SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[38 Geary]

After 20 Years, a Faster Geary Bus Will Really, Finally Come to Western SF
The ‘red carpet’ lanes along the curb are a compromise, but advocates still praise the boost for transit and pedestrian safety.
Kristi Coale
The Frisc

The future of Geary Boulevard’s western span was decided Tuesday afternoon when San Francisco transit directors unanimously approved special lanes for the Richmond District’s main thoroughfare, a change that should speed up bus trips for 37,000 riders daily riders.

Before the pandemic, the 38 Geary line carried more than 50,000 riders a day, the highest for a bus route this side of the Mississippi River. While SF’s population has declined since 2020, laws mandating more housing in the Richmond and other neighborhoods could swell demand for the line in coming years.

Advocates remained disappointed that the original idea — dedicated lanes down the center median, just as the city has built on Van Ness Avenue — had been changed to painted red lanes along the curb, but they maintained the change will benefit the city’s transit-first, climate, and street safety goals.

“This project will immediately improve lives and create a safer corridor now,” said transit advocate Cyrus Hall.

According to the SF Municipal Transportation Agency, it will also shave more than five minutes from roundtrip travel along the project’s corridor, which is more than 30 blocks long.

The project will come in two phases: The first starts this fall when “quick build” elements that don’t require street excavation are put in place on Geary from Stanyan Street to 34th Avenue. This first part, necessary to take advantage of a state grant that pays to make traffic signal changes, should finish before the end of the year.

...


In her letter to SFMTA Tuesday, Breed called the project “essential” to downtown recovery and said it would “fulfill broader commitments to improve the city’s transportation network, reduce pedestrian fatalities, fight climate change, and make the city more accessible for all.”

...

Funding for Geary bus rapid transit was approved by SF voters in 2003. More delays would also mean more death and injury, advocates said at the board meeting. Some of the changes approved include bulb-outs and other pedestrian safety features. Last year, SF had the most traffic deaths in a decade, since it pledged to get to zero by 2024 — a goal that almost certainly won’t be met. (There have been 11 deaths so far this year.)

This contested two-mile stretch of Geary has been particularly dangerous, with about one pedestrian injury or death per month. It is on the high-injury network, the 12 percent of city streets where 68 percent of traffic fatalities happen.

...

When cities deemphasize cars and improve streets for non-drivers, businesses benefit, according to study after study after study. Geary already has a lot of non-drivers. SFMTA’s Brisson cited a 2013 study that 78 percent of people on this stretch of Geary arrive by bus, bike, or on foot.

With quick builds — that is, using paint and easy-to-install barriers and bollards instead of carving up asphalt — the agency can relocate bus stops for better flow and make other improvements. SFMTA will also eliminate unprotected left turns at 11 intersections to reduce collisions and pedestrian injuries.

“Street safety is the number one No. 1 reason to move ahead with the quick build,” Susannah Raub, who chairs SFMTA’s Geary community advisory committee, told The Frisc.

https://thefrisc.com/after-20-years-a-fa...-finally-come-to-western-sf-caf6331d6109

[redblock]

Captain has ordered a Stadler BEMU KISS trainset for use beyond the catenary to Gilroy and maybe Salinas.


https://www.facebook.com/100063580627226/posts/779424270853587/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

[38 Geary]

^ Nice find! Here's more info here:

August 18, 2023 Commuter/Regional
Caltrain to Pilot Stadler BEMU
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor

Caltrain will exercise a contract option with Stadler to purchase a battery-equipped electric multiple unit (BEMU) train comprising three passenger cars and one battery-head housing the battery and power equipment.

The California Transportation Commission on Aug. 17 approved the allocation of funds from an $80 million California State Transportation Agency grant for one BEMU; testing at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colo.; and upgrades to the San Jose Central Maintenance Facility and Gilroy layover and station area to facilitate charging and maintenance, Caltrain reported.

According to the California commuter railroad, the current demonstration plan will have the bi-level BEMU charge while in operation between San Francisco and San Jose, and then use battery power to run on non-electrified tracks between San Jose and Gilroy, with intermittent demonstration trips to Salinas. The goal, it said, is to “show successful service operations and learn from the implementation to provide a roadmap for future BEMU operations and procurements,” and ultimately “lead the way for Caltrain to operate a fully zero-emission service in the future.”

