SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[Pedestrian]

Riding on Cabin, the sleepover bus from S.F. to L.A.

[Pedestrian]

State Supreme Court OKs Santa Clara County transportation sales tax
Michael Cabanatuan Jan. 23, 2019

Nearly 22 months after Santa Clara County voters approved a $6.5 billion sales tax to help extend BART to downtown San Jose, modernize Caltrain and improve some of Silicon Valley’s congested highways, transportation officials can start spending the money.

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit filed by a Saratoga woman to stop the tax. While the case was being decided, and appealed, the tax revenues collected — about $340 million — were placed in an escrow account.

“The road block against road and transit improvements has been cleared,” said Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which led the campaign for Measure B on the 2016 ballot. “Voters will now receive the improvements promised in Measure B, paving the way for work to get started to improve the quality of life for 1.9 million county residents” . . . .

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...hp?src=hp_totn

[viewguysf]

To be fair, though we've complained about how long it's been taking for the Van Ness BRT to be completed, it is a major project with utility and other upgrades.

[IMG]Van Ness Avenue BRT & utilities upgrades by viewguysf, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]City Hall for the Lunar New Year by viewguysf, on Flickr[/IMG]

[llamaorama]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Riding on Cabin, the sleepover bus from S.F. to L.A.

I saw a youtube review of this.

I don't know if I would be able to fall asleep with such low headroom. Being unable to sleep on my side or sit up without climbing out and disturbing other passengers would be challenging.

Also unlike a hotel room, what the bus can't provide is a place to leave your stuff when you arrive at your destination. There's no place to shower or change clothes. Basically you would be living out of a backpack and grooming yourself in a public restroom after a sleepless night on a bus. In San Francisco I think you be mistaken for a local homeless person.

Other countries have had sleeper buses for a long time and based on pictures I've found online they appear to have much larger and comfortable looking berths.

[CharlesCO]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I saw a youtube review of this.

I don't know if I would be able to fall asleep with such low headroom. Being unable to sleep on my side or sit up without climbing out and disturbing other passengers would be challenging.

Also unlike a hotel room, what the bus can't provide is a place to leave your stuff when you arrive at your destination. There's no place to shower or change clothes. Basically you would be living out of a backpack and grooming yourself in a public restroom after a sleepless night on a bus. In San Francisco I think you be mistaken for a local homeless person.

Other countries have had sleeper buses for a long time and based on pictures I've found online they appear to have much larger and comfortable looking berths.

No matter how hard they've tried, it still looks like a suboptimal experience compared to flying from SFO, OAK, and SJC to any LA airport of your choice.

[OhioGuy]

• Video Link

[TWAK]

It would help traffic on 12, 29, 80 and 37, and they mentioned in the Wiki and other articles about SMART going into Vallejo and Napa.

[Pedestrian]

^^First thing first: They need to get it to the Larkspur ferry landing soonest.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

^^First thing first: They need to get it to the Larkspur ferry landing soonest.

It's under construction now and should be finished by the end of the year. I'd like to see them go further south as much as economically feasible since they are planning northward extensions as far as Willits (which would be one hell of a commute!).

[Pedestrian]

^^I'm in favor of it going as far south as it can, but the most important purpose of this thing is to take pressure off of 101 for San Francisco-bound commuters and they can't really use it until it connects with the ferry (I just wish there were a practical way to get it all the way across the strait into the city). One advantage of Larkspur over Sausalito is that I periodically take the Sausalito ferries for fun and they are already packed with tourists and others. I doubt those folks would want to go to Larkspur so the commuters can have that one to themselves.

Also, I have no idea: Are there parking lots at the more northern stations big enough to accommodate lots of commuters once the thing becomes useful for them?

By the way--it seems like the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is falling down (literally). Suppose they have to build a replacement and could include SMART so it could connect with BART in Richmond!

[Eirhauzos]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

^^I'm in favor of it going as far south as it can, but the most important purpose of this thing is to take pressure off of 101 for San Francisco-bound commuters and they can't really use it until it connects with the ferry (I just wish there were a practical way to get it all the way across the strait into the city). One advantage of Larkspur over Sausalito is that I periodically take the Sausalito ferries for fun and they are already packed with tourists and others. I doubt those folks would want to go to Larkspur so the commuters can have that one to themselves.

Also, I have no idea: Are there parking lots at the more northern stations big enough to accommodate lots of commuters once the thing becomes useful for them?

By the way--it seems like the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is falling down (literally). Suppose they have to build a replacement and could include SMART so it could connect with BART in Richmond!

Eh I think extending BART from Richmond should be a priority first

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Eirhauzos

Eh I think extending BART from Richmond should be a priority first

Sonoma and Marin Counties provide BART with zero tax revenues, instead they decided to fund SMART.
I so not expect San Rafael and Richmond to ever be connected by a train because of the split transit agencies and separate funding streams. What could happen is another ferry operation being established to connect Larkspur with Richmond because the ferries are also a separate transit agency working on the Bay.

