Bay Area Transit in Pictures

[fieldsofdreams]

As promised, here goes my second version of my Bay Area in Pictures collection. This time, it will focus mainly on public transportation images that I've taken over time (and hey, Urban Showcase allows me to show my self-made photos, as described!) -- from Caltrain to County Connection, San Francisco Muni to Santa Clara VTA -- and I will do it on a roughly daily basis, with a simple description of the picture and where I took it. There are over 9,100 images in my transit photo collection alone (and it just keeps on growing!), and I am willing to share one of them every single day so that you can see what the Bay Area transit scene is all about. What's different with this compared with the thread in the infrastructure and transportation thread is that this is personally my own shots, taken with my own cameras (yes, I have two of them), and I have a huge collection that I really care about transportation as an form of expression.

So, for the first picture I will post here, in celebration of Muni's centennial, I will post the agency's first ever streetcar operated in San Francisco. This streetcar, operating since 1912, has plied San Francisco Muni's original streetcar line, the A-Stockton, and now it can be seen on various occasions on the F-Market and Wharves streetcar line.

[DanielFigFoz]

I'm sure it'll be interesting!

[fieldsofdreams]

Indeed. I'll make sure I pick the best and more interesting photos I can find. And those will not only be limited to a vehicle's exterior: I've also taken some bus and train interiors too, and you'll never know what I'll post next!

[fieldsofdreams]

Vallejo Baylink's oldest operating ferry, the MV Vallejo. Purchased by the City of Vallejo in 1994, it was originally named the Jet Cat Express by an Alaskan tour operator, and it operates as a back-up ferry for the system. (More info can be read here)

As I saw this ferry, it looked like an entirely different type of ferry, unique to the rest of the ferries operating on San Francisco Bay.

[Taller, Better]

Excellent thread! I have fond memories of hopping on the Streetcars in San Francisco!

[fieldsofdreams]

Oh really? Once I post even more photos, just point out the ones you recall riding. I've taken a lot of pics that I just store them on my Photobucket... Until now!

[Linguine]

great thread, the first photo really captures the essence of the place.

[fieldsofdreams]

Hah, really? Salamat!

You'll not know what the next picture might be... it can be from that streetcar.

[fieldsofdreams]

DeSoto Cab is one of the biggest taxi companies operating in San Francisco, and it operates some interesting taxi cabs. Who would like to ride this taxicab:



Or this:

[Equario]

Originally Posted by fieldsofdreams

DeSoto Cab is one of the biggest taxi companies operating in San Francisco, and it operates some interesting taxi cabs. Who would like to ride this taxicab:

I always confuse them with police cars

By the way, great thread!

[fieldsofdreams]

Really? How come? Is it because in Kiev, such cars are used as police vehicles? Thanks for your complement too!

[Equario]

Originally Posted by fieldsofdreams

Really? How come? Is it because in Kiev, such cars are used as police vehicles? Thanks for your complement too!

In Kyiv there are other cars used and color is different I confuse them with USA police cars. At the very first sight (few seconds), they look, in terms of colors, quite the same.

[fieldsofdreams]

Hahaha no Police cars here are different, mostly black and white. I will show you a police car... possibly on the next pic!

[Equario]

Originally Posted by fieldsofdreams

Hahaha no Police cars here are different, mostly black and white. I will show you a police car... possibly on the next pic!

I know that they are black and white
DeSoto Cab is colored in dark blue, white and light blue. My point was that at the very first sight I catch dark blue and white, and think of it as a police cars. But it takes only for a second. I made a mistake: I don't confuse it with police cars, but it reminds me of it.

[fieldsofdreams]

Oh... Must've thought of the NYPD police cars.

And here goes something a few tourists (but quite a lot of locals) get to see: in San Jose, the largest city in the Bay Area, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority operates three light rail lines (yes, similar to the streetcar line in San Francisco) that serve many areas of Santa Clara County, the home of Silicon Valley. Here's the main train type used for the light rail service today: the Nippon-Sharyo articulated tram.

[Equario]

Originally Posted by fieldsofdreams

Oh... Must've thought of the NYPD police cars.

I guess this is an answer

[fieldsofdreams]

Today, we're heading back to the Bay to discover the main ferry boat used for the Oakland-Alameda Bay Ferry service: called Peralta, it is one of a handful of boats operated by the San Francisco Bay Ferry, and it plies the San Francisco-Oakland and Alameda service. And right behind the ferry is a gorgeous view of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (the suspension bridge portion).

[christos-greece]

Great, very nice photos from Bay area of San Francisco; please post more photos

[fieldsofdreams]

Thanks! Of course, I'll post even more, and here's on right now:

From just this Holiday season, AC Transit, the second-largest all-bus public transportation agency in California, redecorates the exterior of a bus showing the holiday spirit. And here's a little bonus: passengers who get on board the so-called Holiday Bus ride for free throughout its route all day long. On the day I took the picture, the bus line chosen to deploy the Holiday Bus was a free service too: the Broadway Shuttle (also known as the B). Introduced in 2010, this free service operates weekdays and Saturdays along Broadway, the main road in Downtown Oakland, connecting Uptown, Lake Merritt, Koreatown, two BART stations, Oakland City Center, Chinatown, Old Oakland, and Jack London Square.

Regular The B bus:


Holiday Bus on the B:

[MilbertDavid]

it's a great idea in uploading photos focusing on the city's trans system.