Once you’ve been in the advocacy and transportation business for so many years, it is hard not to have an opinion. So this is my home for now and thank you for reading.
Because of my involvement in various committees and groups, it is important to note that the opinion expressed here does not necessarily represent the opinion of the groups and committees that I belonged to, as well as the Transit Unlimited Wiki.
-Andy
A fact of life on the Peninsula is that during rush hours, the 101 freeway is jammed in both direction leading to SR-92 and SR-92 is also jammed leading to the San Mateo Bridge. Unfortunately, unlike nearly all other Bay Area bridges, this bridge has no transit option currently for the general public nor a route for cyclists. Commuters either have to drive themselves, make informal arrangements for carpool, lucky enough to have employer sponsored shuttles, or use other bridge corridors on transit or bike/micromobility. Why hasn’t transit worked for the San Mateo Bridge?
Even though the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge first opened to traffic in 1929, and being the second road bridge to be opened crossing San Francisco Bay (after Dumbarton Bridge), I was not able to find history of scheduled bus service on the bridge before SamTrans introduced the 90E route between San Mateo and Hayward BART in 1977. In the early decades, the Peninsula and East Bay regions outside Oakland and Berkeley were mostly rural. Primary transbay transit service was ferries from Oakland and eventually interurban rail and buses over the Bay Bridge.
Read the rest of this page »Not too long ago, I made a trek to San Ramon to try out the PRESTO autonomous shuttle operating inside the Bishop Ranch business park.
The service runs 2 battery powered autonomous vehicles between the transit center and the shopping mall. For now, each vehicle has an attendant that monitors the vehicle (and takes over with a game like controller if necessary). The vehicle has a footprint of a minivan but can seat up to 11, along with ability to accommodate a wheelchair. The service primarily operates inside the parking lots and driveways of the business park, but crosses a public street (at Camino Ramon). The vehicle operates at level 3 automation and currently at a max speed of about 13 miles an hour.
The service is not particularly fast, and if you’re on a bike (or for me, electric unicycle), this service wouldn’t be attractive at all, but according to my conversation with one of the attendants, people do use the shuttle to go to the shopping center and can get busy. I like the general interior layout of the shuttle, with easy access between the door and each of the seats. It has a feel of a proper transit vehicle versus personal vehicles like sedans and SUVs. The vehicle amazingly has a tight turning radius.
With being autonomous, the technology is not perfect. On 1 of my trial rides, the vehicle made a few sudden stops. Fortunately the vehicle features seat belts. Those quick stops may be an advantage to avoid collisions but the machine generated response of sudden braking seems too much for humans to handle compared to human driven vehicles.
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This month (June 2023) is the 20th anniversary of opening of BART SFO extension. Millbrae is the end of the line of this extension & the transfer point between Caltrain and BART. The station was built with an expectation of high ridership & transfer activities, but things changed quite a bit over the past 20 years with changes in economy, transportation/housing priorities, and COVID.
20 years ago I was a young transit activist & a regular Caltrain rider. I was able to see the station being constructed and was there on the opening day.
Read the rest of this page »Every decade or so many transit agencies re-evaluate its routes. SamTrans is no exception. This time, many transit agencies carry the theme of frequency vs. coverage, which is promoted by a well known transit consultant Jarrett Walker. SamTrans is offering 3 alternatives with one heavily favors improving frequency, one promoting coverage, and one in between favoring connections. Despite offering 3 alternatives, SamTrans staff emphasize that the recommend plan would be a combination of the 3, after considering public feedback.
Coming off of this COVID-19 pandemic, I hope that transit agencies would focus on services that better facilitate “essential” trips, along with school trips as campuses reopen.
Frequency vs. coverage was also one of themes for the last service plan SamTrans implemented. Some of the service added to improve frequency ended up taken away when ridership increases didn’t pan out. The lesson appears that it is faster to lose ridership but slower to grow. Transit agencies should do more to preserve riders.
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Last year, the California state legislature approved and the Governor signed SB 742 into law, which allows bus only tickets to be sold on Amtrak Thruway buses in California. This bill overturned a previous law passed 20 years ago that prohibited sale of bus only tickets on these buses due to complaints of unfair competition from private bus companies, notably Greyhound.
The law originally proposed a blanket permission for the entire bus network, but later amendments from the State Assembly created requirements to address the concerns from private bus companies.
The amendments basically require the joint powers authorities that oversee the state Amtrak routes and connecting bus services to evaluate impacts of opening up bus only ticket sales on private intercity buses and require board approvals from the JPAs.
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