SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[CyberEric]

Article in the Chronicle about funding shortage for the Central Subway: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...AS85.DTL&tsp=1

[M II A II R II K]

S.F. may hit drivers with variety of tolls


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz15lA3XQN0

Drivers crossing greater downtown San Francisco and the southern border with San Mateo County could be hit with a new toll costing them as much as $1,560 a year.

Everyone from workers to parents dropping off their kids at school could have to pay the new charge, which is designed to ease congestion and raise revenue for extra bus service, pothole repairs and bike and pedestrian improvements.

For several years, San Francisco transportation officials have considered imposing a charge to drive in targeted neighborhoods, and on Wednesday they said they hope to move forward with one or more pilot projects.

The earliest the new tolls would go into effect would be 2015, and then only for a six-month to one-year experiment to gauge public reaction and the effectiveness.

First, however, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, in its role as the San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board, and the state Legislature would have to approve the proposal. Yet to be determined is whether voters would weigh in. The plan may need voters' support.

[northbay]

cool short video just put out by the MTC:

http://www.mtc.ca.gov/news/video/mtc.htm

[northbay]

Published Saturday, November 20, 2010, by the San Francisco Chronicle:

S.F. solves funding quandary for Central Subway

By Michael Cabanatuan
Chronicle Staff Writer

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and transportation officials say they have
found the $137 million the Municipal Transportation Agency needs to secure $942
million in federal funds for the Central Subway project.

Newsom met Thursday with Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission, the Bay Area's transportation planning and financing
agency, and developed a plan to use about $106 million in state bond money along
with about $31 million in savings on Muni projects already completed or under
way.

The money will be used to plug a funding gap in the financial plan for the $1.6
billion subway from the Caltrain terminal to Chinatown that must be submitted to
the Federal Transportation Administration by February.

With the deadline near, and Muni's financial condition strained, some San
Francisco officials feared the agency would be unable to satisfy federal
administrators, delaying or endangering the funding of the project itself. On
Tuesday, San Francisco County Transportation Authority officials blasted a much
sketchier funding plan presented by Muni, expressed doubt the agency could meet
the federal deadline, and demanded a more detailed proposal.

Nathaniel Ford, chief executive officer of the Municipal Transportation Agency,
said the agency had been searching for ways to fill the funding gap, looking
specifically at available state bond funding and savings on projects that have
come in under budget or with lower than anticipated bids.

"We feel this is a strong plan that will be a key point in bringing the project
through the (federal funding) process," he said. "This project enjoys strong
support from the community as well as elected leaders at all levels. We will
continue to work closely with our partners at the FTA to ensure the success of
the project."

...

Jason Elliott, a mayoral aide, said it is important to note that because the
$106.3 million in state bond money was not committed, it will not delay any Muni
projects. Nor, he said, will the use of the $30.7 million in savings from other
projects.

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who had been critical of the agency's earlier plans,
said he was relieved to see the fleshed-out plan, which was presented to the
authority Friday.

"An all-hands-on-deck meeting was imperative if they were going to solve this,"
he said, adding that funding problems would have emboldened opponents to push
for the project to be abandoned and the federal money spent elsewhere.

"It would be real fumble, worse than a fumble," he said, "if we were not able to
get the wherewithal to bring this important project home."

source and full article: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/47188

[ElDuderino]

North Bay freight trains one step closer
Feds can inspect repairs to rail lines without SMART's okay

By STEVE HART
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Monday, November 22, 2010 at 5:52 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, November 22, 2010 at 5:52 p.m.

NorthBay cargo trains may be closer to returning to the Northwestern Pacific Railroad now that a major obstacle has been removed.

U.S. transportation regulators have ruled that the North Coast Railroad Authority doesn’t need commuter rail’s okay to reopen the freight line.

That means the Federal Railroad Administration can now inspect repairs on a 62-mile stretch of track between Napa County and Windsor. “It’s a significant step,” NCRA director Mitch Stogner said Monday.

But NCRA still needs a joint operating agreement with Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, the commuter rail agency that owns the tracks.

NCRA hopes to begin freight service on the segment early next year, Stogner said, which will provide a lower-cost alternative for shippers and take truck traffic off Highway 101.

Federal regulators closed the route in 2001 after storm damage made it unsafe for trains. NCRA is spending $68 million to fix the southern end of the railroad. Last month it said repairs were complete and ready to inspect.

