News, Views and Analysis from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments
AAA is projecting 54.3 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving, a 4.8 percent increase over last year. Read More
Honoring the internet tradition of "Throwback Thursday" or #TBT, this blog looks back at one of the more entertaining transportation-related pranks in the region: the Golden Gate Tunnel. Read More
Forbes has an interesting article on how people listen to music in their cars or while ridesharing. Read More
A group of Bay Area agencies that provide bus transit throughout the region are showing a downward trend in ridership. Read More
Faster commutes, fewer accidents and reduced emissions are some of the benefits of all-electronic tolling, now being discussed by officials with the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA). Read More
The red-hot Golden State Warriors celebrated their third NBA Championship in four years with another mammoth crowd in downtown Oakland on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. People came from all across the San Francisco Bay Area to celebrate, with many arriving on BART. In this video, Mark Jones talks to riders about the numerous advantages of taking public transportation to participate in the festivities. Read More
Regional Measure 3 (RM 3), a sweeping $4.45 billion package of congestion relief projects, appears headed for a win after a combined majority of Bay Area voters decided to raise tolls on the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges during yesterday’s election.
Tolls will now be raised by a total of $3 over the next seven years to finance a suite of transit, highway and bike/pedestrian improvements across the region. Continue reading on to see a snapshot of the election results by county, as well a map of RM 3 projects and the RM 3 expenditure plan. Read More
[This post is adapted from a news release on MTC's website. For more information, contact: Colin Heyne, San José DOT, at 408-975-3705 or Julie Wood, Motivate/Ford GoBike, at 917-282-5840.]
Beginning June 13, North San José residents and employees will have easier access to Ford GoBike’s bike share system. The 200 new dockless bikes will have a rear-wheel lock that allows them to be parked outside of a dock — anywhere a bicycle can responsibly be parked, including at a public bike rack or out of the way of pedestrians on the sidewalk. The new technology makes the service available to a larger community of potential bike share users.
Ford GoBike partnered with the City of San José and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to launch its docked system in downtown San José in 2017. The new expansion makes bikes available to a greater number of users, while the dockless technology means more destinations can be reached using the system. The service area is bounded roughly by the Guadalupe River to the west, Coyote Creek to the east, the South Bay Freeway to the north and Trimble Road to the south. Read More
New BART service to Antioch is finally here. But how does it work? In this video, Mark Jones walks through a trip to and from San Francisco to give commuters a feel for what travel is like on the new high tech, clean diesel trains. Read More
[This post is adapted from a web story on MTC's site.]
A ribbon-cutting celebration was held Friday, May 26, for BART’s newest addition, the BART to Antioch extension.
Elected officials and BART representatives joined hundreds of community members for the ceremony outside of the new Antioch Station, one day before the official start of the clean, modern and fast service, which relies on Diesel Multiple Units, or DMU train cars. After the ceremony, guests were treated to free rides on the new line.
“East County residents now have an environmentally friendly, comfortable and state-of-the-art commute option,” said BART Director Joel Keller, who serves East Contra Costa County and is among the local leaders who were instrumental in getting the extension built. “The BART to Antioch extension will carry as many people as an additional lane of Highway 4 and will reduce vehicle miles traveled by 99 million per year.” The extension is predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 260,000 pounds a day.
Keep reading on to find out more about this exciting development in regional transportation. Read More