Revisiting the Issue - Extended Version: Why Should VTA Run Their Light Rail Every 20 Minutes When BART Opens Milpitas and Berryessa Stations? And what about VTA's buses?

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has plans for the future, including Levi's Stadium, Mountain View double-tracking, extended express trains on the Alum Rock-Santa Teresa Line, and so on. Yes, I have definitely saw all the activity on VTA's website and on social media, which I generally follow. But my review of the project looks to be somewhat promising apart from some major hiccups in the project, so I gave my extended take on what VTA could improve on as they are in progress that I originally posted on social media, including what VTA said about the future plans on the light rail.

When I originally suggested every 20 minutes instead of every 30 minutes on nights, weekends, and major holidays, the 20-minute headways at those times (when the Berryessa BART extension is complete) are designed to allow BART riders to easily transfer between trains in 8-10 minutes between the future Milpitas BART station and the current Montague station. Weekday headways would still run every 15 minutes on all light rail lines to allow enough time (5-7.5 minutes) for Clipper card users to easily transfer between BART and VTA's light rail. VTA would still maintain it's regular service even if regular service would be adjusted. During major events at Levi's Stadium, VTA would maintain unaltered service after the new alignment begins. However, until that new alignment begins, the current alignment does not allow Winchester-bound trains to go directly to Mountain View during events at Levi's Stadium and instead turns around at Baypointe and would instead become "Winchester-Baypointe" line (and for Mountain View, the "Mountain View-Baypointe" line).

Here is what is behind the reasons of using 20-minute headways on light rail on nights, weekends, and holidays - recall back in 2012, The Investigative Unit's Tony Kovaleski questioned then-VTA general manager Michael Burns about the management of the use of money while implementing new systems on ticket vending machines to allow riders to pay with a credit/debit card. Kovaleski then asked Burns on the issue of fare evasions. But now with Nuria Fernandez heading up VTA as general manager, the public has yet to see the latest ridership data ever since she took office. VTA has been losing at least a million dollars for fare evasions, delays of getting the ticket vending machines updated to include both credit/debit card functionality, and the upgrade to also include Clipper card capabilities, the latter of which Kovaleski was unaware of in his investigation. Some unknown sources also were saying that VTA's change of pattern in the light rail system would need an additional $3 to 5 million annually to operate.

Speaking of the change of pattern and the cost, the same would probably also go for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects as well. For the BRT project in it's entirety between Alum Rock and Palo Alto Transit Centers, VTA would need to run the same headways as what SamTrans does (from Palo Alto to Daly City), as VTA's priority is to manage their money, which is something that they would do in the long term.

Transit issues and projects around the Bay Area (including VTA) have been a top priority when I asked Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese after the start of the BRT construction, who is currently in the running for San Jose Mayor while still maintaining position at the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). I also encountered Chris Lepe, who is the community planner for TransForm and transit advocate for riders in the South Bay. Lepe had no comment at that time, although I most recently encountered him on the main campus at San Jose State University (SJSU). Lepe's office is less than a block from SJSU.

As VTA said on the major projects including both the Integration Study and on the light rail projects, VTA plans a major overhaul of the light rail system, which may also include permanently closing the existing Evelyn station. I have saw what is going on in terms of all the light rail projects that VTA was posting on social media and on their website. VTA plans to extend the light rail express line to an all-day service from mornings to evenings (maybe late nights as well), but I still questioned whether VTA will continue to expand service to also include weekends and holidays while including the same headway alignment as BART currently does at all times. I have long known that VTA is making changes to also change the southernmost final destination from Winchester to Almaden, while the Winchester line will then become the "Winchester-St. James" line. That change is one major component in VTA's big "Levi's Stadium" and "BART Integration Study" plan. But to make the plan work correctly, trains headed to/from Almaden will have to time the LR trains a few minutes behind express trains to/from Santa Teresa. This means that the northbound pattern would start with Alum Rock express line, followed by Mountain View and then St. James, while southbound trains would start with the Santa Teresa express line, followed by Almaden and Winchester (based on train times from Convention Center station).

