Latest news with #commuter
CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
SMART expanding as North Bay transit agency sees ridership increase
As Bay Area public transit struggles to deal with shrinking commuter demand, one agency is about to expand its service. It's the result of a study showing that people prefer to take a train rather than a bus, and it's creating an opportunity to reorganize how people use transit up and down the Highway 101 corridor. All roads in the North Bay lead to San Rafael, at least for most of the public transit providers. The San Rafael Transit Center is one of the busiest in the Bay Area, second only to the Salesforce Center in San Francisco. The hub is the meeting point for Marin Transit, Golden Gate Transit and the SMART commuter train line. "It's already very important and will continue to be important," said Paulo Cosulich Schwartz, spokesperson for Golden Gate Transit. "And we're actually undertaking a project to redesign and relocate the San Rafael Transit Center to accommodate a growth in transit service." That growth may be a case of addition by subtraction. A recent study shows that transit in the North Bay has a lot of duplication of service. For example, Golden Gate Transit has buses going clear up to Santa Rosa, the same service area as SMART. It also has stops in the same urban areas as Marin Transit. So, a new plan has been developed called "MASCOTS," short for Marin-Sonoma Coordinated Transit Service, that will, hopefully, cut out the redundancy. "MASCOTS really refocuses Golden Gate on the regional trips," said Marin Transit Planning Director, Cathleen Sullivan. "So, Golden Gate will have fewer stops and really focus on express service and getting people between major transit hubs in Marin County, into San Francisco and into the East Bay. And Marin Transit will really refocus OUR resources on making sure the local stops are covered." "One of the most interesting findings of the study," said Cosulich Schwartz. "Is that 70 percent of Marin/Sonoma travel to San Francisco originates from San Rafael or south." So, Golden Gate will focus on that area, limiting its service only up to Novato, requiring travelers to use SMART from any place farther north. It's only happening because SMART, after some initial bumps along the way, has proven itself to be a fairly popular transit option. "We're seeing that in our ridership numbers right now. SMART is experiencing record ridership. People have embraced that this as a very reliable way to get around. It's economical, it's a green alternative. It's just an easy service to use," said communications manager Julia Gonzalez. "We too, here at SMART, have tried to stay agile in response to changed commute patterns, where people are maybe commuting to work part of the week. Maybe doing a two-three split, three days at home and two days in the office. We've tried to stay agile by creating monthly passes that take into account that you're not traveling, necessarily, five days a week." Because of MASCOTS, SMART will see an increase in service of nearly 20 percent and will begin hiring new people to begin training almost immediately. The hope is that the coordinated effort will not only provide a less confusing system for riders but also save some much-needed money for the operators. "It's not just happening here in the Bay Area," said Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesperson John Goodwin. "This is happening in metro areas all over the country, that the old model for operating transit, the different business models, are under a great deal of pressure. Transit agencies all over the region are re-examining decades-long service plans because the travel patterns have changed in a big way all over the Bay Area. And at the same time, transit agencies are strapped for operating cash, so they need to operate more efficiently." Except for the planning process, the new program shouldn't cost anything. In fact, it should save money. And the cost of expanding SMART is expected to be covered by the increase in ridership, after the MASCOTS plan goes into effect, sometime in April. In the meantime, a series of community meetings are being planned with the first on Tuesday, July 22, at 5:00 pm at the Marin City Library.
The Sun
3 days ago
- The Sun
Selfish act from bus passenger had me fuming, it's worse than people playing their videos out loud – how I got revenge
GETTING onto a busy bus is never fun, especially when you've got selfish passengers next to you. And one woman who got onto a crowded bus decided to get revenge on a rude commuter in the best way. 1 While on the bus, she said there was plenty of room to stand but the passenger decided to stand right next to her. While it was annoying considering how hot the weather was, she begrudgingly put up with it until matters got worse. But the woman soon began using her to lean on. "After a few moments, she started leaning her shoulder against mine," she explained. The woman said that she 'politely' asked the random person to 'move a little' bit away, because it was making her feel 'uncomfortable.' She said that it was 'basic manners' to keep your distance but the woman doubled down and used her as a 'human pillar'. The woman fumed: "I can't even tell how p***** off I was. So I decided to take my petty revenge. "Once she got 'comfortable' using me as her support again, I suddenly took a step back without warning. "So she lost her balance and fell down right away." The vengeful moment was a sure way to get the selfish passenger to think again before getting into someone's personal space. Chaotic moment brawl breaks out in packed Tube station with TODDLER stuck in middle of mayhem She said the woman "stood up," looked at her, "didn't say a word," and then "stood well away" from her for the rest of the ride. While many praised her for her move, many warned she could have been trying to pickpocket her while standing close. One person wrote: "On a bus in Delhi one time, a woman came and stood too close to me, and stretched her arm across my front to hold the same seat that I was holding. "Her shawl was draped over my handbag, so I put my hand in my handbag and found her hand in there! I shouted and she didn't move away, so then I stood firmly on her sandaled foot. Then she moved away. Nothing was missing yet, so it was okay." Somebody else said it was their 'first thought' that the woman was trying to 'rob' her, and that's why she was standing so close. "It's amazing how some people think their comfort trumps others' space," a third chimmed in, saying that there was no reason the woman should've been standing so close to her. Another pointed out: "The fact that she fell down when you moved back a bit just shows how much she was leaning on you. Some people have no manners or boundaries." A woman wrote: "She didn't have consent, and you did what you did. Good job! I can't fathom doing this in public at all."
