May 2, 2022What Makes Caltrain GreatHear it From a Rider — For those of us living in the Bay Area, there is often a feeling that public transit sucks and is a failure because there are so many agencies, necessitating endless transfers and high fares. …Caltrain4 min readCaltrain4 min read
Apr 13, 2022A Perspective on BARTFor many people, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, popularly known as BART, is, rightfully so, a source of confusion. They expect that for a city like San Francisco, the subway system should be bigger. They question why San Francisco only has four stops in the Central Business District. Many…Public Transit6 min readPublic Transit6 min read
Apr 13, 2022The Astonishing Reimagining of SamtransThe San Mateo County-based system is setting the standard for resource allocation in transit planning — In mega regions in the U.S., it can be very easy to lose sight of the smaller, more suburbanized bus systems. Indeed, such systems rarely exist around the U.S. as large agencies assume more control of regional areas. The Bay Area’s nearly 30 separate agencies make the region unique, and…Bus5 min readBus5 min read
Mar 15, 2022The Bay Area’s Most Important Rail CorridorIt’s not Caltrain Though I expect to cause controversy when I say this, I can definitively say it’s not Caltrain. Caltrain is great, and prior to the pandemic saw exceptionally high ridership, but the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) also was incredibly successful, and in my opinion, is more important as…Altamont5 min readAltamont5 min read
Jan 24, 2022The Bay Area’s Biggest Double-Edged SwordSpoiler: It’s a Train — Okay. I’ll admit it, this title was meant to reach a wider audience. …Bay Area6 min readBay Area6 min read
Sep 29, 2021The World’s Most Under-Appreciated Transit SystemIt’s probably not what you think — If you ever set foot at a large ski resort, particularly in Europe and the United States, you will almost certainly come into contact with a gondola. Useful for ski resorts, gondolas can carry a high capacity of people per hour over long distances. More importantly, they are critical in…La Paz5 min readLa Paz5 min read
Jul 1, 2021Avelo Airlines is a Solid Low-Cost Carrier$19 one-way fares don’t always equate to a bad flight — Recently my family made the decision that we wanted to pick two days this summer to fly a round trip flight on Avelo Airlines and experience what their $19 fares are all about. It’s worth noting that when it comes to Avelo if you are flying them or looking to…Airlines5 min readAirlines5 min read
Mar 31, 2021Is the San Francisco Central Subway Project Worth It?14 Years After Construction and Yet Still No Vehicles Transverse the Corridor In 2007 the city of San Francisco began a major project to connect Chinatown to the CalTrain 4th & King station through a subway. Fourteen years later in 2021, the city is 4years behind on the project and more than a billion dollars over what its original expected cost was…Transit9 min readTransit9 min read
Mar 31, 2021Proposal: Make San Francisco’s Central Business District Car-FreeWith the Rise of Public Transit and Car-Free Streets, Why Do People Need to Drive to the Central Business District? — San Francisco has an interesting relationship with cars. For decades many people and politicians wanted to have freeways all over the city — case in point Interstate 480. I-480, popularly known as “The Blight by the Bay”, existed in many stages for many years, before the Loma Prieta Earthquake destroyed…Cities5 min readCities5 min read
Mar 31, 2021San Francisco Has a Centralization ProblemConglomeration of Jobs into the City Center is Creating Harsh Transit and Spatial Realities for the City — San Francisco — the city with the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, and Fisherman’s Wharf — what isn’t there to like? Actually quite a lot. San Francisco is an extraordinarily interesting city from a planning perspective. In many ways planners have gotten things right—a sprawling bus system and no…Transit5 min readTransit5 min read
