In a station of the metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

The woman who drives the route 21 southbound bus that arrives at Railroad and San Ramon Valley Blvd at 7:55, weeknights, has the nicest smile of any bus driver in the Bay Area. She doesn't say anything, but she always smiles. I only ride that route once, maybe twice a week--only when my tutoring sessions at the Library end at 7:40ish--so I have yet to ask her name. But I think we recognize each other now; I always board at the same stop.

My sister has just pronounced riding the bus in Danville, "weird." This from a young woman who rides the bus on a mostly weekly basis in Salem, Oregon, where she is a carless college student with an off-campus internship. And her mindset is common, perhaps endemic in car-dependent places like Danville, where children are raised in the backseat of automobiles. That's what I was used to; I had never set foot in a Danville bus before last August and the thought of waiting at the bus stop, or of actually being a bus rider (who are those people!) gave me the howling fantods. Especially the kids who used to take the bus to school. They were a tainted race. Habits! Habits die-hard.

The 21 driver picking up at BART at 6:00 asks his regulars: "did you leave a phone on the bus last night?" Dissenting answers. The time nears 6:00, one more man boards, and the answer is "yes!" An explosion of good cheer as giver and getter of good deed meet.

According to my dentist, I am truly my "father's son" because we are the only two patients who ever bike to appointments. I feel like a role player in an ensemble cast. "The bike guy." Better: "Biking son of biking dad." My students think of me that way too, as some kind of interesting local flavor: perplexed that I ride the bus, astonished that I bike so far! (3 miles) when it is so cold! (like 40). But then they soften it with, well, it probably saves money on gas. And I add, I like to read and doze on the bus. Hmm, they say. Yeah.

A man sitting behind me on the bus ride home (woman with the smile at the wheel) answered his phone. "Hello. I'm on my way. I'm doing the best I can so don't bitch at me thank you bye bye."

Thursday November 18th

Well, it was going to be a triple threat day: 9-12 West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee meetings, 12:30-1:30 SPUR lunch meeting, 5-6:30 guest lecture at UC Berkeley. But SPUR rescheduled their event to Wednesday December 1st, so it was just a double header.

Nonetheless, today marked my maiden voyage on AC Transit! Clipper card worked like a charm, and the El Cerrito del Norte bus station even had live bus arrival times posted. It was a little hard to tell if it was indicating at what time the bus would arrive, or how long until the bus would arrive. Like,

72R bus
:31 and :51

At first I resigned myself to waiting 30 minutes, so I was happily surprised when the bus arrived shortly after 8:30.

On a semi-related note: with the exception of the few times where I have been caught sitting at County Connection stops, and unceremoniously skipped over, my bus experiences in the East Bay have been excellent. Even though the County Connection headways are always greater than 30 minutes, and easily an hour or more on the weekend, they are always on time for both origin and destination.

And the Clipper was awesome for mode switching: no worries about dollars, quarters, passes, or if I had enough. Automatic recharges let me just tag my wallet and go. Lovin it.

More on the events themselves to follow.

Contra Costa's Measure O Fails

Measure O, a proposal to increase vehicle registration fees by $10 to fund transportation improvements in Contra Costa County, has failed by a margin of 53 - 43%.

Now, no one likes to volunteer to pay more money. But Measure O's failure is disappointing because it represented a chance for greater fiscal conservatism: in the spirit of toll lanes, gas taxes, and the benefits-received principle of taxation, it asked the primary users of our roads to contribute more, and more directly, to maintenance and operating costs.

Most of the opposition to the measure repeated two arguments: the national Republican meme of "it's time for government to live within its means" and the (certainly true) accusation that the measure would fund bus, bike, and pedestrian improvements alongside the road improvements.

And yet, both arguments fail to convince. Let's start with the first one.

Todd Litman, blogging at Planetizen, (via Streetsblog), provides some context, using data from national sources:

According to the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, in 2008 U.S. motorists spent on average approximately $2,700 per vehicle on ownership expenses (purchase, registration, insurance, etc.) and $1,400 on fuel and oil, about $4,100 in total. That year, governments spent $181 billion to build and maintain roadways (more if you include traffic services such as policing and emergency response), or about $730 annually per registered motor vehicle. Less than half of these roadway expenses are paid by motor vehicle user fees, the rest are borne through general taxes. ... A typical urban parking space costs $5,000 to $25,000 to construct, resulting in $500 to $1,500 in annualized construction and operating costs.

The conclusion here is that, on average, motorist-funded monies like the gas tax and vehicle registration fees only cover a portion of the actual costs of expanding, operating, and maintaining the infrastructure necessary for automobile use in the United States. In this light, Measure O would appear to be an excellent way to fulfill exactly what its detractors are saying: live within your means.

