Tuesday, December 23, 2025
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Airport Rail Links
The Transit Every Airport Needs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YeVZVluQWI&t=247s
https://www.upexpress.com/en/about-up/things-are-looking-up Its only a two and three car train, when it should be between 4-6 cars, depending upon the time of day. https://www.torontopearson.com/en/transportation-and-parking/up-express
At least it's not a perpetual 2 car train joke that is the YVR-Canada Line. The eventual airport REM line should consist of 4 car trains, but the entire REM should eventually have 6 car trains.
Somehow, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Perth all are able to have longer trains to the airport. The 10 car SFO-BART trains are pretty cool.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
The LA Metro's Airport Station is a Huge Success!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TsUH1tmmBM , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAX/Metro_Transit_Center
https://www.flylax.com , https://www.flylax.com/lax-traffic-and-ground-transportation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAX_Consolidated_Rent-A-Car_Facility
Although not as grand as a 10 car BART train, at least LA never opted to have a 2 car joke of an airport train like YVR has.
Evolution of the Los Angeles Metro 1900-2028 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH9toJw6-k8
Thursday, October 16, 2025
The VTA BART extension to San Jose is a mess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZrrtF8Iy8k
Is San Francisco's New Transit Center a Waste? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o3YX9SS2MU
San Francisco's New 2 BILLION DOLLAR Subway! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zpRyg7zF10
How San Francisco's Hills Saved its Streetcars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIR_QRv3OA
San Francisco's Muni Metro: Things You Didn't Need To Know https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S35ILOitdh4
SF Bay Area
Friday, July 11, 2025
How Bike Lanes have affected Vancouver's urban infrastructure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvkifuIjq9I The BSB was a 6 lane crossing that even had a provision for a lower deck intended for streetcars. Eventually, 2 lanes were removed & the lower deck was never completed. However, Vancouver was unable to prevent Seattle & Portland from reviving some of their streetcar routes.
The problem isn't bike lanes, it's the lack of interest to build a proper regional network of bus & bike bridges. Thus, if a proper bike bridge was built next to the Burrard+Street+Bridge, then 2 of its 6 lanes could have been for buses or at least HOV lanes. The lower deck could have still been for streetcars or tram-trains going between Vancouver & Richmond. The irony of backwards Vancouver is that it was one of the first cities to get rid of its streetcars & will likely be one of the last to bring them back.
The Fraser River Tunnel Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWhHJWKa6CQ Unfortunatly, this will still be a chokepoint or congested crossing.
Of course the new Richmond-Delta+Tunnel wasn't designed to be part of a rail link between the airport and the ferry terminal. There should have been 2 HOV lanes, as well as 2 bus lanes, but that would be a big-city 10 lane crossing. Instead, just an 8 lane tunnel with no train component. Eventually, a train and HOV bridge or tunnel will have to be built next to it.
At least the first SkyTrain line can now have 5 car trains. However, the 2 car joke of a train still exists between Vancouver & Coquitlam, as well as between Vancouver & Richmond. The Montreal Metro can have 9 car trains and BART in SF can have 10 car trains. Such things are possible because they don't have a congestive BC panning mentality.
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Airport rail links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_rail_link
An airport+line should always be designed with future capacity in mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_rail_link#Connection_types
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_rail_link#High-speed_rail_and_inter-city_rail
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_rail_link#Regional_rail_and_commuter_rail
The Canada+Line is such a sad and pathetic joke. Nevermind planning for a 10 car train linking YVR with the Horseshoe+Bay+ferry+terminal and the Tsawwassen+ferry+terminal to YVR, BC opted for a half-assed little train. Apparently, its logical in backwards BC to not allow for future clearance to at least have a 5 car train connecting YVR with West Vancouver & Delta. It was difficult enough just to have a small 2 car train & eventually a 2.5 car train between Vancouver & Richmond.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeaTac/Airport_station While Seattle can have a 2 car short train, the SeaTac_Airport_Station was designed to accommodate a proper big city long train.
