Transit

"Who has been to Kyoto Station in Japan?" asked Kate White with the California State Transportation Agency during a SPUR panel this afternoon about how to properly develop around the state's growing rail network. Kyoto Station, as seen in the lead image, is an incredible agglomeration of shops, department stores, and intense commercial development. The Japanese railway system, by encouraging such intense developments around hub stations, captures every last bit of value created by the presence of the rail lines. "We need development tools so you don’t just get off the train in California and there's nothing there but a platform...or a parking lot and a Costco."

Build the BRT, address the needs of current riders, and grow ridership by investing in improved reliability and affordability so that all Bay residents have better access to equitable and sustainable transportation now and in the future.

Stop the gradual erosion of bus service to and from the North Bay

Will we soon see the end of transit tickets?

BART and Muni elevators, especially at the downtown and Mission Stations, are not places people go voluntarily, given the putrid smells and unsanitary conditions.

The BART Board of directors spent two and a half hours this morning debating and hearing from staff and constituents about a proposed $1.6 billion extension of the Dublin/Pleasanton branch to Livermore.

The San Francisco Transit Riders (SFTR) released the results of its "Ride the Vote" survey yesterday. It reveals the stated positions of the mayoral candidates and District 8 candidates on local and regional transit issues.

Imagine if the Bay Area's 27 transit agencies took the same tickets, billed passengers by the same rate for distance traveled, and all the rail, bus, and ferry systems operated under a single brand as far as the rider was concerned.

"You're going to need a bigger boat," goes the famous line from Jaws. But maybe when it comes to transportation, the opposite is true.