Transbay Blog

It turns out that Transbay Blog does not excel at taking vacations, since we posted even during our “hiatus.” But in light of the interesting developments that are in store for 2009 on the local, state, and federal levels, this site is returning from hiatus, with the caveat that posts may appear on a somewhat irregular schedule. To make up for somewhat spotty posting during the past couple of months, here is the second installment in our series of track maps, this one focusing on the South Bay; I will probably add more details in the future, so you might consider it a first version. The image at right depicts the intermodal Caltrain/VTA station in downtown Mountain View, extracted from the map. San Jose and its environs possess quite a bit of track used for commuter rail (Caltrain, Capitol Corridor, ACE), freight, and VTA light rail. The map depicts track used by these various systems, with a focus on passenger rail, but select freight track is included to call attention to certain features. The map also includes potential track for the planned BART and light rail extensions, marked lightly in gray so as to not infringe on existing track that is more boldly colored. Since VTA has formally announced its intention to pursue the BART to Silicon Valley extension at the expense of all other Santa Clara County transit projects, we will probably not see both BART and new light rail any time soon. Nonetheless, the extensions are included to illustrate how they connect (or don’t quite connect, as the case may be) to service currently in operation. The map is high resolution and there is quite a bit of white space in places where track is sparse, so you may want to scroll or zoom around to catch the different sections. More detailed notes are included on the map itself, which you can click here to view.

Here’s one from the geek box: not a map of BART routes, but tracks. The image at left of the Oakland Wye, the center of the BART system, is clipped from the track map. This humble effort is not a transcription of any official BART documentation. Rather, it is simply a compilation of memories formed while daydreaming and staring out of train windows (as such, I may find the need to adjust a few things in the future). Lines are color-coded according to whether tracks are elevated, at-grade, or in a tunnel, but for the sake of clarity, some of the very shortest elevation changes have been omitted. The file (PNG format) is high resolution, so you may have to scroll around a bit to see the different branches of the system. The map has been added to the Transit Maps section of the sidebar, or you can click here to see it.

High Speed Rail Interactive Map. One major hurdle to overcome when communicating to voters about the importance of the California High Speed Rail project is lack of familiarity. Unless you are talking to someone who has visited a foreign country and actually ridden a high-speed train, or perhaps to a train geek, it is entirely likely that the phrase “high speed train”, at least in the context of California, could simply bring to mind an Amtrak train that runs a bit more on schedule. Many voters will not realize immediately that high-speed rail — a civilized and just plain cool type of ground transportation that will link California’s cities with a downtown-to-downtown level of connectivity that air travel will never enjoy — is really an entirely different travel mode for the state of California. We have nothing like it here now, so visualizations depicting what the system might look like could be instrumental in bridging the familiarity gap. The High Speed Rail Authority is on it, with its new interactive map of the proposed system. Choose a start point, an end point, and watch the train zip through the countryside, stopping in active, high-density downtown centers. Okay, okay: so the map does mark Pacheco as the default route, though at least with no Los Banos station — but it is still fun to play with. Give it a whirl.
[California High Speed Rail Authority]

Although Google Transit has provided trip planning information and embedded stops/stations for BART, Caltrain, and VTA for quite some time, until now, information for the Bay Area’s most heavily used transit agency — SF Muni, of course — has been noticeably absent, other than marking the subway and accessible surface rail stations. In a press conference yesterday, though, it was announced that at long last, we may enjoy the fruits of a partnership between Google and the SFMTA.

When searching for directions between two locations within San Francisco, the “take public transit” link provides directions using all Muni routes, including buses. And while there are some smaller issues to work out — for example, correct labeling of the K-Ingleside versus the T-Third — it appears to handle transfers between Muni routes and between Muni and BART/Caltrain with relative ease. Trip schedules are based on Muni’s often-fictional timetables, but Google would like to eventually expand the service so that trip routes are calculated on the basis of real-time vehicle information, rather than using static, published schedules. Of course, real-time information is already available locally via NextMuni and NextBus, but Google’s eventual goal would be to use real-time data on its maps for potentially all transit agencies across the nation and beyond, and not just for those that utilize NextBus technology — so real-time integration is on hold. At the moment, the actual locations of San Francisco bus stops are not embedded into the Google Maps, but this feature will hopefully be added soon. Stops would be viewable upon zooming in to the street level, as is the case for BART, Caltrain, VTA, and other agencies around the country.

