SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[ElDuderino]

I am sure they will. The tollbooths will slow people down and most likely house the FasTrak and new camera systems.

[202_Cyclist]

This project isn't high speed rail but it would be great to be able to bike to the high speed rail station in LA, take high speed rail to Sacramento, and then take this ski train to the slopes.

Squaw Valley's new CEO is talking about a snow train

By Ed Fletcher
Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011

"Over its nearly 70-year run, the Denver Ski Train helped link hundreds of thousands of city dwellers with Colorado's rich winter sport assets.

Squaw Valley USA's new president and CEO, Andy Wirth, likes the idea of offering San Francisco and Sacramento area residents a mass transit option for travel to Lake Tahoe.

So he has begun talking to operators of Northstar and other North Lake Tahoe resorts about a ski train from the Bay Area to Truckee..."

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/30/336...s=Our%20Region

[jamesinclair]

The one thing about electronic tolling I dont get is how it works with rental cars and international cars (mexico and canada).

[Clevelumbus]

The rental cars have an electronic reader for whatever tolls are in the area, they just add it to your bill when you return the car.

[ardecila]

Yeah, the rental car agencies all have a toll tag. Here in Chicago, the toll tag is usually an EZPass, which works with the systems in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia. (the Ohio Turnpike has not yet installed electronic tolling).

Most other states have one-off systems that aren't intercompatible, so it's tough to do those. Still, the tollbooths have the license-plate reader technology. If the state detects the plate as registered to a rental company, they'll notify the company and the cost will be tacked onto the bill.

[Timothy]

Besides how much it will cost?it is a great project. Freight trains certainly will reduce amount of freight trucks on road.

best seo strategy

[jamesinclair]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Yeah, the rental car agencies all have a toll tag. Here in Chicago, the toll tag is usually an EZPass, which works with the systems in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia. (the Ohio Turnpike has not yet installed electronic tolling).

Most other states have one-off systems that aren't intercompatible, so it's tough to do those. Still, the tollbooths have the license-plate reader technology. If the state detects the plate as registered to a rental company, they'll notify the company and the cost will be tacked onto the bill.

That makes sense, but would still be a hassle if the rental car comes from Nevada or Fresno or something.

And if someone drives in from Canada, I doubt theres anyway to get the money.

[Gordo]

^California, Oregon, and Washington have reciprocal agreements on licensing with British Columbia (so if you get a license in BC and then move to California, you don't have to take any tests and so forth to get a California license).

Additionally, tickets and infractions are shared between BC and the three states, so I wouldn't be surprised if some deal could be worked out to mail the bill to someone from BC. There may not be a way to legally enforce the person actually paying it, but it would at least be sent to them. Doubtful for the other provinces though.

Regardless, we're talking about beans here compared to the amount saved from not having to pay human toll-takers. I'm fine with some Canadians free-loading on bridge tolls when they come to SF

[Clevelumbus]

Yes, they plan to photograph plates as well, and send you the bill. I'm sure some places can get away with it but not too many.

[M II A II R II K]

Caltrain proposes shuttering half its stations


02/04/2011

By Mike Rosenberg and Gary Richards



Read More: http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_17287334

Caltrain officials on Thursday proposed closing up to 16 stations in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties -- turning half the rail line's stops into ghost depots, stranding thousands of riders, and leaving several huge shopping and housing centers without their prized train stops next door. The plans, unveiled at a Caltrain board meeting, come in addition to a fare hike and deep cuts first revealed last year, including eliminating all but weekday rush-hour service between San Francisco and San Jose. Caltrain leaders said the station closures and service cuts will be necessary starting July 2 to survive a record $30.3 million deficit -- about one-third of Caltrain's operating budget -- unless they receive an influx of last-minute funding from outside sources, which they say is increasingly unlikely. The board does not expect to make a decision on the cuts until April.

"We have a very serious financial crisis looming," said CEO Mike Scanlon. "I think we've looked under every rock" for more money. Officials said for the first time Thursday that they are considering a 25-cent increase to all one-way fares, with corresponding increases to day and monthly passes. That would follow a 25-cent-per-zone fare increase that took effect last month, which amounted to a 7.2 percent bump for the average rider. Officials now propose terminating service at as many as seven of these 10 stations: Bayshore in Brisbane, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Burlingame, Hayward Park in San Mateo, Belmont, San Antonio in Mountain View, Lawrence in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and College Park in San Jose.

Proposals released earlier included ending all service south of San Jose Diridon Station, which would eliminate six stations, from Tamien to Gilroy. And proposals to end weekend and special-event service would close three more stations: the Stanford University stop, which is used only during football games, and weekend-only stations at Atherton and Broadway in Burlingame. Still, based on a recent outcry about the cuts, Scanlon said he is optimistic the agency can find long-term funding -- perhaps through a new regional tax -- to eventually reopen stations and resume full service.

City leaders said the closures would be a big blow to their local economies and limit the ways residents and workers get around. They also complained that they have built or are planning large developments around the stations specifically to take cars off the road. San Mateo officials just approved two of the city's most ambitious commercial developments in memory next to the Hayward Park station, largely because they envisioned at least one-fifth of the workers riding the train. Mountain View leaders have endorsed a plan to build hundreds of apartment units and several shops next to the San Antonio station.

