San Jose's coming of age?

As San Jose passes the million resident mark several key indicators reveal that this bedroom community in the valley may actually be growing into a real city. The last few years have witnessed the proposal, planning, and design of several large projects, including a sports venue and transportation projects including high speed rail, a new ballpark, a BART extension, a major freeway interchange makeover, and Bus Rapid Transit.

With a world renowned high tech industry, a growing population, and those key infrastructure projects just mentioned, San Jose has recently sought the need to flex its political muscle. Assembly member Jim Beall has introduced AB 57 which seeks to increase Santa Clara County (as well as Alameda County) representation on the Board of Commissioners at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). As Assembly member Beall states, "about 40 years ago, the [state] legislature created the MTC and its voting membership based on a 1970 snapshot of a San Francisco dominated Bay Area. Today, the Bay Area population and employment clusters have shifted. Santa Clara County has become the technological center of the world."

This same reasoning is VTA's argument in requesting Caltrans to open an office in San Jose. Caltran's 12 state-wide districts and district office map was drawn in 1961 when San Jose was one-fifth the size that it is today. VTA, the area's Congestion Management Agency (CMA) has cited the growing importance of the region as well as previous delays in getting approvals on key projects for the request. Except for the Bay Area district (No. 4), all Caltrans district offices are located in the district's largest cities. In the Bay Area San Francisco is only six miles away but San Jose, the largest city in the nine-county district is over 40 miles away.

The map below show another disadvantage in getting late to the political party. Whether it be transportation agencies, planning agencies, non-profit, or even key civic groups, not one is headquartered in Santa Clara County. Except for Caltrain's offices in the city of San Carlos, Bay Area agencies and non-profits are all located in either San Francisco or Oakland.

Until MTC representation gets resolved or a new office is opened, at least one positive change in the works is the 2012 opening of a SPUR office. SPUR is a San Francisco based urban planning and research organization that has been at the forefront of many of the city's key issues such as the central subway, park funding, a new Transbay Transit Center, the transformation of mid-Market St., as well as many others. Although a small step this will be a great first step in seeing the "power" center of gravity move further south along the bay.

To find out about future SPUR - San Jose events, join their mailing list.

View San Francisco Bay Area Agencies and Organizations in a larger map

Transportation in the news - the Bay Area and beyond

Here are some key headlines around the Bay Area and beyond...

In local Bay Area News....

VTA Board approves first phase of BART extension to the Silicon Valley. Highlighted in a post last week, Skanska-Shimmick-Herzog, a joint venture of three construction design firms was awarded a $772 M contract to build the first phase of the BART extension to San Jose's Berryessa district. Santa Clara County's VTA board approved the contract to build the 10 mile extension in a unanimous vote last week.

Supervisor Chuck Yeager has been choosen to be the new the VTA Board chair the upcoming year. In a KLIV-AM radio interview Yeager stressed the need to keep bus and light rail ridership up due to the high fixed operating costs for the systems. Key projects for the year in Santa Clara county will be getting the Interstate 880/280 interchange project back on track (see below), the county's first BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), and the viability of Caltrain.

In another sign that the Silicon Valley continues to flex its political muscle, local transportation leaders have asked Caltrans to open a local office. Local VTA officials cite recent delays in major projects such as the Interstate 880/280 interchange, toll lanes on 237, and improvements to the south county portion of 101.

San Francisco County Transportation Authorities will conduct an open house this evening to highlight plans for the Bay Bridge western span. Earlier studies have concluded that the best option is to cantilever a path to the sides of the existing bridge.

A Napa County task force  (Napa County Register) representing commercial, agricultural, and taxpayer interests within the county have recommended the agency put a half-cent transportation sales tax on the ballot next November. Napa County is one of many Bay Area agencies that have had to tackle the increasing cost of road maintenance.

Other Transportation News

Amanda Eaken comments on a recently published report by the Urban Land Institute.  In a recent blog post titled "Has the sun set on suburban sprawl in Southern California?", she states that from now into the near future; or at least until 2035 the supply of single family homes on traditional lots will far exceed demand. Demand will come from central cities and concentrated developments near transit.

Proving that political and financial support for solo occupant auto commuting is often the unintended consequences of ill conceived policies, a recent New York Times article traces the history of this gift to suburban drivers. For those of you who read last week's posts, I recently mentioned my own bewilderment over such a anachronistic policy.



And don't forget this Friday, December 16th....San Jose Bike Party's Pajama ride on the East Side...don't forget to dress weather appropriate.

Clipper Card Tutorial

Most San Francisco Bay Area residents have heard of "Fas Trak" but a smaller group has heard of the "Clipper" card.

FasTrak is an electronic toll collection (ETC) system that allows you to prepay your bridge tolls, eliminating the need to stop at the toll plaza. The system has three components: a toll tag, which is placed inside your vehicle; an overhead antenna, which reads the toll tag and collects the toll; and video cameras to identify toll evaders.

