From: fuzzface@cats.ucsc.edu (Aaron Priven)
Newsgroups: ba.transportation
Subject: Re: "The only sensible way to proceed"
Date: 25 Aug 92 19:25:57 GMT
Distribution: ba
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz (College Eight)
NNTP-Posting-Host: am.ucsc.edu


Jordan Hayes in <4673@bacon.IMSI.COM> writes:

> what's a DEIR -- not up on my 4-letter bureaucratese

Draft Environmental Impact Report.  It's a document required by the 
California Environmental Quality Act.  It's full of references to 
possible alternative projects, negative impacts on the environment,
and "mitigation measures" to be taken by the developer or whoever. 

It's "Draft" because it's produced purely by the bureaucrats.  The 
final one includes public comments.  The whole process is to some 
extent an exercise in futility, because until now I'd NEVER seen an 
EIR that recommended anything other than what was obviously the 
preferred alternative going into the project.  This one actually is 
slightly changed from the original -- BART will bypass downtown San 
Bruno instead of running right through it on the Southern Pacific 
right of way.  This was the subject of a large number of comments.  

Hey Vaughn, what does "F.O.R.C.E." stand for?  You claimed to 
represent it at the public hearing.

> I'll assume that BART published some document that said that if there
> was a good CalTrain link in downtown San Francisco that no one would
> use it, but if BART went to SFO people would use it.  Are you

Since I happen to have a copy of the SFO extension DEIR in front of 
me, I'll copy down parts of "Table 2.1", Transit Operator System 
Characteristics For The Year 2010".  I don't want to type for a 
week, so the only "build" alternative given in the DEIR I will talk 
about is the one actually approved, alternative 5.  Each alternative 
has the "A" subalternative, without a CalTrain extension, and an 
subalternative "B", which assumes a CalTrain extension to an 
underground station at 2nd and Market streets (connecting to 
Montgomery BART). 

They talk like that with words like "subalternative."

These are figures for total annual boardings for the systems (in 
millions), projected in 2010 -- not just trips to SFO. 

           Do nothing   TSM 2A  TSM 2B  Build A  Build B

BART       104.23       105.64  105.02  116.66   112.05
CalTrain    13.01        16.84   22.80   15.82    19.61
SamTrans    27.32        26.91   24.94   24.48    24.94
Muni       313.01       306.81  299.60  301.20   298.90

I have no idea if these are just guesses out of the blue, or what.  
I'm cynical enough to think it's a possibility, but of course Vaughn 
will tell me that I shouldn't say things like that without calling MTC 
to find out.  ("Do your homework!") 

These EIRs and other barely readable planning documents are available 
at the MTC/ABAG Library at 8th St at Oak St in Oakland.  (It's across 
the street from the Lake Merritt BART Station, in the "Bort 
Metrocenter" building.)  Members of the general public aren't allowed 
to check books or reports out, but the back wall is full of giveaways.  
You can read other things while sitting there, of course, but it's 
only open business hours and most people have other things to do (like 
work).  

 =Aaron=
-- 
Aaron Priven, aaronrp@ucscb.ucsc.edu or fuzzface@cats.ucsc.edu
        "Men make history, but they do not do so under 
         conditions of their own choosing." -- Karl Marx