On September 30, at the Belle Haven Community Campus, residents from Belle Haven and nearby communities in East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks and Redwood City gathered to make the voices of people who depend on transit to be heard in the development of the region’s Transit 2050+ transportation plan.
Developed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in partnership with transit agencies, the plan for the first time history focused on creating a connected network of transit service (previous plans were collections of capital projects submitted by counties and agencies).
The event in Belle Haven was held in English and Spanish, was convened by Belle Haven Empowered and Climate Resilient Communities, Belle Haven Climate Change Community Team and El Comite. It was part of a series of 7 workshops organized by Seamless Bay Area, in partnership with over 20 community based organizations with over 260 people participating across the region.
A number of shared themes emerged. Participants consistently cited improvements such as increasing transit frequency, faster trip times including better transfers, filling gaps in the regional transit network, more affordable and convenient payment options, safer and cleaner waiting areas, longer hours of service, more shelters and benches at bus stops, better non-English language support, and more.
The comments reinforce the importance of a plan focusing on frequent, fast, reliable, convenient, affordable service and hopefully will motivate leaders to advance funding and implementation to make the plans a reality.
Caption: The San Mateo County Transit 2050+ Community Workshop at the Belle Haven Community Campus. This workshop was entirely in Spanish, with about 50 attendees.
Comments from the Belle Haven workshop included:
- Espera Perez: I have had to wait two hours for the 110 and service is late or lacking on the weekend
- Bruce: “Schedules are not very well coordinated. In the past, for me, there have been significant waits at the transit center in Redwood City. I think that turns a lot of people off from taking public transit if they can’t get there with a relatively short wait of 5 to 10 minutes.”
- Evelyn Garcia: “I use the bus and the train for my work and I always spend a lot of time at the train station waiting for the bus, then it is delayed for more than 30 minutes and I have to keep waiting or take another bus because that one never arrived”.
- Gaby: “More frequently because sometimes the wait for transit is very long and tiresome.”
- Irene Chavez: It is very important for the Red Plus bus service to improve service during the hours with the most congestion because it is impossible to get service.
- Buses often don’t arrive on time and are perceived as unreliable. They should come every 10-15 minutes to meet demand.
- Many people work non-traditional hours and require transit at all times of the day.
- Elizabeth: More routes should run later at night, even if they are not as frequent, for people who work the graveyard shift.
Reliability of the Dumbarton Express
- Marlene lives in Menlo Park and frequently uses public transportation, particularly for trips to the East Bay. There is a need for transit improvements on the Dumbarton and San Mateo Bridges. The Dumbarton service has been inconsistent and often late. There’s confusion between DB and DB1 regarding directions, leading to difficulties in determining the correct bus. Sometimes the bus signs are incorrect, necessitating inquiries to the driver.
- Multiple residents wanted to see the Dumbarton bus to run on the weekend.
Fares and affordability
- Irene Chavez: “I like the idea of transporting ourselves with a single pass for different lines of public transit. It seems very good to be able to travel more and use the train service with the same pass.”
- Rosa: “My husband bought the day pass and when he boarded another bus, they did not accept it because it was a different company. So it would be great if all of the bus passes would work for all the buses.”
- David Ramirez: Why does buying a ticket in San Mateo County not also serve in Santa Clara County?
- Nora: It would be convenient to be able to scan the clipper card for more than one passenger, perhaps to be able to pay for the trip for the entire family with the same card.
- Evelyn Garcia: “The use of an application that the whole family can use, to access the same funds in the account. One day I had to pay $50.00 cash when we took the train with my family because I was not able to scan the clipper card for each member or my family. The pass was not valid for the whole family even if I had credit.
- Transit costs are too high, particularly for seniors, youth, and college students.
- Introduction of day passes or season passes to make travel more economical.
- The Dumbarton Bridge bus fare of $6 for an individual is excessive for many people.
- Implementation of Apple Pay or credit card/Visa payment options for bus fares is needed, as many riders do not carry enough change. Cash machines on buses sometimes malfunction, causing delays.
Transit connections
- David Ramirez. Why do they not combine service between San Mateo and Santa Clara County?
- Francesca: “Some people are not able to get to Caltrain and BART for higher frequency connections because they don’t have a way to get to the station.”
- Leticia M: “East Palo Alto needs the best route from Palo Alto to East Palo Alto.”
- Mary: “Lines that connect the different means of transport, and more frequently. Sometimes we must walk too far to take public transport”.
- Current routes do not adequately connect to essential locations such as hospitals, malls, and grocery stores (e.g., Walmart, Target).
- There is a need for buses that can cross county lines to improve accessibility.
- Traveling from East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, North Fair Oaks to San Mateo Hospital often requires taking three buses, which can result in late arrivals. A direct bus route to hospitals is essential.
Rider Experience
- Espera Perez: I need a shelter to protect from the sun and rain.
- From a workshop with primarily Spanish-speaking South San Mateo County residents: Need more bus shelters. In Belle Haven, elderly people have to sit on the curb.
- Mary: “It would be great to make the bus stops adequate so that people can wait, with benches, lights, and protection from the rain and sun”.
- The transit environment feels unsafe; there are concerns about inappropriate behavior and unsuitability for children. The current transit system is not safe for children; many parents said they would not send kids alone.
For an overview and link to the full report, see this blog post on the Seamless Bay Area website.