San Francisco is full of hustle and bustle. Have you ever wondered what that looks like through the eyes of public transit?
Youtube user SLT Transit put together a time-lapse video of transit activity over a typical day in San Francisco that demonstrates through its mesmerizing patterns how vital public transit is to city’s transportation system. Check out the video below:
Recognize your bus route? Video credit: SLT Transit
Tag: transit
Nice And Clear: New Bay Area Transit Information (2013)
Look for this next time you’re in a downtown San Francisco BART station. Screen grab via MTC
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission recently installed new information centers including street maps, schedules, transfer info, and large LCD screens with real-time departures on sidewalls at the Civic Center, Montgomery, and Embarcadero BART stations in San Francisco. The sleek, highly-visible updated information centers are part of the MTC’s Transit Connectivity Plan to make the Bay Area’s public key transit hubs more friendly to users. The new information centers are clear and intuitive but the most welcoming feature is undoubtedly the live screens with real-time transit arrival information. Now riders can tell at a mere glance whether they should rush to catch their train, or whether they have time to grab a cup of coffee– no more running down to the platform simply because you hear a train arriving.
The new information centers are indicated by, and signed to, large orange circles with an “i” for information (see the picture at the top of this post) and twelve additional BART stations are slated to receive the same addition by summer 2013.
See the MTC’s video below that explains the phasing in of these new information centers and see what the already installed ones look like:
Catching the County Connection With Bus Tracker
County Connection. Photo credit: LA Wad
Back in December County Connection launched Bus Tracker – a system that provides real-time information about where the bus is and when it will arrive at the bus stop. With just over two months of operation the Bus Tracker alert system has quickly earned the praise of transit riders. See the article below “Bus Tracker Earns County Connection Passenger Praises” via The County Connection with added emphasis at particularly striking points in the article.
Last summer when David Shen heard County Connection would offer real time bus arrival prediction, he began to spread the word among his co-workers at Chevron in Bishop Ranch. Bus Tracker has now been installed on all County Connection’s fixed-route buses and the software uses GPS location data to predict arrival times. Buses transmit their location every thirty seconds via the Sprint network enabling Bus Tracker to predict arrival times and make bus location information available to the public on the web.
“Bus drivers really do a good job of keeping the buses on time in normal traffic conditions,” said Shen, a regular County Connection passenger, “but all it takes is a little fenderbender during the commute hour for the freeways to back up. Since Bus Tracker went live last month I’ve been able to completely eliminate my wait-time at the stop.”
All passengers need is access to the internet to see where buses are on-route, and to see when the next bus ispredicted to arrive at a stop. The map view uses the familiar Google maps as a base to show buses progressing along the transit routes. Riders can view the upcoming bus arrival times by selecting any bus stop in thesystem.
“Near the end of my day, I open Bus Tracker on my computer or smartphone and keep an eye on the next bus as I finish up, then time my departure based on when the bus is due to arrive,”continued Shen. “County Connection deserves kudos for installing this system.”
The implementation of Bus Tracker is the latest upgrade to County Connection’s on-board computer system. Having real-time arrival information is particularly important for a suburban system because the bus comes less often than in an urban area. “The new system is more appealing to new riders because the uncertainty is removed” said Anne Muzzini, director of planning at County Connection. “We have come to expect up to date, current information via the web and County Connection riders now have this for their bus route.”
Because customer service agents can see where buses are and what the predicted arrival time is, even riders without access to the internet can have more accurate information. Prior to being able to use Bus Tracker customer service agents relied on the“scheduled” times. Now they can see if a bus is caught in traffic.
Riders are encouraged to set up a personalized account to receive arrival alerts via text or email messages. Simply visit www.cccta.org and click the Bus Tracker button to get started or to set up a personalized account.
County Connection operates a fleet of 112 clean diesel and 9 hybrid diesel buses in fixed route service and 63 gas powered vans in door-to-door service. For assistance with Bus Tracker or get information on bus routes from Customer Service staff, please call(925) 676-7500.
