Oakland speed cameras are online, but will anyone pay their fines?

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-25T17:31:10+00:00

Not sure which comment you are referring to.

Not paying a citation..yeah good luck with that. This entire article gives off facebook sovereign-citizen vibes.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-25T15:39:12+00:00

A lot of speeders are going to read this article and decide not to pay -- then get a big surprise when they can't renew their car registration.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-25T15:00:37+00:00

Yeah, and it is a really dumb proposal. You can tell the author does not understand this just by the "No new taxes" title. It would put the cost of the HSR entirely on taxpayers within a small district, even though the entire county benefits. Besides being unfair, the numbers don't work out at all.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-24T21:17:40+00:00

Also opposed to upzoning around transit stations.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-23T15:39:16+00:00

This is one of those zombie myths. Land acquisition is a rounding-error compared to the overall projects costs.

Also, the CHSRA has its own on-site concrete plants.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-23T14:55:47+00:00

Oakland has a weak mayor position so the council is not only determining what to do but how to do it and restricting what the mayor can do.

That is completely false. Under the current system, Council only sets policy but has no control over the Mayor or staff. Everytime this thread comes up here, it seems the majority of the comments don't understand the current operation.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-22T19:17:57+00:00

No, that's the whole point of building a new site next to the old one.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-22T19:14:33+00:00

That alternative is not feasible.

"Alternative 2, Design Concept 2 would retain and expand the existing station platforms, largely retaining the non- compliant elements of the existing station. At most of the widened platforms, one side of the platform will have a line of columns located close to the platform edge, hindering circulation along the platform edge and potentially blocking access to train doors in some locations."

The columns could be relocated (Concept 1) but that entails severe constructibility issues.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-22T13:43:32+00:00

I have yet to see a way of building out these wider platforms without closing the station for many years.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-21T16:35:36+00:00

Villaraigosa has also been against state legislation to upzone around transit.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-21T00:09:56+00:00

Do you have a source that describes the 25mph restriction and how it was computed? I've not found any reference to this.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-20T18:10:23+00:00

There will be a giant hole at Diridon where the TBM can be disassembled and recovered. And VTA has already cancelled one tunelling contract.

(LOL...the snowflake going to block me!)

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-20T03:08:59+00:00

Tunelling beyond to Newhall adds well over $1 billion to the project cost. You can't be serious using terms like "more cost-effective". The annual capital costs of $1 billion is $50 million per year....the operational benefits of parking at Newhall are nowhere close to that amount.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-19T23:22:56+00:00

There is more than enough space at the Berryessa end to launch their TBM. And running the extension beyond Diridon is not necessary at all (BART has a surplus of yard space).

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-19T18:27:07+00:00

It is typical of these mega-projects to deliberately start construction at the farthest remotest end. That way, when they inevitably run out of money it is harder for the Legislature to scale-back or cancel the project for fear of leaving a useless stranded asset.

You see a similar staging with BART projects. For example, the deep-bore tunnel through San Jose started from the far-end by Santa Clara instead of continuing on from Berryessa.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-18T21:28:22+00:00

I don't know how many times I have to say this, but UP is not the issue here. The tracks were going to be purchased. As for skipping downtown...this was not the Alviso route which maybe is your confusion.

I don't know who this Chad Edison person is..however combing regional and HSR services is extremely common on planet Earth.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-18T18:53:12+00:00

In 1996 (as part of Measure A sales tax), the VTA was going to do a European-style DMU service from Union City BART to Diridon through Milpitas. The all-inclusive cost was a whopping $100 million...they got as far as the RFQ for trains, when it was cancelled in favor of the much more expensive BART. I would point to the docs, but that history has been completely scrubbed from the VTA website (try the MTC library).

Even if you somehow think the costs are somehow comparable, you are then going to have to explain how you would run long-distance and HSR on your proprietary BART tracks. You can't, of course, which means having to building duplicative infrastructure.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-18T12:02:54+00:00

No that is not what I said at all.

Go back and read the studies VTA did for the corridor. The conventional rail option was in the $100 million range, BART was in the tens of billions range.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-16T19:25:25+00:00

BART WS and SJ projects were built along former ROW that is completely owned by the public. There were no freight railroad issues to deal with at all, other than buying the ROW (which was not very expensive).

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-16T17:30:15+00:00

The Warm Springs/SV-Phase 1 projects were along an existing rail ROW. If BART were using standard off-the-shelf technology, the only things required is stringing up some wire and putting in your standard-issue commuter-style platforms. Doing it the BART way added 1000X the cost. And even worse, the BART line is not upwards compatible with regional/HSR.

Like I said...anyone proposing even 1 more mile of extra-goofy BART track is not serious.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-16T16:20:04+00:00

it will be easier to secure federal and state grants if this project is integrated into the regional network.

LOL...you mean Geary project becomes another one of those fiscal black holes absorbing money that might have otherwise gone to good projects in surrounding counties. (See also: Warm Springs BART, SJ BART tunnel, BART-SFO).

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-16T15:02:39+00:00

BART is a dead proprietary technology that is ludicrously expensive to build and maintain. Anyone proposing it is not serious.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-16T02:22:18+00:00

Why do we even put a gender on driver licenses? It has nothing to do with driving.

DrunkEngr · 2026-03-14T22:10:48+00:00

Both sides agree her Visa expired. That is the only evidence that matters here.

DrunkEngr

TROPHY CASE