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Delays expected during Douglas bus stop improvement
Commuters have been warned of delays on a busy commuter route through the island's capital as the accessibility of a bus stop is Department of Infrastructure said work on Woodbourne Road in Douglas would see temporary traffic lights in place in the area of Woodbourne Square until 28 works are set to include the replacement of kerbs to allow easier access to busses for passengers, particularly those using ease congestion during the project, traffic flow along of Woodburn Square onto Hawarden Avenue will be made one way. The department said a permanent pedestrian crossing in the area would be replaced with a temporary one for the duration of the works. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
The most overcrowded trains in England: Busiest route has almost TWICE as many passengers as seats... where does your journey rank?
England's busiest trains have been revealed by Government statisticians - with three of the top five within half an hour on the same commuter line into London. The 7.30am Thameslink service from Bedford to London St Pancras had an 184 per cent 'load factor' – meaning nearly twice the number of passengers than capacity. The 7.15am train on the same route was in second at 179 per cent, while the 7.03am service was fifth at 163 per cent, according to the Department for Transport (DfT). The West Midlands Trains 5.46pm London Euston to Crewe was third at 179 per cent; and the 7.54am Leamington Spa to Birmingham Snow Hill fourth at 172 per cent. South Western Railway had three entries - in sixth for the 5.35pm London Waterloo to Weymouth at 161 per cent; eighth for the 6pm Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour at 156 per cent; and tenth for the 6.27am Fareham to Waterloo at 153 per cent. Chiltern had the 6.14am Stourbridge Junction to Marylebone in seventh at 158 per cent; and the 6.59pm Marylebone to Aylesbury Vale Parkway in ninth at 155 per cent. The DfT research covered England and Wales, but the top ten were all in England. It calculated the load factor by dividing the passenger numbers in standard class carriages by the total capacity – covering standard seats and standing allowance. For shorter journeys, where the journey time between stations is 20 minutes or fewer, a standing allowance may be applied depending on the rolling stock. For services where the journey time is greater than 20 minutes, no standing allowance was permitted regardless of rolling stock. The DfT added that data for last autumn – over a 12-week spell from mid-September - was collected before the December 2024 timetable change and therefore 'may not provide a guide to current crowding'. While Thameslink came out on top, the operator claimed its trains are not overcrowded because of the layout of the carriages which are intended to provide significant standing space. A Thameslink spokesman said: 'We constantly monitor crowding on our services and take action where necessary to give our passengers the best possible service. 'However, these huge 12-carriage trains, almost a quarter of a kilometre long and designed to carry up to 1,620 people seated and standing, actually arrived in London with plenty of room on board – just 67 per cent full in the worst case. 'The problem is this survey doesn't reflect the fact that Thameslink trains, unlike other UK carriages, were specified by the DfT to be built as people-movers with fewer seats and lots of standing space. 'This low density of seating sensibly allows more passengers to board services and travel in comfort on this busy commuter route. 'Standing space was left out of the calculations only because the train took one minute longer than the 20-minute threshold between its last station stop and London.' The Thameslink trains referenced in the data continue south from London but are not as crowded after stopping at St Pancras. In addition, the 'crowding' figures are for the last stop of the journey only - not the whole journey - into London. And since the survey last autumn, Thameslink has also lengthened the 7.03am service to a 12-coach train. A Chiltern Railways spokesman said: 'We are working with the Department for Transport to bring in additional capacity which will deliver easier, greener, and better train travel for our customers.' MailOnline has also contacted West Midlands Trains and South Western Railway for comment. The DfT release also revealed that the number of rail passengers travelling into cities across England and Wales is now above pre-pandemic levels. However, overcrowding on the morning commute has eased because of changing work and travel patterns due to hybrid working. Nearly 1.9million boarded a train into a city on a typical weekday last autumn – which is the highest level since records began for such data in 2010. But about 13 per cent fewer passengers arrived during the morning peak than in 2019. The data also revealed that arrivals into all London stations grew in the year to autumn 2024, particularly at Paddington and Liverpool Street which are used by Elizabeth line trains.
CBS News
7 days ago
- CBS News
Metra Electric line snagged after train hits pedestrian at 27th Street
Metra Electric trains were disrupted in the Bronzeville area Thursday evening after a train struck a pedestrian. Metra said just before 7 p.m., Metra Electric train No. 345, scheduled to arrive at 93rd Street/South Chicago at 8:38 p.m., hit a pedestrian around 27th Street. All inbound and outbound train was halted near the scene after the accident. By 8:35 p.m., all inbound trains were back on the move, but were operating up to 40 minutes behind schedule. Outbound trains remained stopped. The condition of the pedestrian was not immediately available. The Metra Electric line operates on the old Illinois Central commuter train tracks. CHECK: Metra updates
