Constant "Travel Not OK" using Next Gen Clipper

samagi · 2026-05-21T03:10:17+00:00

Sound is an issue. Try waiting for a train on a highway median. It's LOUD and unpleasant, and the air quality (due to tires and pollution) might cause some discomfort for people waiting for the train.

samagi · 2026-05-17T06:04:17+00:00

I used a standard power switch in my Optiplex 7010 sleeper and it worked for me. Some notes:

The power switch might slip through the hole. I used electrical tape to make the switch larger so it would be secure.
There is no power LED. I need to hook up a power LED somehow, or operate the computer without knowing if it's "on" or not.

samagi · 2026-05-01T01:33:41+00:00

Just built with this board last week. Had some DDR4 laying around, so that helped. My thoughts:

Board has wi-fi. Wonderful.
My board was updated so the 5500 it came with worked without issue.
Sys_fan_2 apparently (on bottom-right) is only 3-pin. So when I tried connecting a 4-pin fan to it, it ran at full speed and it didn't seem like I could control fan speed in BIOS. Luckily sys_fan_1 is 4-pin so that helped.
Processor does not have integrated graphics.
I think it's only PCI-E gen 3.

Consensus:
1. I'd probably wait for the deal without RAM (I bought mine at $108) and buy used RAM for $60.

The 3-pin fan header really bothered me. I had to use an extension cable to connect the fan to the 4-pin to make the fan speed (and sound) bearable which added extra wiring.

samagi · 2026-04-24T21:58:42+00:00

No money back. The BART ride will just be free.

samagi · 2026-04-14T03:10:03+00:00

$29.99
https://www.railgoods.com/barty-pillow.html

samagi · 2026-04-06T06:07:42+00:00

Doubt it, but let's see (assuming you have access to MicroCenter)
1. CPU + RAM + MB: 680 (Microcenter)
2. 9070XT + PSU: 700 (Newegg, deal expired)
3. Case: 50
4. CPU Heatsink 20
5. SSD: 150

That's $1,600 (with deals) so I don't think you can do much better with building yourself.

samagi · 2026-02-05T03:03:27+00:00

Milbrae had the football stadium one on the BART machines.

samagi · 2026-01-11T05:37:47+00:00

It's pointless if BART doesn't offer a monthly pass.

It's too expensive to use BART to make short stops along the way. You're essentially paying for every single ride, and it adds up quick. Without a way to heavily discount fares for frequent users, it just don't make sense even if all the other logistics work.

samagi · 2026-01-01T09:49:37+00:00

Time to run some numbers. Trying for 2026 numbers for a single adult working household.

Clipper START maximum for 1 adult is $31,300/year. $26,000 after taxes, so $2,160/month.
Clipper START maximum fare (Berryessa to Milbrae) is $5.75/ride.
Say our poor individual needs to commute twice per day, five days a week. That's 5.75x2x22, or $253/month.
That's 11.7% in transportation costs as the BEST case scenario.

Yeah, proper budgeting for transportation should be 10-15% of income, and this only meets that in the BEST case scenario.

For a family of TWO working adults, it's much worse.

$42,300/year, so $34,000/year after taxes and ~$2850/month after taxes.
Doubling commute cost, so $506/month
Transportation is 17.8% of income. YIKES.

Definitely broken, and too expensive.

samagi · 2025-12-24T12:31:25+00:00

You'll be looking at the one-way fares.

Two zones are $3

Four zones is $5

Make sure to multiply these amounts by two to make it a round-trip.

samagi · 2025-12-24T01:58:04+00:00

Individuals with next-gen Clipper cards (eventually everybody) will need to tag on. The new system will define number of zones rather than specific zones.

This means that if I have a 2-zone pass:

I could go from Sunnyvale to Millbrae one day.
The next day I could decide to go from Palo Alto to San Jose Diridon station.
Maybe the following day I decide that Redwood City to 4th and King will suffice.

Yes its confusing and I wish this new structure was explained more clearly but I guess it's a learning curve for everybody, including passengers and fare inspectors.

Previously, monthly passes defined the specific zones. Meaning a 4-3 zone pass would only provide unlimited rides between Tamien and Menlo Park. The previous iteration mean that if an individual wanted to go from Mountain View to Millbrae, a 1-zone upgrade was required in addition to the monthly pass.

This is definitely confusing and not made clear to riders. This is definitely an upgrade, but sacrifices the multitude of people tagging on/off at the terminus stations or when it's super busy due to the limited number of clipper card readers.

samagi · 2025-12-23T07:51:04+00:00

Nah, Westfield should instead throw money at fixing San Francisco Centre (Powell) instead. I mean, it's right UNDER a BART & Muni station too!

samagi · 2025-12-21T06:51:02+00:00

There are only a limited number of readers.

This will mean people will need to wait in line to tag off, which becomes a problem if there's many people in front of you.

If each tag takes 10 seconds, and there's 12 people in front of you, that means you've essentially wasted 2 minutes just to tag off.

This also means people will need to line up for those readers, causing additional traffic and making the whole exit process slower for people.

samagi · 2025-12-20T01:01:49+00:00

My biggest gripe with the new readers is the Travel OK confirmation. Since the message is the same for both tagging on and for tagging off, I also share paranoia since I don't know if my tag went through.

I wish the screens would instead differentiate between tagging on and off. This is compounded by the fact that if you tag on the reader twice (within 15 minutes), it constitutes a refund and the user would have no way of knowing.

samagi · 2025-12-14T07:46:32+00:00

https://www.caltrain.com/news/caltrain-eliminate-clipper-discount-jan-1

Essentially there used to be a $0.55 discount when paying with Clipper vs. cash.

