SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Wasn't there originally tracks on the Bay Bridge? Seems like the most logical option would be to run BART on that as its second crossing. It would slightly reduce the number of road vehicles entering the city (a good thing) while substantially increasing the total bridge capacity (excellent thing). So it would be a win-win.

Absolutely positively never happening. Ever. Ever. Amen.

The Key System was fantastic. But it is gone. Just a distant memory. Most people back then if shown what BART is now would have traded it in a second.

Anyways. Wiki Key System. Buy a book. It's one of my favorite bygone systems. Definitely one of the most interesting.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Absolutely positively never happening. Ever. Ever. Amen.

The Key System was fantastic. But it is gone. Just a distant memory. Most people back then if shown what BART is now would have traded it in a second.

Anyways. Wiki Key System. Buy a book. It's one of my favorite bygone systems. Definitely one of the most interesting.

Do you mean there's some technical reason why it can't happen? Like BART trains are too heavy or something? Or you just don't think civic leaders would choose to make it happen?

[CharlesCO]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Do you mean there's some technical reason why it can't happen? Like BART trains are too heavy or something? Or you just don't think civic leaders would choose to make it happen?

Taking lanes off the Bay Bridge for any kind of transit sounds like an extremely politically unpopular idea. Even just the idea of raising bridge tolls temporarily to shore up the coffers of BART and other transit agencies was an idea that was ultimately rejected in the last year.

The way I see it, I doubt there will be another transbay rail crossing built for another half a century. Construction costs are just way too high here. Look at how much time and money it took to replace the eastern span of the Bay Bridge, an entirely auto-oriented megaproject. I also think a second transbay rail crossing is a hard sell as long as office vacancies in SF remain so high and commute patterns stay out of whack.

Even before the pandemic fallout, I have always been a big proponent of densifying other parts of the bay so that people don't have to cross it through expensive infrastructure. I'd rather see more density and transit improvements in places like downtown Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, San Mateo, and Redwood City.

[homebucket]

• Video Link

Came across this video. Nice to see expansion of flights to Asia with this new nonstop flight between SFO and MNL. Also United just added a second daily nonstop flight from SFO to TPE.

[homebucket]

Better start using up all your old paper tickets!

BART paper tickets will no longer be accepted after Nov. 30, accelerating transit agency into digital era
Unused fare balances can be refunded or donated to a local nonprofit

By KATIE LAUER | klauer@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 2, 2023 at 6:15 a.m. | UPDATED: November 2, 2023 at 6:20 a.m.

Start dusting off the old paper BART tickets stuffed into the depths of your wallet, because the transit agency will stop accepting these blue-and-white magstripe passes at station fare gates on Nov. 30.

The switch will finally usher in the full transition to all-in-one Clipper cards, which ​​are more durable, reloadable and accepted by every transit system in the Bay Area.

Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are now advising riders to use up any remaining balances — stamped directly onto the passes — before the slots accepting paper tickets are officially covered on fare gates.

As BART riders reminisce about struggling to resurrect crumpled tickets and consider ways to preserve the latest lost symbol of a bygone transit era — joining cloth seats and carpeted trains — many will be looking for ways to redeem their unused funds. They cannot be transferred onto Clipper cards, which are administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, but old tickets with balances higher than $1 can be refunded or donated to a local nonprofit on BART’s website.

Plans to phase out the paper tickets were first unveiled in 2019, and BART officially stopped selling the paper tickets in Dec. 2020, with a brief resurgence in 2022 to counter a shortage of plastic cards.

Physical, plastic Clipper cards can still be purchased for $3 at vending machines installed at all stations, while digital Clipper cards can also be registered and loaded onto virtual wallets and smartwatches using apps like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

For the biggest fans bemoaning the demise of paper tickets, at least one Bay Area-based designer sells stickers that can transform plastic Clipper cards into the formerly beloved magstripe tickets.

Starting in 2024, riders will be allowed to pay by directly swiping credit and debit cards at new “fare-evasion-proof” gates that will be installed across all BART stations by 2025 — following similar contactless options already used by transit systems in London and New York City.

Transit officials confirmed that a waiver for the $3 fee for new plastic Clipper cards will remain available, alongside other discounts for youth, seniors, people with disabilities and low-income riders.

https://www.siliconvalley.com/2023/1...o-digital-era/

[wanderer34]

Speaking of the Transbay rail extension, when is the city, the state, or whoever is responsible going to connect the Embarcadero station to the Transbay terminal via an underground tunnel? I haven’t been in SF since 2019 and am not sure if that’s happened.

