Small and large solutions for Highway 101’s traffic problems.
Before I had children, I used to commute from Cotati, via Golden Gate Transit, to San Francisco. I enjoyed my time leisure reading or getting a leg up on my day’s work. Now it’s my husband who leaves our house at 5:30 a.m. and arrives home around 6:40 p.m. He and a coworker carpool from Santa Rosa to Larkspur, where they take the ferry to San Francisco. Approximately three hours of his day are spent getting to and from work.
He doesn’t mind the commute, but I sometimes feel like it steals time from our family life. We’ve thought about moving closer to the city, but we’re happy where we live and a move would boost our monthly mortgage payment—also affecting our quality of life. He’s looked around at jobs closer to home, but he really likes his job (and a hubby happy at work is happier at home) and hasn’t been able to find anything in his profession that pays as well locally. Like thousands of other individuals from Sonoma County, he commutes out of the county.
It’s not just the people with long commutes who suffer from the gridlock. Highway 101 has been coined “Sonoma County’s Main Street” for a reason—76 percent of use is for shopping or running errands. In Marin County, Mary Currie, public affairs director for the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, says, “70 percent of daytime traffic through Marin stays in Marin.”
Just how bad is it?
Highway 101 is the most heavily traveled route in the North Bay, linking San Francisco to the south with cities in Marin and Sonoma counties before continuing toward Mendocino County to the north. In Sonoma County alone, traffic exceeds capacity on Highway 101, with combined north and south bound annual average daily traffic ranging from 94,000 to 103,000 vehicles. This creates congestion that’s commonplace during both the morning and evening peak periods.
The difficulty for slow-moving vehicles climbing the long Cotati Grade, where mainline travel speeds at the grade are as low as 8 miles per hour (mph) in the morning peak period and 37 mph in the evening, adds to congestion northbound. Marin also has its share of bottlenecks. The grade leading up to the Civic Center is rarely clear, and getting through San Rafael is often slow and arduous. Representatives from both counties agree the county line contains one of the most dangerous and slowest-moving stretches of Highway 101.
Traffic congestion has gotten so bad that numerous adjustments must be made to clear the gridlock. Some resolutions are less costly and more widely acceptable than others, but there’s not one clear-cut answer.
Novato Narrows
One of the most congested places along the corridor is the northbound stretch of Highway 101 in northern Novato where three lanes taper down to two. This part of 101 isn’t a freeway, but a two-lane stretch of roadway between the last Novato exit and the first exit in Petaluma. This piece of highway, referred to as the “Novato Narrows,” has 84 points where vehicles can leave and enter the cramped and busy lanes. It can be a very dangerous stretch of road. There have been numerous fatal accidents and a multitude of near collisions. The Waste Management company spent private dollars to add an overpass so big rigs and garbage trucks would have easier access to the Redwood landfill, which is located along this stretch. The new overpass has curtailed fatalities involving big trucks, but there are still issues concerning on and off access for local ranchers and others.
The Narrows proposal involves adding a lane in each direction for carpools and other high-occupancy vehicles (HOV) during peak commute hours. The draft environmental impact report for the widening project was expected to be released in October 2007 with public hearings to follow. If things go as planned, the final environmental impact report might be finished by the end of 2008. In September 2007, the director of Caltrans was reported to say if everything goes well, the much-needed project could be completed in 10 years. But 10 years may be a long shot if all the other ducks aren’t lined up. Until the environmental review process is finished, no progress will be made, and whatever new issues surface before then will need to be resolved before local environmental groups will give their stamps of approval.
As of September 2007, widening of this 17-mile portion was expected to cost about $800 million. Previously, the project was projected to total $600 million. Transit officials currently have around $230 million that has been promised to the project. The $570 million shortfall dictates that those committed to the project will have to continue to work together to pay for this road enhancement. Sonoma and Marin officials, at both the county and local levels, as well as state representatives, have worked hard to bring this project to fruition. If the plan is going to work, then citizens in both the public and private sectors will need to continue to work together in seeking and securing funding.
Diane Steinhauser, executive director of the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) says the project’s new price wasn’t a surprise. The local leaders were more amazed that the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) was able to come up with the initial $230 million. The MTC committed to funding this project in its last regional plan, and local leaders are optimistic that the MTC will continue to be committed and will find the funds to complete the project. Not only because of the congestion, but largely because of the safety issues surrounding the Narrows.
SMART
The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit project, or “SMART,” aims to provide passenger train service and a continuous bicycle/pedestrian pathway along the Northwestern Pacific (NWP) rail corridor that runs parallel to Highway 101 from Larkspur to Cloverdale. Passenger rail service was provided along the NWP as late as 1957, and public acquisition of the NWP rail right-of-way began in the 1970s and continued into the mid-1990s. Funds to purchase the rights-of-way were supplied by federal and state sources to ensure the transportation benefits of the corridor would be preserved for North Bay residents for the future.
