SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by creamcityleo79

My husband and I were in San Francisco last weekend and we rode MUNI the whole time. Our hotel was on Van Ness and we were able to use the new Van Ness BRT quite a bit. The service is wonderful. It's very very quick and you never have to wait long before another bus comes. Even though, it was on the weekend, we never had to wait long for any bus/train the whole weekend...and we went all over the city during that time. For someone who doesn't use public transit often (except when visiting Chicago or NYC), the system was easy to navigate and it was really convenient. Just some thoughts from a first-time MUNI user.

Good feedback. Glad to hear it's operating smoothly! And was easy to use for a first time rider/tourist or others unfamiliar with the system. User friendliness is always important for retention of riders and encouraging high ridership.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by homebucket

https://www.vta.org/projects/bart-sv/phase-ii



https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/new...ntract-downtown-san-jose-bart-extension/

I wonder how feasible it would be to just make a BART loop to Millbrae or SFO? It would be going through notorious NIMBY territory though...

[Busy Bee]

You're describing ring-the-bay BART which was likely to happen had San Mateo County back in the 1960s not bailed on being a BART county partner after determining they didn't want to pay the taxes and the existing SP service was "sufficient" for their needs at the time. That led us to the current Caltrain service and the future corridor also being shared by high speed trains in and out of SF. Even if BART was to extend down the peninsula to SJ I don't know where it would go as you obviously can't use the Caltrain/HSR tracks or even have room in the right-of-way for that matter.

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by TWAK

I wonder how feasible it would be to just make a BART loop to Millbrae or SFO? It would be going through notorious NIMBY territory though...

Probably not gonna happen at this point especially with Caltrain going electric, which will allow their trains to accelerate and decelerate more quickly than diesel-powered trains, and provide more frequent and/or faster train service.

A one seat BART ride looping around the Bay would be cool but for economical reasons, it doesn't make that much sense since you could just transfer at Diridon. It would be nice if they could somehow extend a BART subway down Stevens Creek to Cupertino and build that up as a transit oriented high density corridor, a la LA's Wilshire Blvd.

[38 Geary]

Here's the concept connecting to Valley Fair/Santana Row, with future expansion to De Anza College. Would be a worthwhile Phase III to improve connectivity throughout the South Bay.


http://thinkbiggersanjose.com/2015/11/25/bart-to-santana-row-skip-santa-clara/


https://twitter.com/alfred_twu/status/1254634528540221442

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Probably not gonna happen at this point especially with Caltrain going electric, which will allow their trains to accelerate and decelerate more quickly than diesel-powered trains, and provide more frequent and/or faster train service.

A one seat BART ride looping around the Bay would be cool but for economical reasons, it doesn't make that much sense since you could just transfer at Diridon. It would be nice if they could somehow extend a BART subway down Stevens Creek to Cupertino and build that up as a transit oriented high density corridor, a la LA's Wilshire Blvd.

Using the Amtrak ROW till 101 or 237? BART knows how to build things in the median for highways and it's more of a fantasy route if the state had a huge surplus...
It would not be feasible, because everybody knows that the peninsula is hardcore NIMBY.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by TWAK

Using the Amtrak ROW till 101 or 237? BART knows how to build things in the median for highways and it's more of a fantasy route if the state had a huge surplus...
It would not be feasible, because everybody knows that the peninsula is hardcore NIMBY.

San Mateo County belatedly accepted the need to help support BART in order to get the line extended to Milbrae so they aren't as NIMBY as you think. I suspect they would not be the block to such a plan. The other BART counties would rightly question the utility of duplicating electrified CalTrain service and argue there are better ways to spend the money such as extending the TriValleys line to Livermore.