Unlike in backwards BC, the Seattle_Central_Link Airport Station has 2 tracks. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/SeaTac_light_rail_station_from_airport_parking_garage_%282010%29.jpg Most proper cities around the world plan & build big infrastructure or at least allow for future expansion clearence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeaTac/Airport_station#Station_layout
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RER_B#List_of_RER_B_stations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Express
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_(Italian_EMU)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_International_Airport_station
https://www.bart.gov/stations/sfia https://www.bart.gov/guide/airport/sfo
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
The BC carbon tax and the lack of proper big city infrastructure
The British_Columbia_carbon_tax doesn't seem to have greatly improved the transportation infrastructure for Vancouver, as it's the largest city and urban area in BC. It's very strange that the Greater Vancouver Metropolitan Region is still so far behind with its infrastructure, when compared to several other urban areas around the world.
https://www.taxpayer.com/newsroom/b.c.-carbon-tax-not-reducing-emissions-as-promised
The first 2 Skytrain lines only have stations that are barely half the length of a Montreal Metro train. Indeed, the Montreal Metro & the Toronto Subway built most of their stations to be 152.5m or 500 ft long, not the 80m & 50m joke that is Skytrain. All of the Skytrain lines should have been designed to eventually accomodate 8-10 car trains. Despite Vancouver & backward BC not taking a big city planning approach, there is a potential remedy, in the form of Selective_door_operation technology. This would allow for the potential of 7 car trains with only the middle 5 cars accessing the short station platforms.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_carbon_tax#Effects
The Canada embarrassment Line was only designed to ultimately just have 2.5 car trains, not 5 & certainly not 8-10 car trains. The first significant challenge would be to adapt the extremely short stations to accommodate 3 car trains. Then again with Selective_door_operation, the middle 3 cars of a 5 car train could access the station.
Most bridges in BC are so narrow that it's almost impossible to have a proper regional express bus network.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/climate-change/clean-economy/carbon-tax
It's as if somehow not enough funds went towards The+Pattullo+Bridge+replacement. Despite having some good bike lanes & sidewalks on both sides of the bridge, when it opens it will be too narrow to accomodate 2 bus & HOV lanes. Thus, cars, trucks & busses will all have to squeeze into just 2 lanes each way. There didn't even seem to be any proper communication & planning to ensure that there would be 2 emergency lanes. So good luck in trying to get ambulances across what is supposed to be a major regional crossing. There is no provision for a lower deck, which could allow for rapid rail transit & extra truck & bus lanes. Thus, this new PB bridge is one of the best examples of the symbolic resistance in BC to build proper infrastructure that can accommodate future demand.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/sales-taxes/motor-fuel-carbon-tax
The 3 lane Lions+Gate+Bridge just might be the best example of congestive planning in modern human civilization. At least the Benjamin_Franklin_Bridge in Philadelphia has 7 lanes & 2 train tracks. The Sydney_Harbour_Bridge has 8 lanes & 2 train tracks. Homer_M._Hadley_Memorial_Bridge in Seattle is part of an 8 lane crossing with 2 LRT tracks. The 10 lane Narrows_Bridge_(Perth) also has 2 train tracks. The San_Francisco-Oakland_Bay_Bridge has 10 lanes with 10 car BART trains running under the SF Bay.
https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-carbon-tax-drama/
https://www.pembina.org/pub/bc-carbon-tax
https://cleanenergycanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Carbon-Tax-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Saturday, January 14, 2023
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Monday, December 12, 2022
Why Subways in the US are Set Up to Fail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk1vlKVdE9M
SF BART looks to fill its budget shortfall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWBCUaFr95U
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
federal-funding-boost-for-BART-silicon-valley-extension
https://www.railjournal.com/financial/federal-funding-boost-for-bart-silicon-valley-extension/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley_BART_extension
https://www.bart.gov/about/projects https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/corecapacity
https://www.bart.gov/system-map https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/cars
"With an average of 136,200 weekday passengers as of the second quarter of 2022 and 26,026,800 annual passengers in 2021, BART is the fifth-busiest heavy rail rapid transit system in the United States." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Area_Rapid_Transit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Area_Rapid_Transit_rolling_stock#A_and_B_series
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_rapid_transit_systems_by_ridership
SF
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
SF BART
For as long as the Bay Area Rapid Transit system’s trains have screeched across the region, a feeling has lingered among its loyal and would-be riders that the transit service could be so much more.
It was initially envisioned as a system that would reach across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Wine Country while also stretching into the western neighborhoods of San Francisco. BART, however, has never quite lived up to the designs of its original muses — despite being, perhaps, the most influential manufactured system in the region.
The pandemic didn’t help matters. BART ridership numbers dropped off a cliff after March 2020, and a prominent bond rating company recently warned that BART and other U.S. transit systems heavily reliant on fares are “expected to face sizable budget gaps” in years to come.
