From: fuzzface@cats.ucsc.edu (Aaron Priven)
Newsgroups: ba.transportation
Subject: I forgot about my proposed FAQ -- here it is
Date: 12 Jan 1993 08:50:56 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz (College Eight)
NNTP-Posting-Host: si.ucsc.edu


You know, this completely and totally slipped my mind.  Then I started
clearing out my hard disk....   
 
(Original introduction, but list has been changed)
 
I think we need an FAQ on this group.  There are always abbreviations 
and other things brought up here that newcomers can't understand.  Or 
even oldcomers can't understand. 
 
Ideally there should be other things here, timetables for when BART 
extensions are planned to go into service and things like that, but I 
don't have much of that information here.  
 
Some of these things were copied from MTC's Transportation Glossary, 
dated 1977.  Okay, so it's old.  Most of the things I thought were 
well-known came from that (like "express service").  I did leave out 
the definitions for things like "carpool" and "freeway." 
 
                          General Definitions
 
at-grade -- at the same vertical level as the surrounding territory.  
 
CBD -- central business district, the area of a city that contains the 
   greatest concentration of business activity. 
 
corridor -- a passageway of land use and transportation activities 
   having a specific location and character, and constituting a link 
   in a network of other such corridors. 
 
dial-a-ride -- a transportation system responding to telephone 
   requests of the users.  Usually used for elderly and disabled 
   people, but not always.  Known as "demand responsive transit." 
 
express service -- a transportation service which provides higher 
   speeds because of fewer stops to pick up passengers. 
 
feeder service -- local passneger pickup or delivery to express bus, 
   commuter railroad, or rapid transit. 
 
Fixed guideway system -- a transit system with a set route and 
   and vehicles which cannot operate off this route.  Usually a 
   rail system, but not always.
 
frequency -- see "headway." 
 
gauge -- the width between two rails of the same track.  Standard 
   gauge (56 1/2 inch) is what most railroads in the world use, 
   allowing them to share cars and engines.  Broad gauge is wider.  
   Narrow gauge is narrower. 
 
grade separation -- separation of intersecting streams of traffic by 
   crossing structures or underpasses. 
 
guideway -- a supporting physical structure in or upon which transit 
   vehicles travel. 
 
HOV -- high occupancy vehicles, buses, vans, or carpools.  HOV lanes 
   are roadway lanes that are reserved for HOVs at least during 
   commute hours. 
 
headway -- the time interval between two public transportation 
   vehicles traveling in the same direction on the same route.  
   Usually this is what is meant by "frequency." 
 
heavy rail -- See light rail for definition.
 
 
heavy rail -- rail with big cars. (I think I need a better definition 
   here...) 
 
kiss and ride -- a very short-term parking facility where 
   passengers are dropped off or picked up by motorists.
 
LRV -- light rail vehicle.
 
light rail -- Light rail and heavy rail actually refer to the 
   kinds of vehicles, not the tracks themselves.  Light rail 
   usually means relatively small rail cars with their own 
   engines; in other words, a modern streetcar.  Heavy rail 
   usually means everything else, but especially regular 
   railroad equipment that is designed to run on the same tracks 
   and systems as standard freight rail.  These are fuzzy terms.
 
modal -- refers to modes of both passenger and freight transportation 
   such as the automobile, trucks, buses, trains, ships and boats, 
   bicycles, and so on.  "Multimodal" means it serves several 
   different modes of transportation.  "Intermodal" means it acts as a 
   link between different modes. 
 
off peak period -- not at the commute times when demand for 
   transit and highway space is the most.  In practice, this 
   means any time but 6-9 a.m. and 3:30-6:30 p.m. weekdays. 
 
paratransit -- non-scheduled transit, e.g., taxis, jitneys, dial-a-
   ride, carpools, vanpools, etc. 
 
park and ride -- an auto parking facility for the transit user at 
   transit stops or terminals, where the automobile is stored
   until the rider returns.
 
peak period -- the period in the day when the demand for transit 
   service and highway space is the greatest (commute hours). 
 
ROW -- right of way, the strip of land over which a transportation 
   facility such as a highway or transit line is built. 
 
TSM -- Transportation Systems Management.  
 
 
                 California or U.S. Specific Definitions
 
CalTrans -- California Department of Transportation.  The State agency 
   responsible for state-wide coordination of multi-modal 
   comprehensive transportation planning and the provision of the 
   state highway system. 
 
CEQA -- California Environmental Quality Act.  Among other things,
   requires that environmental analyses be prepared for all projects
   and plans proposed in California.
 
DEIR -- Draft Environmental Impact Report.  A detailed environmental 
   analysis required by the California Environmental Quality Act; must 
   be circulated to affected agencies for comments.  Comments on DEIR 
   are responded to in the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR). 
 
