Missing Connections

Today I noticed that while Caltrain's Bayshore station and Muni's Sunnydale station (T line) are only 1000 ft from each other across an empty and fenced off lot, the only walking route between the two stations is about 3300 ft, past Arieta station (T line), which is 1500 ft from the station). I can't comment on the usefulness (or not) of having that connection between the two stations, to allow someone to travel between SE San Francisco and CalTrain destinations south of San Francisco although I do see that there has been consideration of moving the Bayshore Station south and extending the T line to it.

But that got me thinking: Where else are there missing (or removed) connections between transit systems, and should they be built (or restored)?

Looking at the transit view in Apple Maps, it seems to me that I can start a list of missing connections that seem obvious on maps, but which I can't tell would be useful or not:

• LA Metro C Line Norwalk station - Metrolink Norwalk / Santa Fe Springs station
• CTA Green Line Cottage Grove station - Metra / South Shore 63rd St station
• SEPTA Airport Line Eastwick station - SEPTA 36 line Eastwick Loop

RW - In these two instances the answer is simply NO for any direct connection between rail routes -

1-Chicago Transit Authority:
The CTA Jackson Park Line (before 1993 color name change) on East 63rd Street once ran one mile further
east to 63/Stony Island...The Metra Electric station is 3/4 of a mile east of the current end of the E. 63 route
at 63/Cottage Grove...Back in 1982 this L structure began to be truncated westward with the condemnation
(and subsequent demolition) of the truss bridge over the IC (now Metra) Electric Line...During the mid 1990s
CTA's Green Line was closed for re-construction - and in this instance a local Woodlawn (neighborhood name)
NIMBY group fought to keep this mile of L structure from being fully restored to its original terminal...

2-SEPTA in SW Philadelphia:
The ending of the #36 Trolley route is about one mile from the RRD Eastwick Station on the Airport Line...
I have walked between these stations on the paralleling roads - there is no direct SEPTA bus connection...
Connecting these two routes would either require an (expensive) surface extension of the #36 Trolley SW
or moving the RRD Eastwick Station north to directly interface with the current #36 Trolley loop terminal.

In both of these examples the low (or no) amount of possible connecting riders is not worth the high
expenditure of funding that would be required to construct new route extensions...MACTRAXX

I know there is no direction connection between those routes, that's why I listed them. The questions are should there be direction connections, why or why not, and where else are their gaps like that?

RandallW wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2024 2:57 pm Looking at the transit view in Apple Maps, it seems to me that I can start a list of missing connections that seem obvious on maps, but which I can't tell would be useful or not:

• LA Metro C Line Norwalk station - Metrolink Norwalk / Santa Fe Springs station
• CTA Green Line Cottage Grove station - Metra / South Shore 63rd St station
• SEPTA Airport Line Eastwick station - SEPTA 36 line Eastwick Loop

There is some very preliminary planning for extending the C Line to Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs, but likely won't happen until the 2050s, based on available funding options.

I’ll add three gaps between transit and Amtrak stations:

• Miami Metrorail station to Amtrak. It is a doable 1/2 mile walk through an interesting neighborhood (I was attacked by a rooster). But a short sidewalk along the tracks to the north from the TriRail station could cut the walk in half

• Charlotte CATS Blue Line Parkwood Station to the current Amtrak station. One third mile as crow flies is a mile walk through some of Charlotte’s roughest areas. The NS rail yard separates the two and a new station is planned but stalled. No real way to fix this one beyond getting the new downtown station done

• The absence of any real transit connection to Richmond Staples Mill still feels glaring to me. Extending the BRT line up to RSM seems like a pretty minimal change and would make the city much more accessible to a significant number of Amtrak passengers. Making all trains stop at the downtown station would be an even easier solution (just gotta fix those tracks to the South)

Bob Roberts wrote: ↑Wed Sep 18, 2024 10:08 am I’ll add two gaps between transit and Amtrak stations:

• Miami Metrorail station to Amtrak. It is a doable 1/2 mile walk through an interesting neighborhood (I was attacked by a rooster). But a short sidewalk along the tracks to the north could cut the walk in half

• Charlotte CATS Blue Line Parkwood Station to the current Amtrak station. One third mile as crow flies is a mile walk through some of Charlotte’s roughest areas. The NS rail yard separates the two and a new station is planned but stalled. No real way to fix this one beyond getting the new downtown station done

https://youtu.be/XjkSZBeOdxQ?si=PnlL9fb_GRT-1-J_ we have video of that chicken attack.

In San Francisco the distance between Sunnydale and Bayshore is as much vertical as horizontal; from Sunnydale you can get a splendid aerial view of the 4-track (at that point) Bayshore station far below.