Concepts in the Paradox

I’ve returned to the city from a Thanksgiving with family in Carson City, where most of the family was able to gather for home cooked food, family amusement, and Black Friday shopping.

This time around I decided to take transit the entire way to Reno: The Zephyr. I must say that this is probably the most luxurious, though likely also the slowest, way to travel anywhere. I had a spacious seat, a table, non-obnoxious fellow passengers, and of course a bar. I took that opportunity to indulge in the various food and libations they offered for an expensive but still reasonable sum. Drinking on a train? Sure, I think that’s really what the train is about.

For $83, or $42 during non-holiday months, it took me about 8 hours inclusive (Bart + CC + Zephyr transfers) to get to Reno, then about 40 minutes in a car with the lovely Sarah to Carson City.

The train ride gave me a lot of time to think. I don’t mean the kind of brooding and deciding kind of little mind thinking, but just letting my big mind go about it’s business of thinking about what I should do next in life. At Thanksgiving I discussed and re-iterated my choice to get involved in city government, and after family time I discussed my ideas again over drinks with Tim. I think that I’m on the path to making some really good choices, in the aspiration of doing something amazing for myself and everyone else.

Every day I come through Hallidie Plaza, often just known as the “Powell Bart” or “Powell Muni” station, on my way to my apartment in the Tenderloin. It isn’t the best part of my day, often I’m greeted by indigents begging for money, hordes of pigeons pecking away at trash, or someone, not even an indigents at times, urinating in the corner. On the way up and out of the plaza, I always see open air drug deals in broad day light, and if you come at 3am to the plaza… well, just don’t do it.

The Chronicle calls for the plaza to be filled in, citing it as another mistake of ’70s urban renewal. Years ago, the plaza was occupied by far more useful theaters, lost to the building of Bart and Muni Metro in the ’70s.

Coming out of Powell station was different today, however. Read more »

Today is Spare the Air, and you know what that means? Invasion of the rollerbags. I’m getting pretty good at jumping over roller bags that people stand beside on the escalator. Please stand on the right so people can pass on the left and get to work.

It must be some sight to see: a 6′1 male running down the escalator and flying over a rollerbag. As my friend Sherrod says, “I look out the corner of my eye thinking it is a dog, but then I’m sad when I realize it is just a bag.”

Sometimes the battles come to me, some times I come to the battles.

The first is the case of the battle coming to me is the new jet-sounding air exhaust system that the Parc 55 Renaissance Hotel installed just outside my apartment’s window a couple weeks ago. It is huge, loud, and runs full blast because of the latest heat wave to hit California. I’m not the only one who has to be annoyed by these buzzing fans, since the entire south side of the building faces them and I can hear it from the street level too.

The first stage of this battle is to look up noise ordinances, contact the San Francisco Tenants Union, and send the Parc 55 a letter. If that fails, I may have to resort to getting a lawyer as stage 2.

The second is the case of me coming to the battle is the GoGeary movement to implement a BRT system along the Geary corridor. While this is a good idea, it isn’t the best idea. Do we need more diesel powered vehicles on the road? They are noisy, uncomfortable to ride, and have short useful life times. Why they don’t expand the light rail to Geary is beyond me. Well, actually, it isn’t. Local business are meddling in the deployment of light rail, fearing that it will cost them business due to parking spots being lost.

I don’t know about you, but if I can take a non-crush capacity vehicle to your business, I’ll likely spend money. Why a another vehicle in Muni’s fleet? Why not the devil we know, the Breda cars?

I’ve been doing some research, of which I’ve made some very interesting finds on both San Francisco’s internal workings as well as just how a BRT will not help the dire situation the 38-Geary line is in. I’m going to prepare a 2-minute statement and let Muni and the GoGeary folks know during the project meeting on July 29th.

Heck, I don’t even take the Geary line anymore. I moved because it was just so bad — the downtown area transit is so much better. And guess what, it is mostly electric rail!

We have to set the president.

The Transportation Commission pulled $5.3m out of car registration fees for 3 more spare the air days. So guess what? Transit is free tomorrow. [Linky linky].

I was wondering why my DMV fees were so high — so enjoy a ride on one of the 25 transit agencies on my dime. No really, go ahead, and don’t forget to exit using the rear doors (STEP DOWN!!!).

(ridership goes up 10%, or 155,000 people, on STA days)

The price of gas is at an all-time high today, $76.40 a barrel That’s $1.81 before being refined, shipped, and sold.