Clipper is a similar prepaid card that is non-contact, meaning you don't have to swipe it like your debit card at the grocery store. Think of the Clipper card as your Fas Trak card for car-free or car light families.

The MTC (Metropolitan Transportation Commission) goes on to describe the clipper card in more detail:

Clipper is an all-in-one transit card that keeps track of passes, discount tickets, ride books and cash value that you load onto it, while recognizing and applying all applicable fares, discounts and transfer rules. It is now accepted on Muni, BART, AC Transit, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit and Ferry, and SamTrans.

Named for the clipper ships whose speed revolutionized travel from the East Coast to Gold Rush-era California, the Clipper card gives you quick access to all major forms of Bay Area transit with one easy-to-use card.

The card allows you carry only one card for most Bay Area transit services such as Caltrain, BART, SamTrans, VTA, AC Transit, SFMTA, and most ferries. You can either carry cash balances and apply the balance to all of the transit systems (similar to paying cash), or you can load on passes. So if you currently carry a VTA Adult Flash Pass this can be converted to the Clipper form.

The true value of a Clipper card will be in extending the universality of the card. Not only would it be convenient for any payments within Bay Area Transit systems, but the other outlying systems as well. Why not the ability to use it on the San Jose to Santa Cruz route 17 bus, the San Jose to Monterrey MST route 55, or the MST route 79 bus to the Monterrey Presidio. Other excellent uses would be:

• the proposed Bay Area bikeshare system
• bike lockers at Bay Area BART and Caltrain stations or even
• car share systems (City Car Share or GetAround)

VTA board approves contractor for BART extension to Santa Clara County

Skanska-Shimmick-Herzog, a joint venture of three construction design firms was awarded a $772 M contract to build the first phase of the BART extension to San Jose's Berryessa district. Santa Clara County's VTA board approved the contract to build the 10 mile extension in a unanimous vote yesterday.

Even though some board members juristiction's wont even come close to the expanded line, the sheer joy on many board members faces was appartent as the room broke into a loud and sustained applaus. Xavier Campos representing the city of San Jose stated that "This is the largest public works project since the airport and will put many people to work". Michael Burns, VTA General Manger touted the fact that the extension will "bring 13,000 jobs in addition to substantial trasnportation and economic effects".

Carl Guardino, Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group spoke publicly to thank the board for the hard work that they had accomplished, seeing that "this was only 60 years in coming to San Jose". The board also praised Mr. Guardino on his leadership in putting the measure on the ballot to be passed by county residents by a slim 2,122 voter margin with 66.78% of the total votes.

This segment will expand the BART system to 120 track miles with 47 stations throughout the Bay Area. In addition to building the right of way and tracks the joint venture will also build two stations and the accompanying parking structures. The Milpitas station will be located at Montague Express and Capital Avenue connection to VTA's light rail system. The station will have a street level concourse with below ground boarding platforms.

The Berryessa station will be located between Berryessa and Marbury Roads with an elevated platform 35 feet above street level. Both stations will have bicycle parking rooms similar to the bike station in Palo Alto. On the Caltrain Bicycle Advisory Committee on which I serve we have been asking for an entry/rental system based off of the clipper card for the existing bicycle storage lockers. (Feel free to comment on your ideas). According to the VTA's Berressa Extension Fact Sheet the stations will be within a 12 minute bike ride for 260,000 residets.

Father Michael Engh and Bill Coleman: Finally, construction will begin on BART to Silicon Valley - (MercuryNews.com 12/7/2011)

BART-to-San Jose extension could open 18 months ahead of schedule (MercuryNews.com 12/7/2011)

Urban Triage - Imported to Detroit

Recently Detroit (in this case the auto industry and more specifically Chrysler) has been using gritty images of the city of Detroit to sell cars. Using visual, musical, and deep throated vocal images of a city determined to make a comeback by building you a better car, the reality is much different.

The very product that Detroit produces has been one of the reasons for its current harsh reality. The reality is that the "Motor City" ceased to grow a long time ago. Its population peaked in 1960 at 1,849,000 and today stands at only 914,000.  That decline has left the sprawling city with thousands of abandon homes. Whole neighborhoods exist with only one or two households on a street.

With a crumbling infrastructure that is increasing expensive to maintain the city has created the Detroit Works Project to perform one of America's first cases of urban triage. The city will now make the crucial decision about which neighborhood will stay and which will be reverted to brownfield status.

In the last two years the city under the direction of Detroit Works has demolished 2,000 structures with an additional 6,000 planned demolitions in the next two years. As Rainy Hamilton of Hamilton Anderson Associates states in the PBS Newshour news segment, "it's a density issue". The city can no longer maintain roads, streetlights, and sewers where there isn't a sufficient tax base. Neighborhoods will be triaged into categories of "steady, transitional, or distressed in an attempt to order and prioritize scarce city resources. Many of the city's neighborhoods will be ceded and the city's perimeter brought in to a more manageable level.