Meanwhile, the agency is building a new San Bruno station as part of a $147 million project, but under the proposal it would never open. Burlingame would lose service at its historic downtown depot, perhaps the city's most recognizable landmark. Santa Clara, one of only a few cities in the Bay Area with more than 200,000 residents and workers combined, would lose its only train station.

.....

[twinpeaks]

It probably won't happen with the NIMBYs in the peninsula, but hopefully BART will replace Caltrain someday. It will make it so much easier to get around majority of the Bay Area

[fflint]

BART will never replace Caltrain, but the introduction of HSR to the Caltrain corridor will result in full electrification--so Caltrain will be more BART-like in the future.

[Busy Bee]

Everything you want to know about why BART would OR wouldn't be good for the peninsula: http://caltrain-hsr.blogspot.com/201...sula-bart.html

[fflint]

Capitol Corridor train service breaks January ridership record
By Bill Lindelof
The Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/11/339...#ixzz1DgLFPrrt
Published: Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 - 7:12 am

...A total of 130,860 Capitol Corridor passengers rode the rails between the Sacramento region and the Bay Area. The total is an 11 percent increase compared to the 117,860 who boarded the intercity rail service in January 2010.

"The double digit spike in ridership helped the Capitol Corridor achieve a 13 percent increase in revenue," said Bob Franklin, chairman of the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority.

Train officials credit the increase in ridership in part to rising gas prices and enviable on-time performance.

"Our 96 percent on-time performance puts us at the top spot in the nation for reliable passenger rail service," said Franklin in a press release....

[fflint]

If you look at January, there were ten weekend days and twenty-one work days. Ridership (and service) is completely concentrated on weekdays, so in essence the Cap Corridor is carrying something like 6,300 passengers each workday. That's not bad for an inter-city railroad.

[Clevelumbus]

SAN FRANCISCO – BART’s 39-year-old cars are scheduled for an upgrade. Design is underway now, and the transit agency wants your help.

The original cars weren’t intended to last forever, and new cars are an opportunity to advance with the times. BART expects its ridership to increase to 500,000 people per day (up from 335,000 today), and is preparing for its biggest capital investment since opening in 1972. Designing, building, and installing 700 new train cars is expected to cost $3.4 billion.

BART is reaching out to the public to answer the tough questions on the new system, such as:

* Should the seats be smaller? The current 22-inch wide seats are large relative to other systems such as the D.C. Metro (18 inches) or the Los Angeles Metro (17).
* Should the cars have more space for bikes, and if so, how? Currently, 4% of BART riders arrive at the station by bike, and bicycle ridership is expected to continue increasing throughout the Bay Area.
* Should BART keep fabric-covered seats and carpet, or move to other materials that are easier to clean?
* Should each car have more doors?
* What type of passenger information should display inside each car?
* How can BART reconfigure seats to provide more seating?
* Should the cars have power outlets?

511 ContaCosta: http://511contracosta.org/bart-to-re...-cars-by-2023/

AND

BART on Track to Replace Train Cars by 2023

In order to accommodate for a projected increase in commuters and update a nearly 40-year-old system, the Bay Area Rapid Transit is undergoing an estimated $3.4 billion endeavor to replace BART trains by 2023 - the agency's largest project since the rail system debuted in 1972.

The New Train Car Project aims to replace BART's 669 train cars with 700 new ones to account for a projected increase to 500,000 passengers per day by 2035, according to BART spokesperson Jim Allison. The current ridership is about 335,000 on an average week day.

The Daily Californian: http://www.dailycal.org/article/1118...n_cars_by_2023

[zilfondel]

Question: why don't they just refurb the cars they have? They seemed to be in pretty good shape when I rode it last. Granted, its also like a time portal back to the 70s, but $3.4 billion is a ton of cash.

[ElDuderino]

Originally Posted by zilfondel

Question: why don't they just refurb the cars they have? They seemed to be in pretty good shape when I rode it last. Granted, its also like a time portal back to the 70s, but $3.4 billion is a ton of cash.

Yes. But it would still be expensive to refurbish the cars, and in the near future they would have to be replaced anyways. I think it would be better to spend some more money to get new modern cars that may last another 39 years.

[Gordo]

There are also some capacity-related issues with wanting new cars. Since passenger circulation issues are already the limiting factor with capacity around the first two SF stations (Embarcadero and Montgomery) after the Transbay Tube (and thus limiting capacity through the tube and on the whole system, since those two stations are the bottleneck for the whole system), believe it or not, this is actually one of the cheaper ways of increasing capacity for the whole system.

The new cars, no matter what the final design is, will have better passenger circulation with more than two doors per car and likely fewer seats/more standing room. The fundamental flaws of BART will still remain, but this is one of the better ways of putting some lipstick on the pig.

[zilfondel]

Ok, good points. I'm definitely onboard for transit expansion, but $3.4 billion sounded like a lot of dough. Probably more than we've spent on our light rail here in Portland!

If they get rid of the carpet (bleh!), then it may well be worth it.