And with regard to using a vehicle tax to fund multi-modal transportation, Measure O's detractors had this to say in their official voter information document:

The 21% [of Contra Costa Transportation Authority's spending plan] allocated to "Transit for Congestion Relief" also funds "rapid bus facilities" and "express and feeder bus service."

Another 8% of Measure O's spending exclusively funds "Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety and Access."

How this became part of the anti-O argument is hard to figure. Road advocates are too often locked into a mentality that sees more roads as the only route to congestion relief. Yet increasing road capacity only provides a greater incentive to drive--a phenomena known as induced demand that has been well documented by prominent sources. More roads encourage more driving.

On the contrary, improving bus, bike, and pedestrian infrastructure is likely to reduce traffic by providing people with other ways of traveling. The issue at hand is incentives, and allocating them to boost and reduce demand as needed in order to ensure an evenly used and fluid transportation network. One local success in this area is Bay Bridge congestion pricing, where tolls are raised during rush hour to encourage discretionary travelers to drive during less trafficked times of day. The incentive has largely worked: the time to reach the toll plaza has halved, and despite a drop in carpoolers, BART ridership has increased. (For a list of Transportation Demand Management strategies, check out the TDM Encyclopedia at the Victoria Policy Institute.)

Opponents of Measure O who are looking for better and less congested roads just missed a chance at having just that. While it may seem counterintuitive, asking drivers to pay for services received, and using portions of that revenue to boost the growth of buses and bike lanes will actually benefit drivers, and everybody in the network.

On Wishing Joyful Prosperity to East Bay Public Transit

Today Annie and all others who have sung about the promise of tomorrow found their promises bear fruit. Ah, the bounty of the difference a day's time makes!

Got to an 8:45 meeting at 8:44--CCCTA got me to BART right on time, and BART to Montgomery.

After work, took BART back, and then the bus to the Danville library. Sweet. After tutoring my young charge, I walked to the bus station, expecting to wait 20-30 minutes. No sooner had I about-faced to keep wary lookout for my 40-foot steed, than did I be-spy its approach. Sweet nectar beauty pure.

On Wishing Death to East Bay Public Transit

Today, I wish death, blight and pestilence on East Bay Public Transit.

BART fared me well when I boarded at 16th and Mission. I had a 2:45pm bus to catch in Walnut Creek, and had finally caught a train that would assuredly deliver me on time. The driver/intercom voice was peppy, and enthused that we would be going full speed through the Berkeley Hills tunnel.

At Orinda station, the time was 2:25 and I was blissfully reading when Mr. Intercom Voice announced that due to track repairs, we would hold at Lafayette station for 15 minutes. Snap--that's gonna make it tight, but we should still arrive at 2:40. Pulled out of the station at 2:40, and halfway to WC we came to a stop. Construction debris on the tracks. Mr. Intercom Voice gave us the color commentary as the train powered down to let workers onto the track to clear the shiz out of the way.

"The workers are right in front of me ... we should be up and running soon ... Sorry the AC is off, folks, but we had to power down so they can clear the debris ... It's about halfway cleared ..."

Question 1) Can't they do this track maintenance at night? You know, when no trains are running?
Question 2) You're doing track maintenance, which is a good and worthy thing (PG&E, take a bow), but you need a place to put, I don't know, brush that you've cleared, or extra concrete trench plates: why in the blue blistering blazes would you put that junk on the set of working train tracks?

I missed the bus. I grabbed my transfer, and walked into Walnut Creek to get some grub. I returned to the nearest bus stop at 3:40, sat down, and took out my book. After each paragraph I glanced up to look for the bus, and maybe the 15th or 16th time I did this, I looked up to see the bus drive past.

As Gob Bluth would say, "C'MON!"

I ran about a block, but without my bike I was neutered, powerless. The bus hit a green light and was gone.

Steaming, I walked to the next bus stop and sat down and read for another hour. This time I stood and was waiting for the bus so there would be no mistake. I boarded, and gave the driver my pass and my transfer card.

"Sorry, this is no good."

"What?!"

"Transfers are only good at the BART station."

"But I walked here from BART! Look at the time, 2 hours ago!"

"Well, you'll have to give them a call to tell them that."

What a ridiculous policy.

Days like these are why any sufficiently-salaried person in their right mind drives. Transit riders shouldn't have to put up with this garbage.

The CCCTA joins the internet community

With a serious upgrade. I'm almost disappointed I didn't get to formally critique their old website. It was a piece of work--really reminded me of the days when I would ask my parents' permission to "surf the web." You know, 28.8 modems and all.

The new site is a big step toward being taken seriously.

Unsurprisingly, it does not link to their teen outreach video. Probably for the best.

Carless in Suburbia: Reflections

With 3 exceptions* I have not used a car since I moved to Danville on August 12th, 3 weeks ago.