The question is, is Detroit the only city, or just the first in what we will see to selectively prune inefficient and expensive infrastructure and development. in an effort to focus on the core.

The question remains; what parts of your city do you prune first? Cue commercial.

"With Detroit on Brink of Financial Disaster, State Steps In" - PBS Newshour

Related article: Detroit needs a new app - hooking our youth back on cars

Congress, we can do better than this

Here in the San Francisco Bay area I, like many other employees have the opportunity to purchase transit passes (although we are slowly moving towards the Clipper Card payment system). Depending on your commuting needs these passes can be purchased for BART, Caltrain, several ferry lines, light rail, or one of the many bus systems in the Bay Area.

Three things are great about the program (in my case the administration is handled by WageWorks);

1. My company will pay half of the cost of my pass or Clipper Card purchases.
2. My contribution is deducted from my income over the year reducing my taxable income.
3. It's all handled through my paycheck. No need to make a separate payment.

Although I only purchase $70 in transit passes each month through my employer, there is a limit on the amount the IRS will allow an individual to reduce their income. Car commuters are also allowed to deduct car parking expenses from income but I was completely floored when I found this note included with my monthly statement from WageWorks.

Important Note: The temporary $230 monthly pre-tax transit limit set by Congress in 2009 will expire at the end of 2011. Beginning with the January 2012 benefit month, the pre-tax transit limit will decrease to $125 a month and any election amount over $125 will be deducted from your pay on an after-tax basis. Beginning with the January 2012 benefit month, the monthly pre-tax limit for parking will increase from $230 to $240.

So beginning next month solo (or not) vehicle drivers will have a greater tax advantage to use our streets, bridges, and freeways than public transit users

Contact your congress member today to tell them how wasteful this policy is, while also increasing traffic congestion and air pollution. Better yet go to this link on the Transportation for America website

Isaac Porras, founder of Solar Cycle takes his product on the road

Isaac Porras founder of Solar Cycle
Power at the start of last year's
start of the New York to DC
Climate Ride.

I first met Isaac a couple of years ago in San Jose at a key time in his young life. Armed with a recent graduate degree in engineering, a new job at a local Silicon Valley technology company, and a budding interest in cycling advocacy and transportation advocacy in general. He had recently decided to part ways with his car and use his bicycle as a primary mode of transportation.

Isaac is young man in motion. After founding Solar Cycle to produce solar kits for cyclists, his Solar Cycle product was recently featured in Wired magazine's Gadget Lab, and he currently has two projects listed on Kickstarter's website.

Isaac grew up in San Jose, California and earned a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University. His father owns a sheet metal shop and he learned most of his manufacturing and design knowledge making sheet metal parts for customers.

Most of his experience after college has been in the semiconductor industry designing parts for machines, however after being laid off in 2009, he got rid of his car to save money. The difficulties of transitioning from a car to a bicycle led him start Solarcycle and design USB solar charging devices that attach to bicycles.

Isaac came to the realization that a smart phone would run out of power using the phone for GPS navigation, taking pictures, surfing the web, using apps, making phone calls, watching videos and listening to music. The possibility of attaching a solar panel on a bicycle to charge a phone and any other USB enabled device  became apparent. That’s how Solarcycle was founded.

His product will allow cyclists to enjoy the advantage of their Smart Phones and other USB enabled devices on their trips without having to worry about running out of power. The lightweight, high-power, weatherproof Solar USB charger allows charging of any USB device directly from the sun.Isacc is extremely happy with the extent that is new product has sparked interest in the cycling community even among those of cloudy, rainy Portland, Oregon.  In fact, Solarcycle has signed up for the next charity ride in May and the new Solarcycle Delux Kit will  generate even more power!

TurningWheels for Kids big bike build this weekend

The great local non-profit Turning Wheels 4 Kids will be having their annual Big Bike Build this weekend at the San Jose Convention Center's South Hall.

Who is Turning Wheels for Kids?
TurningWheels for Kids provides free bikes for children in need, to support better physical and emotional well-being. The program serves low-income children who are at high risk for obesity and related health issues and whose families do not have the means to support an active lifestyle that includes regular exercise.


What: Big Bike Build 2011 – 2,400 bikes for distribution to local charities.
When: Saturday, Dec. 10, 8:00 a.m.- noon (or until work is finished)  
Where: San Jose McEnery Convention Center, South Hall
435 S. Market St., San Jose, CA (“Blue Tent” next to Marriott Hotel)

Sharkie, the San Jose Sharks mascot, will be on hand at 9:00 AM to pump up the crowd. We’re hopeful he’ll take to the track and race in the Great Tricycle Race, as he did last year

TurningWheels for Kids was the vision of Susan Runsvold, a nurse manager at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, who wanted to buy bikes at Christmas and give them to underprivileged children; children she believed might otherwise not receive any present from Santa.