San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties are the original trio that all pay a half-cent sales tax, something San Mateo County declined to adopt after voters approved the first Peninsula BART extension in 1985. To keep operating costs in check for stations in the county, riders boarding from Daly City Station are subject to a $1.15 fare surcharge to get to San Francisco. (There is a $1.44 surcharge to ride BART within San Mateo County, which sends two percent of its 2012 voter-approved half-cent sales tax to BART.)

https://www.sfweekly.com/news/for-bart-no-representation-without-taxation/

[38 Geary]

Another interesting concept for the South Bay:

City leaders voted unanimously on Aug. 25 to advance projects connecting Diridon Station, Stevens Creek Corridor and the Mineta San Jose International Airport. Councilmember Maya Esparza was absent.

...

Connecting Stevens Creek Corridor in Cupertino and the airport to Diridon Station in the heart of downtown San Jose would provide travelers with easier access to BART and Caltrain services, according to the city’s transportation department.

...

The cost of creating these new systems could range from $60 million to $4.3 billion, according to Madou’s report to the City Council.

Liccardo and councilmembers agreed the city’s current travel lines, including light rail and bus service, are not up to par.

“We’re talking about these state of the art transportation solutions connecting an area like Cupertino into downtown San Jose, and meanwhile, as the mayor pointed out, we have an outdated and not very well-functioning transit system connecting South and North San Jose,” Councilmember Raul Peralez said. “Unfortunately the connection to East San Jose is still lacking in one portion and that is actually where the (Bus Rapid Transit) is.”

Peralez also expressed concerns that access is still limited because residents in San Jose would have to take other busses and light rail to the airport connector instead of riding a direct line.

Alex Shoor, executive director of Catalyze SV, remains optimistic.

“Although VTA has some great options for bus transit along Stevens Creek, we know we can do better and we need to do better to allow that growth in District 6,” Shoor said. “We are excited that the city is considering these options.”

https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-city-council-driverless-transportation-hub/

[38 Geary]

Some cool historic shots.

50 years of service: A look back at BART’s electric opening day




In celebration of BART’s 50th Anniversary this year, we’re looking back at the transit system’s five decades of service and innovation in a new series of stories.

BART’s Opening Day by the Numbers
Fifteen years of planning. Eight years of construction. More than $1 billion. On September 11, 1972, BART finally opened for service.

The day was electric. Estimates suggest that more than 15,000 people showed up to test out the new, plushy-cushioned seats on the state-of-the-art trains. The attendance figures may sound low; when BART opened, only 18 two- and three-car trains ran the first day along the first 28-mile section of track, from MacArthur Station to Fremont. More than half the stations would open in the coming weeks, months, and years. The Transbay Tube – one of the technological jewels of the project – opened two years later, in 1974.

...

At each station between Fremont and MacArthur stations, BART hosted a ribbon-cutting, with dignitaries from each city in attendance. Following each ceremony, the trains began moving northbound from Fremont and southbound from MacArthur amid shouts and cheers

Newspapers from the time reported packed, standing-room-only cars with upwards of 100 passengers. Within five days, more than 100,000 passengers ditched their cars and tried the trains.

“This is the end of the automobile for me,” Shirley Fisk is quoted as saying in the Long Beach Press-Telegram on opening day.



“It’s just like Disneyland,” “sighed” Margie Benson, a BART employee, to the Los Angeles Times.

The San Francisco Examiner didn’t mince words when it proclaimed, “BART Passes Its First Rush Hour Test.”

The theme of the newspaper reports from the day: BART, the first new regional transit system built in the U.S. in 65 years, nailed its first trial.

https://bartable.bart.gov/featured/50-years-service-look-back-barts-electric-opening-day

[Busy Bee]

_

Everybody's thinking, "gee wiz those wheels are loud... Is that normal?"

[38 Geary]

Pretty cool shot of the Powell-Mason cable car line.



https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd7Vh6xOZz-/

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Some cool historic shots.
https://bartable.bart.gov/featured/50-years-service-look-back-barts-electric-opening-day

I'm showing my age, but I clearly recall a picture of a BART train and a description of the system in an early-1980s social studies textbook. It was presented in the context of a future transportation to combat pollution from automobiles. I remember thinking "yeah, that makes sense, and those trains will be much more common in the future...".