[Scaevola]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Speaking of the Transbay rail extension, when is the city, the state, or whoever is responsible going to connect the Embarcadero station to the Transbay terminal via an underground tunnel? I haven’t been in SF since 2019 and am not sure if that’s happened.

Last I heard, the tunnel between the Transbay terminal and Embarcadero station got shelved due to "high projected construction costs". The diagram available on the TJPA website only indicates "Pedestrian Surface Improvements".

It really is a shame they aren't building this connection now. It will almost certainly have to be built at a later date. Lack of foresight, unfortunately.


https://www.tjpa.org/portaldtx/about-portal

[Scaevola]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Better start using up all your old paper tickets!



https://www.siliconvalley.com/2023/1...o-digital-era/

Wow! I didn't even realize BART still had paper tickets. Muni buses' fareboxes may go the same way soon.

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by Scaevola

Last I heard, the tunnel between the Transbay terminal and Embarcadero station got shelved due to "high projected construction costs". The diagram available on the TJPA website only indicates "Pedestrian Surface Improvements".

It really is a shame they aren't building this connection now. It will almost certainly have to be built at a later date. Lack of foresight, unfortunately.


https://www.tjpa.org/portaldtx/about-portal

It would make a lot of sense to reconsider building a connecting tunnel between the Embarcadero BART/MUNI station and the Transbay terminal, which would be similar to the connection between the 42nd St A/C/E station and the current Port Authority Bus Terminal, which is going to be replaced with a brand new bus terminal after 2025.

Originally Posted by Scaevola

Wow! I didn't even realize BART still had paper tickets. Muni buses' fareboxes may go the same way soon.

I guess that’s the way of future technology. BART served me well prior to myself getting the taxi job. I was basically stranded and had to use BART just to get to and from SFO. It’s a great system and hopefully the expansion to San José gets complete.

[electricron]

https://sfstandard.com/2023/10/27/sa...n-portal-cost/
The proposed rail tunnel is intended to connect Caltrain—and future high-speed trains—at the Fourth and King streets station to the massive new Salesforce Transit Center. Project costs have ballooned from $6.5 billion to a staggering $8.25 billion since October 2022, according to the Metropolitan Transportation C
Commission.
..........
The Downtown Rail Extension has been decades in the making, and its estimated cost has increased multiple times in recent years. In 2016, the cost of the rail extension was estimated at $3.9 billion.
In 2022, the rail extension was rebranded as The Portal to “generate excitement” about the project, according to the Transbay Joint Powers Authority.

Some math follows:
8.25 / 6.5 x 100 = 126.9%
8.25 / 3.9 x 100 = 211.5%
Note how the newspaper listed the initial projected costs paragraphs deeper into the article. Only in California are such gross cost overruns of capital projects business as usual. And of course, no bids have been released yet, so we do not really know how much higher the final costs will grow.

[Busy Bee]

Terrible.

[homebucket]

After the discussion about the TI Ferry on the TI project thread, I decided to ride it myself. It was nice. Quick and easy ~10 min ride. Departed on schedule. Comfortable seats inside. Outside upper deck has great views.

Ferry Building work mostly complete










Checked out some of the construction work

[Scaevola]

Originally Posted by homebucket

After the discussion about the TI Ferry on the TI project thread, I decided to ride it myself. It was nice. Quick and easy ~10 min ride. Departed on schedule. Comfortable seats inside. Outside upper deck has great views.

Ferry Building work mostly complete










Checked out some of the construction work

How is TI, from an urban perspective? It's one of the only neighborhoods in the city I haven't been to yet. I assume people who live there bike a lot for local trips?

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Scaevola

How is TI, from an urban perspective? It's one of the only neighborhoods in the city I haven't been to yet. I assume people who live there bike a lot for local trips?

Still very much a work in progress. Tons of construction going on so it's hard to get around. Lots of pathways and roads blocked off. I imagine once it's completed, it'll be much easier to navigate.

Saw some residents get off the ferry and board a private shuttle headed for Bristol, the new condo building up at the top of YB. The road up the hill to it is quite steep, so residents/visitors either have to walk up it, or be a strong cyclist/use an e-bike, or take the shuttle from the ferry landing. On the flat portions of Treasure Island itself, it should be quite easy to walk and bike around. I saw a lot of cyclists but they looked more like they were biking around for recreation rather than getting around the island for a utilitarian purpose.