In 1997, the Sonoma County Transportation Authority and Marin Planning Agency hired a consultant to conduct the “Sonoma-Marin Multi-Modal Transportation and Land Use Study.” The result of this study was a recommendation to form a commission that could design and implement a passenger train service to support local transportation and land use patterns and minimize the negative environmental impacts of sprawl. (A Bay Area example of this type of service is the Altamont Commute Express, which runs between Alameda and Santa Clara counties.) The construction cost is between $5 to $6 million per mile, and it requires no electrical infrastructure, no divide right of way and would run at grade, meaning flat on the ground, crossing on roads with gates or signals.
In January 2003, AB 2224 went into effect and a new entity, the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District, was formed to succeed the SMART commission and the Northwestern Pacifc Railroad Authority as the owner and operator of the passenger rail line in Sonoma and Marin counties. It’s governed by a 12-member board of elected and appointed officials.
“Passenger rail service is a technology that everyone understands. It can be operated with biodiesel fuel blends and can be built quickly so that an alternative to Highway 101 congestion is available to North Bay residents,” says Lillian Hames, general manager for SMART.
It would take about 55 minutes to travel from Santa Rosa to San Rafael, and travel times would be the same during peak and non-commute hours. The same trip by car during rush hour is about 80 minutes. SMART estimates initially about 5,300 people would take the train each day, and about 7,000 would use the pathway. Its 20-year forecast predicts up to 10,000 people riding the rail each day.
SMART opponents argue that the chosen rail technology is too expensive given that the projected ridership represents only a small percentage of daily commuters. And although the pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions would be better than that of auto use, adversaries say it wouldn’t be any better than other transportation alternatives such as express buses, car and van pooling on HOV lanes and hybrid local buses. (SMART’s EIR contradicts this, concluding that rail is the best alternative to reduce greenhouse gases and pollutants.) They’re afraid an ineffective SMART project will make it more difficult to raise additional public funds to implement a more modern and comprehensive solution in the future. There’s also a safety concern, a problem that all at-grade rail systems share—the potential for fatal interactions with cars and pedestrians.
The SMART measure lost by only 1.3 percent in Marin County in the November 2006 election. SMART’s ad hoc committee has prepared recommendations based on the 2006 vote, including getting technical information out to people in a way they can understand and looking at an alternative signaling system, weekend service and smaller and lighter vehicles.
The train would be powered by clean diesel and biodiesel blends and there would be no locomotives, meaning it’s considered a clean technology. SMART has included the use of catalytic converters on the rail cars several years in advance of the federal requirement, meaning the proposed project would be one of the cleanest operating rail systems in the country.
Buses on the Shoulder
Jim Schmidt, a San Rafael transportation engineer, is proposing something that could save bus riders up to 15 minutes on their commute with very little cost. Namely, letting buses drive up to 35 mph on the shoulder when traffic is at a standstill between Highway 37 and Lincoln Avenue during the morning peak traffic. They could also use the shoulder from Tiburon to San Rafael during the afternoon commute.
It’s not just that bus riders will save time. Knowing they’ll shave 15 minutes off travel time means bus companies will have schedules that are more precise and dependable. The predictability will make taking the bus more appealing to riders. Schmidt doesn’t believe using the shoulders for buses will make the commute any worse for motorists, but that it can make it better for bus riders. Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol do have some safety and liability concerns, though. Bus drivers would have to be prepared to handle traffic merging on and off the highway at several spots. They’d also have to find ways around stalled vehicles or accidents on the shoulders.
Schmidt was inspired by similar solutions in Minneapolis, where buses have been operating on freeway shoulders for more than 15 years, and San Diego, where a pilot program is currently in operation. One of the proposal’s supporters, Marin County Supervisor Hal Brown, is sending one of his staff members to San Diego to document its success, and to bring back suggestions for local implementation. Supervisor Brown says, “Making a dent in the traffic with small, less costly measures, really does make a difference.”
He notes the county’s 2004 to 2006 “Ride & Roll” program, that let school kids ride buses for free on regularly scheduled routes. Brown says people also noticed a big difference in traffic when school was out and local leaders thought of a way to keep some of the cars off the road that were being used to shuttle junior high and high school students back and forth. Before the program began, there were 15,000 bus trips taken by youth and teens on public transportation. In the quarter after implementation, there were 45,000 documented trips. For a small amount of money, an enormous amount of cars were taken off the highway during peak hours.
Sonoma and Marin counties are putting together a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) group. Spearheading the efforts are members of the boards of supervisors from both counties, MTC and the North Bay Leadership Council. This group of forerunners will be looking at approaches to actively engage businesses in employment strategies that will help alleviate traffic.
Staggered business hours for off-peak commuting, bike facilities to encourage alternative transportation, telecommuting, transit passes and incentives for carpooling, have all been suggested. Major employers like Fireman’s Fund, Autodesk and Fair Issac may be asked to lead the way, but smaller organizations will also be approached, since every car off the road makes a difference. Steinhauser also says Marin County’s general plan for the future includes smart growth, incorporating elements such as making sure new housing developments and large businesses have access to public transit.