I don't think that young people today understand how much a post-fossil fuels future was presented to Americans in the aftermath of the energy crisis. Things like EPCOT and even the much-derided Sun Sphere in Knoxville were mainstream reminders that solar panels, aquaponic farming, etc., were good things and to be expected in the not-so-distant future.

[MAC123]

^ Had Walt not died early I'm sure Epcot would have been completed to his full vision, for better or worse.
Would havebeen really interesting. Though how mainstream some of those ideas would have been during that time period if it was completed could be debated.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I don't think that young people today understand how much a post-fossil fuels future was presented to Americans in the aftermath of the energy crisis. Things like EPCOT and even the much-derided Sun Sphere in Knoxville were mainstream reminders that solar panels, aquaponic farming, etc., was to be expected in the not-so-distant future.

Yeah, and then Reagan happened. Because being told the truth and confronting it was a "bummer" .

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by MAC123

^ Had Walt not died early I'm sure Epcot would have been completed to his full vision, for better or worse.
Would havebeen really interesting. Though how mainstream some of those ideas would have been during that time period if it was completed could be debated.

I remember visiting EPCOT in 1988 and thinking it already looked dated. You didn't get the sense that visitors really cared. I recall all of the solar panels and indoor farming operations looking kind of like a failed vision for the future.

I took a little more interest in the international section of EPCOT. People are going to laugh when they read this but it's the first place I ate Mexican food. My family didn't go to restaurants very often but our area didn't have any. Taco Bell was relatively new and we never went there.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Yeah, and then Reagan happened. Because being told the truth and confronting it was a "bummer" .

I think young people today wouldn't understand how polluted everything was and how much garbage was all over the place. There were these big anti-littering campaigns on TV and radio because people used to throw fast food wrappers out on the interstate as they ate. I have a pretty clear recollection of tons and tons of garbage along the interstates. Also, there were oil lines down the center of the lanes since all of the old American cars used to leak oil, all of the time.

[Busy Bee]

The crying indian. I don't remember but I've seen. Yes, the country was filthy. Corporations may not be dumping waste into our streams and rivers still but there's still plenty of pollution and litter to go around. I think one could make the argument that today's plastic garbage at lesser amounts is worse than a greater amount of paper based litter.

[Pedestrian]

Men wearing ties and not a single homeless person passed out over two seats, feet projecting into the isle.

A different world.

[Busy Bee]

Odds are at least one person in this photo wound up homeless.

[38 Geary]

I wouldn't mind getting my hands on one of these and upcycling it into a backyard shed/office/guest house or something.

HAYWARD, Calif. (KGO) -- If you're enthusiastic recycler with a streak of nostalgia, BART may be looking for you. It has over 600 train cars it's planning to put out of service over the next four years or so. That's because of a new fleet of cars will be replacing them.

"I've spoken to people who have said they could be used as a hot rod, turned into a food truck," said Philip Kamhi.

Kamhi has an interesting job. He's in charge of helping BART dispose of 669 train cars. Legacy cars, they're called. Some were built starting in the late 1960s and put into service as BART started rolling in 1972. In this age of recycling, he's hoping they can be repurposed by others if they're willing to buy them.

No fair market price has been determined and BART hasn't said how it will use the proceeds. However, the Federal Transit Administration will be getting a cut for providing BART with money to rehab most of the cars in 1998 and 2002.

"If the fleet is determined to have a value of over $5,000, the FTA is due to receive their percentage of proceeds," Kamhi said.

The FTA's share ranges from 55 to 70 percent.

Possible uses for these old cars include museums, food trucks and homeless shelters.

"There's a lot of nostalgia around this so I think that a lot of people who are really interested in them in the concept of seeing them reused," Kamhi said. "But we'll see what the real interest is when they come out to bid."

"Before you let your imagination go wild, one thing you won't see these old cars used for is multi-story housing. There won't be BART-ments, so to speak, because they're made of aluminum and can't be stacked one on top of another."

https://abc7news.com/bart-fleet-cars-being-sold/5042574/