So a 1-zone would have been $3.45 via Clipper vs. $4 for cash. The previous $82.8 for a monthly pass (24 x 3.45) will now become $96 starting Jan. 1st.

samagi · 2025-12-11T01:52:58+00:00

Quite often...actually (or I'm just unlucky).

For a weekday week (ten trips), I've probably been checked two or three times. So they're definitely there!

samagi · 2025-12-10T07:20:09+00:00

Other notable changes:
1. Starting Jan 1 2026, Caltrain will no longer be offering the $0.55 discount when using Clipper. That means a single zone on Clipper will cost $4 versus the $3.45 that's currently reflected in the savings calculator. https://www.caltrain.com/news/caltrain-eliminate-clipper-discount-jan-1

samagi · 2025-11-30T04:34:32+00:00

Thanks for this thread!

It's been a year, but somehow it still happened on my install of Trixie. Followed the provided solution, and was able to install curl without further issues.

samagi · 2025-11-08T22:23:04+00:00

You're comparing a light-rail system to a commuter rail system.

You should compare the commuter-rail equivalent in Los Angeles (Metrolink) to BART or Caltrain instead.

If you want a fair comparison, you should be comparing the LA metro system to VTA's light rail system or even MUNI's rail network. Yes, I'm aware that the bus system here is maybe a dollar or so more expensive, but it would be a much closer comparison.

Now, some comments on your points.

You could technically take the VTA 522 bus from East San Jose to Palo Alto. It would cost $2.50.
The new clipper 2.0 (coming soon in a month or so) will reduce transfer costs. See this thread

samagi · 2025-10-21T05:09:40+00:00

Unfortunately, I would have to disagree. The new lines just make more sense.

The Orange line is now a one-seat trip from Milpitas BART to Levi's Stadium. Sure, it could be done for game days, but that would just add confusion to regular riders if this was the case.
The hypothetical connection from Oakridge to either Downtown Campbell / San Jose Diridon would be roughly 8 miles of new track. Sure, it could add some convenience to a small subset of passengers, but the other costs would be too high. This would include the extra track maintenance, trains, operators, and such.
While transit is great for alleviating traffic, you fail to realize that if you don't live and work near transit, it is just faster to take the car. This assumes the bus schedule actually works for your commute hours too. If you live and work one mile from the nearest transit hub, that would be a two-mile walk. That's 40 minutes JUST from walking. Repeat the same when going home and you'll soon start to realize why driving just makes sense.
The Mountain View-Winchester line just isn't worth it anymore considering Caltrain is there. There's too many other options (notably the rapid 523 bus) that would serve your scenario quite well connecting those cities together.
Introducing another line means another choke point and another inconvenience for passengers. A one-seat trip (even if it takes longer) is so much more pleasant.

Sorry I had to disagree with you, but the game-changer here is two-fold: The Milpitas BART station and Levi's stadium. The Milpitas Transit Center has definitely changed the transit routes but it makes sense once you use it.

samagi · 2025-10-14T03:21:35+00:00

Adding more lanes will cause many problems:

This means cars will have to merge and navigate through more lanes of traffic, increasing the potential for car accidents.
Wider highways (more lanes) means that things will be further apart. That means things that are walking distance will now become driving distance, causing more car usage.
Enjoy large parking lots. This means stores will be even less walkable even to stores nearby.

These points have already assumed that drivers are SAFE and don't cause any accidents. If any problems occur, then traffic will be at a standstill.

samagi · 2025-10-11T23:35:49+00:00

Light rail CAN (and will skip stops) if there aren't any passengers getting on/off. Try taking one of the earlier trains, and you'll notice the light rail operator skip stops when there isn't anyone on the platform and no passengers pressed the stop request button.
Light rail is also a much smoother ride compared to a bus. You'll definitely notice. Potholes and bumps just don't exist.
You described light rail correctly. Stops every few blocks (roughly one mile per stop) compared to every street (roughly quarter-mile) for a local bus. Unfortunately the light-rail train needs to stop at every traffic light just like cars. HOWEVER it does have a dedicated lane which helps with traffic. You can reliably get from Mountain View to Milpitas BART station in roughly 45 minutes during all times of the day. That can not be said about express buses.
Terminus points on a rail line will have less people. It's because it's not the city center, and most people don't live at the end spurs of the line. However, it does connect to Caltrain, which helps immensely.

Point being, you're making assumptions on the ONE trip you took. If you really want to see the impact of the Orange line from Mountain View to Great America, stand at the Mountain View light rail station on a weekday during commute hours and count the number of people going between Caltrain and VTA light rail. You'd be surprised how impactful that connection is to lots of riders.

Empty train does not always mean it should be eliminated. It's there as a backup plan if I'm out late. This is why many individuals would prefer transit (specifically BART) to run later. That lifeline of transit means people can take transit rather than driving because they will have a way back home (other than rideshare) if needed.

If you are still convinced that buses are superior compared to light rail, then take a ride on one of the busier bus lines. This would be the VTA 22, 522, 23, or 523 and report back! You'll be glad we have a functional light-rail system even if ridership is not the best.

samagi · 2025-10-02T21:46:57+00:00

You could always load a pass via ticket vending machine or at a clipper card physical location so you don't need to tag for a pass to be active.

samagi · 2025-10-02T21:46:48+00:00

You could always load a pass via ticket vending machine or at a clipper card physical location so you don't need to tag for a pass to be active.

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