Peninsula Moves!

By Will Reisman, @WillReisman

Half Moon Bay Hosts Annual Pumpkin Festival: Fall is back, and so is the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival—an annual showcase for some of the world’s biggest gourds. This year marks the 45^th edition of the classic event, which will take place from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday in downtown Half Moon Bay. Along with the usual assortment of super-sized pumpkins, the festival will feature an array of bands performing live music, arts and crafts exhibitors displaying their wares, and plenty of food and drink options. There will also be the Great Pumpkin Parade on Saturday at noon, plus official weigh-ins throughout the weekend (winner of the largest pumpkin comes home with a cool $30,000.)Traffic to Half Moon Bay can usually be difficult, but with the thousands of folks expected to attend this weekend’s Pumpkin Festival, you can bet that there will be gridlock on Saturday and Sunday. That’s why attendees are being encouraged to take SamTrans to the event. Instead of banging their heads against their steering wheels, event-goers can relax, read a book and enjoy the clean and air-conditioned environs of SamTrans buses, which will provide direct service to the festival. To help accommodate the crowds, SamTrans will be increasing service on its 294 bus line on both Saturday and Sunday.

AC Transit to Host Community Meetings on Service Expansion Plan: AC Transit, the public transportation network for Oakland and large portions of the East Bay, is embarking on its Service Expansion Plan (SEC), an initiative aimed at attracting thousands of new customers to the system. The SEC will improve reliability, increase frequency and hours of service, and improve connections to key destinations and high density neighborhoods. Starting on Tuesday, AC Transit planners will begin hosting community meetings throughout the East Bay to gather feedback from residents on what type of changes they’d like to seen implemented. East Bay residents are encouraged to review, comment and offer feedback on the SEC. The comment period will end on November 9, and the AC Transit Board of Directors will host a public hearing on the plan at its meeting on November 11.