Tretakoff Musings
Friday, November 07, 2008
Happily Railroaded
Gizmodo points out that, in all of the other high profile CA state issues that went down to defeat, one victory was lost in the shuffle: Proposition 1A, which lays the groundwork for a bullet train between Southern and Northern California. I am a huge fan of any rail transit, but this one simply makes sense.
Kudos to the supporters for making this excellent video which dramatically demonstrates the allure, the benefits, and the real expectations for what could be a monumental day of change for rail travel in this country.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
A Tale Of Two Ferries
As I avail myself of ferry transportation every day, I am always fascinated with the genre and it's twists and turns. For instance, on the ferry I take, I continue to be frustrated by their lack of vision. Two key runs sell out in the morning, and all others continue to be a dramatic money loser; rather than cut service in those dead times and offer a third run in the peak times, the Golden Gate Ferry continues to plod along without changes. Heck, contract the onboard beverage service to Peet's or Starbucks, and take a piece of the revenue!
However I complain about my ferry, it is still a magnificent way to commute. Folks in Sydney seem to feel the same, as they have started to experience not just great ferry service, but eco-friendly ferry service. With a combination of flexible solar panels and wind harnessing, they commute with half of the emissions of a traditional high-speed ferry. Nice work, down under.
On the flipside, there are my friends at Hawaii Superferry. A massive service, with accommodations for passengers and hundreds of vehicles, they aim to address a major issue with the multiple islands of Hawaii: inter island travel. The ship is more luxury liner than commuter ferry, and the service is modeled around an airline, as opposed to the traditional public transportation approach. Unfortunately, the residents of the islands it was to service protested the potential ecological impact of such a large ship, and blocked the service, just days before it was set to start, causing the layoffs of hundreds of workers. The ship itself is stunning, with all of the modern conveniences and a first class area that has to be seen to be believed. Disclaimer: my company provides the frequent traveler program for HSF.
Here's to hoping the world of aquatic transport continues to grow and innovate, as it's the most stress and traffic free transportation system the Coasts and Islands can imagine.
However I complain about my ferry, it is still a magnificent way to commute. Folks in Sydney seem to feel the same, as they have started to experience not just great ferry service, but eco-friendly ferry service. With a combination of flexible solar panels and wind harnessing, they commute with half of the emissions of a traditional high-speed ferry. Nice work, down under.On the flipside, there are my friends at Hawaii Superferry. A massive service, with accommodations for passengers and hundreds of vehicles, they aim to address a major issue with the multiple islands of Hawaii: inter island travel. The ship is more luxury liner than commuter ferry, and the service is modeled around an airline, as opposed to the traditional public transportation approach. Unfortunately, the residents of the islands it was to service protested the potential ecological impact of such a large ship, and blocked the service, just days before it was set to start, causing the layoffs of hundreds of workers. The ship itself is stunning, with all of the modern conveniences and a first class area that has to be seen to be believed. Disclaimer: my company provides the frequent traveler program for HSF. Here's to hoping the world of aquatic transport continues to grow and innovate, as it's the most stress and traffic free transportation system the Coasts and Islands can imagine.
Labels: commuting, Eco-friendly, transit
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Chronicle: The End Is Nigh
I have commented several times about my opinion of San Francisco's "premier" paper, the San Francisco Chronicle. When I first moved to the Bay Area, I was disgusted with this laughable excuse of a paper. As a man who consumed the Boston Globe from cover to cover, every day, for over a decade, I was shocked that a city with such a proud literary history called this pathetic excuse of newsprint as it's paper.
In the last 5 years, however, I have been pleasantly surprised to see the quality of it's coverage improving, with an emphasis on actually finding stories, instead of just picking up what the wires spit out. Coincidentally, it happened that this was the time the Hearst group picked up the paper, and made a real dedicated effort on it, and it was paying off. From the Barry Bonds scandals, to the coverage of Nancy Pelosi's ascension to the head of the Congress, the paper has been getting to be a real paper, and one that is actually a pleasure to occasionally read. And the Chronicle's website, SFGate is easily the best newspaper website out there, even beyond NYTimes.com or any other.
Ironically, after the year in which a successful film was released about the rich history of the Chronicle and the Zodiac killer, the paper itself is falling under the killer's stare. It is a bit sad to see that the increased quality has not been enough to stem the tide of red ink, as the Chronicle announced they are laying off 25% of the newsroom this summer.
