SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[Pedestrian]

^^People on here love to talk about their dream systems but I already mentioned BART's priorities--new cars, new computers/software, SJ extension--on which it's spending billions of $ and it doesn't have the money to do the things you'd like and I suspect never will consider that a priority. If they come into a windfall, there's extending the Pleasanton line to Livermore.

[CharlesCO]

I don't see how building express tracks on the suburban parts of the system would really be worth it. Ridership generally (generally!) declines the farther and farther out you get. Improving the quality of service in the core part of the system will benefit the most people, and that's what BART wants to do with more trains and the new computer system. There are also plans to build exit platforms in some of the underground stations which would relieve crowding and theoretically make trains move faster, especially during peak hours. Not sure if that's still a priority right now, but it's a good idea.

Would BART have been better with express tracks built as originally planned? Sure. But it didn't happen that way, and it would probably be very expensive to pull off now.

I think the other idea that BART and the MTC are coming around to now is encouraging a lot more TOD in suburban areas. The second transbay crossing is going to cost what, like $45 billion now? Maybe that money could be better spent on other projects. There's a lot of room for improvement to place more jobs and housing in places like Walnut Creek, Berkeley, Fremont, San Jose, and Redwood City. At a certain point, it stops becoming worth it to keep forcing everyone to commute into the city and deny higher density development anywhere else.

[181Fremont]

Huge update regarding the Central Subway on Muni's website today. Moscone Station is looking great. It looks like the project has once again been hit by a delay, opening in Spring 2022. Tired of the delays but the photos look promising.

By Phillip Pierce
Thursday, November 12, 2020
Central Subway: Slowed by COVID-19 But Still Making Progress

The Central Subway is a transformational transportation project that will extend the T Third underground to Chinatown through some of the busiest and densest parts of our city. While this mega-project is nearing completion, we are unfortunately delayed a few months due to COVID-19 and other complexities.

Before the pandemic, we anticipated that construction would be finished by the end of next month, with customers riding trains at the start of revenue service a year later. Our current projections put the completion of construction this spring and the start of service in the following spring of 2022.

https://www.sfmta.com/blog/central-subway-slowed-covid-19-still-making-progress

[BeachHouse]

Thank God for Muni !!

[M II A II R II K]

Want to simplify regional transit? It’s complicated

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/want-to-simplify-regional-transit-its-complicated/

....

- On Monday, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Fare Integration Task Force will meet to discuss the next steps in an ongoing study to explore how to better coordinate regional transit. --- “The creation of a Network Manager would have impacts on the authorities of our existing transit agencies. They wouldn’t have control over the same things they do now,” said Ian Griffiths, policy director at the nonprofit Seamless Bay Area. “It would involve change, which is hard.”

- The MTC runs the region’s Clipper card program, but it lacks the authority to set fares. Instead, each of the 27 Bay Area transit agencies has individual discount programs, uncoordinated schedules that fail to sync up transfers between modes and a dearth of fare schemes that incentivize regional travel by public transit. --- SPUR, a San Francisco-based sustainable urban planning nonprofit, says this fragmentation is why less than 5 percent of trips made in the Bay Area are taken by transit.

- Fare integration is simple on paper: riders pay one easy-to-calculate fare based on the distance traveled to any destination in the Bay Area, even if they have to use multiple agencies. But, in fact, it’s far more complicated in practice. --- For example, nearly 70 percent of BART’s operating budget comes from farebox. The same was true for Caltrain until it won approval of sales tax Measure RR in November. SFMTA, however, relies almost equally on parking revenues. --- Different agencies each serve different populations with varying needs, and those circumstances influence how they prioritize resources.

.....

[M II A II R II K]

Can Shift in D.C. Get Trains into Transbay?

https://sf.streetsblog.org/2021/01/12/can-shift-in-d-c-get-trains-into-transbay/

.....

- With Biden and Democrats in narrow control of the Senate, San Francisco is in a race to get cash for its next big transit project.

.....

[M II A II R II K]

Seamless Bay Area Explains Why MTC Doesn’t Work

https://sf.streetsblog.org/2021/01/14/seamless-bay-area-explains-why-mtc-doesnt-work/

.....

- When it was created by an act of the California State Legislature in 1970, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission was intended by many to be a network manager – specifically to “integrate feeder bus and rail systems with the fledgling BART system,” according to MTC’s website. However, MTC is neither a state agency (such as the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, BCDC) nor a local jurisdiction (such as a county) so its legitimacy to carry out its mandate is largely dependent on the constituent nine counties that make up its governing structure.

