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Lyft now offers public transit directions in the Bay Area
Lyft's public transit directions are available on the company's home turf. Its app now includes routes, schedules and trip planning for public transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area, giving you an easier way to minimize car use. You can grab a Muni bus after riding a Bay Wheels bike, or save the ridesharing car for the last hop after a Caltrain trip. The company noted that "many" of it most popular bike share stations and ridesharing points in the region are near bus and train stops, making this a logical extension -- this just streamlines the experience for those travelers.
Caltrain will finally go electric thanks to FTA funding
The future of California's high-speed rail project relies in part on an initiative to migrate Silicon Valley's Caltrain corridor from a fleet of outdated diesel engines to a more modern electric system. That electrification project was put in jeopardy earlier this year when state Republicans asked Trump's Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to block a $650 million federal grant, claiming it should be shut down due to cost overruns. Now, in response to Caltrain's petition, the Federal Transit Administration has announced it will approve the funds and the upgrade can finally move forward after decades of delays.
Caltrain asks White House to reverse high-speed rail funding cut
After Republicans successfully lobbied US Transportation secretary Elaine Chao to halt approval of a $650 million dollar grant for an electrification project that would have laid the groundwork for a high-speed rail network, Caltrain is asking the public for its support in getting that decision reversed.
Caltrain sighting suggests Palm Pre may be real
Hard to believe, we know, but another seemingly real Pre in the wild finally has us thinking that this whole "webOS" business Palm keeps yammering about might be an actual product after all. Time will tell. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
GPS system tracks Caltrain delays to a T
While indulging in WiMAX whilst shuttling about on a Caltrain connection sure is nice, knowing precisely when your ride will or won't arrive can probably be a bit more influential in the grand scheme of things. Thankfully for those who rely on the rail service for daily transport, the large digital message boards at Caltrain stations will soon be relaying information directly from GPS trackers, thus informing to-be riders when to prepare for pick up (or when to hail a cab). Of course, the board still has to give the proverbial green light to the $3.6 million project, but if all goes as planned, the implementation should be complete by the end of next year.[Via The GPS Insider]
iPhone spotted in public?
Could this be the first true and proper iPhone sighting in public? Like, for really reals this time? The pic was snapped by Engadget pal Mark Trammell on the CalTrain -- which we know many an Apple employee uses to commute from SF to Cupertino. But with the hype this device has, we almost wouldn't put it past some San Francisco supergeek to cruise around with a faux iPhone just to raise some eyebrows boost his geek cred.[Via BGR]Update: We talked to Mark further -- it was definitely an iPhone, no chance of being a fake. He said its user was flipping through songs and playing back music on the device. Note to iPhone obsessives: ride the CalTrain more often.
Caltrain commuter rail pulls WiMAX at 79 mph
WiFi trains aren't anything new, and even WiMAX has made an appearance across the pond, bringing sweet, sweet Internets to those lucky commuters. Well now we're getting our own taste of the action, and the specs couldn't be sexier. The Caltrain commuter rail service has hooked up 16 miles of their track between Millbrae and Palo Alto, using WiMAX backbone from Redline, connectivity from Nomad and in-train WiFi routers from Sensoria to provide speedy connections to commuters while traveling at 79 mph. Tests of the system seemed to work dandy, with several commuters watching streamed video, pulling large file downloads and even answering email simultaneously. Now that the tech has been successfully demonstrated, they're planning on building it out across the rest of their line. The future is indeed nigh.[Via dailywireless]
Drinktrain
What better way for a group of tireless Apple code monkeys to relax after a week of hard work than to get smashed on the train ride home? According Drinktrain, not much. Thus, a tradition consisting of just that seems to have emerged from within Cupertino. Most Friday evenings, the last car on the CalTrain from Mountain View to San Francisco can be found chock full of inebriated Apple employees partying it up to such themes as: Chuck Norris Train, Snakes on a Mothaf*ckin Train, and my personal favorite; Mac OS X Pirate Localization Train. According to our anonymous source, Drinktrain participants get away with their shenanigans due to the fact that there is no open-container law that applies to CalTrain vehicles. By far the juiciest tid-bit of information in the official wiki is the fact that Drinktrain is continuously looking for new blood, even if it comes from those who don't work at the shiny white mother-ship. Who's up for some locomotive lunacy!?
