HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Discussion Forums > Transportation


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #1701  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2019, 7:00 PM
Pedestrian's Avatar
Pedestrian Pedestrian is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 24,177
Quote:
Two more BART stations are getting elevator attendants
By Filipa Ioannou Published 12:25 pm PDT, Thursday, July 25, 2019

Over the years, BART has tried a variety of strategies to keep people from behaving badly in station elevators (including one memorable poster campaign in which sad, anthropomorphized elevators dolefully declared, "I'm not a bathroom").

But the most successful seems to be a pilot program, launched at the Civic Center and Powell Street stations April 30, 2018, stationing attendants in the elevators. The results were so positive, the BART board voted to double the number of stations with elevator attendants at a Thursday meeting.

The program led to a drop in reports of elevators being "intentionally soiled" and improved elevator conditions for people who use wheelchairs, people with strollers and seniors, according to Assistant Superintendent of System Service David Coggshall . . . .

"All Downtown SF stations will have clean, drug free, and safe elevators," BART wrote on Twitter. "This is one of our most successful programs to date for improving the BART experience."
https://www.sfgate.com/travel/resour...-14135435.php#

Who woulda thought?

Now if some brilliant BART manager only comes up with the idea of having a couple of BART cops continuously patrolling downtown stations, including platforms, BART might once again be a safe and secure transit system. Who knows? They might even evict homeless people sprawled on the floors of stations nodding on heroin or just drunk.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1702  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2019, 7:27 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
What would a seamless public transit system connecting the Bay Area look like? And how would it expand people’s access to housing and jobs?

https://www.seamlessbayarea.org/vision-map

Quote:
.....

- To answer these questions, Seamless Bay Area developed a map of an improved, regionally integrated transit network - called the Seamless Bay Area Vision Map. This map represents what transportation could be like in the future if the Bay Area planned and operated transit as a unified network. It builds on numerous existing transportation plans and input from stakeholders from across the region, but is also highly aspirational.

Network Planning Principles:

• Create an interconnected frequent transit network, facilitating seamless transfers between buses, rail, and ferries

• Maximize connections between major transit corridors, especially rail

• Utilize existing infrastructure where possible

• Provide transit service for a range of new growth centers throughout the region

• Support coordination of transit service with land use

• Give people options and create flexibility in the network

• Ensure local and regional networks work together in harmony; for certain corridors, allow a combination of regional and local service

.....









__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1703  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2019, 5:28 AM
viewguysf's Avatar
viewguysf viewguysf is offline
Surrounded by Nature
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Walnut Creek, California
Posts: 2,028
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1704  
Old Posted Aug 30, 2019, 10:02 PM
OhioGuy OhioGuy is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: DC
Posts: 7,649
BART Nabs $125M in Federal Funds to Speed Up San Jose Extension

Quote:
BART’s San Jose extension may arrive sooner than expected thanks to $125 million in fast-track funding awarded this week.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced Wednesday that the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) would receive $125 million to speed up the second phase of the Silicon Valley extension.

The project is set to extend train service six miles from the Berryessa Transit Center, stopping at Alum Rock/28th Street Station, Downtown San Jose Station, Diridon Station, and ending at Santa Clara Station.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1705  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2019, 11:54 PM
craigs's Avatar
craigs craigs is offline
Birds Aren't Real!
 
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,667
New San Francisco ferry delivered

Kirk Moore
Dec. 3, 2019
workboat.com


The Pyxis operates on the San Francisco Bay Ferry's Vallejo route. WETA photo

The first U.S. passenger ferry with Tier 4 emissions controls went into service with the San Francisco Bay Ferry system in March. The 445-passenger high speed Pyxis (pronounced “pik-sis”) is the fifth new ferry built for the fleet since the Hydrus-class started in 2017, and serves the growing Vallejo route.

“They operate on a longer route than the Hydrus boats. We’re a one-hour trip,” said Martin Robbins, general manager of the Bay Ferry’s Vallejo division. “These are waterjet boats so they’re designed for 34 knots. They will make 37 or 38 knots running light.”

