Here are three Streetsblog news nuggets to start your weekend, plus some Streetsie tasks when you have a minute.
Sunday is Bay to Breakers
Sunday is the Bay to Breakers run. That also means lots of closed streets, a bit of traffic mayhem, and, thankfully, some supplemental transit service for the event.
From Muni's website:
Bay to Breakers’ unique geography cuts the city in half and provides only two crossing points for buses and vehicles (The Embarcadero and Crossover Dr). As a result, many Muni bus lines are divided into two parts – one on either side of the race. The easiest and fastest way to travel during Bay to Breakers is to stay on one side of the race route. For a real need to cross the route, the fastest ways are to use a train or to incorporate walking or rolling across the race route. Muni Metro Subway Lines J Church, K Ingleside, M Ocean View, N Judah, and S Shuttle; T Third Street in the Central Subway and BART are recommended for crossing under the race route without delay, and Muni’s bus routes will carry passengers as close as possible to the race route so they can cross “on foot” and pick the bus route back up on the other side.
This year Muni is excited to announce that early morning train service is back to help runners get to the Bay to Breakers starting line.
Caltrain is also running additional service for the event. From their website:
Caltrain will run two northbound special event trains with limited stops to the race. Train #903 will depart from San Jose Diridon Station at 6:04 a.m. and arrive at the San Francisco Caltrain Station at 7:20 a.m., while Train #901 will depart from Palo Alto Station at 6:13 a.m. and arrive at the San Francisco Caltrain Station at 7:05 a.m. At California Avenue and Palo Alto stations, riders will board trains on the southbound platform.
Have fun at the run!
Take an Amtrak Capitol Corridor survey
Maha Ahmad is a PhD student at the University of California, Davis, where she's conducting a survey for the Amtrak-Capitol Corridor, which connects the Sacramento region to the Bay Area. "Our aim is to figure out which service improvements could get people out of cars and into trains," she told Streetsblog. "I was hoping you could share my survey link on the Streetsblog platforms."
Well, of course we can, Maha! Here's the link for Streetsblog readers/Cap Corridor riders who want to chime in.
And lastly, tell your Oakland lawmakers that this is ridiculous
Oakland readers who commute by bike between points northeast of Lake Merritt and Jack London Square (including the ferry terminal) lost the use of the estuary channel path years ago when it was blocked by a large encampment. Recently, the city of Oakland cleared it. Streetsblog hopes proper assistance was given to the residents, including opportunities for shelter, rehab, and healthcare.
However, in a move that's so idiotic it almost seems like some kind of bike-hate from certain city officials, it then locked the path 24/7.
"Encampment management happens under the city manager's office and not through OakDOT, so there is much less visibility and accountability despite the pathway being a transportation facility," wrote Bike East Bay's Robert Prinz in an email to Streetsblog about the issue. "I've tried writing them twice to ask questions and express concerns about the gated pathway, and have received zero response."
Streetsblog asks readers who used the path to reach out to their officials and Oakland's new mayor. Reach out to the parks department too, which is directly responsible for that gate.