Tracks, bridges, signals and crossings must pass inspection before federal officials lift their embargo.

But the plan hit a snag when a Federal Railroad Administration official ruled SMART must join NCRA’s petition to reopen the line.

SMART directors said last month they wouldn’t support the request until the two agencies agree on joint operating rules. SMART plans to start running commuter trains over a portion of the railroad in 2014.

NCRA appealed the federal ruling, and the railroad administration reversed its position last week. In a letter Friday, the federal agency said SMART’s support isn’t needed for the freight closure to be lifted.

But NCRA still must resolve any disputes with SMART before freight trains can operate, the agency said.

Negotiations over the track-sharing agreement are snarled on various issues.

SMART officials haven’t received last week’s letter and aren’t prepared to comment, spokesman Chris Coursey said Monday.

Negotiations over the track-sharing agreement are snarled on various issues, but Stogner said NCRA and SMART “have made significant headway” on the agreement since last month.

NCRA also must adopt an environmental study of the freight service and tweak a lawsuit settlement with Novato, which sued over the trains in 2007, he said.

source: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...ne-step-closer

[OneRinconHill]

Yuck, having to wait for freight trains to go by on my way to class is going to suck.

[northbay]

well, yes. but getting caught behind a slow freight truck is also frustrating. the train will significantly reduce the need for trucks.

[ElDuderino]

Muni builds case for subway need

Rachel Gordon, Will Kane, Jessica Kwong
Wednesday, December 1, 2010

To get a sense of the political importance of building Muni's new Central Subway line into Chinatown, take one look at a document explaining the transit agency's newest ridership projections for 2030 that focus extensively on the T-Third Metro route.

While Muni ridership is expected to grow citywide over the next two decades, officials lowered earlier expectations for the T-Third from 76,000 to 65,000 - a 14 percent drop.

The line now runs from Visitacion Valley down Third Street in the city's southeastern neighborhoods and along the Embarcadero before heading into the Market Street tunnel. The city plans to open a long-promised Central Subway extension into Chinatown in 2018 and hopes the feds will kick in nearly $900 million more to help build the $1.6 billion rail project.

The "new forecast still places T-Third ridership at a higher level than other rail lines around the nation that are now in design or construction," Carter Rohan, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's director of capital programs and construction, wrote in a recent memo to the agency's board of directors.

He added that "the T-Third will deliver a critical transit alternative along San Francisco's and the nation's most-crowded urban corridor where bus routes currently operate at average peak-hour service speeds of 6 miles per hour."

Still not convinced that the project is worth the money? "The updated ridership figures also bring T-Third ridership to levels that make sense as part of a network with both efficient rail and efficient bus service," Rohan said. Plus, the Central Subway is expected to move people in and out of Chinatown faster than the buses.

So why the decline in projected boardings? "Minor adjustments to T-Third peak service frequencies," Rohan explained, plus Muni plans to add bus service in the growth areas of South of Market and Mission Bay over the next 20 years.

source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...pe=newsbayarea

[CyberEric]

The nation's most crowded urban corridor? I am all for building this thing, but isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? I can see second most crowded, but there have to be "corridors" in Manhattan that are more crowded right?

PS, I love the comments on the Chron, a lot of "people do this" and "people do that" anecdotal story telling always good for a laugh.

[ElDuderino]

BART to open West Dublin/Pleasanton Station

Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, December 17, 2010

BART's long-planned and pricier-than-anticipated West Dublin/Pleasanton Station will finally open on Feb. 19, bringing more parking and improving transit access for commuters in the busy Tri-Valley area.

The $106 million station, which sits in the median of Interstate 580 just east of Interstate 680 and straddles the freeway, won't come with any new track. It's BART's 44th station, but the first infill station, one built on an operating line, between the Castro Valley and Dublin/Pleasanton stations. Like the end-of-the-line station, it will sit in both Dublin and Pleasanton.

"It's been a long time coming," said BART Director John McPartland, who represents the area. "And it will be extremely well used."

BART riders in eastern Alameda and southern Contra Costa counties had a long wait for the new station, delayed for nearly two years by construction problems after being postponed for a decade.

A dispute with the contractor over building standards for a pair of prefabricated walkways across I-580 slowed construction by nearly two years and raised the price of the station by about $20 million.