To me, in the heart of Silicon Valley, this is the time to make a major strike. Hearst should make a deal with the folks who are providing the LCD's for the OLPC, and strike a delivery deal with the cell carriers. The Chronicle should go all digital: you get the screen/device for free, as long as you a) subscribe to the service for rates equivalent to a newspaper subscription, and b) agree to read the "paper" (and see the embedded ads) at least twice a week. In return, the device will automatically download the morning paper over the cell provider's network, and be ready for your commute. No waiting to download pages; you read them instantly, along with the photos and layout. How to protect it from being a fad? If you don't read the paper, you'll get one month to return the device, or you'll be charged $100.
The ad revenue still drives the business. The platform gets into the hands of commuters. The content still drives the adoption. Then, the Chronicle can license other Hearst publications to be available on the device, or make the ads clickable. The possibilities are endless: the key is making a lightweight, fully loaded device with the right content behind it. No more messy newsprint, and a truly trailblazing approach.
C'mon, Chron: if anyone can, you can.
I have commented several times about my opinion of San Francisco's "premier" paper, the San Francisco Chronicle. When I first moved to the Bay Area, I was disgusted with this laughable excuse of a paper. As a man who consumed the Boston Globe from cover to cover, every day, for over a decade, I was shocked that a city with such a proud literary history called this pathetic excuse of newsprint as it's paper. In the last 5 years, however, I have been pleasantly surprised to see the quality of it's coverage improving, with an emphasis on actually finding stories, instead of just picking up what the wires spit out. Coincidentally, it happened that this was the time the Hearst group picked up the paper, and made a real dedicated effort on it, and it was paying off. From the Barry Bonds scandals, to the coverage of Nancy Pelosi's ascension to the head of the Congress, the paper has been getting to be a real paper, and one that is actually a pleasure to occasionally read. And the Chronicle's website, SFGate is easily the best newspaper website out there, even beyond NYTimes.com or any other.
Ironically, after the year in which a successful film was released about the rich history of the Chronicle and the Zodiac killer, the paper itself is falling under the killer's stare. It is a bit sad to see that the increased quality has not been enough to stem the tide of red ink, as the Chronicle announced they are laying off 25% of the newsroom this summer.
To me, in the heart of Silicon Valley, this is the time to make a major strike. Hearst should make a deal with the folks who are providing the LCD's for the OLPC, and strike a delivery deal with the cell carriers. The Chronicle should go all digital: you get the screen/device for free, as long as you a) subscribe to the service for rates equivalent to a newspaper subscription, and b) agree to read the "paper" (and see the embedded ads) at least twice a week. In return, the device will automatically download the morning paper over the cell provider's network, and be ready for your commute. No waiting to download pages; you read them instantly, along with the photos and layout. How to protect it from being a fad? If you don't read the paper, you'll get one month to return the device, or you'll be charged $100.
The ad revenue still drives the business. The platform gets into the hands of commuters. The content still drives the adoption. Then, the Chronicle can license other Hearst publications to be available on the device, or make the ads clickable. The possibilities are endless: the key is making a lightweight, fully loaded device with the right content behind it. No more messy newsprint, and a truly trailblazing approach.
C'mon, Chron: if anyone can, you can.
Labels: news, San Francisco, transit
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Cavernous subways
As long as I can remember, I've been fascinated with subways. In Boston, where I grew up, I was a virtual Charlie on the M(B)TA. Some of the stations, especially on the Red and Blue lines, were fascinating:
- South Station had the oldest working escalator in the world: the steps were made from interlocking wooden dowels!
- The Aquarium stop was so deep and steep, you could get vertigo from the ride down the escalators.
- Porter Square in Cambridge was a twisting, turning rut that opened into a 2 story underground chamber.
- Park Street? All glorious tile and inlay.
The list goes on. I've always tried to ride subways in every city I go, from Montreal's famous rubber-tired trains, to the cool efficiency of the Metro in DC, to the classic "El" in Chicago, to the opulent carpets and couches of the Bay Area's BART. It's just an efficient, effective way to travel, and evokes the speed of rail with the convenience of in-town.
However, some places take subways to another level. Moscow's elegant crystal and marble; Berlin's modern efficiency. But Stockholm's is a whole world apart. Check out that image to the left: it's a station carved from a cave. These pictures are amazing; as the site says:
- South Station had the oldest working escalator in the world: the steps were made from interlocking wooden dowels!