Commuter Benefits Raised for 2013
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (HR 8) has restored the pre-tax transit and vanpool commuter benefits to be on par with the qualified parking benefit. For the 2013 calendar year:
- up to $245 per employee per month for vanpool and all public transportation
- up to $245 per employee per month for qualified parking, or
- up to $490 per employee per month for both public transportation and qualified parking
The effective date for the revised limits above allows for retroactivity back to January 1, 2012 if an employer so chooses under Sec. 203.
In 2012, the IRS Transportation (Commuting) Benefits rolled back to pre-2009 levels of $125 per month (adjusted for inflation) for vanpool expenses and public transit passes. The maximum was temporarily raised to $230 per month under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and extended under the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 to equal the monthly qualified commuter parking limit.
Qualified bicycle commuting reimbursements will remain unchanged at $20 per month in the new year.
By offering pre-tax commute benefits to employees, employers can save on paying FICA payroll taxes and employees can take advantage of saving on federal withholding and FICA taxes on the amount deducted. Find out more from these third-party commute benefit administrators: Benefit Resource Inc., Clipper Direct, TranBen, TransitCenter (TransitChek), and WageWorks.
Image Credit: 401(K) 2013
Year in Review: 2012
Image credit: David Yu
511CC’s 2012 Year in Review
From the Caldecott Tunnel breakthrough to Bay Area transit agencies celebrating milestones for service, 2012 was a great year for biking, transit and transportation. Here are some of this year’s top stories.
Top Tweets
Some of our most popular tweets (number of link clicks) in 2012 linked to these articles:
Image credit: Eric Fischer
- For your viewing pleasure – BART stats on a map
- BART app map
- Caldecott Fourth Bore Medallion Design Competition (view winning and honorable mention entries here)
- Bay Bridge demolition will last longer than first projected
- BART introduces new automated Twitter feed for service advisories
- A book shelf for your bike
- How can cities make life easier for the elderly?
- Great and Not-So-Great Subway logos
- Rails-to-Trails Conservancy busts myth that “nobody walks” in Rural America
- All-electronic tolls coming to Golden Gate bridge
2012 highlights
Here are some transportation highlights from the year.
JAN
- 511 introduces Freeway Aid
- Ford unveils 2013 Fusion Hybrid
- 25 | Caltrans allocates $347 million for improving state transportation
FEB
- LAVTA retrofits 30 Wheels buses to make boarding with strollers easier
MAR
Image credit: Steve C.
- Hercules transit center project gets $4.5 million (Contra Costa Times login required)
APR
- BART releases creative commons system map for developers
- 3 | BART rolls out easier to clean seats
- 12 | BART breaks ground on San Jose extension
MAY
- WestCAT Lynx breaks ridership record
- 27 | Golden Gate Bridge celebrates 75th anniversary
- 31 | Caltrans awards $350 million to improve public transit and air quality
JUN
JUL
Image credit: torbakhopper
- 1 | Muni allows boarding through all doors
- 5 | Caltrans awards Contra Costa County $450,000 for Safe Routes to Schools
- 30 | Capitol Corridor begins offering eTicketing
AUG
Image credit: Karl Nielsen/Metropolitan Transportation Commission
- 8 | Primary excavation of the Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore tunnel was completed
- WestCAT celebrates 35th anniversary
SEPT
Image credit: Bay Area Rapid Transit archives
OCT
- 5 | BART breaks ground for eBART Antioch extension
- 31 | BART breaks ridership record with more than 580,000 riders
NOV
DEC
Image credit: SFMTA / John Henry Mentz
- 511CC joins Pinterest
- 5 | Caldecott Tunnel celebrates 75th anniversary
- 5 | County Connection introduces real-time tracking
- 28 | San Francisco Muni celebrates 100 years
For more interesting articles and tips on biking, transit, and transportation in the Bay Area don’t miss our Twitter feed and our blog.
Good and Better News From Google Maps!
Image credit: Prashanth dotcompals
In the realm of Google Maps, there’s good news for transit users, and better news for bike users.