The station, adjacent to Stoneridge mall, was originally planned as part of the Dublin/Pleasanton extension, which opened in 1997.

But the project lacked the funding to construct stations at Castro Valley, West Dublin/Pleasanton and Dublin/Pleasanton, so BART officials chose to extend it to the current terminus, east of Interstate 680, and add the intermediate station later. That created the longest uninterrupted stretch of track in the BART system - 10 miles.

BART struck a deal with developer Jones Lang LaSalle to build a transit village next to the station in 1999, and construction started in 2006. According to BART, the partnership with developers produced $15 million toward the station.

Planners estimated that by 2013, about 8,560 riders a day will use the station. Many will be drawn by 1,200 new parking spaces. Parking lots at nearby stations fill up early most mornings, and there are waiting lists for reserved spaces.

Directors set fares for the new station earlier this fall, using BART's complex distance-based formula. From West Dublin/Pleasanton, riders will pay one-way fares of $5.40 to downtown San Francisco, $4.15 to Berkeley and $10.40 to San Francisco International Airport.

BART plans a ceremony at the new station Feb. 18, but regular service won't begin until the next day.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BA3F1GROIC.DTL

[northbay]

not really news, but heres some recent pictures of the US 101 freeway expansion in rohnert park/cotati, sonoma county, ca, usa. the freeway is going from 2 lanes in each direction to 1 carpool lane, 2 general purpose lanes and 1 'auxiliary' lane (exit lane) in each direction. eventually, there will be a carpool lane from windsor (just north of santa rosa) all the way to san francisco thru sonoma and marin counties and this is part of that network.

photos credit caltrans and all 44 pictures can be viewed here: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/photogra...901/index.html

wilfred ave:






ca 116:


w. sierra ave:


approach looking north toward cotati (wine grapes on left):


railroad ave:


looking south towards petaluma:

[geoking66]

Originally Posted by CyberEric

The nation's most crowded urban corridor? I am all for building this thing, but isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? I can see second most crowded, but there have to be "corridors" in Manhattan that are more crowded right?

PS, I love the comments on the Chron, a lot of "people do this" and "people do that" anecdotal story telling always good for a laugh.

The Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway carries 1.3m people per day at nearly twice its design capacity. That's more than the next highest (DC), or the combined totals of BART, Boston's T, Chicago's L.

[northbay]

$23 million released for Highway 101 widening near Petaluma
Posted by Ted Appel in Transportation on January 20th, 2011

By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

State officials Thursday released $22.8 million to extend the widening of Highway 101 in Sonoma County south from Pepper Road to Old Redwood Highway on the northern edge of Petaluma, a one-mile project that had been delayed by California’s budget uncertainties.

The money will allow construction to begin this year, according to the Sonoma County Transportation Authority.

...

The project was put on hold in September when California was unable to pass a budget, which affected the ability of the state Transportation Commission to sell bonds to finance the work.

Sonoma County had realized a savings of $22.8 million in local Measure M local sales tax funds and an additional $50 million in state funds when bids for widening from Cotati to Windsor came in under estimates.

The state had agreed to let Sonoma County use those savings for other highway projects.

The state on Thursday released the funds for the Petaluma project and also $38.8 million in other state funds to extend the car-pool lanes three miles in Novato.

source: http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/201...near-petaluma/

[CyberEric]

Originally Posted by geoking66

The Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway carries 1.3m people per day at nearly twice its design capacity. That's more than the next highest (DC), or the combined totals of BART, Boston's T, Chicago's L.

That's what I figured. Of course, BART's numbers don't tell the whole story, as Muni and Caltrain aren't figured in for that corridor.

Thanks.

[M II A II R II K]

Growing Movement To Save Caltrain From Potentially Devastating Cuts


http://sf.streetsblog.org/2011/01/25...astating-cuts/

The mobility of Caltrain’s 40,000 daily riders on the Peninsula and the South Bay could drastically suffer under deep service cuts being considered to close a $30 million budget gap, but a movement to get the commuter rail service agency out of the red and on a path toward long-term sustainability is gaining momentum.

“Everyone says it’s ironic, because it really is one of the best performing transit agencies in the whole Bay Area, but it’s the one potentially in the most trouble because we lack any dedicated funding,” said Yoriko Kishimoto, a Palo Alto councilmember and Friends of Caltrain organizer.

