Blog: Is SamTrans just messing with us?

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In the SamTrans world, this kind of bus stop is normal. But things are looking up, right? [Source: G. Stieler]

Our readers have told me that my writing is sometimes too down and negative, with too much cynicism and a lack of looking at the brighter side of things. So today, I will take this advice to heart and look at the brightest project in San Mateo’s Transportation District: in 2022, SamTrans started its outstanding Bus Stop Improvement Project (BSIP).

If done well, this project would increase ridership, be equity relevant, and provide urgently needed ADA upgrades. Funds are basically guaranteed through Measure W, Regional Measure 3, and various grants, especially since SamTrans Directors like David Canepa, Rico E. Medina, and Jackie Speier are also sitting on some of these other boards that make sure these regional funds keep coming to their favorite bus service customers.

SamTrans’s Bus Stop Improvement Project (BSIP)

When SamTrans announced this project back in 2022/23, I was so ecstatic that I traveled the world just to research the very complicated and very technical topic of bus shelters and bus stops. Turns out it’s actually not that complicated at all. I quickly found a bunch of simple bus shelters in Central America and Central Europe, and compared them to Central San Mateo County and SamTrans lost big time. I also found luxury bus shelters in Central America, Central Europe and Central Silicon Valley … but again, San Mateo County – one of the wealthiest counties in America – has nothing comparable. After publishing those two articles, friends sent me pictures of bus shelters they encountered. These are bus shelters in South America, Europe, Florida … and again, SamTrans can’t compete.

Why is customer service important for a customer service agency?

Since this is my positive week, let me also add a quick shoutout to Caltrain, which formerly joined at the hip with SamTrans but is now acting alone. Caltrain spent some $2.5B on something called the Caltrain Modernization Program, which included electrifying their tracks. Of course, that meant they had to replace their old, loud, bumpy riding diesel fleet with modern, quiet, smooth-running electric trains. And since electric trains accelerate better, they reduced riding times and added more trains. And what happens if you modernize, increase reliability and improve service? Ridership went up 41%.

So the old Kevin Costner adage, “if you build it, they will come,” is still true today. Or, as researchers know very well, you can Induce Demand with good and bad projects.

Introducing the Board Members overseeing BSIP

The Board of Directors consists of nine members from various leadership positions in the community with the following composition:

Two members from the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors [David Canepa, Ray Mueller – recently replaced by Jackie Speier]

One transportation expert appointed by the Board of Supervisors [Peter Ratto]

Three city councilmembers, appointed by the City Selection Committee. Each council member represents a judicial district in San Mateo County. [Rico E. Medina, Jeff Gee, Marie Chuang]

Three public members, one of whom must reside on the Coastside, appointed by the above six members. [Josh Powell, Marina Fraser, Brooks Esser]

[Source: samtrans.com]

A board with nine members seems quite large. But this could also be positive: more people are paying attention, more eyes on the ball, right?

Timeline of the BSIP project

Summer 2022: Project starts with exploring existing conditions
2023/03/01: First Board Presentation to introduce BSIP
2023/03/17: BSIP – Public Survey
2023/04/18: BSIP – Public Virtual Meeting
2024/03/27: Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC)
2024/04/03: SamTrans Board of Directors update
2024/05/01: SamTrans Board of Directors approves new Bus Stop Improvement Plan (BSIP)

2023/03/01 – BSIP Introduction (8.c.3)

Q – Marie Chuang: Will there be Clipper cards available at those stops?
A: There won’t be Clipper Vending machines
Q: Will there be apps to improve route planning? Will there be real-time bus arrival information?
A: There might be real-time data at various locations.

Q – Jeff Gee: I love the goal to improve the ridership experience, which is known to increase ridership, which would also increase our bottom line ridership. (No question there)

Q – Vice-Chair Marina Fraser: Off the 1,800 bus stops, are the ones on private land (shopping centers, malls, hospitals) included? Who pays for shelters on private land?
A: Those shelters are included in that number and usually the developer or owner would pay and maintain their own shelter.

Q – Chair Josh Powell: Are we modifying any shelters over the course of this year?
A: There won’t be changes expected to come before the end of this year. (2023)
Q: Is the goal really to increase ridership? Are there KPIs to measure a successful bus stop?
A: …. (there was a question there, but the staff did not answer)

Q – Rico E. Medina: Asks for streamlining the process when talking to municipalities, jurisdictions, private entities. (There was no question there)

Q – Peter Ratto: We have stops that pull a lot of riders and still no amenities. He is trying to make a case for a minimum standard for every bus stop. (There was no question there)

Q – Ray Mueller: Is there inclusion of digital advertising or messaging, including things like Amber Alerts.
A: Around 200 bus shelters have a contract with advertisers, who will do the maintenance as well (… but probably no Amber Alerts).