The Integration Study plans has also caught my attention to not only ask VTA, but also AC Transit as well. In early 2014, while I quietly predicted that AC Transit's line 217 (which also runs from Fremont to Milpitas) would remain unchanged for the most part, I also questioned the future of AC Transit's line 801 as VTA's study was in progress, which was at the same time that I also investigated and questioned AC Transit, VTA, Caltrain, SamTrans, and Marin Transit, which took me about a couple of years to figure out my findings and write up my blog on that issue. In a e-mail statement sent to me in early May 2014, AC Transit said,

"We are currently working with VTA on our service integration plan for when the Warm Springs BART Station opens. As of yet, we do not have a plan in place as to whether the 801 will be extended to Warm Springs. It is already a very long route and extending it may be a challenge but we are looking into it."

As for the Caltrain side, VTA was only given a small time frame to complete the light rail extension double-track from Mountain View to Whisman stations so that Caltrain can commence building their electrification project. As of so far, I have yet to hear any news on the progress for both phase one and two. VTA has completed the tracks for storage near Levi's Stadium, but I have heard nothing in regards to if VTA plans to build a pocket track in addition to the second track located next to Mountain View Station, which could supplement regular services to both commuters and special events at Levi's Stadium (see visual figure on this page). The current alignment does not allow 15-minute headways except during weekday commute time. Part of the reason is that the single track would act as a bottleneck, which if one train is moving, the other train waiting at Whisman station in the Mountain View direction would need to wait until the other train has passed by.

The removal of the Evelyn station, despite the closure, would allow light rail trains to move back up to 55 MPH (89 kph) between crossing Central Expressway and the Mountain View Station, something that can barely be achieved between Evelyn and Mountain View. In the current scenario, light rail trains has barely any capability to run 15-minute headways, which as of now, makes transit connections to/from Caltrain very weak at this point.

So the bottom line? The reason why 20-minute headways during evenings and on weekends and holidays have two purposes: first, those are meant only to help with managing VTA's management of funds and to better manage their time on buses. Second, the 20 minutes allow for trains to run up to three or four trains between normal headways during special events at Levi's Stadium. Without those important points for VTA to remember those two basic reasons, combined with Tony Kovaleski's investigation on VTA, VTA's deficit could be in serious jeopardy and who knows when it may happen.

EDITOR'S NOTE: If anyone has something to say, please comment below, send me a tweet, or e-mail me. Offensive language use in any method may result in a removal of your message or comment - therefore, please be considerate.

Original Work: Kyle Chak
Twitter: @KyleSChak
E-Mail: chak595301@gmail.com

MOSAIC: Flashbacks of the Past

As the first few weeks of school at San Jose State University are in the books, I recalled some of the events that happened at SJSU. If anyone did recall, you may have heard an event that shocked many SJSU students - recalling that a black male student was chained using a bicycle "U" lock. Four white males converged on the black student and purposely assaulted the victim.

That was part of the topic at MOSAIC's event, which was nearly two hours long which also involved Spartan Daily reporter Lauren Hernandez. I asked her on her thoughts of the presentation and she thought that it was informative. And yes it was. In a two-hour presentation, Yesi Ramos and Latu Tapaatoutai sparked a long discussion on Colorblind, as well as racism and how it affects SJSU. In one of the slides, an official report was released soon after the hate crime attack, but left out the identity of the victim in order to minimize the chances of another hate crime. 

Many news reports were aggressive and trying to find answers on what was happening inside the one of the dorm rooms at SJSU. many comments were poured into social media and on news' websites. Most students were not so happy, feeling that more action was needed to protect students from hate crime. SJSU is not free from victim attacks, ranging from a student being a victim of an attack by someone that is not an SJSU student to hate crime in the dorms. 

The most devastating crime so far in my SJSU school years is some kind of shooting in one of the garages, which SJSU's Update News was reporting for about three minutes of the crime inside 10th Street Garage, which happened a few years ago. 

My interview with Lauren Hernandez also sparked some fun that we both interviewed each other! And it was definitely great since I do get a chance to participate in voicing my opinions, just like Lauren is doing so for my blog. Well, I give Lauren some cheers for her great work, despite that I'm an English major.