First, the good news comes in an article by Jeremy Owens of the San Jose Mercury News titled “Google Maps mobile app’s transit offerings work great for novices, but hard-core Bay Area riders will want more”. Owens shares his experience with Google’s new transit app, finding some good in it:
Google has added transit lines from hundreds of cities to Google Maps as of August, and its Bay Area offerings are extensive, including small services such as the Menlo Park Midday Shuttle. The biggest addition is schedules for all of the lines it offers, making finding departure times simple and transfers between agencies more predictable.
Unfortunately, Owens sees one crucial flaw:
“I put it to the test to see if it could replace the mishmash of agency-specific transit apps I use on a daily basis to maneuver around the Bay Area. The verdict: No, because of one big flaw – the lack of real-time departures.”
Now, for the better news– Google Maps has impressively published 530,000km (that’s 329,327 miles) of bicycle infrastructure in Europe and Australia. Until recently, Google Maps did not have any bicycle specific directions or show bicycle routes and paths in Europe or Australia, which is perhaps surprising as Europe is home to countries with some of the highest bicycle mode-share in the world and Australia is seeing more and more bicycle infrastructure with each year!
Cycling directions and turn-by-turn navigations are now available in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.
See all those green lines and dashes? They’re all bicycle paths, lanes, and routes– no wonder 50% of all trips in Amsterdam are by bike! Image via Google Maps
And in more of the”better” news, Google Maps has now added voice-guided navigation for bicycle directions [for Andriod phone users]! That’s right, cyclists can now mount their Android phones to their handlebars and receive turn-by-turn directions and navigation, as well as voice-guided directions.
Google appears to be allocating resources to accommodating multiple modes of transportation with their maps and directions. It seems to reinforce and reflect our reality– more and more people are taking to two wheels and transit, and that is great news!
BART Turns 40!
September 11th, 1972– the day BART began running trains between Fremont and Oakland. Forty years later and the backbone of the Bay Area’s transportation network is still running strong, and still expanding. In honor of the momentous milestone, here is a round up of some vintage views of BART:
Pages from Life Magazine, August 1972. Photo credit: brian kusler
Proposed Bay Area Rapid Transit System, February 1961 Plan. Photo credit: Eric Fischer
Promotional photos and renderings of BART, from San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit: An Investment in the Future, 1967. Image credit: Eric Fischer
BART promotional photo of operator’s cab prototype circa 1965. Image credit: Eric Fischer
Michael Douglas searches for the bad guy, on location at the 16th Street Mission BART station, in this photo from the 1970’s tv series Streets of San Francisco. Image credit: Todd Lappin
Old BART tickets. Photo credit: Michael Mandiberg
Check out that BART logo, from 1967! Image credit: Eric Fischer
For more BART memories check out these links:
- The BART logo from 1958
- The BART system map from 1961
- Along the Way, a BART video from 1968
- An amazing collection of photos in SF Gate’s “The Birth of BART“
- SF Chronicle gives a brief history of BART’s origin with some iconic pictures, including one of President Nixon riding, in “BART, at 40, looks to build on triumphs“
- BART’s 40th Anniversary Pintrest Board
- A slideshow of 25 great vintage pics over Huffington Post
- One family’s story of BART on opening day via SF BART.
How has BART’s 40 years of service been for you– any memories you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments!
U.S. DOT Funds Bay Area Transit Improvements
AC Transit, one of the Bay Area agencies that received federal funding to improve transportation. Photo credit: Paul Sullivan
In July the Bay Area received several grants from the U.S. DOT to improve transit.
AC Transit received $7.5 million to improve fare collection and BART received about $3 million to improve departure and arrival information.
Grants were also awarded to San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Monterey counties to replace diesel buses with fuel efficient hybrid buses.
Read more at San Francisco CBS.
All Aboard Muni's New All-Door Boarding Policy
Boarding Muni. Photo credit: www.bluewaikiki.com
Only a couple months into Muni’s new all-door boarding policy and already the system seems to be working well.
