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That's awesome. Every time I travel abroad, I'm always in awe of functional public transit (well, before COVID anyways, until that's over I'm staying put. It's

That's awesome. Every time I travel abroad, I'm always in awe of functional public transit (well, before COVID anyways, until that's over I'm staying put. It's not like anyone is itching to allow Americans into their country considering just how astonishingly poorly we've handled it). I'd really love for the pressure against public transportation in the United States to abate - from auto industry lobbyists to the public view that owning a car is a status symbol and that only "poor" people take public transit. My parents spent many years living just outside the SF Bay Area and their town can't get mass transit access because Livermore refuses to have a BART stop in their town because of the "bad actors" (read: poor people) it could bring in. Livermore even went so far as to design all of their new bridges to get in the way of the center-of-highway BART tracks. Anyone further down I-580 Eastbound be damned. I traveled across Japan and Germany completely on mass transit (buses, subways, high speed rail, walking), there were only a few places I would've preferred to have a car for. If I were using it for work travel, I'd much rather take a train and pull out a laptop and do something than have to drive, maybe even just enjoy the view.

brdd 6y ago
Do you have a source for Livermore designing their bridges to specifically prevent BART expansion? I'm a transit nerd and I find this to be stunning, but I Googled around and couldn't find anything corroborating that
volkl48 6y ago
That seems.....like a very incorrect take? ------------ Bridges in Livermore look to be of similar design to what exists on the section where BART does run, the center posts are not an issue, and there are center posts on every overpass of the BART tracks. Look at the overpasses to the east/west of the current terminus, for example. Livermore's government has been advocating for bringing BART service further, has been frustrated by BART shooting down the extension proposal: https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/liv https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/liv Further, after the extension proposal was shot down, they were the ones that pushed for the creation of a new transit entity to build a connecting service, and have been a substantial portion of what's pushing the project forward. And it's planned to run on I-580 in Livermore, so clearly they don't seem to think the bridges are a problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-Valley-San_Joaquin_Valley_Regional_Rail_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-Valley-San_Joaquin_Valley_... https://www.valleylinkrail.com/ https://www.valleylinkrail.com/ None of their actions seem to be transit-hostile to me.
- masonic 6y ago
  It's not only false, it's offensive. Livermore, like the rest of the 680 corridor in Alameda county, has been paying full BART taxes for two generations with no service.
floatrock 6y ago
> Livermore even went so far as to design all of their new bridges to get in the way of the center-of-highway BART tracks. Anyone further down I-580 Eastbound be damned. Wow, really? If true, that's some straight up Robert Moses level racial tactics. Here's a softer take on Robert Moses' racially-segregating road building for those not steeped in NYC / Long Island lore: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-09/robert-moses-and-his-racist-parkway-explained https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-09/robert-mo...
warmwaffles 6y ago
> I'd really love for the pressure against public transportation in the United States to abate Biggest issue is that America is so vast. Take for instance where I live. I am 15 minutes by car (going about 55mph) from anywhere. Public transport is only feasible in heavily populated areas.
TheBigSalad 6y ago
Here in Boston mostly wealthy or single people take the subway. Poor people and middle class families can't afford to live close enough. It used to be the other way around.

brdd 6y ago

Do you have a source for Livermore designing their bridges to specifically prevent BART expansion? I'm a transit nerd and I find this to be stunning, but I Googled around and couldn't find anything corroborating that

volkl48 6y ago

That seems.....like a very incorrect take? ------------ Bridges in Livermore look to be of similar design to what exists on the section where BART does run, the center posts are not an issue, and there are center posts on every overpass of the BART tracks. Look at the overpasses to the east/west of the current terminus, for example. Livermore's government has been advocating for bringing BART service further, has been frustrated by BART shooting down the extension proposal: https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/liv https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/liv Further, after the extension proposal was shot down, they were the ones that pushed for the creation of a new transit entity to build a connecting service, and have been a substantial portion of what's pushing the project forward. And it's planned to run on I-580 in Livermore, so clearly they don't seem to think the bridges are a problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-Valley-San_Joaquin_Valley_Regional_Rail_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-Valley-San_Joaquin_Valley_... https://www.valleylinkrail.com/ https://www.valleylinkrail.com/ None of their actions seem to be transit-hostile to me.

masonic 6y ago
It's not only false, it's offensive. Livermore, like the rest of the 680 corridor in Alameda county, has been paying full BART taxes for two generations with no service.

floatrock 6y ago

> Livermore even went so far as to design all of their new bridges to get in the way of the center-of-highway BART tracks. Anyone further down I-580 Eastbound be damned. Wow, really? If true, that's some straight up Robert Moses level racial tactics. Here's a softer take on Robert Moses' racially-segregating road building for those not steeped in NYC / Long Island lore: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-09/robert-moses-and-his-racist-parkway-explained https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-09/robert-mo...

warmwaffles 6y ago

> I'd really love for the pressure against public transportation in the United States to abate Biggest issue is that America is so vast. Take for instance where I live. I am 15 minutes by car (going about 55mph) from anywhere. Public transport is only feasible in heavily populated areas.

TheBigSalad 6y ago

Here in Boston mostly wealthy or single people take the subway. Poor people and middle class families can't afford to live close enough. It used to be the other way around.