There's also the autonomous shuttle Loop, but I didn't get a chance to try it out. Maybe next time. As of right now it doesn't connect to the ferry landing though, but I read it should expand there shortly. There should also be an AC Transit bus connection to Oakland coming at some point as well. I think overall, TI would also benefit from its own dedicated Muni local service as well, in addition to the 25 Treasure Island Muni bus line.

Here's a nice overview of the full scope of the transportation plan for TI.

Beyond that I think they'll need to expand services on the island itself so it's a more self-sustaining and functioning neighborhood. Things like a large scale grocery store, pharmacy, retail, restaurants, etc.

[homebucket]

San Jose is named best USA mid-sized airport, Oakland lands in top 10
Wall Street Journal ranks U.S. airports, large and mid-sized

By GEORGE AVALOS | gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 15, 2023 at 1:45 p.m. | UPDATED: November 16, 2023 at 4:08 a.m.

SAN JOSE — San Jose International Airport is ranked as the nation’s top mid-sized airport and Oakland International Airport is ranked number eight, according to a new survey.

San Francisco International Airport was ranked No. 6 among large airports, the survey compiled and released by the Wall Street Journal determined.

“If you want to get where you’re going, there’s never been a better place to start, or end your journey than San Jose International Airport,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in comments emailed to this news organization.

Here are the top 10 mid-sized airports in the nation, according to the Wall Street Journal’s research:

— 1. San Jose

— 2. San Antonio, Texas

— 3. Sacramento

— 4. Indianapolis

— 5. Houston

— 6. Portland, Oregon

— 7. Santa Ana (Orange County)

— 8. Oakland

— 9. Kahului, Maui, Hawaii

— 10. Tampa, Florida

https://www.siliconvalley.com/2023/1...d-travel-best/

[JManc]

I prefer SJC over SFO any day of the week. Not lot of options with United but better odds of getting upgraded.

[homebucket]

Bay Bridge got shut down this morning. Let's hope BART is on its A game today!

[homebucket]

Double dwell at SFO.

[homebucket]

SamTrans Board Plans New Headquarters At Millbrae Station



BY: YIMBY TEAM 4:30 AM ON DECEMBER 19, 2023

Plans to develop a new office for SamTrans have moved forward, authorizing the acquisition of a mixed-use office-retail building located at the Gateway at Millbrae Station. The project proposal includes the setup of a building that will serve as the new San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) headquarters.

Earlier this week, the San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) Board of Directors approved the acquisition of site that will serve as the new headquarters. The project moves forward; with SamTrans soon acquiring an approximately 180,000-square-foot building that offers 157,000 square feet of office space and 23,000 square feet of retail space at present. The building is located at the Gateway at Millbrae Station, next to a transit center serving SamTrans, Caltrain and BART.

SamTrans will soon acquire the building through a lease-to-purchase agreement, with an estimated cost of $126 million. A SamTrans press release stated that the building is one of several in a transit-oriented development located on property owned by BART. The project is proposed to have a 99-year ground lease with BART. The site developer will pay for and complete all tenant improvements prior to move-in. The expected time frame is 12-15 months.

This project is a transit-oriented development that perfectly combines the SamTrans’ mission and space needs with the desires of employees to be adjacent to transit and amenities.

Gateway at Millbrae Station is one of the largest intermodal stations on the west coast and was developed by Republic Urban Properties in conjunction with The Core Companies. The development features a new transit-oriented community that offers market rate, veteran and affordable housing, modern offices and walkable retail, dining, services, a hotel and ample outdoor space. The property is adjacent to the Millbrae BART and Caltrain Station, which is also served by SamTrans routes ECR and 292.

https://sfyimby.com/2023/12/samtrans...e-station.html

[202_Cyclist]

Proposed passenger rail line through Napa County is eligible for funding

By Barry Eberling
Dec 18, 2023
Napa Valley Register

"A 40-mile-long passenger train service proposed to run from Solano to Marin counties — and through Napa County — is eligible for federal funding.

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District, or SMART, made the announcement on Monday. The route has been designated for inclusion under the Federal Railroad Administration's corridor identification and development program.

State Senate President-designee Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, in a news release called the move "a game-changer..."

https://napavalleyregister.com/news/...a5f18488e.html