Original Work: Kyle Chak

Twitter: @KyleSChak

INVESTIGATION - Mobile Website For Transit Agencies in the Bay Area?

If you have attempted to get accurate information from anywhere in the Bay Area near the "city by the bay", chances are that the website that you may be trying to access on your mobile device may not be as mobile as you think. Instead, your transit agency may be showing the full website while you are on your mobile device. Only in my blog tells why some transit agencies have their website still not capable for your mobile device.

So what is the deal? Some transit agencies in the Bay Area have not yet developed a mobile version of their website, but on some transit agencies, when I asked the tough question about the use of the transit agencies' mobile website, they often said that it is in the process of creating their mobile website. When I went to several transit agencies' website in early 2014, not all of them were "mobile-friendly". The transit agencies that were not mobile friendly prior to my checkup in August 2014 are described as follows...

For the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) I asked them about the lack of a mobile website in early 2014 at the same time that I also wrote an inquiry within the same letter about the future of line 801 in regards to the BART extension to Santa Clara County. AC Transit sent me an e-mail on March 5 that AC Transit is in "the development of a mobile version of our website". AC Transit has since launched it's mobile version of their website only a couple of months after my inquiry.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) was also one of the major transit agencies that were not mobile prior to this checkup. I have asked twice on the time frame of when the VTA will have a mobile website of their own, but did not give a specific time frame. However, VTA did launch their mobile website in a surprising announcement July 29 and has encouraged mobile users, including those on iPads and other tablets, to send some feedback of what users thought of VTA's mobile site, four days ahead of the Levi's Stadium grand opening soccer match between the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders.

SamTrans, which also administrates for Caltrain, has yet to develop a mobile site, which my findings have included years of development, but no mention of a mobile website on both SamTrans and Caltrain until I asked the tough questions directly to SamTrans on social media, including of an estimated time (ETA) of when the mobile websites on both SamTrans and Caltrain will be running. My findings began on the heels of a report that SamTrans has been under scrutiny for various possible violations when NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit interviewed former SamTrans employees of possible miscalculations. When I tried to visit the SamTrans and Caltrain websites on my mobile device, it was still running on the normal website instead of the mobile site, which seemed to me that the mobile site did not exist in the first place.

Golden Gate Transit and Ferry services and Marin Transit also may be having some difficulty for mobile users, despite one link from Golden Gate Transit claiming that mobile users can go mobile. Golden Gate Transit does have a mobile section under the link called "Go Mobile", but I discovered that it can be difficult to access the actual version of the Golden Gate Transit's webpage. There is no direct re-link to the actual mobile website when attempting to type the website. Marin Transit, however, has a problem of going mobile, and attempting to use the mobile website is difficult, as there has been no estimated time of when Marin Transit will have a mobile website.

So when will SamTrans, Caltrain, and Marin Transit will actually go mobile? SamTrans says that their ETA for SamTrans going mobile will be up in October, with Caltrain to follow, including a redesign of the Caltrain website. It is unknown whether SamTrans website will be using the same design as what VTA has as both SamTrans and VTA have the same voice over for approaching stops on buses. Marin Transit has not yet disclosed whether their website is undergoing a redesign or if a mobile version is in progress. Meanwhile, Golden Gate Transit has yet to fix the redirect on mobile devices when typing the agency's website so that regular users will see the actual site and mobile users actually is properly redirected to the mobile site. 

Most transit agencies that was not mentioned herein such as San Fransicco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA), Sonoma County Transit, and  Livermore-Almador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA, or more commonly called WHEELS) already have a mobile site of their own. While the Clipper Card is continuing to expand to the far East Bay and Sonoma County, I will continue to watch Bay Area transit agencies grow, including both Clipper card and mobile site development, hoping that transit agencies will get the message.

INVESTIGATION: A Troubling Past for A Tattoo Artist in San Jose; Possible Violations at Club Fiesta?

Some people may have known as the moniker named "Huss Baby", but her actual real name is Stephanie Smith. A tattoo artist herself at a shop known as Ambitious Ink, she is known to have supported people and other organizations like DJ Rick Lee and Go Der Magazine. But my investigative blog which started taking place about a year ago uncovers disturbing evidence of Smith in trouble with law enforcement in the past, as well as her ties with Go Der Magazine and the Club Fiesta nightclub.

