SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[northbay]

looks good - such a needed link. also looks like its floating in mid-air

[CyberEric]

I really really hope they build that. It sounds like it might hit some snags though as the extra weight would apparently somehow make it harder for ships to pass underneath. Fingers crossed!

[ElDuderino]

SMART sells $191 million in bonds to fund construction
Funds to create 900 jobs in 2012
By Eric Gneckow, Business Journal Staff Reporter

Sonoma Marin Area Rail TransitSAN RAFAEL — Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit today announced the sale of $191 million in multimodal rate bonds to fund construction of a train linking Marin and Sonoma counties.

The bond sale will result in $171 million in revenue for SMART, which the agency said will go towards construction of the rail line, bridges, crossings and stations, as well as the purchase of trains.

“The financing will be used to create 900 jobs in the new year,” said SMART Vice Chairman Judy Arnold.

The proceeds of the bonds will be put in an escrow account while the group RepealSMART works to collect signatures to repeal Measure Q, a quarter-cent sales tax measure voters in Sonoma and Marin counties approved to help fund SMART in 2008.

RepealSMART supporters contend that voters should have a second chance to vote on the measure after economic pressure forced SMART to make significant changes to its plan to construct a commuter rail line between Cloverdale in Sonoma County and Larkspur in Marin County. With reduced sales tax income, SMART plans to build an initial segment between Santa Rosa and San Rafael in 2015–16, with the remaining portions completed when funding becomes available.

If RepealSMART can’t collect enough signatures by the end of January, those bonds will be converted to a fixed interest rate, with the proceeds going to fund construction.

http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/46212/smart-sells-191-million-in-bonds-to-fund-construction/

[202_Cyclist]

BART planners begin work on new vision for future


Michael Cabanatuan
San Francisco Chronicle
Monday, December 26, 2011

"Way back in 1957, Bay Area planners were thinking big. Concerned about the booming population and worsening traffic congestion, they proposed a round-the-bay rapid transit network that eventually spawned today's BART.


Image courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle

Now, 54 years and 4 million people later, it's BART's turn to think big. Planners are working on a new vision for the future - one that could include express trains, all-night service, new stations along existing lines, trains traveling different routes and extensions to Livermore, Ocean Beach, Brentwood and Crockett.

"Over the past few years, we've just been trying to keep our heads above water," said Carter Mau, BART's executive manager of budget and planning. "Now that we've recovered a bit, it's time to start looking at our future..."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/26/BA1C1M79J1.DTL&feed=rss.news

[San Frangelino]

Bart to Ocean Beach! Did I read that correctly? Could it be true?

[tech12]

Originally Posted by San Frangelino

Bart to Ocean Beach! Did I read that correctly? Could it be true?

I really hope it actually happens (maybe followed by another line down 19th avenue, meeting up with it). Bart to Ocean Beach is something SF urban/transit nerds have been dreaming about for decades.

I wonder if Geary is the only option for getting to Ocean Beach? It would be the obvious/best choice I think, being the densest western SF hood with the largest main commercial strip, and the single busiest bus line in the city...but building the new BART line under the existing Muni tunnel beneath twin peaks, and then into the Sunset district along Taraval, or maybe having it further north, along Judah or Lincoln, sounds OK too. If it's on Judah they could have a BART stop at UCSF, which would be extra useful for many people, but Geary is still the best choice. Now if only the NIMBYs stay out of the way.

I'm curious though as to whether Muni will ever build more subways after the Chinatown extension...I know Geary is also a possibility for that if more is ever built, but if BART is going down Geary too, would Muni really consider it as necessary? I'm thinking maybe not, especially if the Geary bus rapid transit is in place by that point. IMO they should at least extend the new Chinatown line to North beach/Fisherman's Wharf, and than loop it around to Van Ness, and back down to Market, maybe even down Mission street to Daly City. Imagine that combined with the new BART lines.