Runsvold began what she hoped would be a tradition of collecting money from her friends and colleagues to purchase as many bikes as possible for holiday distribution. To date, TurningWheels for Kids has raised nearly $900,000, and it has recently started to visit local neighborhoods to assist with and teach children routine maintenance of the bikes. Thanks to two individual donors who pay all modest administrative fees, 100 percent of all public donations go to buying bikes and helmets.

Each year, TurningWheels for Kids buys flat-packed bikes from participating manufacturers, and rallies hundreds of volunteers for one day of group bike asssembly, with thousands of children receiving a brand new bike and safety helmet. A $100 donation covers the cost of a brand new bicycle, a kickstand and a well-fitting helmet.

For more information, visit TurningWheels for Kids.

Sign up now to participate in the fun. Go to the TurningWheels for Kids website to register for the fun!


View Larger Map

BICYCLE STOLEN OFF VTA BUS

STOLEN Surley Long Haul Trucker stolen at 9:55 PM right off the front of a VTA bus. DT San Jose

VTA driver describes suspect as white male 24 years old 5'11" blue ball cap.

Contact with info or seen on Craigslist

Amtrak announces initial rollout of e-ticketing service on Downeaster line

To those now accustomed to e-ticketing among the airlines Amtrak is now introducing the service on their Downeaster line. The Downeaster line which extends from Maine to Boston has initiated a new system in which travellers can print their tickets at home, or have them a pdf file emailed to their account. This would allow conductors to scan the barcodes from the file. Passengers with a smartphone would be able to open the pdf file attached to the email, display the barcode from the pdf file and show it to the conductor to allow her to scan the ticket information.

What this will also do is allow Amtrak customers the ability to change their reservations at the last minute. It will also give Amtrak the ability to have an updated passenger manifest at all times.  This will not apply to all passengers as those who are on group packages, or who purchased their ticket through a travel agent will still use the current paper ticketing system. On a recent Thanksgiving weekend trip I noticed that conductors now carry with them a scanner/printer set allowing them to scan tickets or issue new tickets on the spot.

Although Amtrak issued a press release introducing the service as well as issuing a November 3rd Twiter tweet, I could find nothing on the Downeaster website describing the service.

Amtrak plans to expand the trial to California in February, and if that goes well, the system could roll out on a nationwide basis as early as this summer.


Note: The Downeaster line has recently announced an expansion project to extend the line from Portland to Freeport and Brunswick. Construction was started in August of 2010 and is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2012.

USA Today - Amtrak tests e-ticketing on Downeaster service.

Record Amtrak ridership over Thanksgiving holiday

As I mentioned in a recent post (Rail Highlights - Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor), the Thanksgiving holiday season is the busiest time of the year for Amtrak. On my Thanksgiving weekend trip it was standing room only in several cars. Well, according to Amtrak estimates it looks like this year will set a new ridership record with an estimated 720,000 passengers over the Thanksgiving holiday travel week.

Amtrak's Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Emmet Fremaux stated that this was "due in part to increased capacity and the recent introduction of free Wi-Fi service on several of Amtrak's routes". Comparing Thanksgiving 2011 to Thanksgiving 2010, there was an estimated 2.2 percent increase in ridership nationwide. The previous Thanksgiving ridership records was set in 2010 with 704,446 passengers.

Amtrak gives credit to their operation of every available passenger rail car in its fleet and the scheduling of extra trains to accommodate additional passengers in the Northeast and on the West Coast. This was due in part to the slightly larger equipment fleet this year due to rehabilitated and refurbished railcars and locomotive engines that were recently restored to service.

Yet another Bay Area city faces costly road repair decisions

With recent headlines highlighting our transportation woes, we typically think of highways, bridges, and high speed rail when we speak of "infrastructure", but as I have tried to highlight in other blog posts, while the major national headlines focus on those big ticket items what is really needed is money to maintain your city streets; yes those streets right outside your widow, the residential street.

The East Bay city of Orinda has gone back to the drawing board after two recent attempts to finance a much needed road repair program. The city announced that they will be conducting a citywide survey to see if residents will support measures to fund a road maintenance program.

In a recent Contra Costa Times article ("Orinda my poll residents on how to finance road repairs") it was mentioned that "since 2000, Orinda has spent $15.5 million repaving arterial and collector streets. However, the city's residential roads remain rough. In 2006 and 2007 (Voter Information Pamphlet), bond measures of nearly $60 million fell short of voter approval. Orinda annually allocates an average of about 10 percent, or $1 million, of its $10 million operating budget to road and storm drain repairs."