CCCTA service: the morning bus to BART arrives within 2-3 minutes of its stated arrival time, and gets to Walnut Creek around 8 minutes after its scheduled terminus--but for a late morning/late rush hour service, that's pretty good. The MBTA buses in Boston rarely followed the schedule, and only a few buslines had headways small enough to make simply showing up at the bus stop a viable option. You still had to check the schedule.

However, on 4 separate occasions I have had to chase down buses. That's about 25% of the bus trips I've taken. Only one of these was the driver's fault; I detailed this here. While that driver just never stopped, the other 3 occasions came from cutting my BART commute home a bit too close. As in, my BART train arrives at 6:10. Delays of 2-3 minutes, coupled with the afternoon rush hour mass exodus, and sometimes with that pesky addfare, usually mean I arrive in time to see the 6:15 bus pulling out of the bus bay.

Two days ago I ran behind the bus, arms flailing. A week and two days ago I had my bike, and even though there was no bus in sight, I pedaled like the dickens and caught it at its 3rd stop. Two weekends ago I biked alongside the bus and hopped on at its first stop.

My first takeaway: it helps to be young and fleet of foot. Second: there are significant convenience trade-offs. I enjoy adding an extra half hour to my commute to snooze or read, but that's how much longer the bus takes. Convenience trade-off corollary: missing the bus = 30 minute wait. Hence all that durned bus chasing.

*Driving my sister to Oregon for her senior year of college, family trip to visit grandmother in Mountain View, and picking up two large deep dish pizzas. Bike rack will need some mods before I'll trust it to safely handle the divinity of Zachary's Pizza.

Public Transit Teen Outreach!

Mega awesome cringeworthy stuff from CCCTA's teen outreach youtube video. Skip to :50, and then let it unfold.

This is their publicity video, and the only reason the protagonist is using CCCTA services is because her car has been forcibly taken from her. A ringing endorsement.

The barriers to use are pretty astounding as well--in this utopian vision, one must call a bus dispatcher/operator for instructions re bus stops and schedules. From there, the video totally loses the plot: carless-girl gets talked into bus riding by her friend, hates it at first, then a guy boards, then carless girl sees a cute guy board, then all of a sudden carless-girl is on the cutting room floor and we're following some fourth guy on  So You Think You Can Drive ... A Bus. Then we're back to carless girl, who is batting eyelashes and saying things like "OMG, I thought everyone on this bus would be like, zombies! But they're totally normal!" Cue zombie dream sequence!

All the teens that meet on the bus eventually invite each other to the movies, and start talking about the depleted ozone layer.

The whole shebang is actually 3 or 4 videos medley'd together that would certainly shine brighter on their own as part of a more concerted publicity campaign. The teen who gets sucked into riding the bus, but sorta likes it. The kid who learns what it takes to drive a 40 footer. The earth-first message. The snazzy fast-cut edits of the bus/fleet hardware. They all mean well, but lumped together it's low hanging fruit on the tree of trying too hard.

My first date with the CCCC

Start point: Danville.

End point: Concord.

By car: about 25 minutes, according to google maps.

By public transit: "Your search for transit directions from Danville, CA 94526 to Concord, CA 94520 appears to be outside our current coverage area. Please consult our list of participating public transit agencies."

Well, shucks. Such is life in Contra County--our bus service is small fry. Google knows data for BART, Muni, all the main ferry lines (4 of them, apparently), AC Transit (Berkeley/Oakland bus service), Caltrain, and the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority. Ouch. Can't really call it a snub, just a reminder that suburban public transit is way off of everyone's radars. Because it has a teeny mode split.

I left home at 1:35pm to catch the 1:57 96X CCCC bus. It hits 5 stops around the massive Bishop Ranch office complex, and then runs express to Walnut Creek BART. It takes 27 minutes, way better than non-express route, which takes 50 minutes.

I got to the San Ramon Valley Transit Center, and sat on a bench in front of the 96X bus bay. The bench was full, so I pulled out a book. When I saw the bus rounding the corner, I stashed my read, and watched the bus slow down, and then mosey right past us.

Whaa?

I wondered if it would stop on the opposite side of the platform as it made a U-turn, but no. And so, like Odysseus and so many other voyagers and setback magnets, I took off in heady pursuit.

Though doggedly I wove the parked cars, I failed to overtake the bus at its first stop. I veered nor'westerly, hoping to shave time with my hypotenuse strategem. (On the map, note the green shrubbery I plowed through to access Norris Canyon Road.) Once upon the open road, I set my jaw and cranked the pedals in pure pursuit. This being in the thick of a mega-office park, there are traffic lights that regulate frequent, and underused, access/egress points to parking lots. (Well, the lights do good business from 8-9am and 4:30-5:30pm, go figure). A red at one of these allowed me to sail past my quarry, and alight at the sheltered bus stop, where I waved and gesticulated to catch the driver's attention. I dropped down the bike rack, popped my Trek atop it, and, satisfied at my handiwork, entered the vehicle.