The train will go into operation after additional testing and certifications from regulatory agencies, the commuter railroad said.

If successful, BEMUs could replace aging diesel locomotives on non-electrified tracks at Caltrain. “The benefits of this would not only be a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and improved air quality, but also significant service upgrades,” Caltrain said. “This includes potential improved service times to Gilroy resulting from better performance of the BEMU compared to diesel locomotives, improved travel times on the entire corridor, and decreased service costs resulting from removing diesel locomotives from service, and increased reliability should overhead power systems fail or utilities experience outages.”

Caltrain is due to launch electrified service in fall 2024, which is two years later than planned. The railroad’s $2.4 billion electrification project will upgrade and electrify its double-track system from the 4th and King Station in San Francisco to the Tamien Station in San Jose. Stadler-built KISS bilevel EMUs will replace Caltrain’s existing diesel fleet. Caltrain awarded Stadler a $551 million contract in August 2016 for 16 six-car EMUs, with an option for a further 96 cars worth an additional $385 million. In December 2018, Caltrain exercised an option to extend the trains from six to seven cars, and ordered another three seven-car trains. Caltrain has received four EMUs with further deliveries expected this fall.

Caltrain on Aug. 17 reported that its Board earlier this month approved exercising options on its contract with Stadler for four more EMUs.

In the spring, the commuter railroad ran for the first time EMUs under power from the overhead contact system (OCS) between Santa Clara and College Park on the Santa Clara Drill Track; testing was to extend to the main line between San Antonio and San Jose Diridon later this summer.

“California continues to lead the transition to a clean, electrified transportation system, this time with the nation’s first battery-electric multiple unit passenger rail train,” California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin said. “This efficient, state-of-the-art train—made possible by an award through our Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program—will lead to improved service for riders and cleaner air between San Francisco and Gilroy, as well as serve as a demonstration train for expanded battery-electric intercity rail service in the future.”

“We’re excited to be the first in the nation to pilot this bilevel hybrid electric and battery service to extend our zero-emission service beyond our electrified service areas,” said Jeff Gee, Caltrain Board Chair. “With the BEMU, we will not only create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly service, but also faster and more reliable travel times for riders.”

“Silicon Valley has a reputation for first-of-its-kind innovations, and our transportation sector is no different,” said Matt Mahan, Mayor of San Jose. “This project will pave the way for Caltrain to retire their diesel fleet and operate a fully zero-emission service for future generations.”

“Stadler is proud to continue our partnership with Caltrain and our shared mission of helping California provide zero emission travel,” said Martin Ritter, CEO of Stadler U.S. “With additional double-deck EMUs and this first-of-its-kind BEMU for Caltrain, Stadler is able to expand our overall portfolio for the U.S. market, especially in the zero-emission product line.”

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/com...Alq1XlzWt40eARSeo1c9MJO9gMpffLGKSkTVPNfI

[Busy Bee]

Why exactly is it that electrification is so expensive in this country that you have instances like this? How can some impoverished nation hang some catenary and make an electric train but we literally are over here reinventing the wheel? Is it because half the budget goes towards industry "consultants" because we have no idea how to build railways anymore or ridiculous multi-million dollar "environmental studies" just to make sure clean electric power isn't somehow "harmful" to a creek salamander or some tree aphids?

It's only 36 miles.

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Why exactly is it that electrification is so expensive in this country that you have instances like this? How can some impoverished nation hang some catenary and make an electric train but we literally are over here reinventing the wheel? Is it because half the budget goes towards industry "consultants" because we have no idea how to build railways anymore or ridiculous multi-million dollar "environmental studies" just to make sure clean electric power isn't somehow "harmful" to a creek salamander or some tree aphids?

It's only 36 miles.

Good question. I'm not sure why they didn't just electrify the entire line.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Good question. I'm not sure why they didn't just electrify the entire line.

You do not have to be a genius to know the reason. Caltrain does not own the entire line. They only own the sections of tracks north of San Jose. Tracks south of San Jose are owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, that does not want, to date, overhead catenary lines over their tracks. If Caltrain spent the money to install them over UPRR tracks, UPRR would tear them down and will win in court the costs to do so.

