Comments for Shanworld - A Blog by Shan Vosseller

Comment on BART / Caltrain to SFO – they just don’t get it by Chris P

Chris P — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:37:15 +0000

I can’t believe you wrote this post in 2006 and this miserable reality of the failed “last mile” is still the case in 2013. It’s not a failure of budget, technology, or land ordinances; it’s simply a failure of politics and leadership.

Comment on BART / Caltrain to SFO – they just don’t get it by SFBayCal

SFBayCal — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 22:56:48 +0000

BART never aligns with Caltrain, because BART doesn’t WANT to align with Caltrain. What you have to realize about BART is they’re the transit empire of the Bay Area. Their mission is to cooperate as little as possible with other transportation districts in the Bay Area. Why? They want to keep riders from using other systems. They want other systems to appear incompetent in ineffective. There’s a reason they build those skyscraper parking structures at BART stations. They WANT you to drive to BART, use BART, and drive home.

BART is reasonably well run on the operations side, but on the system design and capital projects side of things, it’s a horrible system from the taxpayer standpoint, or a fabulous system from the price-gouging civil engineering contract firm standpoint.

Millbrae-SFO is one of the grandest debacles in transportation history. One of the original ideas was to run AirTrain in a big loop, hitting all of the terminals AND crossing over 101 and connecting to BART and Caltrain at Millbrae. That would have been an airport connector. What we ended up with is not an airport shuttle. BART plows directly into the international terminal via a pair of costly wyes over 101, overrunning costs in every way imaginable, ending up an order of magnitude low in ridership estimates, having confusing route / schedule structures, and ridiculous fares in and out of the airport. Oh and not to mention, BART nearly bankrupted San Mateo Country Transit District in the process (the jury is still out on whether or not they will), after swindling the county out of hundreds of millions of dollars and dumping operation costs on the county.

Oh wait, there’s more! The Millbrae station itself is wretchedly designed, with 2/3 BART tracks never even seeing use, a horrid Caltrain/BART connection design, and a parking lot that looks fit for an intergalactic space terminal.

Just wait though, high speed rail is on its way, and is already having compatibility issues with Millbrae. Don’t worry, the fix will merely cost more than the cost to demolish and rebuild the Millbrae station completely. Oh, did I mention Rod Diridon, who championed the BART SFO-Millbrae fiasco served for 10 years on the CA high speed rail authority board (2000-2010)? Oh but that must be a mere coincidence.

California rail transportation is very well designed for Bechtel and other public transportation contractors. Their pockets must be full of filthy, filthy money by now. If not, I’m sure the residents of Santa Clara county will gladly bend over and take it when BART plows into San Jose (already underway). But don’t worry, this time it’ll all be different.

Comment on BART / Caltrain to SFO – they just don’t get it by travbiz

travbiz — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:44:56 +0000

On my first (and most definitely LAST) experience in taking BART from SFO to the Milbrae Caltrain station, I calculated that if it were possible to cross 101 without getting killed, it would have been quicker to walk. What’s amazing is that the only state in the country that mandates carbon tax laws is so clueless when it comes to public transportation.

Comment on My summer 2008 travels in Europe – Part 1 by Porsche: For Americans who have taken European Delivery on a Porsche, what does it feel like to take delivery of a Porsche in Stuttgart? Was it worth the experience? - Quora

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 06:04:09 +0000

[...] Shan Vosseller took a European Delivery of his BMW 335i and wrote about his experiences here: http://shan.vosseller.com/2008/0…Any travel blogs that outlined the experience of Porsche's European Delivery that I am [...]

Comment on BART / Caltrain to SFO – they just don’t get it by Can'tWeWorkItOut

Can'tWeWorkItOut — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 15:59:24 +0000

I really wish I could take the train to the airport too without worrying if I will get there or not. I really want to take Caltrain but it is so awful. It took me 3 hours to get to the East Bay the other day from Palo Alto. And 3 and a half hours to get home. I had lots of downtime between Caltrain and BART and the 3 trains heading south in the evening were between 10 and 48 minutes late. Thank you so much for pointing out the problems and offering advice how to fix it. I am afraid desi is right. I am a native Californian and love it here, but also embarrassed by this mess. O, and recently when one of the trains scheduled out of San Jose northbound was cancelled without informing anyone. I called to complain and they assured me I’d get a call back about it in a week. Never heard from them.

Comment on BART / Caltrain to SFO – they just don’t get it by desi

desi — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:15:33 +0000

They don’t get it? Nope.. they get it alright…
Here is how it works.. If public transit worked great for everyone, there will be less people at the pump and the oil cartel will lose money. From state government to federal the oil cartel spends billions of dollars lobbying and establishing various nexus, thanks to our political system of legalized corruption.

Public transit in California is designed from the ground up to discourage people to use them without making it too obvious for a mass public outcry.

Comment on BART / Caltrain to SFO – they just don’t get it by desi

desi — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:15:20 +0000

Public transit in California is designed from the ground up to discourage people to use them without making it too obvious for a mass public outcry.

Comment on BART / Caltrain to SFO – they just don’t get it by Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:55:09 +0000

“all have board members that are politically appointed and are nothing but a bunch of bureaucrats that will work with one another, it’s a joke.//BART and Santa Clara Valley”

I meant to say Will NOT work with one another.

Comment on BART / Caltrain to SFO – they just don’t get it by Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:53:53 +0000

“Yeah, public transportation in California is such a joke. It is as if they really do not want you to use it.”

Truer words never spoken, bart, Golden gate bridge district, caltrain, vta,etcc…the list is endless all have board members that are politically appointed and are nothing but a bunch of bureaucrats that will work with one another, it’s a joke.//BART and Santa Clara Valley vta could have had a seamless light rail system circling the bay, but that would require less bureaucrats and one less governing board.

At one time the GG bridge rulers decided to hike the fares in order to force more people to carpool, after they did so and less cars were crossing the bridge paying fares, they cried about the revenue shortfall from that exercise and had another rate increase.

Comment on BART / Caltrain to SFO – they just don’t get it by dave

dave — Sun, 08 May 2011 06:48:54 +0000

This just brews of a joke. Did there used to be a shuttle bus that left the Millbrae station and dropped you off at the airport (ala OAK?). Does it not still exist? or am I stuck paying a “BART fee” to get me to the airport?

I am planning a trip to SFO via caltrain from the south. Maybe I should allow myself three hours to get there instead. By the way, I plan to have luggage (duh). Are there elevators/escalators?

Again, what a joke. Bay Area Transit at its finest. NOT.