Peninsula Moves!

By WIll Reisman, @WillReisman

Talks Getting Serious For Adding Second BART Transbay Tube: Like Caltrain, BART is experiencing record ridership growth, a development that is significantly taxing its system. To alleviate some of the congestion, the agency is considering adding a second Transbay tube to connect the East Bay with San Francisco and points south. While the ambitious project is still in its infancy—it may be “30 to 50 years off”, according to BART planners—it does have the backing of several major players in the Bay Area, most notably San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. He said he’s committed to exploring funding options for the second tube, which will gain further importance once high-speed rail is introduced to the region.

Public Transportation Was Made for Events Like This: The fourth annual Bay Area Brew Festival will take place this Saturday at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Patrons who want to enjoy the dozens of international and domestic beers (and a vast array of food trucks) can do so without worrying about the drive home. Caltrain can get event-goers to downtown San Francisco, where they can connect with Muni for public transit service to the festival. That transit combination makes for hassle-free, reliable and safe option for festival-goers.

Meet Officials From the California State Transportation Agency: As part of Governor Jerry Brown’s restructuring initiative, the California State Transportation Agency was formed on July 1, 2013. Branded CalSTA, the new agency oversees entities like Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol, and the California High Speed Rail Authority. On Friday, SPUR—a public policy think-tank located in San Francisco—will host a forum featuring members from CalSTA, who will describe how the state have reinvented its transportation agency. The meeting is at 12:30, at SPUR’s headquarters on Mission Street, which is easily accessible from Muni and BART.

In Case You Missed This: Eclipse, a black lab-mastiff mix who lives in Seattle, has mastered the city’s public transportation system. Every day, she boards the bus outside of her owner’s apartment, licks a few seat covers, roams the aisle a bit and then gets off at her regular stop, which is, of course, a dog park. A longtime patron of public transit, Eclipse and her owner, Jeff Young, use the bus system to navigate through Seattle. One afternoon, Eclipse got a little antsy and hopped on the bus while Young was having a cigarette break. Despite flying solo, Eclipse knew exactly where to get off, and reconciled with Young at the park. Since then, she’s had carte blanche access to the bus system.