Alas, soon, but who knows when, CHSR will build new tracks south of San Jose with electrification, which I assume Caltrain will be able to use.

Downtown San Jose to Gilroy is around 30 miles, not sure battery power will stay charge double that to 60 miles, because once a train leaves electrified tracks to a destination, it has to get back to power that same amount of distance. It will probably take a lot of batteries to do so, which will add signicantly to the weight of the trains, making them less efficient.

[38 Geary]

Farewell, old friend.

Do You Love BART's Nixon-Era Train Cars? Ride Now, Because They're About to Go Away
Dan Brekke
Aug 23



BART’s classic old train cars — maybe “classic” should be in quotes — have a storied history.

When they began service in the previous century, a soon-to-be-disgraced president of the United States was one of the first to ride them. After his ride in September 1972, Richard Nixon was impressed and said BART made a good case for shifting federal transportation money from highways to mass transit.



Later, the cars did heroic duty as BART ran 24 hours a day for a month after the Bay Bridge was knocked out of service by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Still later, when BART was no longer a novelty and crowded trains had become the norm, enterprising journalists swabbed the cars’ wool-upholstered seats and determined they were crawling with germs.

OK, so maybe that’s not such a glorious past. And maybe that’s not giving the cars their full due for the part they played in BART’s creation story. The vehicles were designed with the idea that if trains were fast enough, sleek enough and plush enough, they’d help attract riders who wanted an alternative to driving.

If you have been, or once were, a regular BART rider, and especially if you were a patron before the pandemic, you probably got used to spending an hour or two a day in those cars: sitting, standing, sleeping, wondering why the air conditioning didn’t work better (or at all), trying to catch what the train operator was saying over the public address system.

But now those old vehicles seem to have grown extra dingy. That’s especially apparent when you look at them side-by-side with BART’s still fresh-looking new cars, which began service in January 2018.



After a slow start to the ambitious car replacement program, including a long pause caused by problems with some of the new fleet’s software and hardware, the agency is now running more than 560 of the new cars. With BART about to start running shorter trains on all of its routes, the supply of new cars will be more than enough to operate the agency’s daily service without using the tired-looking legacy fleet. (The reason for shorter trains: BART says (PDF) that will make trains easier to police, simpler to keep clean and cheaper to run.)

So next month, on Sept. 11, exactly 51 years after they carried their first paying passengers, the old cars will be retired from regular service. If for some reason you want one last reminder of the sights, the sounds, the smells of the legacy fleet, this is your chance.

One might think a ceremony is in order, and BART General Manager Robert Powers told KQED during a media ride-along Tuesday that the agency will sponsor a farewell ride for the old train cars. No date for that event has been set.

Powers did not sound overly nostalgic about the end of the legacy fleet era. From a durability and reliability standpoint, he said, the old cars “have really performed. But change is inevitable, and change is good, and these new cars are just so superior.”

And if you really, really miss the old cars, don’t lose heart. The Western Railway Museum, in Solano County near Rio Vista, has purchased one of the legacy vehicles — in fact, the one that Nixon rode on in 1972 — for a future exhibit.

https://www.kqed.org/news/11958899/do-yo...ride-now-because-theyre-about-to-go-away

[twinpeaks]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Farewell, old friend.

Will definitely miss the old BART trains. I love the big windows and wide seats.

[Busy Bee]

https://rapidotrains.com/ho-scale/complete-train/bay-area-rapid-transit.html?___store=us

[38 Geary]

Caltrain, Balfour Beatty and PG&E Celebrate Major Milestone of Electrification Project with Energization of Second Traction Power Substation
08/30/2023
Energization of transformative undertaking completed this past weekend

For the first time, the Caltrain Traction Power Substation in South San Francisco, constructed by Balfour Beatty and its industry partners, was energized with power from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). This milestone achievement in the Caltrain Electrification Project signifies major progress in expanding Caltrain’s ability to test and run electric trains along the corridor.

“Energization of the second traction power substation is a momentous milestone for the Caltrain Electrification Project and continues to keep us on track for launch of Electrified service in fall of 2024,” said Michelle Bouchard, Caltrain Executive Director. “We want to thank the hundreds of people that have been involved in the work and coordination to get us to this moment. Soon we be able to test electric trains along our entire corridor and we are excited to deliver a world-class system for the public.”

