From: loren@netcom.com (Loren Hart)
Subject: Re: Viable auto alternative system? (long)
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 19:58:43 GMT

J056600@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM writes:
: In <qrlmrks@sgi.sgi.com>, Jeremy Higdon writes:
: 
: >In article <1992Oct08.225223.17362@Veritas.COM>, joshua@Veritas.COM (Joshua Lev
: >> >* "Assured Connection" policy.  Vehicles in each tier would *always* wait
: >> >for connecting vehicles, eliminating another perception problem (and a
: >> >real personal security issue for many people) of today's bus lines.
: >> >No abandonment on the sidewalk waiting for a connection that may not come.
: >>
: >> I don't think this is possible.  If you only had two lines you could
: >> do it.  But with each line interacting with several other lines, I
: >> just don't see how you could do the schedualling, without creating
: >> really late pick ups.
: 
: >It's not as hard as you might think.  With a hub-and-spoke transit
: >system, you can get pretty reliable transfers.  And late at night,
: >when this is especially useful, traffic is least likely to cause
: >lateness.
: 
: I would heartily agree.  With the funny looking network known as the Santa
: Clara County Transit system, there are very many connections between lines.
: "Assured connection" would require precise timing with close to 10 other bus
: lines in some cases.  By using one or two "main lines" operating with few stops
: at high speeds (like BART or CalTrain), and local connections to those other
: stations, we could not only have all of the buses leave right after the train
: arrives, but it would be far easier to plan to have all feeder lines enter
: a "hub" at or near the same line.

The term that Santa Clara County has been using is "Syncronized transfer".
Since the Caltrain now transfers with the Light Rail at Tamien, and Sun
has shuttles that wait for Caltrain, it is now actually pretty
reasonable for me to take transit to Sun.  With little traffic it is
about a 35 minute drive (assuming I can go late enough to miss
rush-hour).  If I have to be in early for some reason, the drive often
takes at least 45 minutes, and if there is an accident, it can be well
over an hour.  A typical transit trip goes as follows:

	Leave	Arrive
	8:30	8:36	Leave house to walk to light rail
	8:38	8:46	Light rail from Branham to Tamien
	8:50	9:17	Caltrain from Tamien to Mountain View
	9:18	9:30	Sunway Shuttle from Caltrain to my building at Sun

Total trip via transit is 60 minutes.  Total time waiting for transfer
is 7 minutes.  The keys to minimizing the transfer time are that I can
leave home at the optimal time for walking, because I am in control of
that time.  The light rail has a high frequency (every 10 minutes).
Sun's shuttle is designed around Caltrain's schedule and is syncronized
to wait for Caltrain.

The lessons for transit are to allow people to have more control at
either by allowing bicycles.  And to syncronize lines that have a lower
frequency with main lines, such as Light Rail and CalTrain.

--Loren
-- 
=============================================================================
Mr Loren L. Hart                                       The Ada Ace Group, Inc
loren@netcom.com                                       P.O. Box 36195
				                       San Jose, CA  95158
Newsgroups: ba.transportation