SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[38 Geary]

Here's a nice video I found of Caltrain electric testing.

• Video Link

[llamaorama]

Nice, those are some good looking trains. Seeing this in the US is sort of trippy, it looks more like a scene from France or Germany.

They have the same annoying truck style air horn as the DMU's from the same manufacturer we have in Fort Worth though. Wish they could use a real train horn. Not that you expect them to blow it all the time under normal operation. I would hope most of the route is a quiet zone/grade separated.

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by veep

MUNI needs to go down 19th to complete the undergrounding of the M. It's basically two birds with one stone. The M and the 19th/Geary line would share tracks between Stonestown and DC BART.



BART is basically a complete system once the SJ tunnel is finished. There is no need for major expansion. Just add a few infill stations here and there and call it a day.

It's MUNI that needs rapid expansion. SF is in this weird twilight zone where getting around the geographically massive Bay Area is often quicker and more convenient than getting around tiny little SF.

MUNI is basically a system where there isn't an express service similar to NY. All stops are basically local. If anything, MUNI needs to further expand to Fisherman's Wharf via Columbus, Golden Gate Bridge via Marina Dr, Candlestick area, and even new lines along Broadway and Turk and Balboa Sts.

It's the slowest system of it's kind, but it's a system where you can go anywhere in SF you want to, unlike many other cities.

[veep]

SF is a very small city. Express trains aren't necessary. And MUNI is only slow on the street. It's just as fast as any other subway when it's underground.

You can get from Embarcadero to West Portal in 15 minutes entirely underground.

[Qubert]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Conventional thinking with US agencies would say it would be double the cost, but I don't think it would. First of all a dual-mode Geary subway would by definition no longer be just a Geary Blvd project as the BART would be part of a much larger BART outer belt project and a 2nd Transbay Tube. The projects together would be a major capital investment to say the absolute least. I do believe it would be exceptionally ideal though. Under this scenario as I mentioned BART acts as an express, especially for outer Geary trips downtown, southward, and cross-bay; MUNI Metro acts as a Geary Blvd rail local with station spacing in the arena of 1/3 mile; and Muni bus acts as a Geary Blvd hyperlocal with traditional non-BRT stop spacing and service level distributing to nearest rail stations and traversing Geary length for riders wishing to stay on surface.

A few basic concepts:

1. Outer belt BART would be serviced by trains using a new second Transbay Tube. Specifically how and where that route enters downtown SF would need to be determined. Outer belt BART line would run under Geary before turning south either just west of Park Presidio Blvd to run below 19th Ave; OR run under Geary until the vicinity of 30th Ave before sweeping south in a deep bore likely under 36th Ave with a possible station location at Balboa.
   
   
2. Muni Metro would operate on the top level with BART below just as under Market. The Muni Metro subway would daylight just west of Masonic and run in the median all the way until roughly 43rd Ave in Outer Richmond. BART would continue underground until turning south for alternate routings of 19th Ave or Sunset Blvd. In downtown SF, Geary Muni Metro could potentially cross under Market and loop around or adjacent to Salesforce Transbay Terminal before returning to Geary. Montgomery BART station would also be served by this new line.
   
   
3. Joint Muni Metro and BART stations would be located at Union Square downtown and at Van Ness, Divisadero, Park Presidio Blvd. (or 25th Ave if Sunset Blvd route taken)
   
   
4. Possible BART stations at 25th Ave and/or 36th Ave/Balboa depending on whether Sunset Blvd or 19th Ave is chosen. BART station at Judah, positioned between Judah and Lincoln Way, would feature convenient northern station access from Lincoln Way and Golden Gate Park whether under Sunset or 19th Ave.
   
   Taraval St after that.
   
   A station either at or near Sloat Blvd or Ocean Ave in Merced Manor interchanging with (K) and (M) Muni Metro depending on Sunset or 19th routing. Finally a station servicing Parkmerced and SFSU at Holloway Ave either under 19th Ave or Junipero Serra depending on outer belt routing. Daly City station would likely need radical expansion or rebuilding to accomidate this expansion coming in from the north. Interlined south of Daly City.

If you're going to go for a Geary subway my personal recommendation would be for it to be just MUNI. You can still have like 5-6 subway stops along Geary until CA 1, at which point the line can surface right after the park and serve 19th Ave as a traditional MUNI line right up to Daly City BART. Stacked tunnels aren't cheap and by running a Geary/19th Ave combo line you still preserve the benefit of giving Sunset riders a connection to the southern BART at Daly City.

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

Nice, those are some good looking trains. Seeing this in the US is sort of trippy, it looks more like a scene from France or Germany.

They have the same annoying truck style air horn as the DMU's from the same manufacturer we have in Fort Worth though. Wish they could use a real train horn. Not that you expect them to blow it all the time under normal operation. I would hope most of the route is a quiet zone/grade separated.