In the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Report  ("The Pothole Report - Can the Bay Area Have better Roads?"), Orinda's 193 miles of roadway rank in the lowest category with a PCI (Pavement Condition Index) of 49 in 2010. At over $1 million per year that works out to over $5,000 per mile which is extremely low for road repair work. Depending on whether the city wants to maintain or improve conditions it typically takes from $8,000 to $17,000 per lane mile. With the increasing backlog the city's Citizens Infrastructure Committee has now estimated it will take as much as $95 million to keep the city's roads and pipes up to standard. If you amortize this over 10 years ($95million / 10 years) this just about equals the current city budget of $10 million; just for the city's roads!

So we can now add Orinda to the growing list of cities that are caught in that though spot of paying for road maintenance now or major road overhauls later. Stay tuned.

Detroit needs a new app - hooking our youth back on cars



By dmjarvey

 Monday, Streetsblog writer Anne Lutz Fernandez published a post titled "Getting Young People Back Into Cars is Auto Industry Job #1". During these tough economic times when California college students are protesting large tuition increases, its easy to see why owning a car is far from financially realistic. But Lutz also highlights one other factor. The utility of the automobile is being challenged by the smartphone.

Every morning, rain or shine, outside of my local coffee shop sits a group of aging car buffs, most of whom are retired who swoon when any classic car rolls by. Classic in this case refers to any car that was completely made of chrome and steel and built before smog control devices were dreamed up by some Sacramento legislator. Overhearing their conversations, I listen as they tell stories of their first cars; how they fixed them up, modified them and raced them. These cars provided them with identity, access to jobs, to fun with their friends, and to dates. The cars connected them to their world.

But as the author mentions young people now connect through the Internet, and the Internet is no longer a modem, a dial-up, sit down and wait affair. The Internet; their Internet is seamless, instantaneous, and ubiquitous. It is the Internet that gives young Americans their connectivity, not cars. Young people (and baby boomers) also prefer to live in urban areas forgoing the feeling of isolation found in the suburbs ("The Death of the Fringe Suburb" New York Times 11-25-2011). This change of status from car to phone has contributed to the decline in teen driving rates.

So Detroit, and in speaking of Detroit I mean the auto industry in general, has figured out that it is not high gas prices, not environmentalists, not transit and high speed rail that has dented sales of cars to young Americans, but the smartphone. Yes, it is the smartphone, or the iPhone that is changing the way this demographic sees freedom and connectivity, and Detroit is waking up and taking notice.

Yesterday morning the headline in my San Jose Mercury News business and technology section (yes I still read a newspaper, mainly for ceremonial reasons) was all the evidence I needed. The headline read "Toyota looks ahead to a 'smartphone on four wheels'". In the article Toyota President Akio Toyoda, speaking at the Tokyo Motor Show introduced a concept car called the Fun-vii that "works like a personal computer and allows drivers to connect with others with a tap of a touch-panel door." Now I not really sure what he meant by the personal computer comment, I mean no one under 25 years of age even will admit to using a "personal computer", but I get the idea. If you can't sell your car as a car, well sell it has a smart phone.

The auto industry has, somewhat late, begun to realize the need to lure these young shoppers back to the showrooms. And this is where they have an advantage. Although somewhat slow to respond to the trend,  industry will always respond to change faster than government and governmental agencies. Even with the renaissance of the central city, young residents will require better transportation options; better bus systems, bike networks without gaps, bus rapid transit, connectivity to the airport, and cities that recognize pedestrians on par with automobiles. Without real attention given to alternative transportation modes we may see young people abandoning their car-free and car-lite lifestyles in favor car-centric neighborhoods.

Time will tell.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Great autumn commute this morning,

The Good. Yellow leaves on Curtner.
.

The Bad. Black Holes on South First.

The Ugly. The official city tree, sycamores in fall on Meridian.

Guadalupe River bike trail improvements almost complete

For the last year contractors have been working on Reach 6 of the Guadalupe River Trail, the section just south of the 280 freeway. Here is a photo I took this afternoon where the trail is visible. San Jose City Parks officials have announced that trail is scheduled to open in December.

November 29,2011
Palm and Grant St. Looking Southwest
towards Guadalupe River

View Larger Map

Rail Highlights - Amtrak California's Capital Corridor

Capitol Corridor

The mothballed fleet in
San Pablo Bay. Viewed from
an early morning Capital Corridor train.

Reader Note: Yesterday, I posted that Amtrak California announced that it had installed a new wi-fi system on all its California trains. For more details (Amtrak California announces new on-board wi-fi service).

Although most Silicon Valley Train riders are familiar with Caltrain or the ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) train, another key line terminating in San Jose (Diridon) is Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor Train. With 14 daily (outbound an inbound) trains each day from San Jose (32 in Oakland) the line travels north to Oakland, Emeryville, and Berkeley.

I have taken this train many times before, but on the day before Thanksgiving I was able to experience the system at its capacity; yes the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest of the year.