For as long as the Bay Area Rapid Transit system’s trains have screeched across the region, a feeling has lingered among its loyal and would-be riders that the transit service could be so much more.
It was initially envisioned as a system that would reach across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Wine Country while also stretching into the western neighborhoods of San Francisco. BART, however, has never quite lived up to the designs of its original muses — despite being, perhaps, the most influential manufactured system in the region.
The pandemic didn’t help matters. BART ridership numbers dropped off a cliff after March 2020, and a prominent bond rating company recently warned that BART and other U.S. transit systems heavily reliant on fares are “expected to face sizable budget gaps” in years to come.
I’s not just the stuff of dreams. Numerous studies and reports published throughout its first 50 years tease at this potential idealistic future for BART and its riders. But even as BART continues to plan for future expansion, achieving some version of that vision has never felt more tenuous than it does on the 50th birthday of the region’s most popular rail system.
Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic spiraled BART toward an uncertain future on many fronts.
Today, roughly 38% of BART’s pre-pandemic ridership has returned since April 2020, when it cratered to just 6%. The historic drop in ridership brought more urgent questions to the forefront about how BART will financially recover from a pandemic that has severely undercut fares, BART’s main pre-COVID revenue source, and how the system will reinvent itself.
Then there’s the lesson of history that many plans for expansion and development of the BART system materialized in times of unprecedented growth in ridership.
It means forecasts about the future remain muddy, more than two years out from the pandemic, and a firm picture of what the region’s new transportation patterns will be in a post-pandemic world have yet to fully come into sharp relief.
“Our role in the region is evolving,” Val Menotti, BART’s chief planning and development officer, said. “On remote work, we know that will be part of our future. But at what level, to me, it’s not clear, and it may not be clear for a couple of years.”
Still, even in these trying times, the region’s planners and transportation leaders view BART as an important linchpin that better connects the Bay Area’s disconnected rail and bus transit networks together to build a future “world-class rail system.”
Once-in-a-generation expansion projects, such as BART’s extension to Silicon Valley, are under way. The four-station expansion will take riders deep underground to Downtown San Jose and Santa Clara, at an estimated cost of $9.8 billion, when it tentatively opens at the end of this decade.
The pandemic also hasn’t stopped BART from planning for its second Transbay Tube. The transformational project, if realized, could create a new BART line and boost its capacity to transport people across the bay while better connecting the fragmented rail networks in the Northern California “megaregion.” It’s an issue that reached a critical point in 2016 when ridership peaked at all-time highs...
e-in-a-generation expansion projects, such as BART’s extension to Silicon Valley, are under way. The four-station expansion will take riders deep underground to Downtown San Jose and Santa Clara, at an estimated cost of $9.8 billion, when it tentatively opens at the end of this decade.
The pandemic also hasn’t stopped BART from planning for its second Transbay Tube. The transformational project, if realized, could create a new BART line and boost its capacity to transport people across the bay while better connecting the fragmented rail networks in the Northern California “megaregion.” It’s an issue that reached a critical point in 2016 when ridership peaked at all-time highs. Few, if any, meaningful details have been decided in that project, which has a placeholder completion date of 2040.
But pandemic or no pandemic, the extraordinary costs of building rail expansions in the Bay Area and the region’s dismal track record in delivering on these sorts of massive projects on time and under budget is key to why many of these plans remain pie in the sky.
It will have taken almost half a century for BART’s Silicon Valley extension to reach conception to completion. The second Transbay Tube will have taken longer and will require BART and the Bay Area’s patchwork of local governments to raise the tens of billions in funding it needs to become reality. //www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/bart-future-17428345.php
https://sf.streetsblog.org/2022/09/28/eyes-on-the-future-of-caltrain/
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
second-transbay-tube-takes-another-step-toward-reality-with-a-goal-of-completion-in-2040
https://www.sfweekly.com/topstories/will-we-ever-get-a-second-bart-tunnel-under-the-bay/
http://www.bayareaeconomy.org/report/megaregionimpactsofnewtransbayrailcrossing/
https://sfist.com/2019/05/09/second-bart-tunnel-heck-lets-add-a-third-says-east-bay-planner
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Friday, May 20, 2022
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
BART
VTA's Eastridge to BART Regional Connector Overview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DtkPiGVtkc
An overview of the Phase 2 extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit to Silicon Valley. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfoCEYLigKo