Changing subjects for a day--transit insight | Tim Talk | Tim Hunt | DanvilleSanRamon.com |

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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

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Changing subjects for a day--transit insight

Uploaded: Jun 4, 2020
Let’s turn from protests, riots and COVID-19 to share another bit of information that I’ve been holding since mid-March when the shutdown hit.
Pleasanton Traffic czar Mike Tassano offered an interesting perspective on why the ValleyLink project has slipped in its delivery date—assuming the money can be found—at a Pleasanton Men’s Club meeting in early March.
The project will tie together the East Dublin/Pleasanton BART station and the San Joaquin Valley by utilizing the I-580 median, the Alameda County-owned abandoned railroad right-of-way through the Altamont Pass and the Union Pacific Railroad corridor to Lathrop.
Tassano said that the first round of ridership projections showed such high numbers that ValleyLink riders would fill westbound BART trains leaving no room for BART passengers arriving from Pleasanton, Dublin and surrounding areas. That’s genuinely good news about an expensive public works project that appears to have significant positive impact by taking cars off the Altamont Pass.
The original plan called for 20-minutes between trains so BART officials asked the ValleyLink team to tighten up the headways so each train met a BART car every 12 minutes. That caused some redesign to accommodate the more frequent schedule. That will mean better service for commuters—potentially a win all the way around at the cost of a delay.
Incidentally, the project will require moving lanes of Interstate 580 including the fast-track lanes that were completed just a few years ago. Tassano said that traffic planners went into that project with their eyes wide open and decided it was worthwhile to move ahead so traffic could get moving instead of waiting—perhaps for decades—for the BART project to launch.
It’s a $1.8 billion project, a bargain compared to BART and with a much better payoff for riders. Tassano said there’s about $900 million committed and that doesn’t include any San Joaquin County money. Coming up with those funds likely will require a vote for an increase in the sales tax devoted to transportation—there will be a very challenging question about when to ask after we understand more about the economic shakeout from the virus.
There also is the question about when people will feel comfortable again riding on public transit—will it take a vaccine or effective therapies against the virus?
Local Journalism.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by Ronnie, a resident of Alisal Elementary School,
on Jun 4, 2020 at 10:00 am

Ronnie is a registered user.

If you commute from Tracy to say Fremont, you would take a car or bus to the Valley Link station, Ride the Link to Pleasanton BART, ride BART to a transfer station, take BART to Fremont, then bus or walk (in the rain sometimes or at night going home) to your office. If I'm right, has anyone calculated the total time and hassle. I'll take my chances and drive in the safety of my own vehicle. This system is a patch work.


Posted by sjd, a resident of Livermore,
on Jun 4, 2020 at 7:07 pm

sjd is a registered user.

ACE will still be running and has its own improvements scheduled. This system isn't really meant for people headed south to Fremont.

That said, BART is also planning on make a "Y" at Hayward so there is no transfer and you can go straight south.


Posted by Travel, a resident of Valley Trails,
on Jun 5, 2020 at 3:23 am

Travel is a registered user.



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Posted by Mike T., a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on Jun 5, 2020 at 9:37 am

Mike T. is a registered user.

Ronnie, sjd is correct, for the example you provided - Tracy to Fremont, the existing Ace service is the best solution. Get on at the Tracy ACE station - ride ACE... just 3 quick stops in tri-valley then disembark at the Fremont station which has a multitude of public transportation options. ACE is faster than the drive to Fremont from Tracy.


Posted by Oral Roberts, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on Jun 7, 2020 at 8:45 pm

Rumor is, Biden is offering Condoleezza Rice the VP spot, that he will resign two years after election if she will accept.


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