As I have mentioned in a previous post one of the many great things about this line and all other Amtrak and Amtrak California lines is the ability to reserve train tickets through their convenient smartphone app (New Smartphone App). The app allows you to book you train in about a minute. Once you have reserved you ticket just insert you payment card into the in-station kiosks, select your train and the tickets will be printed immediately. You will need to show the conductor a government-issued photo ID card however. This is only required on Amtrak (federally funded system) trains. Capitol Corridor is slightly different than Caltrain in that you do not have to have a ticket to board the train. A conductor has the ability to sell you a ticket on the train with a small service fee. Conductors now carry automated ticket readers and printers on a handy scanning computer attached to their belts.

For those of you who are used to using the Caltrain system the first thing you will notice is the longer train used by Amtrak necessitating the use of track number 1 at Diridon Station (which is also long enough for the twice daily Coast Starlight). In comparison with Caltrain the seats on the Capital Corridor are more comfortable, the trains are quieter, and the ride is smoother. There are two dining cars on each train with a menu of reasonably priced snacks and beverages. Wi-Fi is now available on all Capitol Corridor trains.

Boarding and Train Facts
All seating is unreserved on a first come, first served basis. The seating on the first floor is for disabled passengers or those that find it physically difficult to use the stairs to the second floor. Seating is not guaranteed with the ticket, but it is highly unlikely that you will not have a seat unless you are riding on the busiest day of the year; the day before Thanksgiving.

The seating is ample and comfortable

• Big, comfortable seats
• Fold-down trays
• Individual reading lamps
• Ample legroom

Some seats have a four-person meeting table (see photo above)

There are luggage racks on the first and second levels. Passengers are limited to two pieces of carry-on baggage. Each bag must weigh less than 50 lbs. and be tagged with your name and address.

Capitol Corridor.
1st level bike parking

There is plenty of bike parking with two different types of racks. One type of rack (see picture) can be used as a luggage rack or configured to carry bikes as well.

Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA)
You will notice the the Capitol Corridor is sometimes referred to as Amtrak California or the Capital Corridor Joint Powers Authority. The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) is a partnership among the six local transit agencies in the eight county service area which shares the administration and management of the Capitol Corridor. The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) provides day-to-day management support to the CCJPA.

Through Caltrans, the State of California provides capital grants and support for station and track improvements, signaling, locomotives and passenger rail cars, connecting Amtrak Thruway bus service, and operating assistance for the Pacific Surfliner® and San Joaquin® routes.

These two California train routes and numerous Thruway bus routes, collectively referred to as Amtrak California, are funded and managed by Caltrans, but operated by Amtrak in addition to Amtrak's own interstate trains - the Coast Starlight®, California Zephyr®, Southwest Chief®, and Sunset Limited®. The State of California also provides funding for the Capitol Corridor® which is managed by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority in cooperation with Caltrans and Amtrak.

Capital Corridor Facts
170 miles of track
32 weekly trains
Fiscal Year End: 9/30/2011 1.7 million passengers.
$70 million budget
16 stations (6 staffed; San Jose Diridon, Oakland, Emeryville, Martinez, Davis, Sacramento)
Transfer program with: AC Transit, VTA, and other Bay Area Transit Districts.

Cost per mile: The 127 mile trip to Sacramento costs $37 or about $.29 per mile. Caltrain typically runs about $.15 per mile. One could agree that the ride comfort mentioned above makes up for the price (although not the frequency of trains into San Jose).


Key Connections


On-board Poster promoting
free connecting transger passes.

 While on board the train, ask the conductor for Transit Transfer (or two, if you need to make a round trip). The validated transfer will be punched for the nextday. Use one transfer to travel to your destination, stay the night, if needed, and use the second transfer the next ay. Or, use them both on the same day.

Connections to local transit with Amtrak Capitol Corridor Transit Transfer Ticket (ask Amtrak conductor for up to two free transfers). Good on the transit systems listed below/ Passengers can ask for up to two transfers for their round-trip transportation to/from the train. Transfer is good through the following day.

You can also buy a BART 20% discount ticket ($10 value ticket for only $8), available in the Cafe car.

San Jose Diridon
San Jose Sharks
Diridon Transit Center (VTA)
ACE (Altamont Commuter Express)
MST to Monterey/Salinas
17 to Santa Cruz
VTA 22 San Jose to Palo Alto along the El Camino Real

Emeryville
Connecting Thru Bus to San Francisco

Oakland - Jack London Square
AC Transit
Jack London Square
Downtown Oakland

Oakland - Coliseum/Airport
AirBART - Airport Shuttle

Martinez
Thru bus to Vallejo, Napa, Petaluma, Santa Rosa
Six Flags Theme Park
John Muir House

Suisun-Fairfield
Rio Vista Delta Breeze
Suisun-Fairfield Transit System

Davis
UC Davis
Yolobus

Sacramento

Transit Connections with e-tran (Elk Grove Transit) and Sacramento Regional Transit.
Bus Connections to Chico (North), Placerville (South), and South Lake Tahoe (South)

The following is the Capitol Corridors policy on Bicycles.