Delivered in February by Dakota Creek Industries Inc., Anacortes, Wash., the 142.7’x39.4’x5.4′, all-aluminum Pyxis is the first new boat on the northern bay route since 1997, and the first of three to be delivered by the end of 2019. It is very similar in design to the earlier waterjet ferries also conceived by designers at Advanced Multihull Designs (AMD) of Australia, sized up to accommodate steady demand growth on the route, said Robbins.

“It’s largely the same design, 2.6 meters (8.5’) longer so we can get passenger capacity up from the mid-300s to 445,” he said. “We seen steady growth for five to six years. We slowed down a little bit, and that might have been because of our capacity limits. The parking lots are full and we’ve had to turn people away. Hopefully these new boats will help turn that around.”
....
Sister ships Lyra and Vela are scheduled for delivery in June and December. WETA officials say the Pyxis was designed and built at a cost of $23 million. Funding sources included Federal Transit Administration grants, bridge toll revenue, State Proposition 1B and State Transit Assistance.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1706  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2019, 1:27 AM
Busy Bee's Avatar
Busy Bee Busy Bee is online now
Show me the blueprints
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: on the artistic spectrum
Posts: 10,302
Why do modern ferries have to be so ugly? I guess it's the same with modern cruiseliners vs. graceful old oceanliners. Would be cool to have an old ferry in form outfitted with modern interiors, motive power and safety inside.
__________________
Everything new is old again

There is no goodness in him, and his power to convince people otherwise is beyond understanding
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1707  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2019, 2:14 AM
CharlesCO's Avatar
CharlesCO CharlesCO is offline
Aspiring Amateur
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Berkeley, CA
Posts: 415
Quote:
Originally Posted by Busy Bee View Post
Why do modern ferries have to be so ugly? I guess it's the same with modern cruiseliners vs. graceful old oceanliners. Would be cool to have an old ferry in form outfitted with modern interiors, motive power and safety inside.
The passenger experience on these things still hands down beats BART. The new ferries are clean, spacious, and still have the on-board bar.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1708  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2019, 8:25 PM
sammyg sammyg is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 374
Quote:
Originally Posted by Busy Bee View Post
Why do modern ferries have to be so ugly? I guess it's the same with modern cruiseliners vs. graceful old oceanliners. Would be cool to have an old ferry in form outfitted with modern interiors, motive power and safety inside.
It's probably due to efficiency and stability concerns. You can't get a catamaran to look like an old monohull ferry, and I'm sure the old designs had a lot more drag than these.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1709  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2019, 9:53 PM
craigs's Avatar
craigs craigs is offline
Birds Aren't Real!
 
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,667
SMART Train Service to Larkspur Landing Begins Dec. 14

Dec.4, 2019
Will Houston
marinij.com


A SMART train on a trial run from San Rafael stops at the new station in Larkspur. (Sherry LaVars/ Special to Marin Independent Journal)

After more than two years of construction and testing, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit will begin running trains to Larkspur starting Dec. 14.

“This has been a long journey,” Barbara Pahre, vice president of the SMART board, said after the announcement on Wednesday.

The Larkspur station’s proximity to the Golden Gate Ferry terminal will allow train riders from as far north as the Sonoma County Airport to reach San Francisco with one transfer. Riders currently have to either transfer to a bus or use other modes of transportation to get to the terminal.

An opening ceremony at the Larkspur station is planned at 1 p.m. Dec. 13. The following day, SMART plans to hold a ceremony to marking the opening of the downtown Novato station.

“It should be a great weekend,” Farhad Mansourian, SMART’s general manager, told the board during its meeting in Petaluma.

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit began construction on the 2.2-mile-long, $55.4 million extension from downtown San Rafael to Larkspur in July 2017. The station is about an eight-minute walk from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. Neither the ferry service nor SMART plan to run a shuttle between the two stations.

