Faster than a speeding Caltrain Faster than a speeding Caltrain (June 11, 2004)

Baby Bullets slash commute times

By Bill D'Agostino

What does 22 minutes mean to you?

If you commute to San Francisco and your daily travel could be slashed by 22 minutes every day, it means a lot. That's 110 fewer minutes a week traveling to work. That's as much as eight more hours a month. It's also 343,000 new seconds a year to use or waste however you choose.

All of that could be yours now that Caltrain has unveiled its 10 new baby bullet trains, which take only 45 minutes from Mountain View to San Francisco.

Transit advocates are hopeful the decrease in travel times, and the increase in the frequency of trains, will lure people out of their cars and onto the trains. But the eight additional monthly hours don't come free, of course. The upgrades to provide that service cost $110 million. Plus, Caltrain riders had to endure no weekend train service for the past two years, a necessary annoyance that ends this weekend.

There could also be a price to some local residents. More trains running faster in some locations and through more stations means increased dangers.

In fairness to history, express trains on the Peninsula are nothing new. In 1940, for instance, one Southern Pacific train -- known as the "coaster" -- took only 40 minutes to bring passengers home to Palo Alto from San Francisco in the early evening.

What is noteworthy is the regularity of such trains -- 10 in total, five in the morning and the evening -- and the overall frequency of trains in general.

"Eighty-six trains a day is the most we've ever run," said Arthur Lloyd, a Caltrain board member and unofficial historian.

Additional tracks have been added in two different locations. Signal lights now face both ways, to allow trains to safely go in either direction. And "switches" were installed every 500 feet or so, allowing trains to quickly change tracks when the need arises.

The two years of upgrades have turned "a one-way street into a safe two-way street," said Rita Haskin, Caltrain's chief communications officer.

Along with the construction on the tracks, Caltrain has also improved service in other ways. Ramps for faster wheelchair entrances were installed at the baby bullet stops, some depots have been aesthetically improved, and the entire public address system was upgraded.

According to Caltrain planner Michelle Bouchard, "Two years ago, if the train was late you'd hear a beep and it would come out of this loudspeaker and then you'd hear -- (she makes a muffled sound, imitating the voice of Charlie Brown's teacher) How frustrating is that! Now we've basically upgraded our system such that you can actually hear what they're saying."

Caltrain also purchased new cars costing $35 million. Those have been in service for a few months now. The modern, sleek-looking cars are vital to keeping the bullets running on time because they are lower, allowing passengers to board quicker.

"You have essentially one step to get into the trains," Haskin said.

The new trains have upgraded braking and suspension systems. They also have cafeteria-style seating, with tables and electrical outlets.

While some riders have bemoaned the lack of privacy from the new seating configuration, Bellarmine high school senior Mike Smith said he appreciated the new cars.

"They're pretty comfortable" and they're cleaner, Smith said, as he waited at University Avenue, to travel to Santa Clara. "They're not as messed-up as the old ones."

Also new is the fact that express trains will travel in both directions during morning and evening commute hours. This reflects the fact that the majority of Caltrain's riders don't act like typical train commuters, who start in the suburbs and go to one major city destination.

More than 40 percent of Caltrain riders, in fact, don't ever touch down at a San Francisco station but stay entirely on the Peninsula. Another 25 percent of riders have "reverse commutes," starting from San Francisco and going to various employment centers on the Peninsula, a riding habit virtually unheard of in other commuter rail lines nationwide.

Caltrain's crisscrossing commuters made arranging the new schedule a challenge for officials, who said they are treating the first six months of service as a test. After that, they will re-evaluate their new schedules, among other issues.

One reverse commuter is Armando Fox, an assistant professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, who lives in Glen Park in San Francisco. The new Baby Bullet could save approximately 10 minutes from Fox's commute, but only if he gets up earlier to catch the express train in Millbrae.

"It's a trade off for me," Fox said. "Would I rather sleep later or get to work sooner?"

E-mail Bill D'Agostino at bdagostino@paweekly.com

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