Potential BART strike effect on Capitol Corridor service?

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BCL

Engineer
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Nov 16, 2012
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San Francisco Bay Area
It's going to get interesting if the strike happens. I hear that AC Transit is gearing up for more bus service.

I don't think they could add trains, but maybe a few extra cars might be possible?
 
I think it would mainly affect the connecting Thruway service to San Francisco with the increased traffic everywhere. Travel times would be adversely impacted.

As for AC Transit, the Operators and Mechanics have approved a strike by a 97.4% margin as well so that might not be an option in the event of a BART strike. A lot hinges on what BART does in terms of labor negotiations.

Either way it would be a great time to take any stockpiled vacation as if 1997 was any indication... Gridlock day and night.
 
I work in the South Bay and live near Berkeley. Outside of taking CC, all my other options short of driving involved BART. This is going to get interesting. Maybe it might be time to start telecommuting.
 
Most likely it would be people taking the train instead of driving who already work within the Capitol Corridor service area. Most likely the Capitol Corridor wouldn't capture too many current BART passengers though the news has been mentioning it as an alternative to driving to San Jose.
 
Yeah, I think the biggest impact will be on those using BART to cross the bay everyday. We saw how much the commute was impacted on that route just a few weeks ago when they had to shut the tunnel down to single track. CC isn't an option for those commuters.
 
Yeah, I think the biggest impact will be on those using BART to cross the bay everyday. We saw how much the commute was impacted on that route just a few weeks ago when they had to shut the tunnel down to single track. CC isn't an option for those commuters.
A wild idea- would it be possible to get a few giantass barges/ferries to load a ton of people in it to cross the bay from Ferry Building to Oakland Jack London Square? From there they can take CC to Fremont and San Jose, or north to Emeryville, Berkeley etc.
 
I'd think there might be a lot of people desperate enough to use the bus service from Emeryville. At the very least I could see more tickets sold for the Richmond-San Francisco route or OAC-SFC. Of course the big issue is that there will be more people driving, where a marginal increase in vehicles causes massive delays.

There's enough of an overlap in service areas that I'm thinking a lot of people will consider it rather than driving. Richmond, Berkeley, Emeryville/Oakland, Hayward, and Fremont all have overlapping service. And I mentioned the bus to San Francisco.
 
You are right. Using the bus connection does make the CC a viable alternative for many of those needing to get across the bay. The train schedule/frequency may be less than desirable (compared to BART) but still the lesser of two evils if compared to commuting by car to SF.
 
My big worry is that people will be buying tickets to use the bus service, tossing the train portion, and will be filling up the Emeryville parking lot.

I'm also thinking that the unreserved nature of the bus service might be an issue.
 
Amtrak's Capitol Corridor currently offers bus connections between Emeryville/Oakland stations to several stops in downtown San Francisco. Those buses could well be caught up in gridlock on the SF/Oakland Bay Bridge. Regular Amtrak bus connections from SF to the CS and CZ in Emeryville/Oakland will also be caught up in the bridge gridlock.
 
It is an excellent time to decide whether you want to be in the San Francisco Bay area or somewhere completely outside the SF Bay area. As part of this decision, determine if you can manage to do all your travel walking if you decision is to stay within the Bay area. I would suspect that anything crossing the Bay could be done faster walking (or swimming) than on the road, bus or car.
 
As a resident of the Bay Area, it will be interesting to see if/how many commuters on the SF Peninsula (which is mostly NOT served by BART) switch to Caltrain during the strike (should it come to pass), in order to avoid what might be some horrible highway gridlock between SF and San Mateo.
 
As a resident of the Bay Area, it will be interesting to see if/how many commuters on the SF Peninsula (which is mostly NOT served by BART) switch to Caltrain during the strike (should it come to pass), in order to avoid what might be some horrible highway gridlock between SF and San Mateo.
And as a Bay Area resident and regular Caltrain commuter, I can also say one of the days of the strike, Caltrain will mess up everyone's commute due to one of the reasons laid out in Caltrain Bingo-

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* No idea who is the original creator of this genius work, it has been shared often on Twitter
 
Great gameboard! And I bet that for some of the regulars on Caltrain, they feel they could shout out "Bingo!" nearly every week.
 