Bikes on Board
Most connecting buses can accommodate bicycles. Bicycles must be stored underneath the bus in the luggage compartment, if space is available. Amtrak and the CCJPA assume no responsibility for your bike. Passengers must load and unload their own bikes.


Bikes on Buses

Bicycles are welcome aboard the designated lower levels of Capitol Corridor trains. Most Capitol Corridor coach cars have bicycle racks on the lower level of the car; spaces are available on a first-come first-serve basis. Please bring a bungee cord with you to secure your bike; and if the bike racks are full, please follow the train conductor’s instructions on where to place and secure your bicycle. For tips on how to secure your bike visit capitolcorridor.org.

Social Connections

Capitol Corridor Website
Amtrak Apple Smartphone App
Facebook

Twitter

Blog - "Get On Board"

Introductory video "Get On Board"

Yelp

Amtrak California announces new on-board wi-fi service

Amtrak California which operates three train lines within the state announced today that they will be offering a free wi-fi service to all riders. The train lines include the Capital Corridor, the San Jaoquin, and the Pacific Surfiner. Just in time for Cyber Monday, the online retail version of Black Friday, todays wi-fi introduction has been one of the most requested services.

Amtrak is scheduled to announce the Wi-Fi service at events this morning. The national passenger railroad already has the service on its popular Acela trains and some other East Coast routes as well as on the Cascades line in Washington and Oregon. It's also available to sleeping-car passengers on the Coast Starlight.

During the first week of the service, ambassadors will ride the Capitol Corridor trains to help passengers navigate the new Wi-Fi network, which will have a landing page, or portal, and will require users to agree to terms of service.

Coast Starlight pulls into
Sacramento Station in the
early morning hours.

The Capitol Corridor is paying for the system with $3.75 million left over from a signal project in Emeryville that came in under budget. The rail service has been working, on and off, for about nine years to offer Wi-Fi, and has tested different technologies and approaches, trying to find one that worked consistently and did not interfere with Union Pacific Railroad communications.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/28/BAHQ1M3FMA.DTL#ixzz1f1NysvIk

Some information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/

359 State St. - New Los Altos bike store now open

It seems as though it is becoming a monthly event in the valley nowadays; a new bike store opens in some local traditional business district in the process of being remade as a hipper, friendlier version of the mega-malls. Whereas the last three San Jose based mega-malls have all included the standard Panera and Panda food vendors, smaller historically centered business districts are changing their look with outdoor seating, farmers markets, and (as I mentioned in a post about downtown Campbell) bike shops.

359 State St. which just happens to be on 389 State St. in the heart of downtown Los Altos, right next to Peet's coffee, a local landmark for cyclists who use Foothill expressway as their own local highway.

Jeff in front of Palo Alto Bicycles

---

359 State Street is the latest creation of Jeff Selzer, who many bicycle enthusiasts know around the valley. Jeff is all things bicycle. Bicycle store manager, owner, bike parking fixture manufacturer and tireless bicycle advocate from local Palo Alto issues all the way to the National Bike Summit held in Washington D.C. every year.

Jeff is the General Manger of Palo Alto Bicycles located right across El Camino Real from Stanford University. He also started Bike Arc with a partner to provide a unique type of parking solutions in cities. I first met Jeff with his work at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition where he serves as a board member as one of two bicycle retailers.

April Economides and Andrew Boone
 connect  before hearing her presentation
 on cycling in Long Beach.

In the world of bicycle advocacy and retailing Jeff brings a fresh face to the industry. With a tall and lean demeanour, he carries himself like a former road racer. The absence of any silver tinged facial hair and bright green riding ensembles however sets him apart from other advocates. In fact the ever present smile and upbeat attitude clashes with the stereotypical vision of a bike advocate. As we started the interview, it was readily apparent that he sees the ever changing cycling industry from a different perspective.

Store owner Jeff Selzer
 explaining the Bike Arc
 rack system to a customer

While speaking amongst a small group of local activists, Suzanne Ambiel a Los Altos resident asked, "Where's the shop?" Jeff replied enthusiastically, "Don't have one". Now I knew this was going to get interesting; a bike shop without a shop.

Jeff went on to state that the "store" was to entice local residents who wouldn't normally ride but wanted to use a bike for those local errands within a two mile radius from the house. With his many years in the bike business he noticed that most potential customers feel intimidated when talking with shop technicians or (typically) guys in shop shirts and aprons. I guess that's why car dealers always put their repair facilities at the back of the property. Jeff's goal is to make the traditional bike "shop" look more like a bike "store". His goal is to highlight three main products; the beautiful bikes themselves, fashionable as well as quality clothing, and the graceful racks that he sells under the name Bike Arc.