[northbay]

For better or worse, BART to Marin is never going to happen. Marin doesn’t want BART. They barely even want SMART! There is some talk of extending SMART to Richmond when they replace the bridge, which is obviously a good idea but far in the future. The whole point will be creating a direct rail connection to BART. You will already be able to catch a ferry to The City where you can take BART, Muni, additional ferries. It’s possible to have transit agencies cross borders, happens already all over the Bay Area. One funding possibility is a surcharge for Richmond trips. They’re talking about another sales tax transportation measure, I would expect to hear more about the SMART extension to Richmond in the future.

[CharlesCO]

The people of Marin County *did* want BART. The Golden Gate Bridge did not. The bridge operator didn't want the train to cut into its toll revenue. BART was also concerned that there wouldn't be enough money left for the line once San Mateo County dropped out. A good distillation on what happened here:

Maps were drawn for BART in Marin showing stations in Sausalito, Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Santa Venetia with a possible extension to Ignacio. A 1956 poll found 87.7 percent of Marin residents wanted BART in the county.

A 1955 study by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission found that the Golden Gate Bridge was capable of handing BART trains on a lower deck, and a second study in 1961 affirmed the conclusion.

But behind the scenes, plans for BART over the Golden Gate Bridge didn’t sit well with some, said Louise Nelson Dyble, author of “Paying the Toll: Local Power, Regional Politics, and the Golden Gate Bridge.” Bridge district officials didn’t like the idea of having BART on its span, potentially cutting into its toll base. It shopped around for an engineer who would say trains on the span would not work, she said.

“Those who led the board were very much opposed to having BART cross the bridge,” said Dyble, an assistant professor of history at Michigan Technological University.

They hired Clifford Paine, one of bridge designer Joseph Strauss’ engineers, to assess the feasibility of BART on the span. He concluded it would not work, saying the added weight would stress cables and cause the span to sag enough to be in violation of Navy clearance regulations.

https://www.marinij.com/2010/08/07/d...e-out-on-bart/

I don't think it would be a good idea for BART to go back to prioritizing line extensions, especially if it means using legacy BART technology. The San Jose extension is (in theory) good because it will hit a lot of new and existing density. El Sobrante, Livermore, Stockton, and other distant lands can wait.

BART needs to focus on boosting the capacity of the existing system, which is the agency's main priority right now. Rebuilding track, a newer and bigger fleet, and a new dispatch system that allows for more trains in the tube should go a long way toward improving service for current riders. It was sad to see Grace Crunican retire as general manager, and I hope her successor continues her momentum.

[Qubert]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

^^I'm in favor of it going as far south as it can, but the most important purpose of this thing is to take pressure off of 101 for San Francisco-bound commuters and they can't really use it until it connects with the ferry (I just wish there were a practical way to get it all the way across the strait into the city). One advantage of Larkspur over Sausalito is that I periodically take the Sausalito ferries for fun and they are already packed with tourists and others. I doubt those folks would want to go to Larkspur so the commuters can have that one to themselves.

Also, I have no idea: Are there parking lots at the more northern stations big enough to accommodate lots of commuters once the thing becomes useful for them?

By the way--it seems like the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is falling down (literally). Suppose they have to build a replacement and could include SMART so it could connect with BART in Richmond!

That's what I'm thinking. SMART following 101 means also building an expensive subway across almost the width of SF once you even cross the strait.

[SFBruin]

Originally Posted by CharlesCO

El Sobrante, Livermore, Stockton, and other distant lands can wait.

Livermore should definitely be considered. The Blue Line goes right there.

Disclaimer: I have some friends in Livermore and visiting them would be easier with this train.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

Livermore should definitely be considered. The Blue Line goes right there.

Disclaimer: I have some friends in Livermore and visiting them would be easier with this train.

I think using the E-BART system would be better for the far flung locales...I think those trains go faster than regular BART.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by TWAK

I think using the E-BART system would be better for the far flung locales...I think those trains go faster than regular BART.

Top speed is about but same however acceleration is superior on BART. The xfer at Baypoint is inefficient and unpleasant. The argument for using a different technology because it was supposedly cheaper seems to be negated by the crappiness of the rider utility/experience.

I think there is a decent case for a Livermore extension with probably two stops (the terminal being actually in central Livermore to connect with ACE and local transit). However that should come after the core capacity constraints are addressed IMO.

[SIGSEGV]

Livermore National Lab could definitely benefit from a BART connection.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by viewguysf

To be fair, though we've complained about how long it's been taking for the Van Ness BRT to be completed, it is a major project with utility and other upgrades.

SOME visible progress at least. They appear to have completed the work on the west side of Van Ness between Post and Golden Gate and have switched to the east side (with necessary reconfiguration of traffic lanes).