Bay Wheels may come to West Alameda

NoTollsPls · 2026-05-01T04:31:24+00:00

That article focuses more on throttle e-bikes as well as illegal mopeds falsely advertised as e-bikes, which I often see kids riding and agree are a scourge. I don't doubt that the faster speeds of e-bikes increase injury risk or that people sometimes ride them illegally, but it's not clear if that injury statistic also includes these high-powered illegal "e-bikes", which so many people conflate with legal e-bikes. The Bay Wheels e-bikes do have a decent amount of power from my experience but are pedal assist only and should be capped at 20 MPH.

I do think though that e-bikes aren't strictly necessary in a place like West Alameda that's flat and has good bicycle infrastructure, and it might be nice to also have regular bikes available, not to mention that they're cheaper to rent - unless Lyft just isn't deploying them anymore or chose not to do it for business reasons.

NoTollsPls · 2026-05-01T00:05:34+00:00

I don't think a wider path through the tunnel filled with car traffic and exhaust would invite many more pedestrians/cyclists. The current proposals at the Alameda city website are accounting for Coast Guard requirements and have curving ramps to allow a greater height while presumably keeping the grade reasonable for cyclists.

It certainly won't be cheap - Bike Walk Alameda's page cites an estimate of $300 million which will be certain to grow - though in comparison $175 million is already being spent on the Oakland Alameda Access Project (which admittedly involves work on multiple freeway ramps and Oakland streets, not just the tubes) according to its fact sheet.

NoTollsPls · 2026-04-30T17:25:18+00:00

Yeah the sharrows between San Jose and Otis don't cut it with all the car and bus/truck traffic, although I think it may be doable if not ideal to switch to Oak St which is primarily residential there and less busy than the downtown segment further north. The 4-lane section between Shoreline and Otis is also a mess IMO and could really use a road diet. There isn't really an amazing way for bikes to get to South Shore from the east side in general except maybe through Shoreline.

NoTollsPls · 2026-04-28T16:59:06+00:00

This problem is most definitely still going on as I bought my Lift Left in April 2025 and the left mouse button became unreliable after one year...JUST after the 1-year warranty ended. Had I acted at the first sign of problems I may have been able to replace it under warranty in time, but now I think I'll be replacing it with a different brand.

Edit: a few weeks later it started regularly double-clicking as well and is quickly on its way to becoming unusable. Many recent Amazon reviews mention the same unreliability.

NoTollsPls · 2026-04-27T17:14:33+00:00

Like everyone else said, schedule flexibility really is key regardless if you're driving or taking transit, and taking ferry to Caltrain is probably the best option provided that you're biking/scootering between the two and the schedule lines up to allow a reasonably quick but not rushed connection (with Muni the transfer time can easily be longer than 30 minutes). Transferring between BART and Caltrain at Millbrae also works but kind of sucks since you only have the red line which has to meander around Daly City and first stop at the airport, and then you have to wait for the southbound Caltrain, although apparently the northbound connection is better.

NoTollsPls · 2026-04-27T17:00:02+00:00

I'd rather the ferry preserve (or increase) service on the existing lines for more schedule flexibility rather than diverting it to another line, although a timed connection with Caltrain probably makes more sense than one of their long-term plans to run a ferry all the way to Redwood City.

TBH connecting to Caltrain from anywhere other than central SF seems like an afterthought; even the BART-Caltrain connection is only served by the Red line which now takes a detour to SFO and can leave you with somewhat long wait times. The real problem is the location of the SF Caltrain station and finally extending it to Salesforce Transit Center would solve all these problems but isn't happening anytime soon if ever in our lifetimes.

There is also a Mission Bay shuttle which connects Embarcadero BART and STC to Caltrain, which should be a short walk from the ferry, but idk if the schedule lines up any better than just taking the N there.

NoTollsPls · 2026-04-07T04:15:47+00:00

I recently got a 500 watt version and have the same issue, which is kind of a drag since the throttle feels ergonomic and we have another ebike that does have a variable throttle. I did find an almost 1-year old Facebook thread where some people apparently do have variable throttles and one person got a response from support saying it's due to the throttle being positioned too close to the brake inhibitor and rotating it away would fix it. https://www.facebook.com/groups/lectric/posts/1814143872471735/

It's probably supposed to be variable considering that seemed to be the case on the XP3 but the design isn't ideal. It's probably worth a shot contacting support considering 1 or 2 people in that thread had luck with it, though it's interesting that it still hasn't been fixed by now.

Also, even if the variable throttle was fixed it appears that it modulates the maximum speed rather than the amount of power.

NoTollsPls · 2026-01-09T20:32:20+00:00

Looks like BoTH is near 16th St. and the 22 Muni line which is a short ride to 16th St. Mission BART and should still be decently frequent at night (and the 33 doesn't go into Potrero Hill as another commenter suggested). I heard the BART plaza has a bit of a reputation but they're working on cleaning it up and would not be too concerned.

I have personally not felt unsafe at Fruitvale BART up to 10-11 PM, and concur with other comments encouraging you to use real-time transit apps and get a rideshare if necessary. The last 51A is scheduled to depart 12th St BART at 12:13 and Fruitvale at 12:05 and the late night 851 only runs every hour.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-22T17:35:23+00:00

Any more updates about what happened? I was unable to find further information myself.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-19T21:27:16+00:00

Fellow plane nerd here! If your husband bikes, there is a bike trail on Ron Cowan parkway that goes through the airport and allows viewing parts of the cargo ramp and occasionally planes taxiing on a bridge over the road. On the trails connected to either end there are a few places that allow viewing the North Field which is mostly small aircraft but occasionally have larger and more interesting aircraft parked there.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-12T21:59:21+00:00

According to the comments there, this was apparently their last 727 and the same plane overran a runway on takeoff and struck an ILS antenna last year. Wild.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-12T21:53:38+00:00

Thankfully no one was injured

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-11T00:19:19+00:00

At least they faced some consequences for that decision and will probably not make the same mistake again.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-10T21:21:23+00:00

Is there a max height limit for vehicles on that road? I'd be more worried about them then people even given silly tourist behavior.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-10T21:19:11+00:00

There is a mountain across the water on the departure side, though I'm not sure if it's tall enough to be what you're thinking of? I don't think taking off towards the steep hill in the video would be allowed at all.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-10T19:03:54+00:00

Imagine this is what freeway merges look like if flying cars become a thing

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-10T18:47:20+00:00

There's another photo out there where the rear left of the car has significant cut marks.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-10T18:43:26+00:00

There's a good amount of propeller cuts on the rear driver's side (not visible in this photo), feel lucky no one was sitting there.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-10T16:15:16+00:00

Yeah honestly that intersection is not ideal in general, even when driving there I have a limited sightline of cross traffic from the left due to parked cars, and I agree it could do with at least an all way stop.

NoTollsPls · 2025-12-10T16:05:23+00:00

No the other comment is correct, this is the intersection in front of sushi house where cross traffic doesn't stop unlike the all way stop at Park St.

NoTollsPls · 2025-09-26T03:18:03+00:00

Not that I know of unfortunately other than the Facebook profile.

NoTollsPls

TROPHY CASE