In the past year, the price of gas has gone way up, and at some stations flirts with the $4/gal price tag. So what are Americans to do? We consume 40% of the world gasoline, and we are starting to pay near what other developed countries pay. The solution?

Americans consumed 1.7% more gas now than they did last year.

Source: CNNMoney

I have theories on why Americans have failed to conserve fuel, beyond “Americans love their cars”:

1. There is no viable mass transit infrastructure in most cities
2. Municipalities are slow to build new transit
3. New transit is usually diesel consuming buses, since they are easy and rapid to deploy
4. Americans, especially those with families, aren’t sure how to use the system properly (assuming it did work)
5. Most cities aren’t used to car pool / car share programs (these save a lot of gas)
6. “Gas guzzling” cars get more advertising time on TV, Americans incorrectly think “fuel consumption == performance”

At 6:30, I walked over to the Flood Building around the corner to sit in on a Market Street Railway meeting. I wanted to see what kind of people attended, how the meetings were conducted, and find out the who’s who.

As with any meeting, minutes were called, and the budget was discussed. Various tidbits were discussed, the meat of the gathering being about the new museum and store opening near the Ferry Building. It was your standard meeting stuff, finding out what they can sell, profit margins on their calendar, and the like.

A few MSR members brought some old photos they had dug out of their closets, mainly photos of old rail cars in Hayes Valley, as well as they stories attached to them.

“The 21 line, seen here at 700 Hayes St on it’s last day of service, had to have it’s rail replaced on the last day of service. Muni had little choice, other street cars needed to cross that line, so the 21 got to run over some freshly laid track on it’s last day of service. All these buildings you see here in the background are still there to this day. Circa 1941.”

One of the local landmarks presidents said a few words by proxy for a very old gentleman who wanted to preserve the old LRV shelters. There are about 6 in San Francisco still, the two I can remember are the Fort Mason one, and the other is the Dolores Park shelter. When taking the J-Church through Dolores Park, note the old street car passenger shelter as you come out of the right away into the park. Back behind that is an old Muni LRV shelter, part of the original line, fenced over and covered in litter and graffiti. There is an effort to restore that brewing, so if anyone wants to help clean that up, I’m sure Dolores Park would look even more beautiful after.

I wouldn’t say an MSR meeting is the most exciting thing in the world, though I may show up to the September meeting. If you like trains, and you like to see all the people in their 50’s discuss train politics, that’s the place to be.

Also, Muni is all powerful. Bow to Muni. Nothing happens without Muni’s grace.

I think what really keeps me going at the end of the day is knowing that when it is time to go home, I’m going back to San Francisco, 5 days a week.

Also, I watched some SFGovTV tonight. Yes, pretty dry stuff, but I found the meetings on the Third Street Light Rail, Transbay Terminal Project, and Financing for the Caltrain Electrification Project rather fascinating.

Points of interest:
* The Board of supervisors insists on a Jan 1, 2007 revenue date for the third street light rail

* CalTrain is willing to do what ever accommodations are required to integrate into the new Transbay Terminal, even arrogantly implying they’ll be done first anyhow (no doubt they will, talk about having your shit together)

* The Electrified Caltrain trains and tracks will have an estimated operating life time of 100 years!

I keep hearing about this third street light rail project, so I thought that I’d take a drive and see what was down that “up and coming” line, as all the realtors put it. Starting from the ball park, I headed south along the rail. I must say, the downtown area is pretty impressive near the ball park. Clean buildings, good transit, plenty of shops and places to eat. Past the bridge is another story though; it is parking lots, empty fields and rotting warehouses for miles.

The light rail stops look modern and clean, something that I was very happy to see compared to the decay that surrounds the street. I’m not entirely sure why there is a light rail track down to Bayview; the whole area consists of closed businesses, cheap and uninspired looking houses, and shady characters passed out on the sidewalk. At one point in my journey I actually came by some shacks that were lined up along the road where obviously people had been living.

My understanding is that on the other side of the 280 near Hunter’s Point there is some nice housing in areas called “Dog Patch”, which I hoped to take a look at it. I was too taken aback by how depressed the area was to go exploring any further. One can only hope that the re-introduction of light rail into the area will be an economic boom to the area. I don’t know how many decades have passed since the rail along third street to Hunter’s Point was removed, but it had to be a crushing blow to an area that also lost it’s now-toxic naval yard.