The Daily Journal piece on the expansion of Caltrain has something for everyone. It paints a picture of a much larger Caltrain system
Caltrain has unveiled an exceedingly ambitious vision for the future and electrification is only the beginning. That vision entails an up to 300 percent increase in ridership by 2040, expanded all-day service, trains arriving every 10 minutes and service extending to Monterey, to name just a few proposals.
The good news is that electrification is humming along even if the money to do it is the "fruit of a poisonous tree" like high-speed rail.
The expansion being contemplated applies to both the system and service, and it’s all predicated on electrification, the $2 billion project that will replace 80 percent of Caltrain’s current diesel fleet with electric trains traveling between San Jose and San Francisco by 2022.
I'm not sure why only 80% of the fleet will be replaced, but perhaps that will become clear over time. The bad part of the story is that the Broadway station is still a whisper of its previous self. It's been that way for 13 years. I found this quote interesting in that regard
“Right now we take the philosophical viewpoint that ridership drives where we employ service, we don’t forget stations for the most part even if they don’t have vigorous ridership,” Board Member Charles Stone said. “My point is as we go forward let’s keep in mind that the demand we see may not be all the demand, that there’s pent-up demand that’s been created by the system we use right now.”
Let's hope Charles Stone is correct and perhaps one good thing to come out of the huge Anson Apartments on Carolan will be more frequent B'way service. Now for the idiotic. Redwood City council member Jeff Gee was not on my radar screen until this article appeared. Here's Gee's thoughts on Caltrain expansion
“Why are we limiting our physical constraints? In other words, if we are only, in many places, limited to two tracks, what would it take to get to four tracks on the corridor?” he asked. Gee went on to suggest the “constant tension” between the interests of 20 cities along the corridor and service will be the major sticking point moving forward.
“What’s right for a quaint little city on the Peninsula may not be the right answer for the region and so at what point does the agency say ‘thank you very much quaint little city but this has got greater benefits to the corridor’ and how do we bridge that and how do we deal with that as an organization?” he asked.
Gee sounds like the kind of myopic "leader" who has presided over the ruination of downtown Redwood City with block after block of Soviet-style overstuffed buildings creating a soulless wasteland. Thankfully this guy's term is up next month and he does not appear to be running for re-election. Hopefully that means he will be leaving the Joint Powers Board as well. If not, we may have to look to facilitate that before he does more damage to the "quaint little cities" he seems to dislike so much. Kudos to Zachary Clark of the DJ for getting this kind of destructive thinking by a public official on the record.
I suppose Mr. Gee has $50 million to donate so we can find a new piece of land and build a new BHS on it since widening the tracks would make getting into Mangini Way impossible. He's probably the type to say "build a back entrance" so Lyon Hoag can get even more traffic. Quaint.
Posted by: Mom | October 07, 2018 at 03:38 PM
"...ruination of downtown Redwood City..."?????? What the hell are you smoking??? Downtown Redwood City has transformed over the last 20 years from a sleepy, why-would-anyone-visit-this-place backwater into a fresh, lively, beautiful, and pleasant to visit downtown. I can only name one city that has gotten development right in the last 20 years and that city is Redwood City. Every other city has their heads up their butts while shouting, "But what about the character of our city?!?!"
Posted by: Charles Magnuson | October 08, 2018 at 12:33 PM
I guess we have very different views of what constitutes "getting it right". Me thinks you are the one doing the smoking.
Posted by: Joe | October 08, 2018 at 12:56 PM
If Charles Magnuson wants to live in a LegoLand box like an egg-laying hen (Proposition 12 confinement) with no parking so he has to take Ubers everywhere and get his exercise in the basement on a treadmill like a hamster, that is his choice. Just don't tell me I have to do the same because I won't.
Posted by: Phinancier | October 08, 2018 at 02:13 PM
I am so looking forward to more frequent trains running up and down the Peninsula. My work schedule sometimes has me taking the train in the late morning, after the commute rush. I have to make sure I leave in plenty of time because I can't afford to miss the train -- the next one doesn't come for a full hour! Most other days I carpool, but both my carpool partner and I would prefer to be able to take the train -- unfortunately, there aren't enough trains in the evening to make that work for us, so there we are clogging up the roads with another car.
Posted by: HMB | October 08, 2018 at 06:00 PM
You know what?
Downtown Redwood City is a great place to eat, shop, and enjoy Entertainment.
The Train is a great way to go too.
Posted by: [email protected] | October 08, 2018 at 08:26 PM