I did notice some comments on Caltrain’s IG that some people aren’t as excited for these new electric trains and wish for the old F40 locomotives to stay. Is there any reason why that might be? Other than nostalgia I suppose.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by homebucket

I did notice some comments on Caltrain’s IG that some people aren’t as excited for these new electric trains and wish for the old F40 locomotives to stay. Is there any reason why that might be? Other than nostalgia I suppose.

Probably rail fans who like the sound of the diesels which gives the impression of something very powerful and impressive (even though electric stock is actually more powerful). You hear the same thing from car fans who miss the sound of internal combustion engines.

[Busy Bee]

How can anything be heard under the din of those ridiculous bells?

[38 Geary]

VTA Breaks Ground on $12.7 Billion BART Extension Through South Bay
Joseph Geha
Jun 14



The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the old saying goes. And on Friday, the first scoop of dirt was taken out of the ground in what has been a decadeslong journey of planning and fundraising to run six new miles of BART track through the South Bay. Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, known as VTA, held a groundbreaking on Friday to celebrate the beginning of heavy construction work on its BART Silicon Valley Phase II project.

...

The $12.7 billion undertaking will extend BART from its current end of the line at Berryessa Station in North San José and will run west to create four new stations: 28th Street/Little Portugal near East San José, Downtown San José, Diridon and Santa Clara.

...

In addition to a new BART station, the site of the groundbreaking in Santa Clara near the border of San José is where a huge hole will be dug to eventually allow a $76 million tunnel boring machine being assembled in Germany to be dropped into the ground. Once in place, it will begin eating away at millions of cubic yards of dirt to make way for the largely underground extension. The muck removed from the tunneling effort and digging for other station construction is set to be used to help benefit tidal marsh restoration efforts in the bay. Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez said that breaking ground on projects such as the BART extension and the recent start of construction of an elevated light rail extension through a heavily trafficked part of East San José shows a commitment to advancement.

https://www.kqed.org/news/11990508/vta-b...billion-bart-extension-through-south-bay

[tdawg]

Nearly $13 billion for 6 miles and 4 new stations is kinda insane, isn't it? Even the three new stations of Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway here in NYC, being built under a busy avenue, is "only" expected to cost $8 billion.

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by tdawg

Nearly $13 billion for 6 miles and 4 new stations is kinda insane, isn't it? Even the three new stations of Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway here in NYC, being built under a busy avenue, is "only" expected to cost $8 billion.

The article below lists some of the reasons.

Among them,

A rapid rise in material, labor and equipment costs, especially during the pandemic, and a shortage of skilled labor in the Bay Area has led to cost overruns and delays, officials said.

For Phase II, VTA will build a single-bore tunnel that differs from BART’s decades-long approach of two smaller side-by-side tunnels. Critics say the single-bore tunnel is a more costly, risky and environmentally damaging alternative to twin bores. Some opponents also have slammed the single-bore design for driving up costs.

But VTA says the twin-bore method of construction involves large excavations to build the underground stations, which disturbs the vast network of existing utilities underground and forces extensive utility relocations.

Last year, VTA bought a massive tunnel-boring machine, which has been described as a “ mechanical earthworm,” for $76 million to excavate and remove more soil at project sites.

https://www.siliconvalley.com/2024/06/14/construction-begins-on-barts-extension-to-the-south-bay/

[38 Geary]

About time! Now that this is finally underway, let's focus on getting that Second Transbay Tube and Geary Subway built!

Construction begins on BART’s extension to the South Bay
Project is expected to take more than 12 years to complete



By KRISTIN J. BENDER | Bay Area News Group, Oakland Tribune, Mercury News
PUBLISHED: June 14, 2024 at 4:42 p.m. | UPDATED: June 17, 2024 at 4:18 a.m.

Thirty years in the making and stalled by escalating costs and repeated delays, construction on BART’s extension to Silicon Valley finally started Friday.

...

When the line opens in 2037, officials said riders on the BART system will save an average of 30 minutes for a 50-mile commute compared to driving. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is designing and building the South Bay extension. BART will operate and maintain the line. Construction on the extension started on Brokaw Road in Santa Clara — which runs between the Caltrain station and San Jose International Airport — and officials said businesses in the area should expect dust and disruptions.

Local officials have secured $15 million to help mitigate some of the construction disruptions, said Cindy Chavez, a Santa Clara County supervisor and chair of the VTA board. The budget will provide marketing, signs and technical assistance to help businesses during major construction. There is also a grant program to provide some impacted businesses up to $10,000 per year. Chavez said the BART project will create 75,000 jobs, most of them union jobs with good pay and benefits.

https://www.siliconvalley.com/2024/06/14/construction-begins-on-barts-extension-to-the-south-bay/

[38 Geary]

Two-Item Tuesday: Oakland/Alameda Water Shuttle Almost Ready
By Roger Rudick
3:28 PM PDT on June 18, 2024



A little more news on the planned Woodstock water shuttle service between Jack London Square and Alameda Landing. From the Alameda city page: Boat modifications are complete! Woodstock now has a new open floorplan with bike racks and some benches, along with wide folding gangways. ADA ramps have been purchased for the Alameda and Oakland docks. The service launch is still planned for this summer, and a specific date will be set and announced when external approvals are assured.