Clothes by Ibex and Rapha

 Eventually he may consider moving on to even more utilitarian bikes such as bakfiets and Xtracycles (bakfiets vs. Xtracycle), but for now traditional bikes fitted with baskets and racks will suffice. With the bright, light, and light interior its as if he took a page out of Paco Underhill's "What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly", or took a couple of pages out of the now ubiquitous Apple store's playbook. The store is open and airy without a hint of bike grease or chain solvent.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the community welcomes Jeff's new store. Stay tuned.

A modular Bike Arc rack

View Larger Map

Caltrain Seeks Volunteers for Bicycle Advisory Committee

Caltrain is seeking four volunteer representatives for the nine-member Bicycle Advisory Committee.

The positions to be filled are: A public agency staff member representing the City and County of San Francisco; a public agency staff member representing San Mateo County; a representative of a San Mateo County bike advocacy organization; and a representative of the Santa Clara County general public.

The nine-member committee serves as the primary venue for the interests and perspectives of Caltrain bicyclists.

The BAC meets every other month at 6:45 p.m. in San Carlos, just one block from the San Carlos Caltrain Station. All meetings are open to the public.

Applications are due Monday, Nov. 21. Members will be selected by the Staff Coordinating Council of the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. The council is made up of representatives of the three partner agencies – the San Mateo County Transit District, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Interested persons can download an application by clicking here or call 650.508.6223.

USDOT awards $21 million to Caltrans for SoCal Rail

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will receive $21 million for three projects to improve the Pacific Surfliner Corridor, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced last week.

“The projects will help relieve congestion, create jobs and help ensure the world’s eighth-largest economy continues to grow,” LaHood said in a press release.

The projects and dollar amounts include:

• $10 million for design, environmental and engineering work toward a plan to connect two sections of double track, resulting in a 10.3-mile stretch of double track. The work is part of the long-range plan to double-track the San Diego segment of the corridor to alleviate train delays and remove a capacity constraint to future intercity passenger-rail service on the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Corridor, USDOT officials said.

• $7 million for preliminary engineering and environmental work for construction of a 1.1-mile section of second main track, replacement of a timber trestle railway bridge and signal improvements. The project is designed to alleviate train delays and improve on-time performance for intercity, commuter and freight trains.

• $4 million for preliminary engineering and environmental work for the construction for second main track and replacement of an aging railway bridge over the San Luis Rey River. The project will help alleviate train delays, USDOT officials said.

BART's Fleet of the Future will employ American know-how

First transit system in the nation to adopt a "Buy America" policy.

BART’s new Buy America Bid Preference policy gives preferences to rail car manufacturers who create jobs in the U.S.A., a first-in-the nation policy unanimously adopted by the Board of Directors Thursday. Board members made the move after saying that as they look to replace BART’s oldest-in-the-nation train cars with the Fleet of the Future, they’ve heard from both their constituents and state and federal officials that putting Americans back to work should be a strong consideration.

“The Buy America policy mirrors the economic goals of federal lawmakers,” BART Board President Bob Franklin said. “Adopting this policy on a regional level demonstrates BART’s leadership in the rail industry. It will also transfer rail car technology to the U.S.”

The Buy America Bid Preference policy scores bids for federally funded procurements by using a formula that considers the domestic content level of a product. It goes into effect on January 1, 2012. To view details on the Buy America program, visit www.bart.gov/board and click on the "Board Agenda and Minutes" link. Choose the agenda for Nov. 17, 2011, and go to the PDF document attached at the bottom of the agenda titled "Buy America Board Presentation."

BART’s Fleet of the Future train car replacement project is a $3-billion capital investment. The preliminary timeline is to award a contract to a manufacturer in the coming months. For more information on the Fleet of the Future, see www.bart.gov/cars.

In another job-related vote, the Board adopted a resolution in support of requiring Project Stabilization Policies aimed to create local jobs and facilitate local economic growth as BART works to build Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) at or near BART stations. This resolution supports a partnership with local unions to achieve a mutually-agreed goal of workers on all TODs construction projects who are residents of counties BART serves.

Another Bay Area transportation agency to push for more pothole funding

In what has become a domino effect around the San Francisco Bay area, another transportation agency has decided to put a ballot measure to the voters to help fix crumbling roads along with a package of transit improvements, pedestrian, and cycling projects, and in this case a $400 million contribution to bring BART to Livermore. The proposed measure plans to double the current county sales tax portion dedicated to transportation from .5% to 1%, making it the second county in the state, after Los Angeles to seek a 1% solution.

Like other local agencies, the concern is that a failure to act will create an ever escalating backlog of projects while road deterioration accelerates with each passing year. The measure is expected to raise over $7.7 billion in new