There are approximately 2,200 Marin County governmental employees, half of whom live outside of the county. In September, the county started its own “solution to traffic” by offering its workers incentives to get to work without driving. It’s offering up to $20 per week to people who carpool, bike to work, ride public transportation or use other alternate modes of transportation. It’s also working with 800 people who are eligible to telecommute. It’s even offered employees use of a county car in case of an emergency in which the employee needs to leave work immediately and is without transportation.
Additional solutions
When my husband and I were preparing to move back to the Bay Area in 1998, there was some talk about state-of-the-art quadrimarans making their way down the Petaluma River to the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco. The trip was reported to take less than an hour and was to be funded through a private venture not involving taxpayer dollars. Although the project never came to fruition, this type of thought is an indication that there are always people trying to find new solutions.
Marin Supervisor Judy Arnold hasn’t given up her search for a 21st century solution. In September, she gathered a group of local leaders in the transportation movement (including a member of SMART’s governing board) for a maglev (magnetic levitation) train presentation. Its pros include all-electric operation (hydro or geothermal), freedom from noise pollution, and minimal impact on wildlife and sensitive areas due to very limited land use requirements. And at speeds of about 125 mph, the trip from Santa Rosa to Larkspur would take only 20 minutes. Initially, it looked like there might be federal funds available to launch a study of these medium-speed trains, but according to Arnold’s group, Marin was too late to qualify. Even if the county had qualified, there would have been additional hurdles to clear to bring the high-speed trains to the area. The hefty price tag alone, $40 to $50 million per mile, about 10 times more than SMART, was enough to make many people leery. The maglev system, of course, would carry many more passengers at higher speeds. However, the reluctance to embrace an unfamiliar technology is understandable when the cost is broached.
But Dr. Richard Wilson of the Maglev Transit Group says there are still alternatives to consider. The first would divert the rail system, beginning at Port Sonoma (Highway 37), and then extending along the Atherton Avenue corridor. This would bypass the difficult areas of Novato as far as noise and rail crossings are concerned. The benefits would be:
• “The SMART right of way would be freed for the maglev train from Novato southward;
• Existing or new transit hubs could be augmented or inaugurated to accommodate maglev traffic, particularly at the Highway 37/101 interchange;
• Lower-cost, lower-speed maglev technology could be used to connect the transit hubs with stations in San Rafael and Larkspur, without foreclosing the future use of higher-speed vehicles;
• SMART would be able to offer voters a real benefit in travel time, capacity and zero pollution.
The second alternative would be to leave the railroad alone, but dedicate the SMART right of way to maglev from Highway 37 southward. This would likely involve a parking lot located in the southeast quadrant of the interchange. Wilson believes that, with unified local support, a project such as this would garner federal support, and that there are other innovative ways to finance it.
Another solution was presented to Arnold by Christopher Perkins of UniModal Systems. His proposal involved SkyTran, a solar-powered, high-speed personal rapid transit system designed to eliminate urban congestion, substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote energy independence. The company claims the SkyTran can carry as many people per hour as a three-lane freeway and travel at speeds up to 150 mph.
It costs approximately $15 million per bidirectional mile (less than half the cost of the Maglev train, but still significantly more than SMART). However, the personal vehicles carrying one or two passengers offer the convenience and privacy of automobiles, with on-demand, point-to-point, nonstop service to any destination in the guideway network. Personal, aerodynamic vehicles travel on a small elevated monorail, that leaves a minimal footprint and could operate on the existing rail right-of-way.
The company currently has a four-year U.S. Department of Transportation grant at the University of Montana, collaborates with the University of California at Irvine and is working with NASA’s National Center for Advanced Manufacturing to develop system components. Unimodal Transport Solutions expects a full-scale demonstration system to be deployed in California in 2008.
Who knows what 20 or 30 more years of technology will bring us. It seems laughable now, but maybe we really will be looking at some Jetson-like, Star Wars-inspired, solar-powered crafts (even George Lucas couldn’t have escaped the traffic venturing between Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Ranch). Perhaps someone’s fantasy will turn into a reality. ‘Whether you believe in global warming or not—and I’m on the fence about it—there’s too much junk being put in the air. There’s congestion all over the United States. At some point, it has to stop. You have to get people to work without their cars; that’s what’s driving this,” says Wilson.
Many people throughout the world are working on possible solutions to traffic congestion and the pollution that accompanies it. For the time being, there’s not a clear-cut solution. It will take a number of measures to contribute to the success of smooth traffic flow through the North Bay’s section of Highway 101.
SMART’s Hames sites the addition of a new HOV lane in Santa Rosa running from Todd Lane to Highway 12. She says, “It was great for the first several months, but over time, the HOV lanes gradually filled up.” It seems to be a matter of build it, and it will eventually be crammed to maximum capacity again. This is a situation that’s greatly affected by each individual. Everyone—from workers, employers, students, shoppers to leisure travelers—needs to do his or her part for the collective whole. It’s the only way to make a difference for our environment and to protect our high quality of living.
