Category: SamTrans-Caltrain

  • B’game Arsonist

    We know it's a short hop from Millbrae to B'game so one has to wonder if the recent Millbrae arson suspicions play into the latest B'game events.  The Daily Journal police report notes

    Four suspicious fires in Burlingame in the last two weeks and a recent incident in which a male was seen starting a fire has police asking the public for help. At about 8:20 p.m., the male was seen starting a fire along the Caltrain line between Howard and Bayswater avenues on the west side of the tracks, according to police.

    Police are asking anyone with any information to contact Cpl. Brett Murphy at (650) 777-4100 or email: murphy@burlingamepolice.org. 

    On July 30th, some early morning passers-by spotted this impending disaster at the train station on the Ave.  Let's have everyone keep their eyes open.  This could have been a serious loss to the community just like the Millbrae disaster.

    Train station fire

     

    Train station fire1

    I still like the idea of cameras in some high-traffic, high profile areas of the city.

  • Caltrain Conundrum

    The third Webster's definition of conundrum is "an intricate and difficult problem".  To me, Caltrain is an intricate problem because of all of the parties involved starting with the actual railroad that owns the right of way (Union Pacific) and is often quiet on high-cost rail using said right of way all the way to the Joint Powers Board, Caltrain's organization itself, etc, etc, etc.  The Daily Journal did two nice pieces on Friday that note

    Caltrain’s Board of Directors is on a tight schedule to secure funds if it wants to stay on track to award design and construction contracts in the comings months that will enable its growing commuter base to ride electric trains by 2020.  The board met Thursday morning to approve an updated agreement with its various local, regional, state and federal funding partners after staff realized the project cost had grown considerably from just $1.5 billion a few years ago.

    The board members didn’t comment publicly during the meeting on the increased expense or discuss the project’s reliance on $713 million from high-speed rail and $647 million in not-yet-awarded federal grant money.

    and the piece noted at least one guy who is paying attention

    During Thursday’s meeting, some members of the public expressed skepticism whether relying on high-speed rail was wise.  “There’s a $600 million hole in this budget currently,” said San Jose resident Roland Lebrun, noting high-speed rail’s legal troubles. “It’s blocked in the court, it’s not going anywhere.”

    High-cost rail may eventually "go somewhere" but it won't be up the Peninsula by 2020!  The second article goes to the design of the new cars themselves

    The board and public gathered Thursday to discuss several key aspects of the new electric trains such as whether to include restrooms, how much space to leave for bicyclists and height of the doors.

    The “discussion generally is centered around how to strike the balance between seats and standees, and bathrooms and general competition for onboard space in light of the growth we’ve experienced,” (COO Michelle) Bouchard said, later noting “one bathroom in essence equals 12 seats or 24 standees. And that’s quite significant if you look at it per car.”

    So the conundrum continues as do the crowded trains, stranded cyclists and our closed B'way station.  A conundrum indeed, but with the salaries Caltrain is paying one would hope for some good resolutions!

  • Caltrain: Take a Seat (On the Floor)

    Here's a great bit from the Mercury News' Mr. Roadshow's column.  I have experienced this a few times (not including big event trips like this one):

    Q People whining about not getting a seat on BART haven't ridden on Caltrain lately. At least BART gives straps and poles to hang onto and the train rides are pretty smooth. Caltrain is often standing-room-only for an hour or more and passengers have to grab whatever they can find, including other people. The older Caltrain cars are 100 times bumpier than BART. A lot of people sit on the filthy floor because they don't have the strength to stand up for that long.

    A Forget wearing a suit. This is scruffy blue jeans territory.

    Of course, spending billions of dollars in the Central Valley on High-cost Rail makes total sense, right?

