From: lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich)
Subject: This month's BART newsletter
Organization: LLNL
Distribution: ba
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 08:18:49 GMT


	I looked in this month's BART newsletter and it contained some
info on expansion plans.

	It featured what this year's BART tickets feature: A big "20"
with a smaller "th Anniversary" abover a slant-front BART car
seemingly coming out of the "0". In place a bit of the blue stripe on
the side is "1972-1992".

	Not surprisingly, the commentary seemed rather
self-congratulatory; it claimed that BART had the highest farebox
recovery ratio of any Bay Area transit system (~50%, or only $1 in
subsidy for $1 in operating costs), and also that BART was the least
expensive of 30 heavy-rail transit agencies -- 21 cents/passenger-mile
vs. an industry average of more than 32 cents/passenger-mile.

	About the expansion plans, there seemed to be no big changes
in schedule -- Dublin/Pleasanton in 1995, West Pittsburg in 1997, SFO
in 2000. No date on the Warm Springs extension, though it was
mentioned as something they were going ahead with. No mention of
Livermore or Antioch, let alone Peninsula extensions past SFO or
anywhere in Marin County or Santa Clara County, with the exception of
the Great America amusement park in Santa Clara.

	The rest of Phase 1 includes rehabilitation of the existing
cars, courtesy of Morrison-Knudsen, and the building of new cars, also
by M-K, to get to a 900-car, 80-train fleet by 2000, expanding from 34
stations to about 45 stations.

	Although the original plan was to encircle the Bay, the
current focus is the aforementioned extensions, it was mentioned that
there are speculations about expansion into Solano and Napa Counties,
though _that_ would be for the 21st century. Nello Bianco, BART Board
of Directors veep, had met with appropriate officials two years ago
about this.

	I amused myself by attempting to work out the route that BART
might take to Solano and Napa Counties. Here goes:

	The first part of the route would be to the Carquinez Straits
at Crockett just across from Vallejo. It could go either from Richmond
or the proposed North Concord station at Rte. 4 and the Port Chicago
Hwy. Both are about the same distance, though the NC station is
farther from Oakland and San Francisco than the Richmond one is. So I
considered the Richmond one.

	At the Richmond terminus and yard, the BART line parallels the
SP/Amtrak line headed from Oakland to Crockett. It ends at the ATSF
bridge over the SP line. From there to Pinole Point, there is plenty
of flatland, so a BART line can be built nearby. But beyond Pinole
Point, the SP line has a steep cliff on on side, while on the other
side, it is usually a few big rocks away from the water. Furthermore,
there will be a BIG climb from the SP line to Vallejo's level. So, I
speculate that the route will go along the SP line for a bit, then
turn east just north of San Pablo and pass north of Hilltop Mall
before getting onto I-80, probably in the median. From there, it
continues to Crockett. This routing passes through plenty of populated
areas, and there can be BART stops at Hilltop Mall, Hercules, Pinole,
and Rodeo. When it arrives at Crockett, the BART line will be at
Vallejo's level.

	BART may have its own bridge across the Carquinez Straits; it
will probably be pretty close to the I-80 bridge.

	From there, BART will probably follow I-80, turn off at Marine
World Africa USA, and go straight from there to Napa.

	Ideas about easing congestion between the East Bay and San
Francisco: another tunnel between the two places, either paralleling
the existing tunnel or going between SFO and Oakland airports. The
latter option would cost about $3.7 billion, twice as much as the
original tunnel, when one corrects for inflation.

	Whatever becomes of such ambitious plans, there are still
plans to provide a "people mover" connection to OAK.

	I plan to be at the Sept. 11 BART birthday bash near the
Embarcadero BART station in San Francisco (it starts 10:30 AM, and
features a cake-cutting at noon). All of you BART bashers are invited
to champion CalTrain there :-)

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