We are currently working on a full renovation of our interlocking and turnback track at 24th Street Station. This work should be completed on February 9. When finished, the interlocking will be completely replaced along with electrical and all other components. The structures will then be in place to make this a robust and modern turnback to serve more trains (as we add them) more efficiently than previously. Trains are turning at Montgomery Station instead of 24th Street/Mission. This means that between approximately 5:15pm and 6:30pm weekdays, passengers will see only one (1) Pittsburg/Bay Point train per 15 minutes at stations between 24th Street and Montgomery. Back riders (those passengers who travel in the reverse direction for a few stations to board the train) in these stations will not see trains to 24th Street at all (as they are turning at Montgomery). We have also had to cancel the first Pleasant Hill-bound train of the afternoon commute (3:28 pm departure) out of Daly City.

Below is a visual summary of the service impacts. Interestingly enough, trains are able to reverse at Montgomery St without deviating too much from the existing schedule.

While moving the turn to Montgomery St will likely cause delays across the system during rush hour, riders at that stop will benefit from having an empty train to themselves over the next two weeks.

BART’s new Fleet of the Future train is here. The very first customers to ride the new train cars boarded the train at MacArthur Station this morning as it made its inaugural passenger run. The new cars feature a wide spectrum of improvements over BART’s legacy fleet, currently the oldest fleet in the nation. The Fleet of the Future cars are: Quieter: micro-plug doors help seal out noise and a new tapered wheel shape will provide a quieter ride

micro-plug doors help seal out noise and a new tapered wheel shape will provide a quieter ride Cooler: cooling systems distribute air directly from the ceilings, making it more comfortable for standees on hot days

cooling systems distribute air directly from the ceilings, making it more comfortable for standees on hot days Comfortable: padded seats will have lumbar support and are covered with wipeable fabric for ease of cleaning

padded seats will have lumbar support and are covered with wipeable fabric for ease of cleaning Easy to use: routes are color coded like the BART system map, and next stop information is readily available via automated announcements and digital screens. Perhaps the most notable difference is that the new cars have three doors on each side instead of two which will allow for quicker on-and-off boarding.

Youtube has the inaugural ride of the new Bombardier cars from Macarthur to Richmond.

Currently, the new train sets are now running on the Richmond – Warm Springs line off-peak, but in the future, it is likely that the new train cars will be deployed on the Pittsburg / Bay Point line. As trains often short-turn and/or run express during rush hour, riders on that line can most benefit from the automated announcements and digital screens within the cars to get a better understanding of where their train is bound.

As the new train cars roll in, the older cars can be reallocated to other lines such as the Warm Springs / South Fremont – Daly City line, which will need the additional capacity when the San Jose extension opens. On that note…

South Bay commuters may have to wait even longer to hop on a BART train. The extension will eventually run from the Warm Springs Station at the Fremont border to the Berryessa Station in East San Jose. But BART officials are warning of another possible delay to its San Jose extension that may push the opening day three months later than expected, and into the fall of 2018.

BART typically needs a minimum of 6 months to do dynamic testing for new lines, and perhaps even more – see the multi-year delay of the Warm Springs extension. As the VTA has not completed its dynamic testing five months before the projected opening, it is unlikely that the BART San Jose extension will be opening in June 2018 as projected.

That said, given the delay in procuring new cars for the extension, it is unlikely that BART would have made the June deadline even if all other testing was complete.

The Bay Area Toll Authority on Wednesday voted unanimously to place a $3 toll hike on the June 5 ballot in all nine counties. If approved, the $4.45 billion measure is expected to be at least a partial answer to the traffic woes plaguing commuters. Under the proposal, the tolls on all seven state-owned bridges would rise by $1 on Jan. 1, 2019, with subsequent $1 increases in 2022 and 2025. That would bring tolls to $8 on every bridge but the Bay Bridge, where tolls would be $9 during peak commute hours. The Golden Gate Bridge, which is owned and operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, would not be subject to the toll increases.

As revenue from federal gas taxes and statewide property taxes have declined relative to inflation, the tolls hikes are designed to generate funding for transportation projects such as more train cars for BART, the Downtown SF Caltrain / CAHSR tunnel, and the Downtown San Jose BART extension. Initial polling suggests that the measure is likely to reach the 50% majority needed to pass.

Ultimately, the Bay Area’s traffic crisis, particularly on its bridges, is a symptom of the overall housing crisis. While the economy and associated job growth has been robust, housing development has failed to keep up, especially on the job-rich Peninsula, where rezoning for density remains frustratingly slow. More residents have fled to the outskirts of the Bay Area in search of affordable housing, at the cost of reasonable commute times, and congestion has become commonplace from 5 am to 8 pm daily. While some cities such as San Jose have started to address the housing crisis with enhanced residential and commercial development, true relief remains far on the horizon as long as business is still booming in the Bay area.

Given current overcrowding during commute hours, Caltrain has asked the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) for additional funding. Clem Tillier has listed the key points of Caltrain’s application as follows:

CalMod 2.0 is now formally known as EEP or Electrification Expansion Program

100% state-funded through cap and trade program (TIRCP)

Consists almost entirely of option buys of 96 EMU cars for $600M

17 x 8-car EMU fleet planned for start of electric service (if $$ awarded)

No 4-car EMUs (this is super important for future off-peak service)

No third bike cars. Extra money for station bike parking

No level boarding. Can kicked down road

Broadband internet on the EMUs at start of electric service, for a cool $14M

Diesel bullets redeployed to SJ – Gilroy – Salinas in unspecified future project

If EEP goes through, then all electric trains will be able to carry roughly 750 passengers plus ample standing room for riders with shorter commutes. The expansion will be greatly needed when Caltrain eventually extends to the Transbay (Salesforce) Transit Center, as ridership is projected to double when the Financial District gets fast and frequent service to all cities along the Peninsula.

As EEP would also enable Caltrain to run a full electric fleet along the Peninsula, the existing Bombardier sets, which were to be retained for baby bullet service, would not be needed anymore. While the diesel trains are expected to be used for new service between SJ and Salinas, the cars could also be used to increase capacity on the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE), which nicely supplements the chronically congested I-580 and I-680 freeways.

Caltrain has begun conducting its annual onboard count of riders. With generally more than 60,000 riders on an average weekday, the count will provide critical information for planning future service improvements, allocating limited resources and validating ridership estimates based on ticket sales. The annual count started on Tuesday, January 16, and will conclude in mid- February. During the duration of the count, there will be field surveyors on trains at every door in the vestibule area collecting data. The physical head count of riders is conducted this time of year because there are typically fewer holidays and special events that could skew ridership numbers. And, by conducting the count at the same time each year, comparisons from one year to the next are more accurate. Due to increasing project costs and budget constraints, for this year’s annual count, the count methodology for weekdays has been revised. On weekdays, every rider on every train will be counted on either a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday and will be averaged. Riders will not be counted on Mondays or Fridays as ridership on these days is generally lower and does not capture maximum ridership. Riders on every train will be counted during one weekend.

Caltrain is using the same methodology to count its ridership as in 2017, with one noticeable exception – weekday counts will only be conducted during the midweek when ridership is highest. This change should result in a higher overall ridership number compared to last year’s count of 62,190 riders, despite fare increases that have likely slowed ridership growth.

Once the ridership results are released circa Summer 2018, this site will do an in-depth analysis on the numbers, concluding with suggestions to improve and optimize the existing service before electrification is complete in 2021/2022.