SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[Folks3000]

Originally Posted by alchemist redux

Instead of a second BART tunnel, would it make sense to extend a heavy rail HSR/Caltrain tunnel across the Bay instead? This would turn Transbay into a through station. At the east portal, it could effectively become a wye, where the current Capitol Corridor - in both directions - could be electrified.

I don't know the logistics or cost differential of this, but some of the things this would allow would be more direct SF-Sacramento HSR service, and an alternative one seat route from the East Bay through Silicon Valley to San Jose.

MTC is actually studying this alternative. Here is one of their maps of a 4 track BART/heavy rail transbay tube that can be used by both Caltrain and BART. The BART tube continues through to to the west. I am unsure if they are still putting the south facing tail tracks on the new TTC. I think they were also looking at high(ish) speed electrified Capital Corridor trains being diverted into the City (some of them, obviously some will continue to the South Bay suburbs).

[Folks3000]

Also, I didn't realize we had this transportation forum, so let me re-post this here:

MTC just got the only TIGER Grant in the SF Bay Area, and it is for a Core Capacity Transit Study. Read more about it in the documents with the Tiger Application here:

http://bids.mtc.ca.gov/procurements/167

It seems they are studying transbay alternatives. I've poured through lots of MTC documents, some have been looking at putting a new transbay tube right next to the existing one with switch tracks on each end. These could be used to extend BART service into later hours (the major impediment to 24 hour service is the fact that the two tracks must be closed for nightly track work). After entering SF and going through the switch tracks, the new alignment could then continue down any street (Mission for example to connect to TTC) and then head west down Geary/Folsom/etc).

This grant doesn't mention heavy rail like Caltrain crossing the Bay. I think one interesting idea that MTC is looking at is to have an intermodal station between BART and the Capital Corridor right in West Oakland, that way one can ride the Capitol Corridor (or SJ's or any intercity Amtrak line) and then have a quick 8 minute ride into the city (instead of the god-forsaken richmond transfer to BART, or bus transfer at Emeryville, or Coliseum transfer to BART). This could make the Capital Corridor and SJ ridership EXPLODE as they now could be used for reasonable commuting. Another idea is to have a new East Bay BART line that directly serves Emeryville, thus providing a similarly direct connection.

[fflint]

The newest APTA ridership report is out.

Some local highlights:

*Muni is up to 761,300 daily riders
*BART is up to 432,700 daily riders
*VTA is up to 146,500 daily riders
*Caltrain is up to 57,500 daily riders
*Golden Gate Transit is down to 30,000 daily riders
*Bay Area ferry boats now carry 14,700 daily riders

Not all regional transit systems provide data to APTA (SamTrans, AC Transit, Altamont Commuter Express being the most notable). When we combine all the APTA data with ridership data from Wikipedia and the local media for all Bay Area transit agencies, we learn:

*AC Transit carries around 200,000 daily bus riders
*SamTrans carries around 50,000 daily bus riders

*Regional commuter rail ridership (ACE, Caltrain, Capitol Corridor, San Joaquins) now exceeds 70,500 daily riders
*Total Bay Area ridership on railroads--light rail, metro rail, commuter rail--is up to 762,000 daily riders.

*Total Bay Area transit ridership (boat, bus, train) exceeds 1,746,300 daily riders. That doesn't include the estimated 30,000 daily riders on local shuttles (Google Buses, etc.).

[Eightball]

Caltrain Gets Clearance to Proceed with Design/Build Plans for Electrification
http://www.caltrain.com/Page3534.aspx

[Folks3000]

http://sf.streetsblog.org/2014/10/07...vel-platforms/

Good news for the capacity of the Transbay Transit Center. Caltrain had some foolish idea of terminating some of its trains at 4th and King (even though there are almost as many jobs near the new Transbay Terminal as the entire rest of the Caltrain line combined)! Hopefully this will allow all commuter trains to serve FiDi.

[M II A II R II K]

How would you improve BART?

BART has some important decisions to make over the next few decades. The system is aging and in need of repair.

