SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[homebucket]

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/2024/0...the-south-bay/

[homebucket]

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/2024/06/1...water-shuttle-

[homebucket]

And the route map:



https://sf.streetsblog.org/2024/06/1...e-almost-ready

[wwmiv]

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

[homebucket]

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/2023/03/0...mn-complicated
https://www.pacificarea.uscg.mil/Our...rs/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.

[homebucket]

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/new...-francisco-bay

[homebucket]

A nice video of it:

• Video Link