Here are three Streetsblog news nuggets to start your weekend.
The Bus Bench Collective strikes again
Twelve more guerrilla bus benches have cropped up in San Francisco over the last weekend. From a release from the SF Bay Area Bench Collective:
This time, the scope of installation covered multiple neighborhoods including Bayview-Hunters Point, Lower Haight, The Mission, and Potrero Hill. Bench parts were cut and painted on Saturday, then assembled, transported via bike, and installed on Sunday.
This build we prioritized bus stops which had neighbors immediately willing to adopt the benches ... We encourage anyone who would like to adopt a bench to take a look at the adopters’ guide on our website and reach out! We maintain all our benches and respond quickly to any problem reports via our website, whether or not the bench is adopted.
Sadly, "SF has some of the worst bus stops of any city here, lacking clear signage, red curbs, shelters, and of course seating," wrote the group in an email to Streetsblog. "The City of Richmond has begun the process of legalizing community benches and we hope SF will follow suit."
High-Speed Rail Authority submits report on way forward
The Trump Administration is still fighting with California over $4 billion in previously committed funds for the state's beleaguered high-speed rail project. Nevertheless, the project carries on. The construction authority issued a supplemental report to the state legislature on Friday morning about its plan for bringing train service to the Central Valley and beyond:
This report proposes several potential scenarios to advance the program, including the work already underway in the Central Valley and beyond, to connect in the south to Northern Los Angeles County at Palmdale and in the north to the electrified Caltrain system via Gilroy. Cost estimates, funding needs, construction completion schedules, and ridership and revenue projections are included for each scenario.
From Palmdale and Gilroy, travelers can transfer to local commuter service while the final stages are built out. "I see clearer now more than ever the potential for this transformational project, one that can reshape the state and our society for the better. I see a future — by 2038 to 2039 — when operations are already connecting the Central Valley to population centers and innovation hubs, offering new career opportunities, economic mobility, affordable housing, and a cleaner environment," said California High-speed Rail head Ian Choudri in a statement.
BART finishes installing new gates at stations in San Mateo
As previously reported, BART is rolling out new fare gates systemwide. This week, it announced that it had completed replacing gates at its stations in San Mateo County. From a BART release:
BART’s work to install state-of-the-art Next Generation Fare Gates at all 50 of its stations by the end of this year has achieved a significant goal. With the recent completion of work at San Bruno Station, new gates have now been installed at all six BART stations in San Mateo County. Next Generation Fare Gates are now in service at 48 stations, putting the project on track to reach its goal of full installation across the five counties BART serves by the end of 2025.
This comes, of course, as BART launches direct credit card payments.
"We carry approximately 25 percent of transit boardings among all operators in San Mateo County,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers in a statement. “I think even more people in San Mateo County will ride BART because of these fare gates and how they are changing the station environment by serving as a deterrent against unwanted behavior.”
