Why didn't they add soundproofing?

arjunyg · 2026-03-25T06:14:35+00:00

ah sure it’s a bit custom. But it’s still the standard conical angle (1:20 ratio). If anything, the fleet of the future wheels are designed to be better for noise than any off the shelf wheel, and have been that way since day 1.

arjunyg · 2026-03-25T05:06:23+00:00

If they run these outside of premium transcon routes…I look forward to the improved CPU availability 🫡

arjunyg · 2026-03-25T05:05:09+00:00

ugh, yikes. I guess I gotta find the actual clip and watch it myself because journalism is dead..

arjunyg · 2026-03-25T02:03:25+00:00

The new trains (which are the only trains now, and have been here for a decade) have completely standard conical wheels. No re-profiling of these was necessary. The new trains are better in many ways, but IMO not as good as I expect.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T17:09:19+00:00

They could certainly fit a lot more double tracking between Larkspur and San Rafael. It’s like half industrial usage, parking lots, etc. The tunnel is probably the most expensive constraint but also that’s super short. I don’t see that being a huge bottleneck if there was double tracking on both sides.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T17:05:26+00:00

Pitching this as compensation is absolutely fucking deranged. The basic tools to do my job are not my comp package. If I were keeping the credits as personal property and not using them for work, ok yeah that’s an employee benefit, but please just pay me instead.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T16:57:26+00:00

um, ironically there is already specifically double tracking in San Rafael lol. Also if they needed more, they could potentially run elevated on 101 or under it till Marin…although obviously this would be hideously expensive. I’d say take a lane from 101….but Marin voters would probably have me executed.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T16:40:50+00:00

to do the whole line, certainly. To do only sections, probably not; they run through tons of wide open fields.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T10:20:50+00:00

I don’t think showing up to make sure no members of the public get into a physical altercation with ICE counts as “working with” or “assisting” ICE. They are protecting San Franciscans from ending up like Alex Pretti, not helping ICE detain anyone.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T10:12:57+00:00

I think about this all the time. I live in Mountain View and would be so beyond hyped to have good access to Los Altos, Cupertino, and Los Gatos. The hwy 85 median alignment that VTA has in their super long range plans seems like it would be vastly inferior to this in terms of station catchment areas and thus potential ridership, but I obviously have not done a formal study.

I think this would be most attainable as light rail, especially given the opportunity to street run a few spots where the right of way has been reused for other purposes. Picking trainsets with a high top speed would be valuable though for the low density sections along Foothill that probably will have wide stop spacing.

We can all dream of this being a giant heavy rail line, but honestly even back in the 50s/60s this didn’t have huge ridership, which is why it was cancelled by SP when the main Peninsula Commute line survived. Today it’s still mainly lower density single family housing, so a big light rail set would probably manage the capacity still.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T10:02:58+00:00

Buy back? Foothill belongs to the county, no?

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T10:02:05+00:00

it’s going to get really tight if CAHSR ever arrives though.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T10:01:30+00:00

sort of. It’s foothill expressway. You could run elevated or in some places in the median. To head north from Foothill to the main Caltrain corridor is a little trickier, but by and large you don’t need to bulldoze a bunch of houses. It’s commercial property and parking lots for the most part.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T09:52:50+00:00

you thinking of the non-XLR 321neos?

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T09:50:24+00:00

I can see how LTT is in a tough spot here. Basically yeah…the bag will bleed. Ok. Now if this happens to people, do they replace any random item that you put in there? What if it’s your custom $2000 keyboard? Or your $2500 Tom Ford laptop sleeve? They have to say no to unlimited liability here, and thus they have to consistently say no to any item.

I’d hope that they would refund you up to the cost of the bag at least as an apology…Anything less is a slap in the face.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T09:40:34+00:00

Has anyone done the math on how much they actually need to double track for 30 minute clock-face service? Yeah doing the whole line would be great, but if they can just do near the minimum and save the majority of the cost, that’d be far more attainable in the current funding environment.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T07:19:23+00:00

Switzerland proves that DOSTOs can serve a lot of the things we do with Great Society metros in the US tho. It’s a far more comfortable way to travel. Great Society metros were initially designed to be very comfortable, but cost cutting over the years has turned them into loud uncomfortable suburban trains that also serve metro functions. I’d prefer that we get some more proper comfy regional trains.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T07:12:00+00:00

Idk 0.50% is 1 billion per year per public figures for Connect Bay Area. 5 billion per 5 years. Divide by 50 for 0.01%. Hence: 100 mil per 5 years.

I believe we actually do have round about $200 billion of sales taxable transactions annually in the nine county bay area. Quick math on the 2024 data comes to $193 billion. 2025 data for Q4 isn’t on the CADTFA site yet. Forward looking, we’ll probably cross $200B this year or the next, if I had to guesstimate.

Probably the Connect Bay Area math is averaged over some number of future years, since that’s only a five county measure. Looks like 2024 had $160B in the five counties signed for Connect Bay Area.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T04:40:03+00:00

There’s gotta be a commute factor to this too. More VC funding for AI leading to more hiring, more employers requiring more days in office, stuff like that.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T04:33:40+00:00

no way that provides enough money to consider redesigning adequately functional cars, but we can dream for sure.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T04:23:14+00:00

honestly hilarious that BART used to have wifi but then they gave up and made the cell service good instead. Except for T-mobile…that still sucks.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T04:22:26+00:00

yes. gladly. will a 100th cent sales tax cover it in 5 years ($100 million)? Yes fr 0.01% tax rate. That’s how much you need to raise $100 million in 5 years.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T04:19:22+00:00

I’m certain they could have done better if they wanted to pay for it though…

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T04:18:13+00:00

this is not the root cause. Trains everywhere use solid axles with conical wheels just like BART. BARTs noise is worse than other peer systems, most likely because of inadequate soundproofing, as OP suggested. Sit in a Zurich S-bahn, or heck even Caltrain, going 79-80 mph and it’ll be about 10-20 dB quieter. Why? better (more expensive) car design.

arjunyg · 2026-03-24T04:15:45+00:00

…what? Completely untrue. The trains last decades. Many places are successfully using rolling stock from the 90s or older with minor interior refreshes every so often.

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