At the same time, the region is growing, and more transit capacity is needed. This exercise is designed to help you help us set priorities for spending and revenue sources. You will see, in real time, the potential benefits and impacts of different spending decisions on the regional transit system (including BART and other modes, such as Transbay buses). You can update your priorities at any time.




http://www.futurebart.org/

[CharlesCO]

This looks like some sort of game. It's like a BART version of Sim City. I feel like they also came up with this website so that people (hopefully) realize how much investment BART needs to meet everyone's expectations in the next few decades.

[northbay]

^Exactly! We need more money! I personally wanted both a second transbay tube and a western extension but they are so expensive. I went for the second tube but it's clear regardless BART will need A LOT of money.

[Folks3000]

Originally Posted by northbay

^Exactly! We need more money! I personally wanted both a second transbay tube and a western extension but they are so expensive. I went for the second tube but it's clear regardless BART will need A LOT of money.

Same, I wanted the second tube and the western extension but the game was kind of set up so you didn't choose them. I stubbornly still chose them, they can have all the money to fix BART they want if they'd just make it actually a useful complement to Muni in SF!

Bart to the Beach would be so awesome!

[Folks3000]

I took the liberty of putting a few of the existing and proposed ferry lines on a map. New routes include Treasure Island, Redwood City, Antioch (not included in the map, I think it is a bit far fetched), Berkeley, Richmond, Martinez, and Hercules. I also put on the SMART commuter rail and the proposed VINE commuter train in Napa County, showing how they could one day connect to the Vallejo and Larkspur ferry terminals. This would make SF quite a major ferry hub. Perhaps an underground connection to BART (and the Transbay Transit Center) could really make the transfers seamless one day!



Let me know what you all think!

[fflint]

Hey guys, take the MTA's new survey on what the city's new light rail vehicles should look like! A couple of the four options are really slick!

[ardecila]

The interiors look awesome, but the exteriors are kinda boring. Nothing horrid, everything is decent, but nothing exciting either.

SF is such a distinctive city, it can't do better?

wiki/Marseille Tram

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by ardecila

The interiors look awesome, but the exteriors are kinda boring. Nothing horrid, everything is decent, but nothing exciting either.

SF is such a distinctive city, it can't do better?

wiki/Marseille Tram

A multi-bogie low floor tram like that wouldn't work with the terrain of SF. Not only that Muni prefers to run coupled, high floor cars rather than Combino style super long trams with little flexibility if or when equipment fails or demand changes.

As for the 4 options there are to actually choose from, i think Presidio is pretty sharp with Gate a close second. I don't like the Skyline options as they both look too much like a standard SD or S70 car.

[fflint]

That Marseilles tram is hideous!

I chose Skyline 1, as did the three other guys watching the Giants game with me tonight.

[ardecila]

I dunno, I think having something distinctive/ugly is better than something nice but generic. Having a unique tram design is a great way to brand the city - SF should understand this better than most, with cable cars and the heritage F Market.

These designs look like Minneapolis, Charlotte, or Houston. Part of the problem is that everyone buys Siemens because nobody else can meet buy America requirements.

I can't comment on the functional requirements of the tram, possibly a low floor design would not work- the Marseille design was just an example.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Part of the problem is that everyone buys Siemens because nobody else can meet buy America requirements.

Not everyone has bought Siemens because there are other manufacturers that can meet buy American requirements.
Here's a list of American new streetcar vehicles with their manufacturers.
Atlanta - Siemens
Charlotte - Brookville
Cincinnati - CAF
Detroit - CAF
Dallas - Brookville
Little Rock - Brockville
Memphis - Brookville
New Orleans - Brookville
Portland - United, Skoda, and Inekon
Seattle - Inekon
Tampa - Brookville
Tacoma - Inekon
Tucson - United
D.C. - United

There are probably others I failed to list, but this list points out the fact that there are other vendors than just Siemens building streetcars in America.

[CharlesCO]

I lived in Marseille briefly and found their tram design to be pretty boring by French standards. The Montpellier tram, however, was awesome. Each line had a different color/patterned tram, and the interiors had crazy fluorescent designs as well:





Edit: Oh! And it makes a really pleasant chime whenever trains reach major stops. I wish BART did something like this.

[Perklol]

So sorry for being off topic but how do you pronounce "Siemens"?

[simms3_redux]

Like the stuff that comes out of an aroused man.

[llamaorama]

It looks a clown exploded. Or the year 1999. Either one.

I'd prefer a more understated design.