...

Caltrain’s substation in South San Francisco is also one of two main traction power substations along the Caltrain corridor, in addition to the San Jose location which was energized last August. Together, with eight other smaller facilities along the corridor, power substations provide, distribute, and regulate electricity to the overhead wires which will power Caltrain’s new high-performance electric trains.

Caltrain, PG&E and Balfour Beatty’s work to complete the energization was substantial and needed to be safely conducted while maintaining reliable service to more than 20,000 customers also served by the existing infrastructure.

The infrastructure upgrades include:
- Construction of two, double-circuit 115 kV transmission connections from the East Grand Substation in South San Francisco and the FMC Substation in San Jose to Caltrain traction power stations in those communities.
- Rebuilt the East Grand and FMC substations that enabled PG&E to support Caltrain’s request for redundant transmission feeds.
- Additional upgrades to three PG&E and two third-party remote end substations.

As crews continue to install more poles and wire for the electrification system, Caltrain is embarking on a public outreach campaign to educate passengers, residents and businesses about best safety practices along the corridor. The agency has sent out mailers, hosted community meetings and embarked on social media campaigns to remind everyone that all overhead wires on Caltrain property should be assumed to be energized now. More safety information about Caltrain Electrification is available here.

https://www.caltrain.com/news/caltrain-b...one-electrification-project-energization

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

https://rapidotrains.com/ho-scale/complete-train/bay-area-rapid-transit.html?___store=us

Wow that is sick. I'll have to get a set one of these days.

[38 Geary]

@TWAK, here's a nice overview of SMART.

• Video Link

[38 Geary]

The end of an era!

Had to go and pay respects and say good bye to a Bay Area icon (that turns 51 years old today) that’s been a big part of my life since the beginning. I was able to catch a glimpse of the last ever scheduled legacy BART train. It was a 10 car, Richmond bound train. Thank you for your service. Rest easy, old friend.

There will be an official retiring run ceremony in 2024, but this train was the last legacy train as part of the base schedule.

Here she is, riding off into the sunset:



Here was the second to last legacy train:



Starting today, BART will be exclusively running new Fleet of the Future trains for its base schedule. The legacy fleet will be available for extra event trains or for emergency contingencies but they will no longer be a regular part of BART's fleet.

[Busy Bee]

Thanks for posting. Are they keeping a full trainset of legacy cars for special events/preservation or just keeping a couple cab cars?

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Thanks for posting. Are they keeping a full trainset of legacy cars for special events/preservation or just keeping a couple cab cars?

I think they're keeping a few full trainsets to be kept in reserve and used if needed for special events. There is the rare chance an old train or two will venture out on the mainline if needed, but they will be steadily scrapped through the rest of 2023 and into 2024. It'd be nice if they fully restored a few for use as heritage/nostalgia rides or special anniversaries, similar to how Muni has the historic streetcars.

[Busy Bee]

Good to know. It drives me bonkers that NYCT is so eager to scrap everything but a couple cars from a series. If they would just have adequate indoor yard storage they could save an entire rake from each series for fan trips and special events, and considering the very recently retired R-32 is probably the best car they've every operated, put it randomly back in revenue service a few times a year just to thrill those that know.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by homebucket

@TWAK, here's a nice overview of SMART.

• Video Link

Thank you sir! It's good to see that the horrendously NIMBY Sonoma & Marin counties are going ahead with plans for TOD. He talks about the train going to Ukiah and Napa, well he might not know that SMART already owns the tracks to Napa so there are plans from the state and SMART. There's also plans for service to Vallejo and Fairfield, but I don't think that would be part of the SMART system. Hopefully the train can go to Ukiah or even up to Willits, although I know that going past Ukiah (or even to it) might not be feasible due to such low population numbers.

Source

edit: The mall in Santa Rosa is so obnoxious and horrible, good thing Sac demolished most of the one there for the arena (go Kings, light the beam!).

[SFBruin]

Delete.

[SFBruin]

Delete.

[38 Geary]

Double technicals on SFBruin and GOLDEN STATE.

Settle down, fellas.

• Video Link