What does this mean for Transbay Blog’s homegrown, one-man transit mapping project operation? Must The Man always emerge victorious? Seriously, though: while this new feature will certainly save me a lot of work inputting stop information, I do not plan on giving up on this project quite yet. There are still opportunities to use the custom maps as a means of filling in gaps and providing useful information that would not be included in the official Google Maps, and I expect that the project will evolve in this direction. One of my personal favorite features of the transit stop maps is the ability to relate “lay of the land”-style information that does not get reported in standard trip planners — information like Muni Metro accessibility points, and entries and exits to subway stations. Other possibilities include mapping limited bus stops and strategic points to transfer between lines. Lastly, I believe that station guides (with transfers organized by destination, as has been partially implemented on our custom BART map) are a good way to illustrate connections between regional rail and local transit routes. Implementing these features would, of course, require far less time than mapping all stops out from scratch — but they would still supply useful information to ease transit riders’ experiences, particularly when used in conjunction with Google Maps that are filled in with bus stop markers.

Do you have ideas for other supplemental information that is mappable and would be useful in conjunction with an official Google Map of Muni stops? Any impressions about the Google transit directions? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Transit Maps Update: 3-23-2008. As promised, AC Transit has now made its official debut on the transit stop maps with the popular 51 Broadway, along with its late night companion, the 851. Also included is the 54 line, which runs along 35th Avenue in Oakland. As with the other maps, documentation of transfer points is largely complete but still a work in progress. An updated list of all currently available maps can be found on the Bay Area Transit Maps page. Looking ahead to future updates: maps for the remaining Muni Metro lines are well underway, along with a number of crosstown bus routes. Another planned feature for BART and Muni subway stations is an explicit marking of all station entrances, exits, and elevators, so that riders may tailor even more closely their transfers between trains and buses. The map markers for station entrances and exits will likely be accompanied by information on available escalators and stairs.

To start, I would like to wish all readers a happy Pi Day. (This post was published at 1:59 pm with good reason!) But now, onto the real business of this post.

It is hardly news that Bay Area transit websites are, on the whole, rather lackluster. The 511 Transit Planner has the benefit of covering for the Bay Area’s large collection of transit agencies, but it is sometimes slow and unwieldy, or it offers an inadequate trip path that is based on often fictional bus schedules. And no doubt you have run into the highly colorful vomit officially known as the SF Muni System Map, a document that is confusing enough that you practically have to know the whole system in advance just to follow it. I’ve wondered how many potential riders are sufficiently put off by navigating transit websites that they just decide to just drive instead.

What if you don’t want a whole trip planner? Wouldn’t it be nice to just type in your destination address on Google maps, and not only be able to get a feel for the location via Google Street View, but also see the exact corner where you can hop onto the closest accessible transit option? Or, wouldn’t it be nice to click on a train station icon and see a complete listing of all trains and buses — from any transit agency — that you could easily transfer to, and be just one click away from seeing the route of those transfers, with each and every stop mapped out? Why, yes, you might say.

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The Transbay Terminal, dark and uninviting though it may be, is downtown San Francisco’s hub for regional bus lines that connect the city to the counties lying east, south, and north. Many Muni buses also terminate at Transbay, and the terminal is just a short walk from a slew of other bus and train lines running on and under Market Street. As such, you might expect to see many clearly labeled maps of the various services located in or near the terminal, kept meticulously up-to-date, so that riders can make smooth transfers and make their way to their destinations as efficiently as possible.

But hey, this is the Bay Area. Since when has transit here worked the way it should?

Instead of meticulously updated maps, one instead finds a time capsule of sorts, a treasure trove of outdated maps — some rather obscenely so — chronicling a mini-history of service to the Transbay Terminal. The geek in me loves this sort of thing, so here you are reading a post about it. As usual, full-sized versions of all these maps are hosted on my Flickr account, so please click through any image you’d like to see in close-up detail.

One map posted in the Transbay Terminal (pictured at right) shows the entire Bay Area region, clearly displaying our decentralized patchwork quilt of transit agencies. Unfortunately, the design is hideous, and the map doesn’t make particularly clear how one might transfer from system to system, or what the level of coordination is between transfers. In short, the map simultaneously contains too much information and not enough information. It is also shows BART’s terminus on the Peninsula to be Colma, thus not conveying the quite important piece of information that since 2003, BART has terminated at Millbrae, not Colma, and also provides direct service to San Francisco International Airport.

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