Ahh, transit fantasies. At least some of it looks closer to reality now.

edit: also, it's about time for that Bay Bridge walkway. Finally we'll get a pedestrian/bike connection between SF and Oakland. I'm thinking the only ships potentially in trouble by the increased weight would be those ones that carry gigantic new cranes to the port of Oakland every now and then. Some of those are so tall that they clear the bottom of the bridge by just a few feet...but it sounds like they can fix that problem of increased weight anyways.

[ElDuderino]

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District announces plans for additional stations

By DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 12:45 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 12:45 p.m.

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District on Thursday revealed that the initial 37-mile route will extend to a station on Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa, an addition of 1.5 miles that officials said will boost ridership significantly.

“The Guerneville station offers the highest amount of ridership, so it was important that we made it there,” Sonoma County Supervisor and SMART board member Shirlee Zane said. A station also will be added in Novato.

District officials said they will seek board approval for a $103 million construction contract to build the first phase of the rail project. If that happens on Monday, construction could begin immediately.

“Prepare to see shovels,” Zane said.

The project will move forward despite ongoing efforts by rail opponents to repeal the quarter-percent sales tax that funds SMART.

Farhad Mansourian, SMART's general manager, said Thursday that opponents will need 39,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.

But RepealSMART believes that only 15,000 signatures are necessary, citing the threshold set by Proposition 218, a measure passed by voters in 1996 that required two-thirds votes on most tax measures and set up an initiative process to repeal existing taxes.

Two other state election laws, however, have formulas that would set the thresholds at 30,000 or 39,000 signatures.

Opponents have until Jan. 27 to submit petitions to the registrars of voters in Sonoma and Marin counties for verification before they are delivered to SMART.

SMART's board then would decide whether to accept the signatures and call for an election, which most likely would be in November. A simple majority yes vote would be necessary to overturn the tax.

District officials hope to award the construction contract for the initial phase of the rail project to Alameda-based Stacey and Witbeck Inc. and Missouri-based railroad specialist Herzog Contracting Corp.

Mansourian said the project will be funded by state, local and federal funds, and not from $191 million in construction bonds that the district sold on Dec. 20. He said that money was put in an escrow account pending the outcome of the repeal effort, which he predicted would fail.

“We're not here to stop. We're here to go forward,” he said.

Zane said the addition of a Guerneville Road station near will boost ridership above 80 percent of expected ridership for a full system, which calls for a 70 mile-route from Cloverdale to Larkspur.

The agency estimates on its web site that 5,300 people would use the train on a daily basis. But officials on Thursday said those numbers are outdated and that they expect ridership will be higher.

The Guerneville station will be near Coddingtown Mall and high-density housing. SMART is negotiating with regional bus service providers to connect passengers who live in Windsor and Cloverdale.

The other Santa Rosa station is planned for Railroad Square in the city's downtown.

Officials also announced Thursday that the initial phase also will include a station on Atherton Avenue in Novato.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/201...-announces-additional-Santa-Rosa-station

[northbay]

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Board of Directors OK $103.3 million construction contract


Model of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit diesel multiple unit train by Sumitomo Corporation of America and Nippon Sharyo, Ltd.

PD FILE, 2011
By DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, January 9, 2012 at 2:55 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, January 9, 2012 at 2:55 p.m.

Work on a commuter rail system through Sonoma and Marin counties will begin Tuesday, nearly four years after voters approved a ballot measure to help fund the project and despite current efforts to derail it.

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Board of Directors Monday voted unanimously to approve a $103.3 million contract with Alameda-based Stacy and Witbeck Inc. and Herzog Contracting Corp. to build the first phase of the rail project.

George Furnanz, chief operating officer of Stacy and Witbeck, said... crews on Tuesday will begin laying out the work to be completed, putting up fencing around wetland areas and ordering materials. About a dozen subcontractors who attended Monday's meeting in Santa Rosa were greeted with applause after Furnanz asked them to stand.

...

Board members also were effusive in their praise of SMART General Manager Farhad Mansourian, who they credited with striking the deal to get the project rolling after only five months at the helm.