Effective Jan. 2, SMART trains will be running on a new schedule that was created in coordination with Golden Gate Ferry. The new schedule will increase total weekday trips from 34 to 38 trips as well as add earlier weekend trains.

In the intervening two weeks, SMART trains will be operating on an interim schedule.
....
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1710  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2019, 10:39 PM
Chisouthside Chisouthside is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Silicon Valley/Chicago
Posts: 495
The SF ferry is my favorite mode of public transportation in the US. Trying to finish a six pack between SF and Vallejo was my favorite part.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1711  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2019, 10:50 PM
craigs's Avatar
craigs craigs is offline
Birds Aren't Real!
 
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,667
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chisouthside View Post
The SF ferry is my favorite mode of public transportation in the US. Trying to finish a six pack between SF and Vallejo was my favorite part.
That's a hell of a lot easier than trying to chug-a-lug a beer on the SF-Alameda run, haha
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1712  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2019, 4:23 AM
OhioGuy OhioGuy is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: DC
Posts: 7,649
The 2 mile SMART Larkspur extension is now open.

SMART Train Larkspur expansion opens, now goes to the Golden Gate Ferry
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1713  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2019, 5:21 PM
SkahHigh's Avatar
SkahHigh SkahHigh is offline
More transit please
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Montreal
Posts: 3,794
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioGuy View Post
The 2 mile SMART Larkspur extension is now open.

SMART Train Larkspur expansion opens, now goes to the Golden Gate Ferry
Nearly a billion dollars for a project which doesn't even serve over 5,000 people a day and stops running before 7PM.

Not wanting to hate here but imagine if that money was spent on bus service improvements... This seems like a typical "shiny toy" project giving anti-transit folks ammunition.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1714  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2019, 8:02 PM
craigs's Avatar
craigs craigs is offline
Birds Aren't Real!
 
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,667
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkahHigh View Post
Nearly a billion dollars for a project which doesn't even serve over 5,000 people a day and stops running before 7PM.

Not wanting to hate here but imagine if that money was spent on bus service improvements... This seems like a typical "shiny toy" project giving anti-transit folks ammunition.
It is premature to complain about ridership on a still-incomplete commuter railroad that officially opened its critical extension to the area's main ferry terminal only today. As of today, SMART now provides Marin and Sonoma commuters bound for San Francisco with a direct rail/boat transfer at Larkspur Landing. As for the service hours, the first weekday train heads south from the airport at 4:20 am, and the last northbound weekday train leaves Larkspur Landing at about 8:30 pm, arriving at the airport around 9:45 pm. These are hardly unusual hours for commuter railroads in suburban America.

Since the 101 is the lone freeway serving all of Marin and Sonoma counties, it's quite easy to "imagine if that money was spent on bus service improvements"--more buses stuck in the same old gridlock. SMART and the ferries are the only alternative to gridlock on the 101, and now that the two systems are connected, they should start to see ridership gains.

Larkspur Landing ferry terminal, now served by SMART commuter rail

source

Last edited by craigs; Dec 14, 2019 at 8:40 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1715  
Old Posted Dec 15, 2019, 8:51 PM
SkahHigh's Avatar
SkahHigh SkahHigh is offline
More transit please
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Montreal
Posts: 3,794
Quote:
Originally Posted by craigs View Post
It is premature to complain about ridership on a still-incomplete commuter railroad that officially opened its critical extension to the area's main ferry terminal only today. As of today, SMART now provides Marin and Sonoma commuters bound for San Francisco with a direct rail/boat transfer at Larkspur Landing. As for the service hours, the first weekday train heads south from the airport at 4:20 am, and the last northbound weekday train leaves Larkspur Landing at about 8:30 pm, arriving at the airport around 9:45 pm. These are hardly unusual hours for commuter railroads in suburban America.