Me: You didn't stop at the transit center!
Bus driver: Really?
Me: Yeah, I had to chase you down.
Bus driver: Oh!

He wasn't the talkative type, so I sat down.

Even though the bus's acceleration felt more like cheese softening than pistons churning, we made it to the Walnut Creek BART. (I'll have to do a separate post on bus decor, believe me, there are some toothsome features to discuss). Alighted in Concord, rode past the incredibly pleasant Todos Santos Plaza, and found the doctor's office. No bike rack, no sweat: locked it to a U-shaped utility meter. Strode into the waiting room like Scipio into Carthage, announced my name, and thrilled to the reply: "We do not have any appointments scheduled for this afternoon."

So maybe more Clark Griswold than Scipio. The profusely apologetic secretary did not put me in the official datebook, so chalk it up to clerical error. Under most other circumstances, I would have felt sorely inconvenienced. But as it stood, the spirit of adventure coated me like teflon. (ftw, simile, ftw) And how curious that a car trip, for all its convenience, usually generates greater disappointment when errands go bust. Expectations matter: a car, and the way it shrinks maps, can come freighted with the assumption that everything else mold to your schedule and your fancy. Like all those astronomers who were bummed and incensed that the Earth was not the center of the universe, my experiences as a driver tell me how seductive self-centrality can be. Construction delays, detours, an errant secretary, or a sold-out shelf, are, I suspect, affronts to the driver's expectation of "me first."

I should note here that this may be empty theorizing. Try telling the above to someone who takes critical time off of work to use snail pace transit for an important errand, all in vain. Higher stakes. Cars are still a privilege; I guess what I'm trying to say is that projecting that privileged convenience and service into other arenas is ... slippery.

In any case, I rode back to Todos Santos Plaza, circumnavigated it, and bought a smoothie from Panama Red's. I set off for BART, Oakland, and a night of beer, fried meats, and an outdoor movie.

On the CCCTA and the CCCC

The Contra Costa County Connection is the multi-syllabic bus service for Contra Costa County and its accompanying transit authority (CCCTA). It has 11 jurisdictions: the cities of Clayton, Concord, Lafayette, Martinez, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, Walnut Creek; the towns of Danville and Moraga; and the unincorporated areas of central Contra Costa County

Here's some more quantitative info from their website:

CCCTA DEMOGRAPHIC SNAPSHOT

• 77% OF CCCTA RIDERS ARE TRANSIT DEPENDENT
• 60% OF CCCTA RIDERS ARE MINORITIES
• 48% OF CCCTA RIDERSHIP IS OF LOW INCOME EARNING $25,000 OR LESS
• SERVICE AREA: 200 SQUARE MILES
• SERVICE AREA POPULATION: 482,400
• PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET FY2010: FIXED ROUTE - $25,575,341 PARATRANSIT - $5,150,751
• ANNUAL RIDERSHIP: 5 MILLION (FIXED-ROUTE AND PARATRANSIT)
• FLEET SIZE: 131 FULLY ACCESSIBLE BUSES 63 PASSENGER VANS (PARATRANSIT) 

The CCCTA likes it some emphatic capslock.

The above CCCTA figures are interesting, but don't really communicate the entire context in which the Authority operates. To demonstrate this in a quick and dirty way, I averaged the median household income and per capita income data from the 2000 Census for Clayton, Concord, Lafayette, Martinez, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, Danville and Moraga (San Ramon didn't have any data on wikipedia, shame). I also tossed in some similarly quickndirty ridership tallies:

48 percent of CCCTA riders earn less this amount: $25,000
Average per capita income for cities in service area: $44,000
Average median household income for cities in service area: $101,943
Percent of CCCTA riders that are minorities: 60
Average percent of total population for cities in service area that are minorities: 18.2*
Annual CCCTA ridership: 5 million
Averaged daily ridership: 13,698 (commuters probably spike this tally higher on weekdays and lower on weekends)
Annual Average Daily Traffic on I-680 @ CA 24: 219,000 vehicles
Averaged daily CCCTA ridership as a percent of service area total population: 2.83%

*includes San Ramon

I'm no statistician, so maybe averaging averages and averaging medians is a big no-no, but you get the gist. A wealthy area, where the wealthy never see the poor because the mode share self-sorts by income. A wealthy area, where small numbers of low-income people of color are served in high numbers by bus service. CCCTA isn't the only agency in this position, nor is Contra Costa the only county or region with such disparities.

One of the bottom lines here is that providing quality transit is a social justice issue. More on this anon.