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A Vision for Caltrain

A Vision for Caltrain. With or without HSR. Reinhard Clever, Ph.D. Principal thinkMetric® Transportation Consulting. Why we need a Vision. Mandate of CA HSR Authority. Make HST go down the Peninsula as fast as possible while managing the opposition. Necessary Response

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A Vision for Caltrain

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  1. A Vision for Caltrain With or without HSR Reinhard Clever, Ph.D. Principal thinkMetric® Transportation Consulting

  2. Why we need a Vision

  3. Mandate of CA HSR Authority Make HST go down the Peninsula as fast as possible while managing the opposition. NecessaryResponse We do not want to wait until we know what is being done to us and then start planning.

  4. The Present

  5. The Political Situation Disconnect Ridership Study Engineering Study (PAA) Done mostly by Construction Engineers Station Locations often predetermined (political decisions) Focus on Individual Bridges / Parking Lots • Done mostly by Econometricians • Ridership often predetermined (political decisions) • Focus on the System as a Whole What Fell through the Cracks?

  6. What Fell through the Cracks – especially with Regard to Caltrain? • The mode choice literature of the last 40 years. In other words, 40 years of in-depth research on how people travel, and why they choose a particular mode (auto, commuter rail, HSR), fell through the cracks. • The European experience of the last 40 years fell through the cracks, and with that … • … Effective commuter rail service in the Caltrain corridor.

  7. Station Ridership Comparison

  8. Caltrain’s Low Ridership Explained by Research Findings • Most commuters realize that having to drive to the railway station is the price to pay for living in single family homes in the suburb. • But they refuse to change a second time to another mode of transportation once downtown. • Most commuters are only willing to take transit if they can walk to final destination. • Beyond ¼ mile of destination station, ridership drops off dramatically.

  9. Your Own Experience • Look at your own experience with Caltrain: • Driving to the Caltrain station is not so bad. • But then, when you are in San Francisco, what do you do at Town’s End?

  10. Main Lessons It is egress that really matters, not access. Beyond ¼ mile of destination station, ridership drops off dramatically.

  11. Relevance to Caltrain Based on the 2025 Caltrain schedule: • Only 4 out of 10 trains will serve Transbay Terminal during rush hour. • No train will serve Transbay during off-peak hours. • Only Diridon Station serves downtown San Jose.

  12. What Does This Mean for Caltrain San Francisco Ridership? Peak hour San Francisco service: • Only 4 out of 10 trains will reach a catchment area similar to that of the Embarcadero BART station (33,000 daily riders). • Civic Center, Powell, and most of Montgomery catchment areas still not served by Caltrain. Off-peak San Francisco service: • Only for travelers with a final destination near Town’s End.

  13. What Does This Mean for Caltrain San Jose Ridership? About 2,750 average daily riders in 2025 (no change from today).

  14. How have cities worldwide dealt with the ¼ Mile catchment area Challenge?

  15. Paris (next slide) • Suburban trains crisscross downtown Paris to drop off commuters as close as possible to their work location.

  16. Seoul (next slide) • Suburban trains crisscross downtown Seoul to drop off commuters as close as possible to their work location.

  17. Stuttgart (next slide) • All suburban trains are routed through a central downtown artery.

  18. Karlsruhe (next 2 slides) • Hybrid Tramtrains (formerly called Interurbans in the United States) use main railway lines to the city, and then surface streets in downtown to get travelers as close as possible to their final destination. • On the downtown map, notice the green suburban train (S-Bahn) lines both following the main railroad line in the lower right portion of the map as well as downtown city streets.

  19. Karlsruhe Interurbans

  20. ¼ Mile Solutions • Metropolis: Suburban trains crisscross downtown to drop off commuters as close as possible to their work location (e.g. Paris, Seoul). • Large Cities: All suburban trains are routed through a central downtown artery (e.g. Stuttgart, BART in San Francisco). • Smaller Cities: Interurbans (Tramtrains) use surface streets in downtown and main railway lines in the outskirts.

