Beast Blog

WiFi on AC Transit

To a mailing list I'm on, this AP article was sent:

An East Bay transit agency plans to install free wireless Internet
service on select buses beginning this fall.

AC Transit expects to equip half its fleet of transbay buses, about 40
that focus on commuters and rush-hour riders, with WiFi access, said
agency spokesman Clarence Thomas.

The push came from the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency's
East Bay Smart Corridors program, which coordinates with 25 agencies
to improve transit systems.

"We want professionals, those with laptops, traveling through the bay
to have better use of their time, rather than looking at traffic,"
said Cyrus Minoofar, the program's project manager.

Under the plan, the buses would be equipped with small boxes that
convert existing cellular phone networks into WiFi that riders can
access with their laptops, as if they were sitting at a desk.

Users could read e-mail and browse the Internet.

A proposed three-year grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management
District would pay for the service, expected to cost between $60 to
$75 per bus per month. The grant has yet to be finalized.

The agency runs 27 lines that cross the bay, with services connecting
Oakland to San Francisco, Hayward and San Mateo, and Fremont and Palo
Alto.

Join me as we proceed to... THE FUTURE

Currently on display in UC Berkeley's Doe Library is "Transportation Futuristics", a small exhibit of materials detailing a variety of approaches to improving transportation. It's filled with monorails, super sonic aircraft, hovercars, and the like. The accompanying website showcases all the items, but not at a resolution equal to the original materials, so it's worth a stop there.

It's accessible any time that Doe Library is open, and is open to the public. Doe is open between 8am and 9pm during the week.

Gas Price Listing Website

You know it's freakin' impossible to keep track of just how much gas costs every day. The local gas station could easily be $0.20 higher than the cheapest option in your town. Well, enter Oakland Gas Prices, one of a string of gas price tracking websites out there. This particular page is actually more of a listing of the prices in the areas surrounding Oakland; good news for you Livermorians and Concordites. If you're heading to the world outside the Beast, you can also replace the word "Oakland" in this site's URL with any number of other city names. But, frankly, looking at the prices in those other cities may serve to remind you of just how much we gett gouged here in California.

Emeryville CarShare Pods Coming Soon

In the next couple of months, we'll be opening two new pods in Emeryville in the East bay. One of the pods will be within walking distance of the Amtrak Station and the Pacific Park Plaza Condominiums. The other new location will be on the Emeryville peninsula. We'll let you know as soon as we have exact locations. If you know anyone who lives or works in Emeryville, please let them know. Non-members who would like to be notified directly about upcoming new pods should send an email to newpods AT citycarshare.org.

City Carshare Comes to Ashby BART!

I just received this from City Carshare's East Bay Director:

Wednesday, October 8, 2003 is the date. City CarShare will open its newest East Bay location [Ashby BART] on the afternoon of October 8th with a brand new Honda Civic hybrid. There will be a press event later in the month to celebrate the opening, but in the meantime I could use your help to promote the pod.

Next Monday, September 29, 2003, I will be handing out flyers and general City CityShare information at the Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. Please drop by between 6-8pm to pick up a handful of flyers to distribute to your block, at neighborhood hotspots, etc. How will you be able to find me, you might ask? Just look for a man wearing a plaid golfing cap and a pink carnation, surrounded by stacks of promo materials, and feverishly working on his Mac ibook. (this is all true, except for the pink carnation part)

If you cannot make it next Monday, just let me know how to get flyers to you, and they will magically appear on your doorstep.

Many thanks for all of your interest and help. Hope to hear from and/or see you soon!

Go Bears... just not when I have work to do.

All the parking meters along Bancroft Avenue are hooded with paper bags reading "No Parking" and three police cars patrol the street to enforce it. Private lots for blocks around campus are offering one choice for parking - $20 to $25 for the full day, no hourly rates. Why the madness? Football.

Cal wants me to hate football. Now, I never actively disliked the game, I just never really cared about it one way or the other. Berkeley campus, though, reacts to one of its "football days" in a way that makes me want to launch all "pigskins" into the centre of the sun.

The lesson learned? Stay away from Cal on game days, unless you desperately need a Coach Tedford bobblehead.

City CarShare on Piedmont Ave

From their latest newsletter:

PIEDMONT AVE IS THE PERFECT PLACE FOR A POD

Oakland's newest pod opens next Friday, July 25, 2003, in the Piedmont Avenue neighborhood of North Oakland! The pod is located in the City of Oakland parking lot at Piedmont Avenue and 41st Street. It is right in the middle of Piedmont Ave's Commercial District, with easy access to AC Transit service and ample bicycle parking nearby. And yes, the rumors are true . . . this pod will feature a brand new Honda Civic hybrid vehicle, just like the one at the Tenderloin pod in San Francisco. If you have not had a chance to check out hybrid vehicles before, now is the time!

City CarShare's sincere thanks once again go out to the Oakland City Council and Public Works Agency for working with us to expand the program in Oakland. Onwards to bigger and better car-sharing in the Bay Area!

San Pablo Avenue Speedway

The Chronicle writes about AC Transit's new 72R line, which hauls ass down San Pablo Avenue, and which can, among other things, send signals to traffic lights to make sure they remain green so the bus can get through.

A couple of weeks ago, the folks at SF Cityscape wrote about this, and offer some tasty transit links. SF Cityscape is a webzine about urban design, and chock full o' goodies worth reading.

Bring City CarShare to Ashby BART

City CarShare is appealing to BART for car pod spaces at Ashby BART. They need the community to make it clear to BART how important this is. Daryl Norcutt, City CarShare's East Bay representative, sent along the following letter which you could email or snail mail to BART Director Lynette Sweet. It probably would be good to make it specific to your circumstances.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 1, 2003

Lynette Sweet
BART Board of Directors
800 Madison Street, LMA-5
Oakland, CA 94607
kduron@bart.gov

Dear Director Sweet,

Thank you for your ongoing work on the BART Board of Directors and for your advocacy of transit issues in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

I am writing to ask for your support in bringing City CarShare to the Ashby BART station. As a frequent rider on the BART system and resident of South Berkeley, I would benefit tremendously from having access to a car-share vehicle that is nearby transit and easy to get to.

City CarShare is a local, non-profit organization that brought the concept of car-sharing to the Bay Area as a vehicle-ownership alternative. In addition to the current ‘pod’ locations at Rockridge and Glen Park BART stations, City CarShare has also put cars in neighborhood parking areas within walking distance of many other BART stations, like Lake Merritt and the Mission District in San Francisco.

Please consider locating a City CarShare pod at Ashby BART. The neighborhood would definitely use the cars, and it would also allow BART riders to more easily access the program throughout the Bay Area.

Thank you for your continued support of this important transportation program.

Sincerely,

[Your name here]

Cc: Tom Margro
Harley Goldstrom