Peninsula Moves!

By Will Reisman, @WillReisman

Transit Operators Adjust Schedules for Thanksgiving Holidays: The Bay Area’s local transportation agencies will be adjusting their service for the Thanksgiving holiday this Thursday. SamTrans and Caltrain will operate on their Sunday schedules on Thursday, with Caltrain operating 32 trains and providing shuttle service south of San Jose. On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Caltrain will run a Saturday schedule, which includes 36 trains and four Baby Bullet lines. Muni, BART, AC Transit and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority will also run Sunday schedules on Thanksgiving, meaning later start times and less-frequent service. Golden Gate transit buses will be operating on a Holiday schedule and the ferry system will not be in service on the Thanksgiving holiday.

Annual Tree Lighting Event Set for Friday in Union Square: More than 30,000 twinkling lights and 1,000 ornaments will be aglow and on display Friday night in San Francisco, as part of Macy’s 26^th annual Tree Lighting ceremony. The towering tree will be unveiled at 6 p.m. at its iconic location in Union Square. The pop singer Jordin Sparks will be on hand to entertain the crowds, and she’ll get support from Vocal Rush of the Oakland School of the Arts, the Transcendence Theatre Company and the Contra Costa Children’s Chorus. Caltrain will be running a Saturday schedule on the day after Thanksgiving, so passengers coming from the Peninsula will have hourly service to San Francisco. Once at the San Francisco Caltrain Station, they can transfer to Muni’s 30 and 45 bus lines for direct service to Union Square.

Christmas in the Park Begins This Week in San Jose: San Francisco won’t be the only spot in the Bay Area celebrating the start of the Christmas season this week. San Jose residents will also kick off their annual Christmas in the Park revelry with a special Tree Lighting Ceremony on Friday at 6 p.m. That event, which will feature the Archbishop Mitty High School Marching Band and a special performance from the Tabard Theatre, is the start of a month of festivities at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose. Between now and the end of the year, the park will be the site for  a Dog Day, a Stuff the Bus charity event that’s part of the Toys for Tots campaign, a breakfast with Santa, and other holiday festivities. Residents travelling to the various events will get a yuletide transportation treat from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which will operate its historic “Holly Trolley” service to and from the park site during the holiday season.