Last Friday, a summit brought together a number of transportation officials, advocates, neighborhood groups, riders and public officials hoping to rescue Caltrain. This Saturday, Friends of Caltrain, a “grassroots coalition of cities, neighborhood groups, employers, environmental groups, transit advocates and, most importantly, residents and transit riders” in the Bay Area, are helping to organize the “Save Our Caltrain!” Summit to address the agency’s lack of dedicated regional funding.

“Caltrain is threatened with bankruptcy, or just as bad, it could die a slow death by entering a downward spiral of reduced service and reduced ridership,” said Kishimoto. “Caltrain ridership is the equivalent of at least three full lanes of traffic on US 101…[It] is essential to the Peninsula’s quality of life, our commute alternatives, and economic vitality and the three counties must come together to work on solutions.”

The system relies heavily on support from the Metropolitan Transportation Commision and transit agencies in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties to help cover its costs each year. However, with California transit agencies struggling across the board, those contributions have been slashed.

Without further help from regional elected officials, Caltrain is looking at “18 months of pretty devastating cuts,” said Kishimoto.

Caltrain Board Chair and San Francisco Supervisor Sean Elsbernd told the Mercury News that service could be curtailed to minimum peak hours, with weekday trains reduced from 86 to 48 along with the elimination of weekend trains and all service between Gilroy and San Jose Diridon Station.

[CyberEric]

I really hope they don't eliminate weekend trains.

I wonder if BART could somehow takeover.

[ElDuderino]

Golden Gate Bridge set to shut tollbooths

It looks as if tollbooths and toll collectors, a fixture at the Golden Gate Bridge since it opened in 1937, will no longer be used at the span starting in 2012 as the bridge district moves to an all-electronic system.

The Finance Committee of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District voted 8-3 Thursday to recommend the board of directors move ahead with the plan, which would save a projected $19.2 million over the first eight years. The board will consider the plan today at a 10 a.m. meeting at the administration building overlooking the toll plaza.

Directors John Moylan and Dick Grosboll of San Francisco and Gerald Cochran of Del Norte County voted against the proposal because of the impact on employees and the roles they play in bridge security, welcoming visitors to San Francisco and directing lost tourists. The move would eliminate the jobs of 32 toll collectors and two vault workers.

The bridge will move to a toll collection strategy that combines the existing FasTrak system with one that photographs the license plates of cars going through the toll plaza and mails a bill to the registered owners. About two-thirds of drivers pay their tolls with FasTrak.

The move to all-electronic tolling is part of a plan to help the district close an $89 million projected shortfall over the next five years.

- Michael Cabanatuan

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BANV1HFE3N.DTL

[ElDuderino]

One more article from today...somewhat transit related

BART may allow more businesses at stations

Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer

The vast, cavernous spaces of some BART station concourses could be populated with produce markets, newsstands, drugstores, computer kiosks and other businesses under an arrangement approved by the transit agency's Board of Directors Thursday.

BART directors voted 8-1, with Tom Radulovich of San Francisco opposed, to enter into exclusive negotiations with TransMart, a San Francisco company, to become the master retail developer for the system's 43 stations.

TransMart, the lone firm to express interest in being the master retailer, plans to gather a variety of vendors offering products and services that would be attractive to commuters, and tailored to each station. Businesses would probably be housed in kiosks and other small spaces that could be easily reconfigured.

The purpose of the plan is to raise money for BART while providing conveniences to commuters and bringing some vitality to stations. Because the proposal is in the early stages, BART has no idea how much revenue could be generated, but other transit agencies have been profitable with similar retail arrangements. Both the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority in Boston and the Chicago Transit Authority use a company that works with TransMart. In 2009, retail contracts brought in $2 million in Boston, and in 2008, they generated $2.4 million in Chicago.

"We're always talking about alternative revenue sources," said Director Lynette Sweet of San Francisco. "This retail concept can make money for this district. I'm all for it."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...pe=newsbayarea

[CyberEric]

Good news for BART stations. There should be coffee and food in everyone one of the stations. It's not like those trains are clean as it stands!

[RST500]

Originally Posted by ElDuderino

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BANV1HFE3N.DTL

will they preserve the tollboothes and inconic clock?