DEIS -- Draft Environmental Impact Study.  Like a DEIR, but required 
   by the National Environmental Policy Act for projects under federal 
   jurisdiction or federally funded. 
 
FRA -- Federal Railroad Administration, a component of the U.S.
   Department of Transportation.
 
NEPA -- National Environmental Policy Act.  Enacted by Congresss to 
   develop a policy for environmental protection.  Agencies using 
   federal funds must determine if a proposal will have a significant 
   impact on the environment, and if so, prepare an environmental 
   impact statement. 
 
PUC -- Public Utilities Commission.  The California PUC is a judicial 
   and administrative agency that regulates public and privately owned 
   utilities, transportation companies, and highway carriers.  Some 
   cities and counties have their own PUCs, such as San Francisco's, 
   which operates the Municipal Railway. 
 
SPTCo -- Southern Pacific Transportation Company.  Same as "SP", 
   "SPT", "SPRR", and so on.
 
U.S. DOT -- United States Department of Transportation. 
 
 
                     Bay Area Specific Definitions
 
ABAG -- Association of Bay Area Governments.  A league of cities and 
   counties that works on long-range regional planning for the Bay 
   Area.  Its plans are not binding on the cities and counties. 
 
AC Transit -- A special district that operates most buses in Alameda 
   and Contra Costa Counties west of the hills.  Runs local routes and 
   transbay routes to San Francisco. 
 
BAAQMD -- Bay Area Air Quality Managment District. 
 
BART -- Bay Area Rapid Transit.  A rail rapid transit system on broad-
   gauge (66 inch) rail in San Francisco and in Alameda and Contra 
   Costa counties.  Operated by the BART District (BARTD), an elected 
   board of directors. 
 
BART Express Buses -- Buses hired by BARTD to serve parts of Alameda 
   and Contra Costa counties where there are no BART rail lines. 
 
BCDC -- Bay Conservation and Development Commission, a State 
   commission with power to review all proposals for Bay fill or Bay 
   shore construction in a 100-foot strip around San Francisco Bay. 
 
Bay Area -- usually refers to the following nine counties that touch
   San Francisco Bay: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San
   Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Solano.  Occasionally
   refers to a larger region which contributes commuters to the Bay
   Area's transportation system, including San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and
   Santa Cruz counties.
 
CCCTD -- Central Contra Costa Transit District.  Known locally as
   "County Connection."  Runs local transit service for Concord, Walnut
   Creek, the San Ramon Valley, Martinez, Orinda, and Lafayette.
 
CalTrain -- A diesel-powered service on standard gauge rail from 
   Santa Clara County to San Francisco.  Amtrak has the contract to 
   operate it; it is governed by by a Joint Powers Board consisting of 
   Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties and the City and County of San 
   Francisco.  Called CalTrain because CalTrans had the contract 
   before Amtrak.
 
GGBHTD -- see Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation 
   District. 
 
Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District -- a special 
   district which provides bus and ferry service for Marin and parts 
   of Sonoma County and operates and maintains the Golden Gate Bridge. 
 
MTC -- Metropolitan Transportation Commission.  The regional body 
   responsible for multi-modal comprehensive transportation planning 
   for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.  Also responsible for 
   review of applications of federal and state transportation grants 
   and allocation of certain transportation monies. 
 
Metro -- term used for rail rapid transit in various areas, i.e., 
   Washington D.C., Paris, San Francisco's "Muni Metro." 
 
Muni -- San Francisco Municipal Railway.  The first government-owned 
   transit service in the country.  Now provides bus service in San 
   Francisco, and operates the Muni Metro and the cable cars. 
 
Muni Metro -- a light rail system operating on the streets in San 
   Francisco neighborhoods and in a subway under downtown San 
   Francisco's Market Street. 
 
SCCTD -- Santa Clara County Transit District.  Known locally as 
   "County Transit."  Runs local bus service for Santa Clara County 
   and the Santa Clara County light-rail system. 
 
SFO -- San Francisco International Airport. 
 
SamTrans -- San Mateo County Transit.  Local bus service for San Mateo 
   County as well as long-haul routes up the county to San Francisco. 
 
---------
 
Thanks to everyone who made suggestions.  If you send updates I will 
try to put them up a little more often than once every six months in 
the future.
 
 =Aaron=
-- 
Aaron Priven, fuzzface@cats.ucsc.edu
  Bring in the workers, and bring up the rails;
  We're gonna lay down the tracks, and tear up the trails. 
  Open her heart, let the life-blood flow,
  Gotta get on our way 'cause we're movin' too slow.
    -- Gordon Lightfoot, "Canadian Railroad Trilogy"