The contract encompasses 38.5 miles of track from Santa Rosa to the Marin Civic Center, and will include two stations that were not originally planned for the initial phase: one at Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa, and another at Atherton Avenue in northern Novato.

“We are just so delighted at the turn of events that has allowed for a Guerneville Road station,” Santa Rosa City Manager Kathleen Millison told the board Monday.

The SMART board also approved a study of the relocation of the proposed Rohnert Park station from Roberts Lake Road to Rohnert Park Expressway. The Rohnert Park City Council in April recommended the move and promised $35,000 to reimburse SMART for the environmental review.

Plans to award a second contract for the rail line between the Marin Civic Center and downtown San Rafael are on hold pending an effort to repeal Measure Q, a quarter-cent sales tax voters in Sonoma and Marin counties approved in 2008 to help fund SMART.

RepealSMART has been gathering signatures in an attempt to qualify the ballot measure by the Jan. 27 deadline.

But how many signatures are needed and the wording of the petitions are contested issues that may have to be resolved in court. In the meantime, both sides are attempting to influence public opinion, with SMART officials accusing repeal advocates of wanting to kill jobs, and critics accusing rail officials of spending money unwisely.

...

The rail district has placed the $171 million in proceeds from the Dec. 20 sale of construction bonds into an escrow account pending the outcome of the repeal effort.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/201...T-OK-s-103-million-construction-contract

[fflint]

I like the look of the new trainsets!

[San Frangelino]

Video renderings of the new Central Subway Stations via http://centralsubwaysf.com/

• Video Link

[San Frangelino]

Thanks for posting that NorthBay. I haven't really kept up with SMART. Am I right in thinking it's going to be similar to E-BART?

[northbay]

Originally Posted by San Frangelino

Thanks for posting that NorthBay. I haven't really kept up with SMART. Am I right in thinking it's going to be similar to E-BART?

yes. SMART will be using FRA-compliant DMUs created by Nippon Sharyo. Toronto is also buying the same train-sets for its airport service.

[202_Cyclist]

Federal officials recommend full funding for BART extension to San Jose

By Gary Richards
01/09/2012
San Jose Mercury

"The deal to extend BART to the South Bay is finally clearing its last major hurdle after a six-decade struggle.

On Tuesday the U.S. Department of Transportation will recommend to Congress that more than $900 million in federal aid be set aside for BART over the next decade -- the entire amount sought by local transportation officials for the $2.3 billion extension from Fremont to San Jose.

"This is it," said Jack d'Annibale, communications director for Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose. "We're on the goal line going in..."

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19707761

[northbay]

good news about BART.

Originally Posted by fflint

I like the look of the new trainsets!

me too.


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=298769030152753&set=pu.116321028397555&type=1&theater

[llamaorama]

The trains look fabulous, they look similar to some pictures I saw of newer commuter rail equipment operating in Tokyo.

SMART will be using FRA-compliant DMUs created by Nippon Sharyo

So basically trains like these could legally operate on standard freight lines anywhere?

[electricron]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

The trains look fabulous, they look similar to some pictures I saw of newer commuter rail equipment operating in Tokyo.
So basically trains like these could legally operate on standard freight lines anywhere?

Yes, they will be fully FRA compliant.

[northbay]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

The trains look fabulous, they look similar to some pictures I saw of newer commuter rail equipment operating in Tokyo.

I wonder if those trains were Nippon Sharyo then as well?

Originally Posted by llamaorama

So basically trains like these could legally operate on standard freight lines anywhere?

As electricron said, yes. There is existing freight service on the SMART line so they wanted FRA-compliant trains to allow more flexibility.

[CyberEric]

Fantastic news about BART to the Southbay, LONG overdue.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by CyberEric

Fantastic news about BART to the Southbay, LONG overdue.

Agreed. This will at least allow connection to VTA. But the subway along Santa Clara St. to downtown is still not funded. Hopefully this gets done about the time Cisco Field comes on-line.

[Busy Bee]

Those trains would look better with a pantograph, if you know what i mean.