Beyond the Bay

Even-Kheeled Thoughts

Posted by Eric ⋅ 31 January 2008 ⋅ 3 Comments

Despite the most recent furor about eliminating all fares on San Francisco Muni, the Chronicle recently reported the completely unsurprising result that fare-free Muni would be, to say the least, a poor idea. The faulty underlying supposition was that in light of the fare evasion problem, Muni might not be collecting much more money in … Continue reading →

BRT in Action

Posted by Eric ⋅ 28 January 2008 ⋅ 5 Comments

BRT in action. Naysayers who claim that building dedicated BRT lanes will only increase traffic without removing cars off the road need look no further than Bogotá, Colombia, to see the difference that cost-effective but well-planned transit investments can make. TransMilenio, Bogotá’s BRT system, on average moves over twice as fast as Muni and carries … Continue reading →

At Least Beijing Can Do It

Posted by Eric ⋅ 22 October 2007 ⋅ 7 Comments

The Overhead Wire and the Live from the Third Rail blogs report the news that urban planners in Beijing have approved planning permission for six new subway lines that will begin construction by the end of the year, to be completed in 2012. From China View: The six new lines – the No. 6, 8 … Continue reading →

Paris to London in Two Hours

Posted by Eric ⋅ 13 September 2007 ⋅ 3 Comments

Well, not exactly two hours, but pretty darn close. Last week, on September 4, a Eurostar train zipped from Gare du Nord station in Paris, sped underneath the English Channel, and finally ended at St. Pancras in London — a 306 mile-long route — in just 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 39 seconds, drawing these … Continue reading →

Stopping this New Start

Posted by Eric ⋅ 12 September 2007 ⋅ Leave a comment

The Overhead Wire has a great post up about some mischief lurking in the halls of Congress concerning funding for transit projects around the nation. Currently, the New and Small Starts program provides funding for fixed guideway transit — rail projects, but now also bus rapid transit. However, the Federal Transit Administration has issued a … Continue reading →

Honeymoon on Amtrak

Posted by Eric ⋅ 24 August 2007

Let’s say you walk down the aisle, express lifetime devotion and commitment to your sweetheart, and then you wonder to yourself: where do we go for the honeymoon? Sure, you could try for the clichéd (and environmentally unfriendly) flight to Hawai’i to laze around on sparkling beaches and stare at palm trees waving in tropical … Continue reading →