As reported on San Francisco Streetsblog:
On five Muni lines, the time buses spent at stops dropped by as much as 16 percent in July compared to June, according to a presentation prepared for the SFMTA Board’s Policy and Governance Committee meeting this week. The most drastic change in “dwell times” were reported on the 1-California line and its rush-hour express companion, the 1AX, which saw decreases of 14 and 16 percent, respectively. The 1AX also saw by far the largest shift in passengers using the back door instead of the front door, with a 1,200 percent increase
The article goes on to note improved conditions on other lines reviewed:
The 49-Van Ness, the14-Mission, and the 38-Geary — saw more modest drops in dwell time. The 49, at the low end of the spectrum, only saw a decrease of roughly 1 percent. One possible explanation is that back-door boarding was already common on those lines before the policy change, compared to the 1-California.
Transit and Trails
The Bay Area is home of great urban spaces and public transit options. However, sometimes we get stuck in our urban surroundings without appreciating the wonderful park spaces and outdoor recreational opportunities the Bay Area has to offer. This may however soon easily change now with the helpful website Transit and Trails.
In the words of Co-Founder Ryan Branciforte, Transit and Trails is “a website and mobile application to find, plan, and share outdoor activities using existing public transportation”. The concept flips our conventional idea of public transit as a utilitarian tool, demonstrating that while convent for commuting to cities, transit is also a great way to reach outdoor recreational activities in the Bay Area’s great natural landscapes.
Watch the below video to learn more about Transit and Trails and be sure to check out their site too.
New Commuter Incentive Program
Market Street, San Francisco. Photo credit: torbakhopper
Head’s up!
511CC has a new commuter incentive program page! Learn how you can partake in the Drive Less Commuter Incentive Program and get a cash reward for switching from commuting in a single-occupant motor vehicle to carpooling, transit, bicycling or walking.
Driving less really can help reduce environmental impacts and relieve traffic congestion for all, even if you only ditch the car once a week for your work commute. So if you need an incentive to join the growing number of people saying good-bye to gridlock and leaving the car at home when commuting, be sure to check out the commuter incentive program.
And who knows, it might permanently change your commuting habits once you realize the many things you can get done – like catching up on reading, get exercise, or check email – when not driving. You might even decide to ditch the car for shorter trips too!
Citizens of Los Angeles Set the Example for ThrivingTransit
L.A.’s new light rail, “Expo Line”, opened earlier this summer to a warm welcome! Photo credit: Metro Transportation Library and Archives
Los Angeles is moving forward when it comes to their local transit system. Backed by Measure R, a 2008 half-cent sales tax that is expected to generate $40 billion for transportation, Los Angeles is constantly improving and expanding its transit system.
L.A.’s newest rail line connects to the University of Southern California. Photo credit: Waltarrrrr
The reason behind its success? Public support. People in the Los Angeles area are willing to put their dollars to improving the transit system. Tom Wright, executive director of the Regional Plan Association, says the L.A. Transit Agency does a great job with public outreach, as well. Wright claims, “What they’ve done is they’ve gone community to community and they’ve been really clear, this is what we will do with the funding.” And the results speak for themselves. In April of 2011, about a dozen rail lines for public transit in L.A. were funded, and were either under construction or being planned. Perhaps motivation comes from the highly congested traffic surrounding L.A., but regardless the locally enforced taxes are having a great impact on the public transportation of L.A.
The Orange Line has been one of L.A.’s most successful Bus Rapid Transit lines. Photo credit: Metro Transportation Library and Archives
Real estate developers and places of interest, like the Los Angeles County Museum, also benefit from the expansion of transit. More people are now able to use transit in order to get to the places they want to go to. Instead of driving, people looking to get around the city can now hop on a transit line, improving the efficiency of their trip. Read more about L.A.’s success in this Capital New York article “What New York City can learn from Los Angeles About the Transit Biz”. This blog post was written by Luther Kuefner, 511CC’s high school intern.
