Bradley Froehle's dashboard

Best example is what I related above about a missed BART-CalTrain connection at Millbrae, the much touted "Intermodal" center. The two systems did not mesh their schedules, leaving me with a two hour wait for a train. And I sensed that not only did they not mesh their schedules, there was an affirmative attempt to not co-operate -- the BART train could have left SFO in plenty of time to make the 10:30 CalTrain connection. SamTrans and BART have also often been at odds. The difficulty in instituting a Bay Area-wide Translink Fare System is another example. The technology is there, but agencies are so tied to their own proprietary systems, there is resistance to working with other agencies.

Interesting discussion, thanks for the historical perspective. I'm curious as to what sort of issues people want to see resolved. I know that there are specific problems with the commute in the bay (like wanting later cross-bay BART service), but I'm curious as to what sort of inter-agency cooperation issues people are specifically referring to.

For this document: http://www.mtc.ca.gov/jobs/TransLink_...

"Monthly Pass holders who sign up for Autoload will be required to only tag on and off the first day of the month that they use their pass to activate the pass for the month and confirm the travel zones"

Translink will also be more secure, a lost or stolen translink monthly pass can be replaced.

The Boston story, according to Wikipedia:

There were a number of private companies that provided transit in several different modes since the 19th century. In 1947, the Metropolitan Transit Authority was created (by the state, I believe), to consolidate all of the service within the area centered on Boston (14 cities and towns). In 1964, that service area was expanded to 78 cities and towns covering many of Boston's northern and southern suburbs. The MBTA gradually took over (by purchase) the busses and surviving commuter rail lines within the enlarged district, most of which were private companies heavily in need of subsidization. In 1999, the MBTA district was expanded to comprise 175 cities and towns (all of Eastern Massachusetts!), most of which were served by the commuter rail system (but the MBTA did not assume responsibility for local service in the outying communities).

A challenge for the Bay Area: The state of Massachusetts created the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Would any of the Bay Area transit judicatories willingly give up power to a state-run public authority? Currently, most transit agencies are already government-run, usually by a county or municipal board. The way the BART Board, MUNI, Caltrain, samTrans, VTA and AC Transit are run now, I cannot see them easily folding into a Bay Area Transit Authority. Look at the hullabaloo recently caused by the creation of a Ferry Authority to consolidate and expand some of the current water transportation!

Hi Joe,
Good points all around. Who would be able to come in and create the SFBTA (or more likely the Bay Area Transit Authority...BATA)?

Does anyone know the story behind the MBTA, and how they went about tackling such a massive endeavor?

Dang, I'm not very optimistic now either.

We had urban planners, transportation engineers and other experts there last week, and even a few politicians! If we could lock Nathanial Ford of Muni and his counterparts with Caltrain, BART, AC Transit, samTrans and VTA, along with Gavin Newsom, the SF Board of Supervisors and a few other key politicians in a room together and not let them out until they found some mechanism to cooperate, we might get somewhere! The difficulty is that someone is going to have to give up some power, and those are the folks who are loathe to do so.

My instinct is that we would best hope to end up with an overall parent organization (the SF Bay Transportation Authority???) which would absorb all of the currently competing systems, just as the MBTA in Boston took over the private Eastern Massachusetts bus system and the defunct Old Colony Railroad commuter lines, among other transportation companies. Getting there is a daunting task, and I have to confess that I don't see an easy way to it.

Of course, when we succeed in getting the 36 transit agencies working in sync, we can then have a camp to brainstorm solving the politics of the Middle East!

EZRider was conceived well after Translink was a project.

One example of how BART messed over the Translink program was insisting that the Translink card contain a separate purse just for BART tickets. They wanted it so that the card would show that someone buying a high-value ticket would pay X and the card would show Y amount of credit like what happens when you buy a high-value ticket today.

They could have made it so that if you rode BART a lot within a certain period of time that you automatically get a discount, or something like that, but they refused to change how designed their fare structure. anyway, instead of having one "wallet" on the Translink account we will now have to replenish/think about two. So much for universal fare card.

There was also an issue that a competing company that didn't get the translink contract, is the company that makes BART's faregates, and there was a hostile environment for making them compatible.

If you are using a monthly Caltrain pass now is it likely you'll want to keep using it even after Translink works for Caltrain. You can keep your monthly pass in your wallet whereas you will have to go to a Translink machine on the platform and tag your card before you get on, which will result in additional time and inconvenience.

Fantastic question Joe - and it hits at the problems. TransitCamp was fantastic in brainstorming some of the topics, but the issue of politics (which governs so much of what happens in any topic) is so much harder to solve.

I had no idea there were 36 separate bodies.. that's just... crazy. And yes, there are other examples in the U.S. where amalgamation and a centralized agency does work (or having some sort of centralized agency running things - Boston, NYC, etc.). I think one of the first steps would be to map them out and figure out who covers what. As much as I love the populist nature of BarCamps, perhaps having a few urban planners, transportation engineers and other folks who have studied the problem might be useful - see if they can share what they know, and what other cities and areas have done about the problem.

Yes, I had this experience as well. It all feels very accidental.

I'm excited about the other suggestions mentioned, but I'm really surprised that they're not promoted prominently in the stations (though I realize that one program is still in pilot mode). In the London Tub stations the OysterCard is incredibly prominent and it caused me to purchase on right away during my one week visit. I ride BART every week and had no idea about the options.

I hope BART advertises the new options quite visibly in the future. People will appreciate it!

If you ride BART often, check out their "EZRider" program [see https://ezrider.bart.gov/ezrider/]. It allows you to pay for your BART rides using some sort of RFID/wireless system with the nice benefit that the card can't be demagnetized.

Plus the EZRider card gets linked to your credit card to automatically refill its value when needed.

It is SIMULTANEOUSLY in Berkeley and Downtown Berkeley, since Downtown Berkeley is in Berkeley, and the station is in Downtown Berkeley.

It is also two blocks from UC Berkeley. And about 5 blocks south and 5 bocks east of the North Berkeley station.

The Ashby station is also in Berkeley. I am glad they didn't call it South Berkeley BART.

Thanks for the good suggestions in this thread!

My BART cards demagnify if I put my phone and ticket in the same pocket, regardless of if the phone is off or on.... Sometimes if the phone and card are just in the same general vicinity, eg one in my pocket and one in my purse, which hangs near my pocket.

You can only get a refund at two stations in San Francisco. I got a replacement card for some of them; the attendant handed me back another stack and told me he couldn't refund them because I had purchased them with a credit card. He gave me a postage paid envelope and told me to mail them in to BART headquarters for a refund.....

I never received acknowledgment or a reply.

Not likely. They state clearly that EZRider will role into Translink once it's up and running:

"Is this card the same as the Translink® card that I've been hearing about?
Your EZ Rider card uses similar technology to the future, regional Translink card, but your EZ Rider card only works on BART. When Translink is made available on BART, EZ Rider card users will be able to switch to Translink, which will work on transit systems throughout the Bay Area." -https://ezrider.bart.gov/ezrider/faq....

I wonder if BART's resistance to Translink has anything to do with their EZRider pilot program (also based on paying with smart cards).

More information from BART: http://www.bart.gov/news/features/fea...

Oye. Maybe this this will be good pressure to make sure it gets done?

Ugh.

Check out this story from today's headlines: "Dump TransLink firm, BART official urges" [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...]