In the beginning . . .. my wife and I were concerned about the
construction of four grade separation projects in Menlo Park. Then
we were concerned about the development of the California High Speed
train running up the rail corridor. That was followed by our concern
about rail corridor safety, quiet zones and safety zones for our
city. Most recently, I got all wrapped up with the CETS issue.
(That's not going to go anywhere.) A common theme running through
all of these phenomena is our lack of understanding the "big
picture." We were looking at the trees and failed to see the forest.

As they say, we get too soon old and too late smart. Fortunately, we
are still learning.

 From now on, our focus ought to be on urban rapid mass transit as a
complex integrated system for the Bay Area. As we said somewhat
earlier, we were dramatically impacted by a lecture in Redwood City
given earlier this year by Alan Hoffman.
<http://www.missiongrouponline.com/> He made the absolutely
compelling point that urban transit is not merely about railroads, or
buses, or trolleys. It's about getting from point A to point B and
doing so quickly and conveniently.

We have continuously pointed out that Caltrain does not understand
what business it is in. They think they are in the railroad business
when they should be in the urban mass transit business. (Ditto
Dumbarton) To the degree that Caltrain is making efforts to link its
rail service with other modes of travel, such as buses and light
rail, they are on the right track, so to speak.

What all this means for us is a change of focus. Those of you who
respond with your comments, criticism and corrections are of great
help and I appreciate that. I look forward to more of it. It's not
my intention to ignore all the prior concerns, but to change our
perspective and framework. We want to look at what will benefit
Menlo Park, San Mateo County, the Peninsula and the Bay Area
regarding the transportation needs of our community.

For further developments, watch this space!

Here's an example:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A lot of mass in mass transit
Bishop Ranch center celebrates its 2 millionth rider
By Eric Kurhi, MEDIANEWS STAFF
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:03/31/2007 07:30:17 AM PDT

SAN RAMON - A successful mass transit program working to get office
park employees out of cars and onto buses now boasts a claim usually
reserved for fast food chains: over 2 million served.
The Bishop Ranch Transportation Center announced this month that they
have provided that many rides - almost enough to give one lift to
each resident of Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose combined.
It took eight years to board our first million passengers and only
41/2 years to board the second million, said Marci McGuire, manager
of the transportation center.
All employees at the office park are eligible for free ridership on
the buses that connect with other transit hubs, including the Dublin
and Walnut Creek BART stations. One line runs up through the rapidly
expanding Dougherty Valley. Another runs all the way to Walnut Creek
without getting on the highway.
About 4,000 free passes are given out a year, McGuire said. Theyre
good for six months at a time, with re-enlistment at the end of
February and March.
The phones been ringing off the hook all day, McGuire said Friday.
People forget, or put it off until the last minute.
A 2006 survey found that 35 percent of the 30,000 employees at Bishop
Ranch use public transit, ride-share or bicycle to get to work. Out
of the bus riders, 70 percent drove to work solo before taking
advantage of the bus system.
While the number of cars removed from the road has a definite effect
on traffic congestion, most former drivers joined the program because
it saves money and is less stressful than driving, according to the
survey.
And McGuire said it definitely helps feed their pocketbooks - on
average, riders save about $1,000 a year.
To celebrate the 2 million milestone, they decided to reward one
lucky rider with $250 and a commemorative certificate. But figuring
out who that rider was proved to be problematic.
We don't have everybody micro-chipped, McGuire said. We had to do a
lottery for all the people who had bus passes in the period (we hit 2
million).
McGuire said the program will continue to evolve, both with the
office park and the surrounding area.
A plan to build a City Center next to Bishop Ranch will require some
additional service, McGuire said, and a new BARTstation in Dublin,
closer than the current one, also will affect the transit routes.
McGuire said shes encouraged by the fact that interest - and
ridership - has been increasing each year.
Were doing something right and passengers love it, she said.

For more information about the Bishop Ranch Transportation Center,
visit http://www.bishopranch.com/transportation/

Contact Eric Kurhi at (925) 847-2184 or ekurhi@cctimes.com.

Here's another:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time to overhaul VTA's structure
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal - March 30, 2007

The Valley Transportation Authority certainly has a lot of problems.
And a change in structure seems a good first step in finding
solutions.

A stinging independent audit found that the VTA had a host of
financial and governance troubles: insufficient funds for many of its
approved projects, including BART; insufficient allocations to make
sure its buses and light rail are kept in good repair and a lack of
basic cash flow information, as board members continued to float
bonds that may be unnecessary. The consultants from the Hay Group
also found that decisions were made for political rather than
ridership reasons, and concluded that the VTA has lost its regional
focus and strayed from its core business.

(Hello, Caltrain and San Mateo County, are you listening?)

-- 
**********************
Martin Engel
1621 Stone Pine Lane
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650:323-1670
martinengel@earthlink.net
**********************