- Despite the intent with which it was created, our current transit system’s state of fragmentation is proof of MTC’s limited effectiveness at carrying out the role of network manager. Over the past fifty years, riders have endured a lack of coordinated routes, fares, schedules, and branding – and these things have regularly been identified as barriers to an efficient and effective transit system. In an attempt to “fix” MTC, its mandate has been altered numerous times… Yet, over the same fifty years, the number of transit agencies and associated fares structures, maps, etc, has multiplied, per capita transit ridership has remained flat, and driving has increased.

The three main reasons the MTC has failed:

• The mandates of dozens of other transit agencies and planning entities conflict with MTC’s mandate to coordinate.

• MTC’s board composition results in policy shaped too heavily by local interests and not enough by shared regional interests.

• MTC policies are shaped too heavily by boards and committees that don’t have enough relevant technical expertise and are insufficiently informed by best practices and professional experts.

.....

[SFBruin]

In regards to the DTX for Caltrain, is the station at 4th and King really necessary?

I could see it's being more efficient to just have a station at Salesforce, and tunnel under 7th Street, then Howard / Mission.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

In regards to the DTX for Caltrain, is the station at 4th and King really necessary?

I could see it's being more efficient to just have a station at Salesforce, and tunnel under 7th Street, then Howard / Mission.

Since Caltrain will continue to use much of the land at 4th and King as its northernmost rail yard, there's no reason not to retain a functional station somewhere there. Obviously the existing station will have to be redesigned after DTX becomes a reality, but it could be essentially become a subway station since the conceptual development plans I've seen generally contemplate building midrises above the tracks. Plus, the office developments in that part of town, both existing and planned, will likely always produce commuter demand for a station there.

[38 Geary]

Blast from the past! Balboa between 23rd & 24th.



https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/lsp3hi/balboa_st_at_24th_ave_in_1948_vs_today_12/

[38 Geary]

Republicans are really mad about BART getting $112 million in COVID-19 stimulus bill

Eric Ting
Feb. 25, 2021

The House version of Biden administration's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill contains funding for BART's planned expansion into San Jose and Santa Clara — and congressional Republicans are not happy about it.

An analysis from Fox Business found that the expansion — long-planned but lacking funding — will be receiving $112 million in federal funds, and transportation officials told the San Francisco Chronicle the figure would actually be closer to $141 million (SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently of one another).

Twitter accounts for House and Senate Republicans began referring to the project as "Pelosi's Subway" in tweets railing against the legislation. Individual lawmakers also got in on the act.

...

BART will also be receiving $77 million to expand the Transbay Tube’s capacity, and the bill contains a total of $30 billion for transit agencies across the country.

...

Democrats have argued that the public transit funding is directly tied to the pandemic because low levels of ridership have placed agencies in financial peril and in need of federal relief.

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Pelosi-Subway-BART-COVID-relief-bill-funds-GOP-15980031.php

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by homebucket

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Pelosi-Subway-BART-COVID-relief-bill-funds-GOP-15980031.php

That's it as far as expanding BART in that area I guess? The electrification of Caltrain makes it similar in service, if I am not mistaken. VTA services a large area too.

[38 Geary]

I don't think there are any active plans to connect BART up to Milbrae. The San Mateo County and Peninsula NIMBYs made sure of that a long time ago. It would be nice of course to have a single system complete connection, so passengers wouldn't need to transfer at say Diridon Station from BART to Caltrain. But yes, with electrification, Caltrain will be faster, with increased frequency of service, and quicker start/stop.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by TWAK

That's it as far as expanding BART in that area I guess? The electrification of Caltrain makes it similar in service, if I am not mistaken. VTA services a large area too.

As shown here, the final BART San Jose extension connects it to CalTrain/HSR at Diridon Station, allowing cross-platforming for a complete circle of the Bay. No need for additional BART construction northward on the west side of the Bay. And yes, you are correct, once electrified CalTain service will be similar to BART but there will probably be both local and express service from Diridon to SF.


https://futuretravel.today/bay-area-2050-the-bart-metro-map-ab83b22d3d8b

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

As shown here, the final BART San Jose extension connects it to CalTrain/HSR at Diridon Station, allowing cross-platforming for a complete circle of the Bay. No need for additional BART construction northward on the west side of the Bay. And yes, you are correct, once electrified CalTain service will be similar to BART but there will probably be both local and express service from Diridon to SF.

It would be good for the BART infrastructure to have a loop, and they built a very nice wye. It's not actually realistic though, I don't think, just because of how expensive it usually is. It's cheaper to electrify standard gauge so they should stick with the E-BART system from now on for any future expansion. I wonder if they could "electrify" BART, to make it faster and get rid of the third rail.

