Urban Living Category Archive
There are 6 entries in this category.
Mr. Chairman
Friday, July 20, 2007 6 comments (latest by Stephen Neuburger)
I've been serving on the SF Municipal Transit Agency's Citizen Advisory Council for nearly a year now and I must be doing something right since last week I was appointed to chair the Planning and Marketing Committee. The committee's roll is to provide feedback to the SFMTA marketing and planning staff, offering suggestions and recommendations and bridging the gap between the agency and the general public.
I've never been in charge of something like this before and I hope this will work out for the better.
Morning Muni Backup
Friday, April 27, 2007 2 comments (latest by rick D)
I't been three weeks since the T-Third Street line opened and brought Muni service to a near halt. Despite claims from Muni things are getting better anyone who riders the system will tell a different story. Here's my photo diary of my commute this morning.
Two T-Line trains backed up together
An out-of-service train was maneuvering across the tracks in front of these trains, and blocking two more heading in the other direction to downtown.
After 5 minutes or so the driver opened the doors and let the passengers off on the street. This was at 9:08, making all the caltrain riders miss the 9:07 train.
Out of Service Train blocking rail traffic
This was the out-of-service train pulling out of Old Fourth & King Station so it could maneuver to turn in into the New Fourth & King Station.
The light changed while this was happening. Rather than the 4 traffic control officers controlling traffic to allow the train to finish so the following two in-service trains could arrive, they let it sit through two full light cycles. Signals are timed at this and most intersections to favor traffic over transit.
At the Fourth & King intersection, T-Third Street trains are only given one green light for two very lengthy cycles given to automotive traffic.
Muni passengers let off into traffic, playing frogger
Since we were let off the train along the median, getting to the sidewalk meant dodging traffic. In this photo you can see the two-car train to the left blocking the 4 other trains in service.
This is the most disturbing thing to me because trains running behind is one thing, compromising pedestrian safety is quite another.
Last year, transit ridership went up 3% nationwide. Here in San Francisco it went down 2% and I don't think we need to look very hard for the reason.
California High-Speed Rail
Saturday, April 21, 2007 1 comment (by Greg Dewar)
I saw a story from the Sacramento Bee the other day, someone had asked the head of the San Francisco Airport if SFO was for or against building high-speed rail in California. The reporter was expecting them to be against since it would be competition, but they supported it. Shuttles take time to arrive and depart, and California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) would let them handle more cross-country and international flights. I don't think it was mentioned in the story, but one of the CAHSR stations will be located by SFO making it easier to get there.
A few weeks ago, Michael played me this video with some really cool renderings of what it would look like. I really love the idea we could make last minute weekend trips to LA without having to deal with airports or reservations. We'd just go to the downtown San Francisco station and jump on a train. If we built it to the same standards as the French and their new line, a trip from SF to LA would be just over an hour.
Consensus is pretty much unanimous, the population is growing and wider freeways and larger airports won't handle it. This is really the only option for California's future, but Governor Schwarzenegger is trying to stop it.