Police in San Benito County and Santa Clara County has disputed what Smith does in her downtime, according to several sources on various websites and social media sources. Both KSBW and KION have reported on her arrest publicly. 

The latest arrest came in July 2014 when Smith, who reportedly resides in Milpitas, along with two others, were involved in a home invasion robbery. The other two suspects were also named in the reports; they are Monique Marie Valle of San Jose and David Andrew Hinnen of Sacramento. It is unclear if Smith was the getaway driver of the unnamed vehicle or the relationship that Smith has to both Valle and Hinnen. Smith is known to have a lot of tattoos on her face, body, arm, and hand, which can be seen publicly. Two of her photos that she posted on Facebook are now visible on Crime Voice's website, as well as on various local news webpages.

However, this is not the first time that Smith ran into trouble with the law - the first arrest actually have surfaced of in March 2014 via a message posted on YouTube. Some of her social media pages have since gone private, making the public unable to see her photos in some cases.

It is also unclear whether Smith also had marijuana or illegal drugs in her body system. Social media pages uncovered her ties with festivals that were promoting marijuana and other illegal drugs such as at local "Hempcons" or "Hempfests", which those are shows or festivals related to marijuana. Smith, along with other artists like Baby Bash (Ronnie Rey), also have surfaced on various social media, but particularly Go Der Magazine and Go Der Digital.

I also uncovered that Go Der Magazine itself may also be under the microscope for another YouTube post showing smoking inside Club Fiesta in San Jose. Under current local laws in San Jose, the city prohibits smoking within 25 feet of the entrance to doors or windows of any business. My review of the YouTube video posted by Go Der Magazine shows that Club Fiesta could be facing major violations for allowing patrons to smoke in serious violation of both city and state laws. Many cities and in rural areas of Santa Clara County passed an ordinance regulating e-cigarettes, thanks to in part by Santa Clara County supervisor Dave Cortese and his fellow supervisors, which the ordinance was announced on June 10, 2014.

In comparison to local San Jose city laws and state laws, both Hong Kong and Singaporean law has extremely low tolerance for tobacco and drug use. In Hong Kong, their most severe punishment for drug use and/or drug consumption, including marijuana is a lifetime prison sentence. In Singapore, the punishment does vary from several years in prison (including several strokes of the cane) to the mandatory death penalty (also known in Singapore as "sentenced to death" in their terms).

It is not clear whether Club Fiesta in San Jose has any history of serious violations of local, county, and state laws for not only tobacco use, but also alcohol use as well. Other than Go Der Digital, which also provides YouTube videos to the public, no local media were allowed to enter Club Fiesta due to heavy security. In addition, the Club Fiesta website and on social media did not disclose to the public on the issue of the dress code except for the event posters posted on various social media sites.

NOTE: No photos from any social media sites were posted due to privacy concerns.

BC Ferries - The Ups and Downs, and the Questions Never Asked on the Website

If anyone like me has a great road trip to Canada recently, some people may not have noticed what I saw when I got to take a look at the two largest ships in BC Ferries' fleet - the Spirit of Vancouver Island and the Spirit of British Columbia. The official name is called "British Columbia Ferry Services", hence the name of BC Ferries.  But first, let me start with the basics as I was researching more about the ship...


BC Ferries, according to their website, started out officially in June 1960 when ferry service was needed to connect between Tsawwassen (Vancouver) and Swartz Bay (Victoria), with passenger traffic starting to increase shortly afterwords. More ships started to enter service throughout the next few decades. The biggest ships started service in 1993 when the Spirit of British Columbia was completed, with the second ship, Spirit of Vancouver Island, followed suit one year later. BC Ferries then decided to add more ships to their fleet with the additions of three new ships; one of which was to supplement the most popular route among BC Ferries' routes: Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay.

Ever since I first came to Canada to witness the two largest ships in BC Ferries' fleet, my experience overall was a lot better than my experiences on ship routes between Hong Kong and Macau as I have vomited on some of the ships owned by companies like TurboJET and New World First Ferries. However, BC Ferries can improve on the following that I find, so I posed a few questions that I uncovered of which BC Ferries never mentioned on their website or on a Facebook wall post. Note that this is to the best of my knowledge based on my experience unless answered by BC Ferries.

