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Milpitas BART Station to Open in December, VTA Says

eastbaytimes.com

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Re: Milpitas BART Station to Open in December, VTA Says

#11

Post by tarbism »

djrogers wrote: post #7
robbies wrote: post #3

As a lifelong Bay Area resident, I honestly never thought I'd see this day. I've had a lot of fun teasing my friends in the public sector about their BART/CalTrain extension optimism, but maybe those days are coming to an end...

Oh, don't worry - you've still got the Livermore extension to mock them about. It's only what, 15 years since it was promised?

Did you mean 50 years? Livermore stands in their own way on that project. If they had stuck to the plan of serving downtown Livermore with a direct transfer to ACE then it would already be built. Several board members are dead set against another sprawl-inducing freeway median extension.

Re: Milpitas BART Station to Open in December, VTA Says

#13

Post by tarbism »

dopeboy wrote: post #9

This is fantastic. I live in the east bay and have close friends in south SJ. The best option thus far has been going to Fremont, taking the 181 bus to downtown SJ, and ridesharing it down. This will shorten that ride.

Not Capitol Corridor rail direct to SJ?

Re: Milpitas BART Station to Open in December, VTA Says

#14

Post by smaili »

dopeboy wrote: post #9

This is fantastic. I live in the east bay and have close friends in south SJ. The best option thus far has been going to Fremont, taking the 181 bus to downtown SJ, and ridesharing it down. This will shorten that ride.

As someone who lives in south SJ, I know exactly what you mean. This new station will definitely make things much easier!

Re: Milpitas BART Station to Open in December, VTA Says

#15

Post by niftich »

Funny that BART got to SJ via the East Bay first, but I hope they make the most of it. This does complete a missing (edit: rail) link around the Bay -- though sadly across three different transit systems.

Some time ago I wrote that the geography of the Bay is unfortunate for transit in many ways [1] but notably because there's no express way to get from one side to the other; instead you have to travel along the Ring touching all stops between.

One of the later plans of the HSR along the Caltrain corridor wants to operate it as a hybrid system (which sounds like a big deal, but really just means operating express and slow trains on the same corridor), which would greatly improve mobility between Downtown SF and SJ, as well as regions adjacent to those with zoned trains. Similarly, the Dumbarton Rail Corridor (between Fremont and Palo Alto) would provide a radial transbay option.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12283335

Re: Milpitas BART Station to Open in December, VTA Says

#16

Post by Sanddancer »

kevinburke wrote: post #10
jedberg wrote: post #6

It's a good start, but as someone who live in Cupertino, my options are now: - Drive to Sunnyvale (15min) and then take CalTrain to SF (45-75min) - Drive to the Great Mall (30 min) and then take BART to SF (60 min) Would be nice if they let them electrify CalTrail or bring Bart all the way south. I can keep hoping!

Not sure if the money's there, but VTA has plans to run BART to a location close to San Jose Diridon station. http://www.vta.org/bart/stationsphaseII-diridon

The measure to fund it passed, to the money's there. It's just gonna take 10-15 years to build it.

Re: Milpitas BART Station to Open in December, VTA Says

#17

Post by temp246810 »

Trains to SF on the Fremont line are already crowded as hell before you even get to Oakland.

If you live there and are trying to get to the city, good luck finding a seat, plan to stand for as long as 30 minutes in a crowded cart.

I hope they thought this through and are adding more trains so that it doesn't make it even more unbearable.

Re: Milpitas BART Station to Open in December, VTA Says

#18

Post by ransom1538 »

temp246810 wrote: post #17

Trains to SF on the Fremont line are already crowded as hell before you even get to Oakland. If you live there and are trying to get to the city, good luck finding a seat, plan to stand for as long as 30 minutes in a crowded cart. I hope they thought this through and are adding more trains so that it doesn't make it even more unbearable.

Well if you live in milpitas you can be assured a seat. It will be empty when it starts.

Re: Milpitas BART Station to Open in December, VTA Says

#19

Post by bbrian »

I'd love to see what a $2.3 billion investment in cycling could do for a locality. A quick search says the population of East Bay is 2.5 million – that would be a fairly decent bicycle with lights, locks and helmet for every person. The number of cars taken off the road would make the others flow freely.
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