Engineering Geology of the BART System (2000) | Hacker News Reader

Engineering Geology of the BART System (2000)

sonic.net

> In the late 1960s annual inflation approached 7%, more than double the economic predictions utilized in the original plans back in 1962. From mid-1967 onward, the system fought one financial crisis after another, struggling to remain afloat [...] The actual construction figure ended up being about $1.6 billion, $315 million of which came from the Federal government.

1.6 Bil in 1969 dollars translates to 13.6 Bil in 2024 dollars.

Oftentimes I hear complaints that today's projects cost too much, or I come across ballot measures where the other side is always like "something something we have no moneys" such as Prop 4 in California [1]. Sometimes reading about the past puts the present in perspective.

[1] - https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_4,_Parks,_Env...

Usually if you think it over the mass transit projects have excellent value. For example the new eastern half of the Bay Bridge cost $6.5 billion (year of expenditure totals ending 2013) and that is not anywhere near as extensive, complex, or valuable as BART. Adding 1 stupid lane to US-101 in Novato cost $800 million. Then if you look at the HSR project that all the reactionaries whine about, they spent only $11 billion to design the entire system, get all the EIRs approved, build over 100 miles of trackway, and electrify Caltrain.

I feel like there is context missing here. Is 13B high or low compared to current costs.

> The BART rolling stock set new standards as well. These were the first rapid transit rail cars to use big picture windows, carpeting in lieu of tile, to provide cushioning for sound and sight, no overhead storage bins, no station advertising and no smoking in any of the cars, which reduced ventilation costs by $1000 per car and lowered the car's profile by 12 inches (ventilation is taken through the window sills).

This is in the 1960s too, so before the anti-smoking movement had any real wins. In retrospect, it’s crazy that smoking was ever as widespread as it was in buildings, looking at its ventilation impacts. Perhaps an underrated driver for why smoking bans succeeded could be the increasing requirements of mechanical ventilation for modern buildings and vehicles, making the monetary benefits of stopping smoking more immediately compelling for infrastructure managers.

I think it’s also underrated that smoking bans wouldn’t have made much sense until burning of wood and coal to heat buildings stopped - many wood and coal fireplaces and furnaces let out far more secondhand smoke into the building interior and exterior than tobacco smoking could ever hope to match.

I guess you'll also want to note that BART later had to refit all those cars with better ventilation because the $1000 saved was false economy. The trains were always hot and smelled bad, especially when they were hauling 420k passengers per day, which was triple the design capacity of the system. The new cars have much better HVAC systems with the fresh air flowing from the ceiling, and during COVID they had to make emergency upgrades to the old cars, too.

Interesting: https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2020/news20200813

I love this deep lore on BART! The fact that the trans bay tube is literally a big welded metal tube continues to fascinate me. When I first learned about that I had never realized that was even possible. There’s some great history on YouTube about BART too.

One of those videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=247JT7ctQ_I

Awesome!

So are the Sydney Harbour Tunnels

I love that this is hosted in a home directory for user mly in the old school style of allowing users to serve public data at `~username`

OG.

I love that too. It's clear, easy to reads, and loads near instantly. I miss how the web used to be more that way.

> Sonoma, Santa Clara, Solano and Napa Counties were not taken into the original district because planners did not perceive a need for commuter transit service from outlying areas.

In the first phase of the project. They definitely planned with them in mind:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/4114498342/ (1956)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/4080507945/ (1957)

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