The Burlingame Voice

Caltrain: The Good, The Bad and The Idiotic

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.

 

Train Horn Non-update

Like many B'gamers, I wish this article in today's Daily Journal was about the B'game city council working on a quiet zone, but it's about San Mateo trying to get started.  I'll just pluck a couple of the technical and money points to highlight the challenges both cities face

To mitigate the uptick in risk associated with not sounding the train horns at crossings, the Federal Railroad Administration, or FRA, requires cities requesting quiet zones to implement safety improvements at the crossings, said San Mateo city engineer Jeffrey Tom. Among the measures Tom said could be taken to reduce the risk of crossings are:

• four-quadrant gate systems, which block both directions of traffic on both sides of the track
• installing medians to prevent drivers from crossing the tracks when the gates are down
• converting two-way streets into one-way streets and
• separating the tracks from the street level by building an underpass, or a grade separation project.

But those measures will be costly, Tom explained, with the least expensive option — to install four-quadrant gates at Second, East Fourth and East Bellevue avenues — to cost at least $9 million.

That would be $3 million per quadrant gate by my math.  I'll just play my broken record for a moment-  we have $100 billion dollars for an unneeded high-speed rail system that will probably never be finished, but $3M per gate is likely to take years.  Typical.

No Train Horns... in Fulton

I had a chance to get away to Sonoma County this past weekend and among the many joys of the wine country and coast was this railway crossing in Fulton.  Fulton is just north of Santa Rosa and this is the SMART line crossing.  Caltrain and Union Pacific horns are a perpetual issue in B'game as noted here and earlier.  Among the many things to enjoy in Sonoma was the quiet train since they have a No Horns section of track.  Note also the absence of the "Quad gates" that Caltrain has used as an excuse in the past for not being able to accomodate the Peninsula.  Society seems to be able to survive quiet electric vehicles everywhere on the streets so isn't it time for a quieter train?

Bridge Toll Increase Passes

I was originally of two minds on the Regional Measure 3 bridge toll hike that passed on Tuesday.  On the one hand increasing the tolls might drive down the traffic from the East Bay that makes 92 and 101 a mess during the daily commute, but the ballot opposition by local transit expert Pat Giorni (and others) convinced me to vote against it--to no avail as it passed.  So now that we are stuck with it, let's post for the record what we are supposed to get from the MTC with all of this new money (~$4.5 billion).  The DJ notes:

In San Mateo County, the measure was approved by about 54 percent, slightly under regional totals. The measure was most popular in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, where it was approved by 65 and 61 percent of voters, respectively, while Contra Costa and Solano were the two counties to reject the measure with 45 and 31 percent of voter approval, respectively, according to early results.

Linda Koelling, a former Foster City mayor leading the San Mateo effort against RM3, said the measure won’t even come close to curing congestion. “It doesn’t provide a timeline or framework for any performance measures,” she said. “Most of these projects aren’t even shovel-ready and who decides whose project comes first or second? I have no confidence in whoever put this together in their ability to plan and prioritize projects.”

The projects are:

• Expansion of BART’s fleet for $500 million and extension of BART service to San Jose for $375 million
• $300 million would fund the express lanes project, which would add two additional lanes with tolls to Highway 101 from Whipple Road to Interstate 380 in San Mateo County
• Another $300 million would be dedicated to enhanced ferry service
• $325 million would extend Caltrain to downtown San Francisco
• $50 million would be allocated to work on the Highway 101/State Route 92 interchange.
• Twenty-five percent of revenue will be allocated for transit operations annually.

Based on history, Ms. Koelling would appear to have a realistic view of the MTC's project management and governance weaknesses.  But we all pay up anyway.  Let's check back in 3-5 years and see if any of this really happened or the billions just vanished into the bureaucratic maw.

Caltrain Electrification Begins

The pre-electrification of Caltrain reaches B'game tonight as work will occur at the Peninsula Ave. crossing.  Per Caltrain

This month, Caltrain will perform foundation installation work in Burlingame and San Mateo that will require the temporary closure of multiple grade crossings.

Peninsula Avenue will be closed to vehicle traffic from Tuesday, June 5, to Wednesday, June 6, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. with an available detour at Bayswater Avenue.  Construction activities during these closures are expected to include excavation, placement of rebar, concrete fill, electrical grounding and installation of foundations. Some work will be done during the day as well.

These projects are part of Caltrain electrification, a key component of the Caltrain Modernization Program. Caltrain electrification, scheduled to be operational by 2022.

It won't change the horn situation, but at least the engines will probably be quieter.  Here's a vintage link to show how long people have been bothered by the horns.

Roundabout Round-up

By popular demand, here is a new post on the California Dr. roundabout that is now under construction.  We discussed it 15 months ago here, but a new post is in order since the project is "in the dirt".  Here is the link to the City website for the project description, bid documents including the winning bid from Redgwick Construction that beat out the other four bidders.  If it comes in on budget this will be a $3 million dollar investment ($3,014,305 to be exact), but alas it does not have a cannon to replace the one that sat there until it was reportedly melted down during WWII.  That would have been a nice touch around Memorial Day so if any B'gamers have an extra cannon or know where we can find one, this is the place to let us know!

Just in time for Memorial Day, here is a photo of the cannon that has been provided by the B'game Historical Society.  It was apparently used as part of a promotion for the move Treasure Island showing at the Peninsula Theatre in 1934.