As a resident of the Bay Area, it will be interesting to see if/how many commuters on the SF Peninsula (which is mostly NOT served by BART) switch to Caltrain during the strike (should it come to pass), in order to avoid what might be some horrible highway gridlock between SF and San Mateo.
Having used BART to connect to Caltrain, I'd note that traffic from Daly City to Millbrae is actually pretty light on BART. When I get off I see dozens making the transfer, but way more already waiting at the Caltrain platform. Occasionally I see someone dressed in some airport related uniform.
 
Great gameboard! And I bet that for some of the regulars on Caltrain, they feel they could shout out "Bingo!" nearly every week.
Ask and you shall receive! In tonight's edition, we have ENGINE TROUBLE, SINGLE TRACKIN' IT and TURNED INTO LOCAL. Anyone with Bingo yet?

Southbound Bullet #376 died at Redwood City, all subsequent trains single tracking around it, and stopping at all stations. Fun fun evening commute.. argh! Seriously, I have forgotten when has a full week passed without Caltrain having issues.
 
72-Hour Strike Notification has been given meaning unless an agreement is reached there is a stronger potential for a walk out now.

I noticed on the AC Transit BART service alternative sheets it did list the Capitol Corridor and Caltrain as alternatives both within the East Bay and taking the train to Emeryville and the Amtrak Bus to San Francisco or AC Transit bus to Palo Alto or Hillsdale (San Mateo) and Caltrain to San Francisco depending on your origin within the East Bay. There is no way any one providor can handle the load so they are trying to balance it between everyone.

It is estimated that other transit providors can only pick up (at most) 1/4 of the BART passenger load if BART goes on strike. The rest will hopefully find alternatives to going to work (vacation, telecommuting, etc...) with the remainder hitting the roadways in private vehicles (either solo or casual carpools).

It will hit hardest on those with no private vehicle or alternative to going in physically to work, summer school, activities, etc...

Bottom line is it will affect everyone from BART riders to those whose travels have nothing to do with BART. Hopefully an agreement can be reached by Monday to avert this situation, however time to start looking at alternatives especially come Sunday night if no progress has been made.
 
It's Official... BART workers have gone on strike. No BART service will be provided until further notice. The initial estimates are 400,000 displaced BART passengers. 100,000 extra vehicles are expected on the highways. AC Transit will not be on strike today, however their may be work force availability reductions starting later today and a strike potentially starting as early as tomorrow. Additional SF Bay Ferries will be added from Jack London and Alameda. People are encouraged to form Casual Carpools as key carpool lanes will have their hours extended to 5am-7pm. Hopefully the holiday this week will lighten the load a little bit.

Capitol Corridor stated they may be able to work with their bus contractor to have an extra bus or two on route 99 between EMY and SFx. They also stated they may add an additional train car to certain trains as equipment and conditions permit to handle increased loads. Anyone taking the connecting Thruway Services are advised to expect delays. The Richmond BART/Amtrak and Oakland Coliseum BART/Capitol Corridor stations will remain open to Capitol Corridor Passengers. Anyone wishing to transfer to BART from Capitol Corridor is advised to rebook their ticket to EMY and obtain a connecting ticket to a Route 99 Thruway bus to San Francisco or ask for a free Transit Transfer and Transfer to AC Transit. As the morning unfolds the impact will become more apparent as the morning commute gets started.

To anyone travelling today in the Bay Area, Good Luck :)
 
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My understanding is that all BART parking is free during the strike, primarily for the use of people assembling ride sharing. Typically BART parking on weekdays requires that people pay/validate their parking beyond the gates either with cash or by deducting the value from their BART ticket.

However, that would also mean that those using the Richmond Amtrak station could use the lot with no issues during the strike. Normally Amtrak passengers would have no way of validating their parking and could get ticketed as a result. It might also be possible to use the Oakland Coliseum BART lot if the (small) OAC lot is full.
 
I'll be keeping an eye on the strike, because we're planning a no-car trip to SF later this month. Surely they'll hammer things out before the 15th? Or are both sides digging in for a siege?
 
The BART strike and/or holiday week had a rather unexpected impact on my commute. I commute from South Bay to San mateo, so not in BART territory, but was fearing BART overflow crowd on Caltrain so decided to instead drive to work, and guess what- I had my fastest commute in a year today! It takes me 35 minutes by car or about 50 minutes by Caltrain, today I was in office in 28 minutes flat! Seems like a lot of folks are working from home, or have taken days off, combining BART strike with 4th July weekend.
 
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