Since the 101 is the lone freeway serving all of Marin and Sonoma counties, it's quite easy to "imagine if that money was spent on bus service improvements"--more buses stuck in the same old gridlock. SMART and the ferries are the only alternative to gridlock on the 101, and now that the two systems are connected, they should start to see ridership gains.

Larkspur Landing ferry terminal, now served by SMART commuter rail
source
You are thinking about options for commuting only, but public transit shouldn't only be oriented towards commuting to a major city. In this case, bus service improvements across the two counties might have helped gain more ridership. A busway on the 101 could also be of a huge help for much cheaper if you want direct service to SF (it is an eight-lane highway after all).

All I'm saying is, even if SMART's ridership reaches 10,000 people daily after the Larkspur opening, it's still not enough for a $1 billion investment. You could build three BRTs on critical corridors with that much money.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1716  
Old Posted Dec 15, 2019, 9:51 PM
Busy Bee's Avatar
Busy Bee Busy Bee is online now
Show me the blueprints
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: on the artistic spectrum
Posts: 10,302
SMART is sort of exactly what you would imagine Marin and Sonoma would have being two counties that have spent decades opposing anything that would drive growth, in particular connectivity with the rest of the Bay Area with a real heavy rail rapid link. And though it wasn't entirely their fault they backed out of BART 50 years ago since San Mateo started the ball rolling and they didn't want to get caught holding the bag, it's that decision that has sort of passed into lore as a good decision for the counties as they believe it would have exploded "unwanted" growth. So, what they have is an isolated "system" of limited utility and performance suited more for rural Bavaria than a segment of the Bay Area metro with hundreds of thousands of residents, many of whom commute into SF or the East Bay which are served by rapid transit. Short of following through with the original plans of linking Marin over the GGB with BART, I can see an alternative possibility of getting BART to Marin and southern Sonoma in the next few decades over a new Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
__________________
Everything new is old again

There is no goodness in him, and his power to convince people otherwise is beyond understanding
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1717  
Old Posted Dec 15, 2019, 9:57 PM
Nouvellecosse's Avatar
Nouvellecosse Nouvellecosse is online now
Volatile Pacivist
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 9,002
It would probably get better ridership if it was a direct rail connection to the city rather than requiring a transfer to a ferry. Any talk of extending it all the way downtown?
__________________
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw
Don't ask people not to debate a topic. Just stop making debatable assertions. Problem solved.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1718  
Old Posted Dec 16, 2019, 2:22 AM
electricron's Avatar
electricron electricron is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Granbury, Texas
Posts: 3,523
Lightbulb

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse View Post
It would probably get better ridership if it was a direct rail connection to the city rather than requiring a transfer to a ferry. Any talk of extending it all the way downtown?
How? The railroad corridor does not cross the Bay on the Golden Gate Bridge.
The railroad corridor does not even get to the northern approaches of the GGB.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1719  
Old Posted Dec 16, 2019, 2:35 AM
Nouvellecosse's Avatar
Nouvellecosse Nouvellecosse is online now
Volatile Pacivist
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 9,002
Obviously it would require the construction of a tunnel or another bridge.
__________________
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw
Don't ask people not to debate a topic. Just stop making debatable assertions. Problem solved.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1720  
Old Posted Dec 16, 2019, 6:25 AM
electricron's Avatar
electricron electricron is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Granbury, Texas
Posts: 3,523
Lightbulb

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse View Post
Obviously it would require the construction of a tunnel or another bridge.
Larkspur, the southern terminus for the SMART train, is at least 13 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is also at least 7 miles west of downtown San Francisco.
Who is going to fund these 20 miles of railroad track? Who is going to fund buying the right-of-way?
Which would be a faster ride, an additional 20 miles averaging 30 mph by train, or riding the ferry 13 or so miles averaging 20 mph? Believe it or not, the ferry would be faster at those average speeds.
Math:
20 / 30 x 60 = 40 minutes
13 / 20 x 60 = 39 minutes
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Discussion Forums > Transportation
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 8:36 PM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.