Q: About a year and a half ago, I started commuting by Caltrain, using my bike to solve the “last mile” problem. Overall, I am very happy with my commute. I have two complaints, though.
First, I take the same train every day. At times I arrive at the station to discover that my train has been canceled and I have to wait 11 minutes for the next one. Why can’t I set up Caltrain notifications to tell me that my train has been canceled?
Second, there are limited seats in the bike cars, and riders with bikes take a lot longer to load than regular riders. Why do people without bikes crowd into the bike car? As a result, the bike car is still loading while all other cars, and riders, are ready to go. Non-bike riders in the bike car also sit in seats in the bike area. We cyclists need to be near our bikes, both to keep them from being stolen, and to potentially rearrange them. Can you please let readers know that there is lots of space in other cars and to please give priority in bike cars to bike owners with their bikes?
Karin Stein, Mountain View
A: On your first concern, Jeremy-a-Caltrain-spokesperson said they’re working on ways to let riders know about schedule changes, including through text/email alerts and more robust online information. And as for the second one, you just raised awareness about how the train could load faster if non-bike riders looked for seats in non-bike cars, when possible.
Q: I was eagerly anticipating driving on Interstate 680 right after the weekend repairs. While I give huge kudos to the crews for smoothing out the biggest depressions, I can’t help but feel the work is incomplete. It seems that they did hardly anything between the Bernal on-ramp and the Castlewood off-ramp. The surface from Castlewood to the Sunol Boulevard. off-ramp wasn’t topped with asphalt and striped.
Are they planning on another shutdown in the (hopefully) near future to finish things? Right now it’s as if they put a coat of primer on the house, but haven’t fully painted it yet.
Wayne Starron, Pleasanton
A: Caltrans thanks you for the kudos. And Janis-the-Caltrans-spokesperson for Alameda County says you’re right, the work, part of a larger project, is incomplete. They replaced pavement on southbound 680 from Sunol Boulevard/Castlewood to Koopman Road. Concrete was used in the far right-hand lane and will have no asphalt overlay. Caltrans will perform grinding on the top layer of the concrete later in the construction process to provide a much smoother ride.
The segment between the 580/680 interchange and Stoneridge Drive was paved with asphalt.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.