[ardecila]

^ Caltrain will be functionally identical to eBART once the Modernization project is complete. You even have the convenient cross-platform transfers at Millbrae and (eventually) a slightly less convenient transfer at Diridon and Santa Clara.

The real reason Caltrain can't be converted to BART is because BART isn't compatible with the HSR trains down to LA. There's only room for one rail corridor down the peninsula, and it needs to accommodate local transit and trains to other parts of the state.

[craigs]

I love the idea of a single agency such as BART running train service all the way around the Bay, but that won't be necessary with electrified Caltrain. The new Caltrain service will be on par in terms of speed and capacity.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by ardecila

The real reason Caltrain can't be converted to BART is because BART isn't compatible with the HSR trains down to LA. There's only room for one rail corridor down the peninsula, and it needs to accommodate local transit and trains to other parts of the state.

BART and Caltrain are different gauges. Back in the day, BART chose a wide gauge--wider than intercity rail (AMTRAK etc)--so BART trains couldn't run on CalTrain tracks and vice versa.

The present plan as I understand it is to run both CalTrain and HSR on the existing (but electrified) double tracking of the Peninsula rail corridor but early in the planning CA HSR planned to install its own tracks so there seems to be enough room in the right of way to have BART tracks parallel to the double tracking for CalTrain/HSR. It would be expensive, though, and not the best use of available funds. I'd rather see the southern Bay crossing (red--standard gauge--rail line crossing the Bay just north of San Jose in the map I posted above) built. Facebook promised to contribute some funds for this but not near enough to build it; mainly for design work I think. And someday there's a second BART tunnel too build.

[Pedestrian]

Because San Francisco just has too much money and is looking for more places to use it and we all know Muni especially is overflowing with funds:

Supervisor Preston wants free Muni for duration of pandemic
Advocates say SFMTA should use federal relief funds to cover lost farebox revenue
CARLY GRAF
Feb. 28, 2021 6:30 a.m.

Supervisor Dean Preston wants all Muni riders to travel for free for the duration of the ongoing public health crisis, and he’s calling on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to make it happen.

“Free Muni during the pandemic is a crucial step to restore ridership and put money in struggling San Franciscan’s pockets when they need it most,” Preston said in a statement.

The SFMTA announced last week it would provide free round-trip travel for anyone going to get their COVID-19 vaccination, a step the supervisor says he welcomed for its role in reducing barriers, promoting use of public transit and saving riders valuable dollars.

But he says limiting fee-free ridership to vaccination appointments doesn’t go nearly far enough. It still leaves healthcare workers and patients traveling to medical facilities, individuals going to coronavirus test sites and families headed to essential destinations such as the grocery store or pharmacy to pay during a persistent economic crisis.

Providing free service would alleviate a financial burden for many and encourage riders to take Muni in a time where ridership remains more than 60 percent below ordinary levels.

Many transit advocates, some of whom have argued for free Muni for years, seem to agree . . . .

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/supervisor-preston-wants-free-muni-for-duration-of-pandemic/

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

The present plan as I understand it is to run both CalTrain and HSR on the existing (but electrified) double tracking of the Peninsula rail corridor but early in the planning CA HSR planned to install its own tracks so there seems to be enough room in the right of way to have BART tracks parallel to the double tracking for CalTrain/HSR.

This is not correct. The original circa-2008 hope was to expand the existing two-track conventional diesel railroad to four tracks with overhead electric, with two outside tracks dedicated to HSR and two inside tracks dedicated to Caltrains. Instead, three tracks are now planned in a "blended" service that will be pretty much the same as what four tracks can do except for during maintenance periods. All trains will stop at SFO in order to enable cuing into the Transbay Terminal, which will be accessed by a 3-track tunnel.

The reason why the capacity for both the 3-track and 4-track peninsula configurations is almost the same is because the whole thing's capacity is limited by the 6 platforms at the Transbay Terminal. By default, the HSR trains will terminate their runs in this facility, and so each will need a 30-minute turnaround time for cleaning. Meanwhile, the Caltrains commuter trains will "terminate" in San Jose or Gilroy, and so cleaning will happen there, where there is plenty of room.

When a new Transbay Tube is built, the Transbay Terminal will become a thru station, meaning the turnaround cleaning of HSR trains will happen somewhere in the East Bay, where there will be much more space. This means that HSR trains will idle at the Transbay Terminal for 5 minutes instead of 30. This will profoundly improve the capacity of the entire system.

Also, it should be pointed out that Caltrains will operate at 110mph, which is somewhat faster than BART, and that some Caltrains runs will be express or limited stop, meaning even with a transfer (or two) the planned setup will be faster than any imaginable BART setup, especially if one's destination is near the Transbay Terminal.