Caltrain
Transportation advocates have been patiently waiting since Nov. 6 for the results of a half-cent, 30-year county sales tax measure, 50 percent of which would benefit Samtrans bus and Caltrain needs and 5% bike/ped. It needs 66.67% of votes to pass.
Curbed SF
Caltrain will end service into the city of San Francisco while it converts the route to electric power.
San Francisco Examiner
John Rahaim, director of the San Francisco Planning Department, calls the decision to route Caltrain to the newly opened Salesforce Transit center a "100-year decision."
San Francisco Examiner
To great fanfare, the Salesforce Transit Center opened on Saturday to thousands of visitors anxious to see the huge facility. Sunday was quieter, with the first AC Transit buses arriving on the third-floor bus deck. Train arrivals: TBD.
San Francisco Chronicle
Brisbane, a city of about 4,700 on the southern border of San Francisco, will vote on a controversial ballot measure in November to approve or reject a mixed-use development including up to 2,200 residential units on a 660-acre vacant brownfield.
San Mateo Daily Journal
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission could implement a 20 percent plan to offer fare relief for low-income riders.
San Francisco Chronicle
BART and VTA officials must come to an agreement about whether to use a single- or double-bore tunnel for transit extension in San Jose, and time is running out.
The Mercury News
For the second time at the same railroad crossing in Atherton, California, a motorist followed his GPS navigation onto Caltrain tracks. In both cases, the motorists fled their vehicles before being hit by an oncoming train.
(Palo Alto) Daily Post
A 51-year-old bicyclist became the second fatality in the first week of revenue service. It was the fourth fatality since the summer for the diesel train, which operates from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale.
Sun Sentinel
Transit adjacent developments have their downsides when the transit is a diesel-powered commuter train, and the location is a stub-end terminal. Case in point: San Francisco's Mission Bay.
San Francisco Chronicle
It is now up to the Bay Area's transportation planning agency to determine when to ask voters to hike tolls on seven Bay Area bridges, by how much, and whether to phase the increase. A bill to allow voters to fund Caltrain was also signed.
SF Gate
The California Legislature approved bills to allow voters to decide on hiking sales taxes and tolls for regional transportation. Gov. Jerry Brown already signed a bill to allow San Mateo County voters to hike sales taxes for transportation.
The Daily Journal
Gov. Jerry Brown, Peninsula congresswomen, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and state legislative leaders gathered in Millbrae with shovels-in hands to mark the beginning of a four-year construction project to electrify Caltrain.
The Daily Journal
In 1995, planners forecasted that the Millbrae BART Station in San Mateo County, where riders can transfer to/from Caltrain, would attract 16,500 weekday riders. Fourteen years after it opened, ridership is 7,000. Planners were off by 58 percent.
San Francisco Chronicle
The oldest commuter rail line west of the Mississippi is also unique in another way—it lacks a dedicated source of operating revenue. Legislation has been introduced to allow Peninsula counties to vote to increase sales taxes by 0.125 percent.
The Daily Journal
Apple's new campus contains thousands of parking spaces, but neither transit options nor daycare.
Wired
Nothing comes easy for high-speed rail, or anything connected to it, as the agency that runs Caltrain learned in February. But now that a $647 million federal grant has been approved, $713 million in state bond funds will be directed to the project.
Los Angeles Times
A week ago, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao indicated she would not sign-off on the $647 million federal grant for the $2 billion Caltrain electrification project. On Monday, she changed her mind.
The Mercury News
Electrifying Caltrain is low-hanging fruit for Infrastructure spending. Unfortunately, the fruit may spoil on the vine because the California GOP and Donald Trump have put the project on hold.
Medium
In one of her first major decisions, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao deferred a decision on a critical $647 million federal grant to electrify the 51-mile San Francisco to San Jose Caltrain line, which would also be used by high-speed rail.
SF Gate
