In August, SamTrans released a Facebook funded study of the Dumbarton Transportation Corridor. This study was a follow up to the rail project on the same corridor which was canceled due to lack of funding.

This study proposes various improvements on the highway corridor to speed up high occupancy vehicle traffic and buses, as well as to develop the rail corridor for bus and rail service.

My hope for this study is to have something that can be delivered within 5 years. In the past, there have been many studies for major improvements along the bridge corridors, but didn’t go forward because of the high costs involved. Below are my comments on the study. There are some elements that I agree with, yet there are other elements that the planners ought to consider.

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This is a response to comments made by SamTrans board members at its board meeting in April. Considering the suburban environment and the desire for more transportation options, there seems to be an interest by transit agencies in leveraging Transportatation Networking Companies. While I support the concept of having more transportation choices, I am also concerned about the business models of these companies and their compatibility with those at transit agencies. If we have a better understanding about our choices, we can get the benefits of the TNCs but without having the rest of the TNC business models that may not work so well.

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Late last year, VTA hired a star transit consultant Jarrett Walker (also is one of the founders of BayRail Alliance, when it was known as Peninsula Rail 2000) to review the bus network at VTA in hopes to increase transit ridership. Recently Walker released a report and challenged conventional wisdoms. This blog briefly summarized the report’s findings so I won’t cover it here. The following are more of my reviews.

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Caltrain electrification is the most significant project for the system in its history, and also one of the transformational transportation projects on the Peninsula and Silicon Valley. This project has taken more than a decade to plan. As Caltrain and parallel highways are becoming more congested, this project is needed more than before to increase corridor capacity, despite the fact that Caltrain may have to reduce service to accommodate construction.

Beyond the basic proposal to string overhead wires and buying electric railcars.  There are also related elements where there’s no consensus, no decision, or no funding to complete, but are complementary to electrification. These include level boarding, high speed rail blended service, downtown extension, and grade separations. These elements, regardless of which stage of planning they are in, generally do not impact with the timetable for electrification.

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There’s a lot going on regarding Caltrain system improvements and high speed rail. When these projects were conceived 20-30 years ago, it just seemed like all they had to do is to put up wires over the tracks and some new tunnels from the existing 4th & King terminal. Now the policy makers will be asked about common platform heights, a new tunnel alignment, and possibly moving a rail yard?

We know that the real estate in the Bay Area is hot right now, and the pressure for more development is strong. The 4th & King site is eyed as the next big development for San Francisco. If it is done right, Caltrain service needs will be addressed as a part of the plan, but there are ideas that will compromise Caltrain’s operational needs, delay critical projects, and will require regional funding to complete. Read the rest of this page »