  21. The Vision

  22. Downtown San Francisco Caltrain Caltrain-Interurban Downtown Alignment

  23. Interurbans in SF and San Jose • Only 1 mile of new construction required from Town’s End to Market Street underneath or on the surface of 7th Street. • Caltrain would use surplus capacity in MUNI Market Street Tunnel. • Caltrain would use VTA’s underused rail system in San Jose in addition to serving Diridon Station directly.

  24. Surplus Capacity at MUNI Market Street Stations

  25. Market Street MUNI Station Capacity • Minimum peak hour headway for any of the five MUNI lines is seven (7) minutes. • Coupling trains of more than one MUNI line is standard operating procedure. • Civic Center Station would remain for MUNI’s sole use and would be used to separate trains into the five lines.

  26. Market Street MUNI Station Capacity • BART Platform Length: 700 feet • MUNI Metro Vehicle Length: 75 feet • MUNI Metro Vehicles Fitting on Platform: 9 • No of MUNI Lines Using Market St Stations: 5 • Minimum Headway of MUNI Lines: 7 Minutes • Available Headway for Caltrain: 7 Minutes

  27. Interurbans at SFO • Until BART is circling the Bay, Caltrain could use BART’s “ghost train” track between Millbrae and S.F. International Airport. • A blocked off platform track at SFO is already available. • No technical reasons why airport people movers could not use technology compatible with Interurbans, offering “one seat rides” between Peninsula cities/towns and SFO terminals.

  28. Blocked off Platform Track at San Francisco International Airport

  29. Interurban Speeds

  30. Regulatory and Institutional Challenges to using surplus Capacity

  31. Clashing Concepts of Safety • US Approach • accident survivability (passive safety) • Worldwide Approach • accident avoidance (active safety) • Interurban (Tramtrain) • Passive safety lower than standard rail equipment • Active Safety higher (e.g. short braking distance)

  32. Weak Institutions • Weak Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) • So far, not even Transit Unions could be implemented in the United States. • Weak Transit Agencies • Not used to thinking that they have to work together. • Weak Federal Agencies • Willingness to make large grants and to match local funding without insistence on prudent use.

  33. What We Can Expect • Agencies not wanting to discuss their desire for independence in public. • Instead we can expect many “reasons,” “reasons,” and “reasons” why it will not work. • Answer: Why does it work everywhere else except in the United States?

  34. What Is Needed Strong Politicians!

  35. A Light at the End of the Tunnel • Positive Train Control (PTS), commonly used in Europe since the 1960’s, was mandated by the Federal Government in 2008. • The gap is closing. • PTS makes train to train collisions virtually impossible. • PTS is a necessary condition for Interurban tram-train deployment.

  36. A Giant Step Forward • FRA-compliant • UIC equipment 27 May 2010: Waiver granted to operate FRA-compliant and UIC equipment WITHOUT temporal or spatial separation. FRA: (US) Federal Railroad Administration UIC: (European) International Union of Railways (Union International des Chemins de Fer)

  37. What Is still Needed • UIC equipment • Tramtrains (Interurbans) Waiver to operate UIC equipment and Tramtrains WITHOUT temporal or spatial separation. If this waiver were granted, Caltrain would be able to replace its aging fleet with Interurbans, likely to result in significant ridership gains since most commuters to San Francisco / San Jose would be able to ride the train to within a quarter mile of their workplace.

  38. Integration of Caltrain and High Speed Rail

  39. New Baby Bullets • HSR Limited Service – HSR Commuter Service Taking Over Function of Baby Bullets • Through Ticketing • Cross Platform Transfer • Timed Transfers / Pulsed Hub System • New “Baby Bullets” Terminate at Transbay

  40. Pulsed Hub System The Pulsed Hub System, perfected in Switzerland, has the ability to offer timed transfers at all the hubs, rather than just one central hub.

  41. Pulsed Hub System

  42. The Beginnings of a Pulsed Hub System on the Peninsula • HSR takes half an hour to San Jose. • At HSR’s half-way point (15 min from San Jose) a Pulsed Hub could be established. • Caltrain’s run time between half-way point and San Jose needs to be shortened to a little less than half an hour. • This would mean a Pulsed Hub at both the half-way-point and San Jose Diridon.

  43. Thank you! Reinhard Clever, Ph.D. Principal thinkMetric® Transportation Consulting Helpful insight has been provided by David Schonbrunn of the Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund.

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