Paris Tests Bus Stop of the Future
Boarding the bus in 1956. Photo credit: Stockholm Transportation Museum Commons
Transit technology seems to be constantly improving, from Clippers Cards to zero emission buses, the experience of taking public transit is improving in many respects. However, one element that could undoubtedly be improved is the time one spends waiting for a bus to arrive.
While solar-powered wifi busies some bus riders at select San Francisco bus stops, Paris takes waiting for a bus to a higher level with a pilot program described as “the bus stop of the future“.
Treehugger recently covered Paris’ venture into better bus stops as
“…a variety of services, from a book lending library and an electric-bike rental station to phone charging outlets, free WiFi, and a snack and coffee kiosk.”
But that’s not all! Bus stops would also feature
“Bar-style tables built around existing trees [to] encourage socializing while [providing] extensive and interactive sources of neighborhood information [to] help idle passengers plan out the rest of their journey. “
Pretty impressive. Read more about Paris’ efforts at Treehugger.
Great Race for Clean Air 2012
It’s back!
The Great Race for Clean Air is a friendly competition between Bay Area companies to encourage the use of commute alternatives such as transit, carpooling, vanpooling, walking and bicycling rather than driving alone to work to reduce greenhouse gases and smog levels in the Bay Area. Last year, 190 companies throughout the Bay Area saved 435 tons of CO2 by using commute alternatives.
Register your company to get started by August 31, 2012. Winning employers will be presented with trophies at a local Board of Supervisors meeting. Every participating employer will receive a certificate for participating. Take a look on how to sign up.
Your employees and co-workers can record their commutes online from September 1 to October 31, 2012. There will be weekly prize drawings for participants who record their commute. See how to log in your commute below.
Let the competition begin! Have fun and good luck!
Bay Area Fantasy Transit Maps
Smart phones are of great help when taking transit, offering specific transit apps, gps, internet access… However, despite the seemingly ubiquity and practicality of smart phones for such trips it is difficult to replace the accessibility and simplicity of well-designed transit maps. Recently The Atlantic Cities took a look a couple of ‘fantasy transit maps‘ created by Brian Stokle that show “how a single, unified transit map might provide greater accessibility and ease of use” with hopes to “stimulate conversation about how transit decisions are made”.
Stokle used five criteria in determining how to create his easy to read, unified maps of Bay Area transit, including:
Focus on the customer’s needs, especially those who are new to transit (new commuters, tourists, visitors, etc.) and for locals unfamiliar with how to get to a certain part of the Bay Area.
and
Show only frequent, fast, and reliable transit, principally rail transit. Rapid bus routes were also included because they are fast and frequent as well. Some other transit was shown for reference (e.g. peak period commuter rail, trunk bus lines where no rapid transit exists) but showing every bus line would have been too confusing and unhelpful.
See below Stokle’s map of all current, and under construction projects that meet his criteria.
Credit: Brian Stokle
The article is an interesting read, contemplating how to strike the most user-friendly balance between schematic and geographic mapping and proceeding to share what a unified transit map of all existing, planned (but may lack commitment, funding) and some additional suggested lines that meet Stokle’s five criteria may look like. Hop over to The Atlantic Cities and give the article a read.
Updated Help For Senior Transportation Map
511 Contra Costa has an updated Help for Senior Transportation map. The interactive map shows all available public transit services for the elderly and those in need of assistance. Just click on the red marker on the map to find contact information for the transit service offered in that area.
Go to the Seniors page to learn more about senior mobility and interact with the updated map.
Do you know additional services that aren’t listed in the link above? Let us know at trips@511contracosta.org
New Limits on Commute Benefits in 2012
Heads up! The IRS Transportation (Commuting) Benefits are set to roll back to pre-2009 levels of $125 per month (adjusted for inflation) for public transit passes and vanpool expenses beginning January 1, 2012. The maximum was temporarily raised to $230 per month under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and extended under the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 to equal the monthly qualified commuter parking limit.
