7.5.2023 ff, Φ SF Bay Area transport issues

Impressions concerning transport issues in the SF Bay Area:

(1) Walking & multiple use

• SF Bay trail, Richmond Bay trail: „Common ground“, „Share the path“; cf. 9.5.2023, 10.5.2023
• Wildcat Canyon multipurpose trail; cf. 24.5.2023
• Richmond / Pogo Park: Yellow Brick Road; cf. 10.5.2023

(2) Cycling

• City of Berkeley: Bike boulevards, https://berkeleyca.gov/city-services/getting-around/walking-and-biking/bike-boulevards: … streets that have been identified as optimal routes for cyclists. These streets discourage cut-through vehicle traffic and prioritize through-traffic by bicycle … https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/Bicycle-Boulevard-Design-Tools-and-Guidelines.pdf: Wilbur Smith Associates (2000): Bicycle Boulevard Design Tools and Guidelines. Prepared for City of Berkeley, Planning and Development Department, Advance Planning Division. Approved by City Council on April 4, 2000, Resolution No. 60,503-N.S.
• „Save Hopkins“ – „Friends of Hopkins Street“, https://savehopkins.org/: … educational and advocacy group formed by and for Hopkins Street residents, neighbors, business owners … The city was proposing a two-way, Class IV (physically separated) bicycle track along the entirety of Hopkins Street … this proposal in this setting is dangerous and inconsistent with the city’s own plan …
• Berkeley – Cycling, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley,_California (18.3.2023): Berkeley … one of the highest rates of bicycle and pedestrian commuting in the nation … the safest city of its size in California for pedestrians and cyclists, considering the number of injuries per pedestrian and cyclist, rather than per capita … Berkeley has modified its original grid roadway structure through use of diverters and barriers, moving most traffic out of neighborhoods and onto arterial streets … maintains a separate grid of arterial streets for bicycles, called Bicycle Boulevards, with bike lanes and lower amounts of car traffic … Bicycle and pedestrian paths: Ohlone Greenway … San Francisco Bay Trail … Berkeley I-80 bridge – opened in 2002, an arch-suspension bridge spanning Interstate 80, for bicycles and pedestrians only, giving access from the city at the foot of Addison Street to the San Francisco Bay Trail, the Eastshore State Park and the Berkeley Marina … Berkeley has a network of historic pathways that link the winding neighborhoods found in the hills and offer panoramic lookouts over the East Bay …

(3) Scooters

(4) Public transport

• Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) (April 2023ff): Realign Plan, www.actransit.org/press-release/ac-transit-realign-plan-survey-now-underway: … a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessment of every bus line within our service network … there has been a paradigm shift in public transit travel patterns in the wake of the pandemic, which has cut AC Transit’s ridership almost in half and led to significant budget shortfalls … we must analyze every mile of where our service is currently operating; better understand the mobility needs …; and ultimately, how to realign bus lines against a backdrop of bus operator shortages and dwindling funds … will also record and incorporate the personal and detailed experiences of riders through a comprehensive survey, public meetings, and one-on-one conversations created in partnership with community-based organizations …
• UCB „Loop“, https://dac.berkeley.edu/services/mobility-accommodations/loop-golf-cart: a golf cart that provides intra-campus rides for eligible faculty, staff, and students with disabilities … This service was created to assist students with mobility disabilities (including temporary disability as a result of injury) and visual impairments … It has since has extended to serve disabled staff and vistors, and to run during additional hours and times of the year …
• San Francisco, Salesforce Park: sitting above a major bus transit center; cf. 18.5.2023.

(5) Other issues

• Kiwibots on UCB campus. Carolyn Said (2019_05_26): Kiwibots win fans at UC Berkeley as they deliver fast food at slow speeds. www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Kiwibots-win-fans-at-UC-Berkeley-as-they-deliver-13895867.php: Four-wheeled, cooler-size Kiwibots are a familiar sight at UC Berkeley as they ferry burritos, Big Macs and bubble tea to students … overall, Berkeley has been a welcoming test bed for the fleet of up to 40 robots that have permission to operate on the campus and nearby neighborhoods.