award for the Redwood Park and Ride improvements. This project was rebid after the agency received only two bids in October of last year, both over the engineer’s estimate. Staff worked with consultants to rebid the project and received seven bids, with the majority under the estimate—so rebidding was the right move. Thank you to Grant Bailey and Renel Coombs for their work on this.
• Lastly, as part of the countywide transportation plan, staff is setting up focus group meetings with community members identified by the Board to review the countywide transportation vision and goals. There will be three focus groups—one up valley, one in Napa, and one in American Canyon. Staff is targeting late February and early March for these meetings and has sent out a Doodle poll. Please be on the lookout and submit your availability.
Executive Director Report Archive:
July 2025 – Dec 2025 (PDF File)
April 2024 – June 2025 (Download PDF)
July 2023 (PDF, opens in a same tab)
June 2023 (PDF, opens in a same tab)
May 2023 (PDF, opens in a same tab)
April 2023 (PDF, opens in a same tab)
March 2023 (PDF, opens in a same tab)