Qualified commuter parking expenses will increase up to $240 per month and qualified bicycle commuting reimbursements will remain unchanged at $20 per month in the new year.
By offering pre-tax commute benefits to employees, employers can save on paying FICA payroll taxes and employees can take advantage of saving on federal withholding and FICA taxes on the amount deducted. Find out more from these third-party commute benefit administrators: Benefit Resource Inc., Clipper Direct, Edenred USA (Commuter Check), TranBen, TransitCenter (TransitChek), and WageWorks.
Image credit: 401K (Flickr)
Breaking down the costs of driving vs. transit
Dec 2011. Can it actually save you money to take transit? Obviously that depends on a lot of things, and varies by person, but a lot of research finds that yes, on some trips, transit is the cheaper option. What can you do to reap some of these rewards?
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimates that in 2005, the average annual cost of owning and operating a car driven 15,000 miles a year was about $7,800, or 52 cents a mile. Compare that to the median, after-tax, household income, which was under $40,000 per year. The BTS suggests that for a two-car household, about 40 percent of disposable income is spent on car travel.
At 52 cents a mile, the out-of-pocket expense for a 20-mile, round trip commute is $10.40 – assuming free parking at home and work, and no tolls. This works out to about $230 per month. Owning and insuring a car makes up 71% of the costs, the remaining costs (fuel and maintenance) vary. So if you’re considering carsharing, you have the potential to save a lot of money. But if you just can’t get rid of your car but want to scale back the use of it, transit may be a cost-effective hybrid commute alternative.
Let’s pick an example: Walnut Creek to San Francisco.
By BART, this trip costs $4.75 each way. You might need to pay $1 for parking. Two trips and parking total $10.50.
To drive that 26 miles, pay the toll, and park (about $8 a day), someone driving alone during rush hour would end up paying $14 each day in tolls and parking alone. If you add in fuel and maintenance the real cost of the trip is $22.
And BART doesn’t even offer monthly or weekly passes. Check out these deals in Contra Costa County.
- Unlimited rides on the County Connection cost only $60 a month.
- A monthly local pass on AC Transit is $80, and a monthly Transbay+Local pass is $151.
- The East Bay Value Pass offers unlimited rides on WestCat Lynx, County Connection, and Tri Delta Transit’s fixed routes for $60 a month.
Have you done the math for your household commute costs? Try this transit savings calculator from the American Public Transportation Association: Continue reading “Breaking down the costs of driving vs. transit”
What do you like to do on transit? Take this brief survey for a chance to win cash prizes!
What do YOU like to do on transit?
What?
The Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis is conducting a study on “travel multi-tasking,” or doing other activities while traveling. Whether you work or sit back and do nothing, we want your opinions! Click here to take the survey, or read below for more information.
Who can participate?
Anyone who commutes and is 18 or older.
Prizes
Everyone who returns a completed survey will be entered into a drawing for cash prizes of $300, $200, $100, and eight $25 restaurant gift cards.
How long will the survey take?
The survey should take about 35 minutes to complete.
Why?
The information you give us can help policymakers and transportation providers develop services that are more responsive to your needs and desires.
Deadline
Please complete the survey by November 30, 2011.
Results
Reports will be posted at http://pubs.its.ucdavis.edu/ as they become available.
Take the survey:
- Online: http://contra.questionpro.com
- You may request a paper version of the survey by calling (toll-free) 1-888-765-1124 or sending an e-mail, with “Paper survey request” as the subject, to Amanda Neufeld at ajneufeld@ucdavis.edu.
Contact
If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact Prof. Patricia Mokhtarian at plmokhtarian@ucdavis.edu, or Ms. Amanda Neufeld at 1-888-765-1124 or ajneufeld@ucdavis.edu.
Photo by neiltron
Do you prefer buses or trains?
What’s your preferred mode of public mass transportation? The bus or the train?
There are plenty of reasons to like trains. Trains run on the same fixed route with predictable stops and if the tracks are separated from the street, they don’t have conflicts street traffic.