That last sentence seems to be the rub now, for a service that was supposed to start this month but now seems to be delayed until at least July. Streetsblog has requested more details, but the city's web post says that "final approvals from the U.S. Coast Guard and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC)" remain pending.

When launched, the little yellow boat will run between Alameda Landing and the foot of Oakland's Broadway (see map). It's supposed to run Wednesdays through Sundays, for about twelve hours per day. It's a two-year pilot, but Streetsblog is hopeful that will be extended, and that the service will eventually run seven days a week for closer to 18 hours a day, so it can become a reliable, regular, always-on-call conveyance for people on bike and on foot connecting Western Alameda to Oakland, as well as BART and Amtrak.

https://sf.streetsblog.org/2024/06/18/two-item-tuesday-oakland-alameda-water-shuttle-

[38 Geary]

And the route map:



https://sf.streetsblog.org/2024/06/18/two-item-tuesday-oakland-alameda-water-shuttle-almost-ready

[wwmiv]

For 850’, a pedestrian bridge would be more cost effective, no?

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

For 850’, a pedestrian bridge would be more cost effective, no?

There is a bicycle and pedestrian bridge being planned. However, there's some fairly big cutters from the US Coast Guard that navigate these waterways, so it'd have to be a lift bridge or a drawbridge, which is why it's taking awhile to plan and design. This is just an interim solution.







https://sf.streetsblog.org/2023/03/07/co...-bridge-proposal-is-too-damn-complicated
https://www.pacificarea.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Cutters/cgcWaesche/

[llamaorama]

Maybe they could build a tunnel using the same tube method as the adjacent road tunnels in that location? There are underwater pedestrian tunnels in Europe and the UK.

I guess that raises security concerns but a bridge would have the same problem. Either solution would involve elevators and long ramps.

A lift bridge would have long term maintenance costs just as a tunnel would.

[38 Geary]

World’s First Entirely Hydrogen-Powered Ferry Welcomes Passengers on July 19 in San Francisco Bay

San Francisco, CA — July 12, 2024 — Today San Francisco Bay Ferry and a group of private and public sector partners launched the MV Sea Change, the world’s first commercial passenger ferry powered 100% by zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells. The vessel will begin service to the public on July 19, offering free transportation between Pier 41 and the Downtown San Francisco Ferry Terminal.

The Sea Change represents an enormous milestone toward efforts to decarbonize the maritime industry. It will operate as a part of the San Francisco Bay Ferry network for a six-month demonstration period designed to showcase the application of fuel cell technology as a viable strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. The vessel emits only water vapor, a portion of which is remineralized and used in the onboard water fountain, making it the only vessel in the world with drinkable emissions.

The vessel is owned by SWITCH Maritime, and was developed by the company with support from a grant provided by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The demonstration service is made possible thanks to sponsorships from a group of partners including Chevron New Energies; the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District; and United Airlines. The service will be operated by San Francisco Bay Ferry’s contract operator, Blue & Gold Fleet.

https://sanfranciscobayferry.com/news/wo...mes-passengers-july-19-san-francisco-bay

[38 Geary]

A nice video of it:

• Video Link

[38 Geary]

Oakland/Alameda Water Shuttle Already Proving Popular
A water shuttle update
By Roger Rudick
5:25 PM PDT on July 19, 2024

Some 60 people lined up in Oakland for a ride on Woodstock, a ferry designed to carry just over 30, on the first day of operations Wednesday afternoon. They were also there for a start-of-service party.

...

More than 775 passengers crossed the Estuary by boat instead of in a vehicle, along with 183 bicycles. The Water Shuttle’s capacity is 31 individuals and 14 bikes. Crews noticed damage above the water line on the vessel on one of the final runs that evening and suspended service immediately. Special thanks to the welders who worked overnight to make repairs and get the shuttle back up and running.



If it continues to draw so many people, the service is going to double as a strong argument for building a bridge across the estuary. From Streetsblog's view, it's also a strong argument for cancelling the Oakland Alameda Access Project, which is vainly trying to increase car capacity in the Posey and Webster tubes. Clearly, people want alternatives to driving, not more traffic. That money would be much better spent fully funding the water shuttle so it can run seven days a week (currently it doesn't run on Monday or Tuesday because of budgetary constraints). There also should be a second boat, so that when there's a problem, the service doesn't have to be cancelled.

https://sf.streetsblog.org/2024/07/19/oakland-alameda-water-shuttle-already-proving-popular