Meeting to Talk-Up "eBART" Option
Last night, October 22, 2009, an informational meeting was held at Antioch's Black Diamond Middle School. Some of the Panel Members in attendance were BART Board Member Joel Keller, Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover, Antioch Council Member Reginald Moore, and several others.
The purpose of the meeting was to extol the virtues of NOT giving the residents of Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, and other East Contra County cities what they've been paying for, for the last 40 years, and instead provide what amounts to air polluting, diesel shuttles to move a few lucky people to its new Antioch Terminus.
FACT: During the evening commute, BART Trains can deposit 2,000 riders, every 5 minutes, for 40 minutes straight, on platforms of Bay Point Station.
FACT: BART is currently planning to run diesel-based shuttles, called DMUs from Bay Point to Antioch every 15 minutes -- each DMU carrying approximately 500 riders.
FACT: The parking lot currently planned for Antioch has only 1,000 spaces.
Notice of the meeting was given in an Oakley throw-away paper. I am not aware of which other papers may have carried the notice. The meeting was attended by approximately 60 people.
A cameo appearance was made by a former Mayor of Antioch who popped his head in the door just long enough to comment that "Antioch was promised BART 40 years ago and we've been battling for it ever since and will probably be still fighting for it 40 years from now."
An appearance was also made by a Train Operator who raised safety concerns on the logistics of having passengers clamoring to transfer from BART to DMU Trains in the middle of the Highway 4 Freeway.
Another speaker pointed out the capacity difference, mentioned above. Think 5,000 - 6,000 people vying for 500 spaces.
Yet another pointed out that Bay Point's parking lot is filled by 7 a.m., causing riders to have to drive to North Concord, yet the Antioch parking facility will only have 1,000 slots.
Several residents complained of San Jose getting full BART service while Antioch has been waiting 40 years.
These speakers caused visible discomfort and consternation in the Panel. They seemed confused that the attendees weren't thrilled about the second rate service proposal.
At 9 p.m. the meeting came to abrupt end, as several panel members spoke of other meetings and various engagements to attend, including "bedtime stories" and "tucking kids in."
BART's own documentation shows that 31% of passengers surveyed in 2002 wanted extension of service to Antioch. That was 7 years ago! (see http://www.bart.gov/docs/planning/Pittsburg_Bay_Point_Access_Plan.pdf)
BART needs to stop screwing around with inadequate, substandard ideas like eBART and give the riding public what it has been demanding AND PAYING FOR!
BART doesn't care. They would
BART doesn't care.
They would rather waste money paying consultants to come up with stupid ideas like eBART and on projects nobody wants like the Oakland Airport extension than to actually do the expansions that they PROMISED AND WERE PAID FOR.
I totally agree. So
I totally agree. So frustrating. We've paid for it several times now. I'm not voting for one more fucking bart anything. They are a bunch of thieves, Indian givers and they never keep their word. Fare hikes, loudsy evening service, four-car trains at midnight on a friday night and people can't board the train, BART SUCKS. BART Management should be made to ride in the situations they create. Oh, and the dirty diaper left at Concord at the ninth car Boarding spot today, real nice.
Like BART think they can manage an e-BART project when they can't even manage the system they've got going now or lack thereof.
And, if they are going to make a whistle stop after making people suffer on a fucking four-car train all night long, then the lard fucking ass employees should be ready to board the train and the passengers shouldn't have to wait five fucking minutes. I couldn't believe the dumb ass makes me move when I'm standing and there are plenty of other seats.
BART FUCK OFF; I HOPE SOMEONE TAKES AN AK-47 TO BART MANAGEMENT AND GETS RID OF ALL YOU FUCKING PEOPLE. THEN MAYBE SOMETHING GOOD MIGHT HAPPEN.
Wow! Not sure I even dare to
Wow! Not sure I even dare to justify anything the Boards says or follows through on. Not that I would anyway. I live out beyond Bay Point and saw nothing in any local paper I receive, although after reading this I wish I would have because I surely would have attended, just to see firsthand what was discussed.
To be honest I don't care if they are BART trains or DMUs that carry patrons beyond Bay Point Station, I don't think patrons care either. I will disagree with the comment of it being a "safety concern" dropping patrons off in the middle of Highway 4. Supposed plans called for the DMU to arrive at a platform, where patrons would step off that train, across the platform to the BART train.
As for parking that will always be a problem. I never use Bay Point, regardless of time of day because I know parking will be scarce I will continue to drive the extra 5-7 minutes to North Concord to catch a train anytime.
I would be interested in seeing a survey asking how many people would USE train service when (or is that IF) it was extended to Antioch? That 31% figure could be somewhat misleading because many would love to see service in hopes it would reduce traffic on Highway 4, but the reality is, it won't. I for one would use service DMU or otherwise if it were extended past Bay Point. I would just hope to see BART Board of Directors and government officials get this project started so people don't need to continue waiting.
Trains or buses is only
Trains or buses is only important insofar as the right of way is concerned. If you're running buses on a shared right of way, service will suck. Period.
That said, think about what a billion dollars could do for BART. Extra platform(s) at Embarcadero and Montgomery? 30th & Mission station? Treasure Island station? lol.
Few hundred more trains?
But hey, eBART's totally worth it... it's an excellent value.
I could not agree more. Not a
I could not agree more.
Not a single person would shed a tear if everyone on the BART Board was shot dead tomorrow.
Nothing but liars and scammers.
This eBart project is
This eBart project is projected to cost over a billion dollars. Thats a lot of money but parltry compared to Bart which averages in the neighborhood of $300 million dollars a mile. It seems to make more sense to spend a fraction of that amount and build a 4000 space parking garage at Bay Point. It would go a long way in showing the public that their money isn't being thrown down the drain again.
I respect that idea and it
I respect that idea and it makes sense to do a parking structure type project at Bay Point. But the future sees no less traffic on Highway 4 even after CalTrans finishes up the widening project in 2012 (I think). Traffic will do nothing but get worse, so while the price tag is steep for this expansion project and others, these projects will only require more and more capital in the future. Why not do it now?
Why not invest in actually
Why not invest in actually ensuring that there's decent public transit service to the BART station so that people don't have to drive (and park)?
Your numbers are technically
Your numbers are technically correct, but an utter impossibility. A COMPLETELY FULL train holds 2000 passengers, but there are currently (Sept. '09) only 4,821 riders exiting at Pittsburg/Bay Point per day. According to your logic, the trains would be full all of the way to PBP, which would mean no one is exiting in Oakland, Walnut Creek, PH, or Concord. If 50% of those 4,821 riders arrived during the evening commute (5-7), then that would mean 2,400 riders would have access to 10 eBART trains over those 2 hours, which would be an average of 240 riders per train. And that is assuming that ALL PBP patrons want to continue to Railroad or Hillcrest stations. This doesn't count the additional riders that will be gained by the addition of eBART, but unless that is way over the estimates, I think eBART will be able to handle the loads. 1,000 parking spots is probably sufficient to begin with, because if they have to build giant parking garages, it would probably delay the project further. And people will find a way to get to the stations by bus, bike, walk, or getting dropped off, just like at every other BART station.
One, why does BART have to
One, why does BART have to run this line? BART is overwhelmed as it is. I could see ACE running this line all the way down to Tracy joining it's existing routes. I don't know the financial fesability, but they have mentioned possible new lines into the east bay.
Two, minus the NIMBYs, I read in one of the local papers that there were still unresolved issues with Union Pacific and BART regarding right-of-way for Phase Two of the eBart extension.