  • As Broadway Goes, So Goes HSR

    The idea of a "grade separation" that would either a) raise the railroad tracks or b) dig down to lower the road or c) some of each to allow for better traffic flow has been knocking around for decades.  Things appear to be coming to a head since

    The City of Burlingame is hosting a community meeting on Thursday, March 31, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. to summarize the findings of the grade separation study, answer questions and present 3D animations of two of the alternatives that were evaluated. The meeting will be held at the Burlingame Public Library, Lane Community Room.

    The City and its project team developed and evaluated six design options based on feedbackreceived during the first two community meetings and have narrowed it down to two options.  The goal of this meeting is to take feedback from the community on the remaining two options
    to determine if there is a community preference for one of the designs. This is the third and final community meeting of this study phase.

    Naturally, one of the key concerns is how this project would lay the groundwork (literally) for high-cost rail up the Peninsula.  Now that the build has shifted to coming to Northern California and knowing that an HSR train cannot "porpoise" up and down as it travels though Millbrae, Burlingame, and San Mateo–what happens at B'way has more impact than one might think.  It is a key intersection for a variety of reasons!

    B'way in the rain1

  • High Cost Fail – Part 118 Budget Plusses

    I won't get into all the local pols posturing about the most recent federal budget bill.  You can click through here for yourself (but I will point you to the last paragraph for a real laugh out loud Speier moment).  The aspects that were most interesting were:

    The bill allocates $100 million to address the drought in California and other western states, $761 million for major infrastructure projects including $150 million for the Bay Area Rapid Transit’s 10-mile extension connecting the popular commuter rail from Fremont to San Jose, and $8.2 million to develop a West Coast earthquake early warning system.

    No word on what the hundred-mil for drought prevention will go for–it's a drop in the bucket for desalination. BART to San Jose the "other way" (i.e. NOT down the Caltrain right of way) is fine.  Go for it and may be fix the computers while you are at it?  Similarly, one has to wonder if 8.2 mil for an earthquake early warning system should have two more zeros behind it?  Here is an old chestnut from 2011.

  • Caltrain Tax?

    Yesterday's Daily Post had an article about CEO Jim Hartnett's "sweeping reorganization" of SamTrans and Caltrain including the news that former "chief executive officer of public affairs" Mark Simon will become the "senior advisor for strategic initiatives.  Simon will focus on identifying 'a dedicated funding source for Caltrain and working towards a regional consensus to support it' according to an agency press release."

    The agency is considering a tax which could potentially hit the ballot in 2016.

    In related news — because the monies are all related — the city newsletter announced

    CA High-Speed Rail Open House

    Wednesday, October 7 from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

    Burlingame Auditorium at 850 Burlingame Ave

    The California High-Speed Rail Authority will present information on the statewide program and provide information about the next phase of planning and environmental review. For more information go to www.hsr.ca.gov or call (408) 277-1086 or email northern.california@hsr.ca.gov

    We'll get more information on whatever the CHSRA wants to alert us to, but it can't be good.  One local wag noted elsewhere that

    What good is a pyramid scheme, without going back to the well periodically to squeeze out a few more drops? HSR is coming back to Burlingame for an Open House. 3 full hours of goodness knows what. I guess that means 3 hours, billable to the taxpayers for maybe 8-10 people on the “HSR payroll”. Maybe they’ll take their cue from Caltrans by making it easy on themselves: Posters to hide behind, and no program.

    Bottom line:  If Caltrain wants "regional consensus" to support a new tax it should cut its high-cost rail apron strings. 

  • Sad Tenth Anniversary

    We must collectively mark the tenth anniversary of the passing of the Broadway Caltrain station as a real stop that gets sufficient service.  Sure the train stops a few times on Saturdays and Sundays, but it is still a sad little  reminder of how inept Caltrain's management really is.  That the poor Brio sign is still languishing in front of an empty restaurant is even more sad.  Helluva a way to run a railroad.  And our City Council spends plenty of time pointlessly manipulating local housing costs that they have no business getting involved in, but can't burn a minute on getting some weekday rail service back.  It is time for a change in City Hall.