- The Aquarium stop was so deep and steep, you could get vertigo from the ride down the escalators.
- Porter Square in Cambridge was a twisting, turning rut that opened into a 2 story underground chamber.
- Park Street? All glorious tile and inlay.
The list goes on. I've always tried to ride subways in every city I go, from Montreal's famous rubber-tired trains, to the cool efficiency of the Metro in DC, to the classic "El" in Chicago, to the opulent carpets and couches of the Bay Area's BART. It's just an efficient, effective way to travel, and evokes the speed of rail with the convenience of in-town.
However, some places take subways to another level. Moscow's elegant crystal and marble; Berlin's modern efficiency. But Stockholm's is a whole world apart. Check out that image to the left: it's a station carved from a cave. These pictures are amazing; as the site says:"The Stockholm Tunnelbana has three lines encompassing 110km of track and 100 stations of which 64km and 55 stations are underground. Several of the deep underground stations are cut into solid rock which were left with cave-like ceilings. The builders carved fascinating artistic objects out of the rock. One like the base of a gigantic Greek column (Station Radhuset) resembles the excavated remains of some lost city of Atlantis encased in an ancient lava flow. The Station Kungstradgarden has torsos and lion heads emerging from the rock. Modern murals and statues are liberally used in many other stations."
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Transit, by Google
What do you do when you need employees in a competitive environment, and stock options and salary are really not enough to distinguish you? Well, after you add free gourmet meals, onsite oil changes and car washes, and other lifestyle perks, you look at what the pain points for the Silicon Valley worker are: commuting. And then? If you're Google, you start a luxury bus line.
Yes, the Goog is now one of the largest transit system operators in the Bay Area. This New York Times article describes what transit is like, Google style:
WiFi, pets, bikes and comfort? Zero environmental impact? FREE? This is living. The article goes on, later, to describe that similar efforts are done by Cisco and Yahoo. In San Francisco, I see the Williams Sonoma luxury coaches delivering workers to BART or the Ferry, from their HQ by Ghirardelli Square every day.
Now, why not take this one step further? Let companies bid on the right to operate public transit? Essentially, privatize it: companies would get the benefit of always having their employees have easy access to work, while being required to still serve areas that are lower income and no direct benefit to them. How to convince them of the latter? Let them install ads, and realize income. Hell, with WiFi on the buses, you could even have touchscreens, and do pay per click ads. I think Google and Yahoo know something about this!
Of course, San Francisco has another approach: make transit free. A bold social experiment, if you combined it with privatized lines like Google's, you just might have a winner.
What do you do when you need employees in a competitive environment, and stock options and salary are really not enough to distinguish you? Well, after you add free gourmet meals, onsite oil changes and car washes, and other lifestyle perks, you look at what the pain points for the Silicon Valley worker are: commuting. And then? If you're Google, you start a luxury bus line.Yes, the Goog is now one of the largest transit system operators in the Bay Area. This New York Times article describes what transit is like, Google style:
"The company now ferries about 1,200 employees to and from Google daily — nearly one-fourth of its local work force — aboard 32 shuttle buses equipped with comfortable leather seats and wireless Internet access. Bicycles are allowed on exterior racks, and dogs on forward seats, or on their owners’ laps if the buses run full.
Riders can sign up to receive alerts on their computers and cellphones when buses run late. They also get to burnish their green credentials, not just for ditching their cars, but because all Google shuttles run on biodiesel. Oh, and the shuttles are free."
WiFi, pets, bikes and comfort? Zero environmental impact? FREE? This is living. The article goes on, later, to describe that similar efforts are done by Cisco and Yahoo. In San Francisco, I see the Williams Sonoma luxury coaches delivering workers to BART or the Ferry, from their HQ by Ghirardelli Square every day.
Now, why not take this one step further? Let companies bid on the right to operate public transit? Essentially, privatize it: companies would get the benefit of always having their employees have easy access to work, while being required to still serve areas that are lower income and no direct benefit to them. How to convince them of the latter? Let them install ads, and realize income. Hell, with WiFi on the buses, you could even have touchscreens, and do pay per click ads. I think Google and Yahoo know something about this!
Of course, San Francisco has another approach: make transit free. A bold social experiment, if you combined it with privatized lines like Google's, you just might have a winner.