Usually when you are waiting for a train, you are at least waiting in a station that’s usually lighted, had places to sit, and has shelter.
Buses are a great mode too. In most places, they’re less expensive than trains.
Buses have more stops than trains and can get you closer to your final destination and have the capability to address the last-mile transportation link.
Buses also have drivers. If you’re new to an area or need help, the driver can usually answer a few questions as you board or exit the bus.
One notable difference is that buses operate above ground so you see the neighborhoods, people, buildings, and street life as you’re driven to your destination. So, do you prefer people watching over dark tunnels?
Do you prefer buses or trains? Why?
Ask 511CC!
Here on 511CC, we’ve assembled the finest collection of bike mappers, smog alerts, driving tools, and other resources to get you out from behind the wheel and enjoying beautiful Contra Costa County.
Our goal is to have all of the answers, but sometimes, we need you to ask the questions. So ask us!
Today is 511CC’s first weekly Transportation Q&A Day. We invite you, our readers – the people out there walking, riding, driving, and living in Contra Costa County – to rake your brain for those transportation questions that nag you and send them to us.
- How to use the system – routes, stops, stations, and fares
- Why our transportation works the way it does
- You name it!
If we can’t answer your question immediately, we’ll do a bit of sleuthing to find the answer. We’ll post the results back here on the 511CC blog for everyone to see.
Leave your question in the comments, Facebook, or tweet it at us. What Qs do you want to A?
511CC staff tests out new BART seats at Pleasant Hill
511CC staff testing out possible new BART seats at the Pleasant Hill BART Station on Tuesday
On Tuesday, we tested out BART’s new seats at the Pleasant Hill station. What do you think of the new seats?
- Upholstered or not?
- Plastic or stainless steel?
- Broader seats or more standing room?
- Should bikes be in a designated car?
- Pictograms or automated station arrival announcements?
Not able to make it to a lab to test the seats? You can still provide feedback to BART on the subject.
Related posts:
Happy "Dump the Pump" Day!
Tomorrow is National Dump the Pump Day. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) started this holiday six years ago as an opportunity to remind people that, often, the easiest way to save money is by leaving your car parked and taking transit.
Transit is a cheaper way to get to work, home, and recreational options than driving.
When we do drive, we benefit from our friends and neighbors leaving their cars at home – APTA estimates that in 2009, public transit use saved 785 million hours of travel time for drivers.
Want to find a way to celebrate Dump the Pump Day? (Other than taking the bus, of course).
Tomorrow, WestCAT, the Western Contra Costa Transit Authority, will pick one winner to receive a $20 value pass or a $20 Starbucks gift card. Email your name and contact info to WestCAT before the end of the day on Thursday, June 16 to enter. The winner will be announced Friday.
Not familiar with WestCAT? Explore the system below. It’s never too early to start getting ready for Dump the Pump Day 2012.
Looking for more reasons to love transit? From APTA:
- In 2010, Americans took 10.2 billion trips on public transportation.
- People board public transportation 35 million times each weekday.
- There are 7,200 public transportation organizations in the US, employing 400,000 people.
- Every $1 invested in public transportation generates $4 in economic returns.
- Public transportation reduces US oil consumption by 4.2 billion gallons each year.
- Public transportation reduces the US carbon footprint by 37 million metric tons each year. This is equivalent to the household emissions of every person in Washington, D.C., New York City, Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles combined.
- Money spent on transit projects creates 20 percent more jobs than highway projects.
Where is BART?
One cool thing about knowing BART arrival times (other than how long you have to wait until the next train), is seeing those trains move along the system in real time.
Meet WhereISBART.com.
Have you ever wondered how many trains were in the BART system at a given time?
Or, how far away is that next train, really?
Or, if my friends boarded BART at another station a few minutes ago, will I meet them on this train that’s arriving now?
Where is BART? updates every 15 seconds to show where your train is throughout the Bay Area.
What more details? Click on any station for arrival times to that station, or browse arrival times the old-fashioned way on BART’s website.