    Caltrain Bway closure sign

  • Got Density: The Continuing Saga

    Courtesy of the Daily Journal, we get some details about the project some Voice commenters have been referring to at 225 California.  Here we go again

    A massive new office and retail building is proposed to rise near the Caltrain station in Burlingame, which officials will begin to examine next week.

    The Dewey Land Company, a San Mateo-based development firm, has expressed interest in redeveloping the current 225 California Drive property, at the intersection of Highland Avenue, into a four-story commercial office building offering retail shop space on the ground level, according to a city report.

    The project is slated to house nearly 45,000 square feet of office space and 1,750 square feet of retail businesses on a nearly half-acre California Avenue site, between Howard and Burlingame avenues, according to the report.

    Planning commissioners will begin the design and environmental impact review process during their meeting Monday, July 13, for the development at the site which is currently the home to Bay Area Window Pros, 213 Highland Ave., and the former Fine Consign furniture store.

    The building is proposed to be built 55 feet tall, with a roof deck, sitting on top of three levels of underground parking, which will provide a total of 124 spaces, according to the report.

    And of course the place to try to bend the rules is on the parking

    Per city regulations, according to the size of the proposed project, the site would need 149 parking spaces, so the developer is asking for an exception allowing fewer spaces than would be normally required.

    According to the report, 22 of the parking spaces would be dispersed through a puzzle parking stacking mechanism, and six tandem spaces in the underground lot, to maximize efficiency and provide as many parking spaces as possible.

    At least tenants at this project can walk to a Caltrain station that is actually open.  So one must ask where is the predictive traffic study from this, this and this? Oh, and this?  Perhaps all of these new projects should only be allowed to flush their toilets on Mondays and Thursdays.

    New addition of photos for your reference: Please note the size of the people in the architects rendering and also note the building to the right side that will remain is featured in the other photo and is two stories tall.

    Photo 1

    Photo 2

  • Travelling to the Dead

    The Grateful Dead's two night Fare Thee Well affair at Levi Stadium was a sight to behold (it even had a rainbow).  After 2300+ live shows in the last 50 years, the band can even overcome the loss of Jerry Garcia on lead guitar to put on a great show.  If you are into it, you know how fun it was and if not, you are too late.  But from a Peninsula everyday-Joe perspective, getting to and from Levi Stadium was educational.

    I headed to the 7 pm Saturday night show on the 4:45 pm Caltrain, connecting to VTA in Mountain View which dropped me off steps from the stadium.  The Giants game had just ended and happy fans had started south from Fourth and Townsend.  There was a soccer game at Stanford.  But without a doubt, it was a Dead Train.  SRO all the way.  Six bucks from B'game to Mtn View is a deal even if the weekend local is slow.  At least we had an amateur guitar player to lead a sing along!  Caltrain can afford to add another car or two.

    VTA and Caltrain coordinated very well after the show with a special Caltrain holding in Mtn View at 1:35 am.  Imagine my surprise getting off the train at B'game Ave. at 2:15 am and seeing a bunch of people hard at work at Tell Apart.  The Twitter acquisition doesn't seem to have dimmed the animal spirits one bit.  When someone complains that some twenty-something just outbid their friend by $200K for a house in B'game you will know why it happened.

    Tell Apart 0215am

    The Deadheads like to think this rainbow is Jerry smiling down on the proceedings.  Why not?

    Dead rainbow

  • OTG: Very Chilly Outdoor “Dining”

    I thought I would check out tonight's Off The Grid since it was a cold, windy night.  Every commercial enterprise is a risk and OTG is no exception.  Perhaps I was a bit late (7:30 pm) but the truck vendors likely lost money tonight.  It was cold and quiet on California Dr. as you can see here.

    Off the Grid2_Cold May

    There was the usual set-up.  Chairs but no tables even the dogs were shivering.  When the nightly Union Pacific freight train rolls through one is reminded of real industry that still occurs in small batches on the SF Peninsula.  OTG would consider that ambience.

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