QUESTION 1: WILL BC FERRIES HAVE A SAME-DAY ROUND TRIP OPTION? WHAT ABOUT SMART CARD AND MOBILE TICKETING?

When I first went on BC Ferries, purchasing a ticket was a breeze, but reducing waste from paper may be in their mind. I wish that they provide a system that can also use smart card capabilities similar to those of Hong Kong's transit system using an Octopus card or the Bay Area's Clipper card system, using the "tag on" and "tag off" method.

If BC Ferries do not wish to use a smart card method, there should be an option for a same-day round-trip between the two destinations of choice. However, nowhere on BC Ferries' website has any information about a same-day round trip between the destinations of choice.

A third possible method for BC Ferries could be to use a mobile ticketing system similar to what the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is planning to use as a result of the upcoming BART extension and Levi's Stadium events, as VTA is developing mobile ticketing for use as a payment option on some of their light rail and bus routes. This option to me would allow BC Ferries to save about 25 cents per paper ticket.

QUESTION 2: WILL BC FERRIES ACCEPT AMERICAN OR FOREIGN CURRENCY?

My answer is not that easy - no American or foreign currency will be accepted at any terminals as cash; only Canadian currency is accepted in those cases, particularly when parking at any of the terminals as there is a fee to park. However, when I explored the ship called Spirit of Vancouver Island, there was an indicator at several vending machines that both Canadian and American currency are accepted. I personally have never tested any vending machines using US dollar bills and coins, so it's not a guarantee that US dollar bills and coins are accepted at those vending machines. In addition, as for the rest of the food and shop outlets, even though vending machines says about accepting both Canadian and American currency, I do assume that Canadian currency is the only method accepted while on any BC Ferries' trips.

There is no direct evidence by my exploration of the Spirit of British Columbia, Spirit of Vancouver Island, and other large ships in BC Ferries' fleet that would suggest accepting both Canadian and American currency (questions about credit/debit cards are found on BC Ferries' website).

QUESTION 3: IS BC FERRIES ANY DIFFERENT IN TERMS OF THE INTERIOR OF THE SHIPS, FEATURES, AND SECURITY?

Not necessarily - take both the Spirit of British Columbia and the Spirit of Vancouver Island for example. While most of the interior has the same features like the food courts, buffets, and a gift shop, some people may notice something differently, especially in where the security cameras may be positioned. For instance, security cameras positioned near the elevators on deck 6 of the Spirit of Vancouver Island may not be seen similarly on the Spirit of British Columbia. In either case, my advice is to be very careful - the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) can prosecute anyone caught on camera for violations including, but not limited to, vandalism, unlawful entry, or trespassing as per Canadian law.

QUESTION 4: WHY IS BC FERRIES NEEDED FOR CROSSINGS BETWEEN TWO ROUTES INSTEAD OF BUILDING A BRIDGE?

The BC Ferries' website reveals that on some of the routes, especially between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay, does enter the United States' border for about 5 miles (~9 kilometers). If a bridge was to be built, then the Canadian government would need to ask the United States federal government for permission to build a bridge between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay, which would be highly unlikely, as part of that route (BC Route 17) is owned by the U.S. and not Canada. For other routes, the waters in Canada between the mainland BC and Vancouver Island may be either too deep or it's due to the budget required to build such a bridge such as Trans-Canada (also BC) route 1 on the Nanaimo - Horseshoe Bay ship route.


This is opposed to what transit methods the San Francisco Bay Area uses, as several bridges like the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the San Mateo Bridge, the Dumbarton Bridge, and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge connect from one side of the bay to the other, although similar ships like the San Francisco Bay Ferry still exists as an alternate to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, though with less amenities than what the largest ships on BC Ferries' fleet carries.


If anyone has any inquiries after reading this blog, please feel free to e-mail me or comment below.

Planning/Original Work: Kyle Chak
Twitter: @KyleSChak
E-mail: chak595301@gmail.com