Published Tuesday, January 6, 2004, in the San Francisco Examiner

The Transbay train

Sara Zaske

With the Baby Bullet express train project nearly delivered, the next
two major projects for Caltrain are heading down the track and gaining
speed.

The 77-mile Caltrain line is preparing to expand north into the heart
of downtown San Francisco and east across the bay.

Plans to revamp the downtown San Francisco Transbay Terminal
<http://www.mtc.ca.gov/projects/transbay/transbay_terminal.htm> and
run passenger trains over the old Dumbarton rail bridge could happen
in the next seven years or sooner -- depending on how train-friendly
voters feel in March and November.

"The good news about both of these projects is that there's been
significant progress made for getting them realized," said Margaret
Okuzumi, executive director of Bay Rail Alliance, a train riders
advocacy group <http://www.bayrailalliance.org>.

Billed as the most important transit project west of the Mississippi,
the Transbay Terminal revamp will not only bring Caltrain downtown,
but link up nearly all of the region's transit systems.

Greyhound, Golden Gate, AC Transit, Muni and SamTrans buses will all
meet the train at the new hub. BART already pulls in to the
Embarcadero station one block from the Transbay Terminal and planners
have proposed an underground pedestrian tunnel between the two
stations.

San Francisco also plans a huge redevelopment around the area, putting
in 3,300 residential units as well as retail and office space.

The Transbay Terminal was once the busiest rail hub in the country. In
1945, when trains still ran across the Bay Bridge, the station drew 26
million people. Today, despite all the bus service to the station, the
number of riders tops out at 8 million a year.

The inclusion of Caltrain and all the other improvements could return
the terminal to its former glory, bringing in 29 million riders in
2010 with the capacity to handle 49 million into the future.

"It is going to be fabulous," said San Mateo County Supervisor Mike
Nevin, who is both a Caltrain board member and chair of the Transbay
Joint Powers Authority <http://sfgov.org/site/tjpa_index.asp>. "When
you talk about the Millbrae intermodal station being the most state-
of-the-art, most-connected transportation center west of the Rockies
-- well, this is going to be even more spectacular."

Like its intermodal cousin in Millbrae, however, the new Transbay
Terminal will also carry a spectacular cost. Current estimates place
capital costs at $2 billion.

Caltrain's Dumbarton rail project will cost $273 million.

As envisioned, trains would run over the bridge only during commute
hours and just into the edge of southern Alameda County. Caltrain
anticipates 4,800 daily passengers on the route by 2010, expanding to
6,900 in 2025.

Both the Transbay Terminal and Dumbarton projects depend heavily on
the generosity of voters.

Many capital funds from the Dumbarton rail could come from the
counties it passes through, and proponents are also eyeing San Mateo
County's Measure A transportation half-cent sales tax renewal -- which
is set to go before voters in November.