SamTrans has opened a community survey to gather public input for "Reimagine Dumbarton," a planning initiative to explore improved transit, walking and biking connections along the Dumbarton Corridor on the Peninsula.
Notably absent from the survey: any mention of the long-punted effort to rebuild the Dumbarton rail bridge (imagined in the lead image) which is part of the full corridor, and finally give a high-quality transit option between the mid-Peninsula and Union City in the East Bay.
"And so now in the wake of yet another rail defeat, SamTrans wants to 'Reimagine Dumbarton' and at least build a busway atop just the west side of the SamTrans-owned rail line," said Adrian Brandt, a Peninsula rail advocate and San Mateo County's representative on the Caltrain Citizens Advisory Committee.
From SamTrans:
The project is exploring the feasibility of introducing fast, reliable zero-emission bus service, making it safer and easier to travel by transit, bike or on foot between communities in southeastern San Mateo County. And to avoid any confusion: this survey is about the Dumbarton rail corridor — not the Highway 84 Dumbarton Bridge.
Reimagine Dumbarton seeks to understand how people travel today and what improvements they want for future connections between East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, North Fair Oaks and Redwood City. This community-driven study will help identify transportation needs, explore potential alternatives and guide next steps in planning through winter 2027.
"Building off community input received during previous studies, 'Reimagine Dumbarton' focuses on creating safer, faster, and more sustainable connections in the near-term, without a new Bay crossing, to meet the needs of communities in southeast San Mateo County and regional travelers alike," said SamTrans's Dan Lieberman.
Advocates are understandably disappointed.
"The materials do not show how this project would connect to and improve the overall route connecting people in Redwood City, North Fair Oaks, Menlo Park and East Palo Alto across the Bay to Union City BART," wrote Seamless Bay Area's Adina Levin of the survey and planning. In addition to the conspicuous absence of any rail planning, Levin flagged that "...it does not show the current status of projects to improve the speed and reliability of those buses which have been on hold since the pandemic."
From Streetsblog's perspective, advocates need to make it clear: the larger transportation impacts and the longer-term goal of re-linking rail need to be put back on the table.
From a previous study that included the whole corridor, not just the part on the east side of the Bay:
Streetsblog readers will recall that from about 2017 to 2021, SamTrans was still considering restoring rail service on the entire corridor. The 18-mile route runs from Union City in the East Bay and crosses over the defunct Dumbarton Rail Bridge before cutting straight up to Facebook's campus in Menlo Park and up to Redwood City. COVID put the project on hold. Then it got hijacked by a consortium advocating for imaginary "pod" transportation on the corridor.
One hopes that wasn't the last nail in the proverbial coffin.
Advocates can still use the survey to make their views known (see image below from Streetblog's own survey answers). Or they can attend an upcoming outreach meeting.
"It’s just so sad that the Transbay rail line (and first bridge to have been built across the bay), which they bought from Southern Pacific (now Union Pacific) over 30 years ago, has done little more than grow weeds," added Brandt. "A busway and bike/ped path is obviously better than growing weeds, but that’s all we get after 30 years?"
Be sure to take the survey and use the comment areas to remind SamTrans that this is a historic rail corridor with enormous potential to knit together the entire region. SamTrans and Caltrans have the money to rebuild the whole schmear, but they keep squandering it on pointless freeway widening. Advocates need to get this project back on track.
