Comment Log Display

Dear Mr. Ito,

 

First, I want to commend you for running a first rate public
meeting in Oakland last week.  Your willingness to give people an
opportunity to express themselves, and to listen attentively, was a
refreshing change from what Bay Area residents usually encounter in
such meetings.

 

Following are a few thoughts in addition to those recently
forwarded to Ms. Nichols (letter attached).

 

As I noted in the letter and in testimony, people will not reduce
their driving unless a viable non-automotive alternative is in
place.  While this seems obvious, it is a factor that is often
neglected, particularly by those focused only on serving low-income
and minority people.  When too many cars clog Bay Area streets and
highways everyone…including the transit-dependent… loses.  

 

After four decades of rhetoric about returning to a more balanced
Bay Area transportation system, our public transit systems remain
poorly connected and otherwise deficient.  Given the Region’s
dismal transportation history, it is clear that the situation will
not "self-correct".  Significant outside pressure from CARB and the
State of California will be required to bring about needed
transportation changes in the Greater Bay Area. 

 

Following are a few of the gaps and inefficiencies that are
evident in the Region’s existing network of bus and rail lines. 
With determination and commitment, these deficiencies could be
eliminated in a timely manner.

 

·        San Francisco’s Muni Metro system is currently operating
at far below capacity, thereby deterring thousands of would-be
riders a day because of excessive crowding during rush hours, 

·        When completed the Caltrain extension to San Francisco's
new Transbay Terminal will quickly render that facility the most
important nexus of transit systems west of New York City.  Yet the
Caltrain extension is habitually subordinated to a
politically-inspired, virtually useless short bit of subway
extended a third of the way into Chinatown.  

·        To complete the connection between the buses and trains
accessing the new Transbay Terminal and the Market Street subways,
underground moving ramps linking the new terminal to the mezzanine
level of the Embarcadero BART Station are planned.  However the
importance of this vital pedestrian link continues to go largely
unrecognized, and the underground connection consequently
languishes for a lack of funds,

·        Another way of giving San Francisco-bound commuters from
San Mateo County an alternative to driving would be to route
SanTrans buses along Market Street instead of along Mission, 

·        A BART/Amtrak transfer station in West Oakland would
dramatically improve the rail connection between points along the
I-80 Corridor, downtown Oakland and downtown San Francisco.  By
attracting I-80 users away from the freeway and onto a more
efficient rail system, this connecting station would ease pressures
on San Pablo Avenue, an important transit street, which gets
inundated with I-80 overflow traffic every time the freeway gets
stacked up, 

·        Passenger rail service extended across a new Dumbarton
Rail Bridge would provide a much needed and long-delayed second Bay
rail crossing,  

·        For almost 40 years there has been talk of creating a
regional bus service to take people where the trains doesn’t go. 
The Region is still waiting for this service,

·        Large employers located in spread out employment
“campuses” should sponsor free shuttle bus service to and from
nearby transit nodes.  There has been progress in this area; more
is needed,

·        Buses and light rail vehicles crowded with patrons should
operate on transit-only lanes, at least during the morning commute
period,

·        Transit working rules must be formulated in a manner
designed to foster consistently reliable transit service,

·        An independent operational and marketing analysis of the
AC Transit system would bring about a major increase in AC Transit
ridership,

 

The above are typical of the type of change that is badly needed
in the Bay Area.  If public transit were rendered sufficiently
reliable and appealing, it would cause motorists to leave their
cars at home, at least some of the time.

Sincerely yours,

 

Gerald Cauthen, PE