Today’s Headlines

  • Muni Riders Voice Anger at MTA Board Meeting (ABC, CBS)
  • MTA Pilot to Extend Meter Hours on Evenings, Sundays (CBS, SF Gate)
  • SFPD Investigates Muni Assaults, Makes Arrest (CoCo Times, KCBS, Merc)
  • Sue Vaughan’s Minding Muni, Part III (FCJ)
  • Three Cup Shuffle/Monte Scam and Intimidation on Muni (Muni Diaries)
  • MTA to Traffic Calm Fell and Oak by Re-timing Signals (Bike NOPA)
  • Chronicle Op-Ed: BART Ignored Civil Rights with Oakland Airport Connector
  • BART Plans Minority Community Outreach Meetings (CoCo Times, KCBS)
  • BART Slowed After Morning Track Fire (CoCo Times, SF Gate)
  • Work Begins on BART to San Jose (KCBS)
  • More on SF Sit/Lie Protest From This Weekend (FCJ)
  • Looking at Seattle’s Sit/Lie Law from 1993 (Seattle PI)
  • Despite Economic Downturn, SFO Gains Traffic (CoCo Times)
  • NYC Bike Snob Reveals his Identity, Promotes New Book (WSJ)
  • Jonathan Maus Q&A with Bike Snob (Bike Portland)
  • And Here’s to Stoke Your Jealousy with Portland’s Bike Racks (Bike Portland)
  • CACuzcatlan

    Good to see that BART to San Jose is finally getting started. I now believe it’ll happen. Even after the latest vote, I thought it might be derailed somehow.

  • It should be derailed. The station stops are in horrible locations. That extension just proves that BART is only for the suburbanites to get to work. There are several decent spots that need an infill station which would really boost urban ridership.

  • patrick

    BART to San Jose is a huge waste of money. The Caltrain East was a much better idea, as it functions much better as commuter rail, would have cost far less, and would have resulted in faster trips.

  • CACuzcatlan

    Maybe its just me, but from where I’m at, its easier to hope on a bus to The Embarcadero and get on BART then to transfer to the T-Line then got off at the ballpark and get on CalTrain to get to San Jose and back. Also, it seems like it would be a lot easier for people in the East Bay to hop on BART and get to downtown San Jose then to do the CalTrain thing, even with Caltrain east. It’s just less hassle and for me, its worth taking BART to avoid transferring to a different system. As for infill stations, I agree with that sentiment and think BART should focus on that after the San Jose project. Hopefully they wont botch other infill stations as bad as they did West Dublin.

  • “its easier to hope on a bus to The Embarcadero”

    Hope? Freudian slip regarding recent MUNI cuts?

    Caltrain from SF to San Jose on a bullet (which is 75% or more of overall ridership) is 60 minutes, and with electrification and grade separation that should approach 45 minutes. BART is 45 minutes from Embarcadero to Fremont. It will be ~30 minutes from Fremont to San Jose.

    In theory, BART and Caltrain electrification will complete in roughly the same time frame, at which point Caltrain SF->SJ will be 30 minutes faster than BART.

    I am somewhat skeptical any of these things will ever happen, but that’s the theory.

  • And BART charges by distance at a much more extreme rate then Caltrain. I’d be interested to see the total cost for a ride to San Jose. Not to mention the fact that the route will stretch BART even more then it already is, so fares will increase. And then add on the cost to VTA in respect to how the airport extension has nearly killed SamTrans.

    Also, where in the city are you coming from CACuzatlan? There are several bus lines that either pass near or stop at Caltrain and the N still runs there during the week. Furthermore, if the transbay gets built, Caltrain will be located downtown so you won’t have to transfer to the T.

  • The BART fare formula, as of 2008, is revealed on page 29 of http://www.bart.gov/docs/FINAL_FY08_SRTP_CIP.pdf

    San Jose is said to be 16 miles of track from Fremont, so they would charge an additional $1.20 for the additional distance. It’s kind of weird and inexplicable that they charge less per mile for distance beyond 14 miles.

  • There is a San Mateo County surcharge so I think it’d be safe to say there will be a Santa Clara County surcharge as well.

  • Good point about the Santa Clara County surcharge. And I was wrong about the distance: it’s 16.1 miles past Warm Springs, not 16 miles past Fremont, so 21.5 miles beyond the current system, for a $1.60 additional fare, plus whatever the surcharge is.