ECR: SamTrans & Smart Lights

I'm all for smarter technology being applied to our municipal infrastructure, but it has to be a matter of correct priorities.  In a Daily Journal piece today, down at the bottom after the route changes are described, we read

SamTrans has plans to further improve travel time on El Camino Real by 2021 with the Traffic Signal Priority feature, which will allow buses on El Camino Real to more efficiently navigate traffic lights. Buses will be equipped with transponders that interact with traffic signals to extend green lights for buses or move the standard light cycle faster so they spend less time waiting at red lights.

We're pretty lucky in that there should not be a ripple effect on B'game cross streets because there aren't many lights near ECR, but mostly I have to wonder if perhaps CalTrans could focus on the horrible condition of the road surface in B'game before we dive into an Internet of Things experiment?  The ever-present flooding should be fixed first, then a new layer of blacktop is definitely in order.  Michael Brownrigg had the flooding as a campaign intention--I hope it's in the works.  The latter seems like it is hopeless.

Caltrain Tax...or Accountability?

We talked about the possibility of a Caltrain tax to try to right the sinking ship's finances last June here.  Now local scribe John Horgan has weighed in on the topic in his Merc column.  He doesn't get into the details of Positive Train Control but you can read about it here.  The new contractor and the deadline of end of 2018 is here.  It was originally supposed to be finished in 2015!  Horgan notes

A year ago, the (Joint Powers) board members, all of them appointees, decided to terminate a huge contract for a new rail safety setup designed to coincide with a federal mandate and a plan to electrify the Caltrain route and, perhaps someday, the addition of high-speed trains on the same tracks.

They sued the contractor, Parsons Transportation Group, to recover $98 million in San Mateo County Superior Court for a range of alleged performance complaints. Parsons, unsurprisingly, countersued, blaming Caltrain for the tangled mess......The resolution of the Parsons legal morass (one way or the other) and the board’s oversight of the Caltrain electrification program (and the massive amounts of cash involved) going forward will have a critical bearing on any tax election in the future.

You can find Caltrain's financial statements here.  A quick read of page 43 yields Operating Revenue of $102 million against Operating Expenses of $132 million.  Throw in another $84 million of depreciation expense and you have and Operating Loss of $114.5 million which is about the same as the prior year--and probably many prior years.  Note 11 also shows that the Feds, the State and local governments put in $155 million more in capital contributions than the prior year.  Aside from John Horgan's point about Board capability and accountability, I have to wonder exactly what sort of tax could stem this bleeding?

Down in the footnotes, we also get some litigation details that would cause more blood loss if Caltrain loses:

The JPB and Parsons Transportation Group (“Parsons”) have each sued each other in the San Mateo Superior Court for breach of contract, among other things, regarding Parsons’ provision of the JPB’s Positive Train Control System. The JPB has also sued Parsons’ surety for failing to comply with its obligations under the contract’s performance bond. The lawsuits have been consolidated and are presently in the discovery/pretrial motion phase of the litigation. The contract underlying these actions is valued at $159 million. Parsons alleges damages of approximately $59 million. The JPB in its action against Parsons alleges damages of $98 million. The JPB is vigorously pursuing/defending its claims but an out-of-court settlement process has also commenced.

Caltrain Ridership Up Again

The Daily Journal has a rewrite of a Caltrain staff report that shows some financial improvement

Caltrain ridership is up this year, bringing a mixed bag of increased fare box revenue as well as overcrowded train cars.

As of January, average weekly ridership increased 3.2 percent to 57,018 from January 2017, which saw 55,271. Total fare box revenue is up 13.7 percent over that period, from $6.9 million to $7.9 million, according to a staff report.  While Caltrain ridership is up, its shuttle ridership is down 9.4 percent this year from 8,848 to 8,018 average rides, despite increased demand.

That's all well and good, but here is the kicker--we appear to be five years and more construction away from any increase in capacity!

To provide relief for packed trains, Lieberman said the goal is to increase the frequency of service by running an extra train during peak hours once electrification occurs in 2022. He also said the transit agency hopes to convert its future electric fleet to eight-car trains, which could improve seated capacity by 21 percent. For that to happen, station platforms would have to be extended to accommodate the longer trains, and both improvements would depend on additional grant funding.

 Expect the seats to get more scarce when the Giants return from Phoenix to start the season.

Blood Moon Over B'game

I set my alarm for 5:20 am this morning and went outside to a beautiful clear sky cradling the Super Blue Blood Moon high in the western sky.  It was really something to see and just as interesting an hour and a half later as the eclipse waned and the outline of the full moon was visible, but the brightly lit portion looked just like a normal half moon.  Neither my phone nor my camera did it justice, so I have plucked the Phoenix New Times photo that I think shows the best view to share here.  The middle blood moon was at 5:20 am and the second from the left at 6:45am.

More to the local angle was the noise level at 5:20 am.  The first southbound Caltrain rolls through B'game at 5:22 and the first northbound one rolls through B'game at 5:32.  Gates drop, signals clang, horns sound for longer than really seems necessary.  Several commenters have mentioned the San Mateo pols who travelled to DC to try to get some rail horn relief and expressed their hope that B'game would add its voice to the chorus.  The airport noise is quite loud even on a clear day and you can read up on that problem here.  I remain opposed to 5 am aircraft departures, but that is apparently another thing that needs a major rule change.  I'm not sure when Recology starts picking up trash and recycling, but it sounded like it was before 5:20 am which also seems too early.  Russ has covered the onset of construction noise starting promptly at 8 am here.  The point is B'game could be quieter if we keep demanding that it be.