Comment No 1: (Friends of Caltrain) – wants to provide more feedback. No real question there.
Comment No 2: (CAC) – tells how poor bus shelter designs are often used as a reason why people don’t ride. Talks about heat in the southern county, wind and cold along Hwy 1, fog banks in Daly City
Comment No. 3: praises the best presentation about bus shelters ever. Commenter wants shelter, bench, garbage receptacles; very basic, robust design might be better.

2023/10/04 – Board gets BSIP update (9.c.3.)

From the start, CEO April Chan tries to clarify that she doesn’t want too many questions after the presentation. She categorizes the BSIP update as purely informational. David Canepa and Rico E. Medina even started a vote to remove the update completely from the agenda. (This would indicate little interest from those two directors in a project about increasing ridership, which seems somewhat weird when you have ridership issues.)

Comment- Ray Mueller: because of safe routes to school he wants special attention to the bus stop in downtown Pescadero and downtown Half Moon Bay and in the Moon Ridge neighborhood.

Public Comment (1:52:00): The public comment points out that some of these stops should/must have restrooms, at least for drivers.

That is a very good point because all cities should have more restrooms or porta potties for delivery and rideshare drivers, gardeners, tree trimmers, contractors, etc., or just regular residents around the parks, bus stops and transit centers. This should actually be a basic ADA requirement in every city.

2024/04/03 – Board gets BSIP update (9.c.3.)

The Director of Planning introduces the project after working 1.5 years on a plan. The project team is planning with a cost of $50 million plus. The project would be funded by Measure W. These kinds of projects can also get grants and funds from C/CAG, MTC, BAAQMD, TIRCP, ….

Public Comment: One public commenter points out the lack of lighting. Another mentions that certain areas in the county are extremely cold and windy; they certainly deserve more shelters. A third commenter hopes for sidewalks and better access to certain stops. Lastly, if digital signs are used, they should be multi-agency signs so they could show data about BART or Caltrain as well.

Marie Chuang makes a good point that QR codes need to be scam proof. Imagine a sticker over the SamTrans QR code, which forwards the customer to a non-SamTrans URL.

Josh Powell has a great question about how and when the new shelters and bus stop upgrades are coming. When can we expect short-term improvements, and when will the long-term improvements come?
Staff responds that they want to take a “batch approach,” but they do not have a definitive timetable or KPIs yet.

2024/05/01 – Board approves BSIP

There was another, but shorter, summary of what’s to come:

SamTrans operates in various other jurisdictions: 20+ cities, three counties, Caltrans, etc.
2023 assessment: 1,871 bus stops, ca. 800 are in Equity Focus Areas, ca. 300 have seats, ca. 240 have shelters, ca. 200 are in high-heat vulnerability areas.
374 stops have 4+ arrivals per hour (ECR, 120, 130, 296), 877 have 1-3 arrivals per hour, 615 stops are for school or express routes, with sometimes only one arrival per weekday.
2024 plan: 1,279 bus stops will get improvements, 330 will get the luxury treatment, 650 will get at least some shade, 580 get benches or seats.
2024 final: near-term capital investment allows for spending $53M over 3-5 years, 220+ stops, up to 170 new shelters, 75 new boarding islands, up to 195 digital real-time information

The funding would mostly come from already approved Measure W, which raised local sales tax for projects like this.

Public Comment: One public commenter suggests emergency buttons or phones for people who feel unsafe at the stop. This is especially important for women and at night. Also, bus stops at churches should have priority. Another comment concerns bus stops and bikeway designs.

The board approved the final project plan unanimously.

So, is SamTrans just messing with us?

Since I’m all positive, I have to say something like, “I think SamTrans is doing well by keeping its promises. Well done, SamTrans,” I guess.

Sorry, I’m totally new to praising public agencies for doing something rather basic—something they already have been sworn in to do anyway. Plus, they usually have large PR teams that should be much better at praising themselves. They should certainly be better suited than I am at this early stage of wanting to become a more positive writer.

But talking about large PR teams – and I don’t want to turn negative here – there was one little red flag about this project. I did send the top PR person a question about the number of bus shelters installed since the project started 3 years ago, and $50 million U.S. dollars ago, but never heard back. I’m not really sure why all these public agencies in the Bay Area employ so many PR people. However, if there is one important job in their resume, it has to be running the website and answering requests from the media. But it was probably just an oversight. They must be so busy pushing out these new bus shelters at record speed.

SamTrans has the money, the will, the plan, the CEO, a nine-member board to follow this through, and various advocacy groups watching and counting. And best of all, there was absolutely no counterpoint made or opposition. Everyone is on the same page and agrees this project needs to be done to improve customer satisfaction and increase ridership.

This is a done deal. What could possibly go wrong?

… to be continued.