Transportation
A month into the new ferry service between Richmond to San Francisco, residents are thrilled. Already, some 635 commuters a day—more than expected—are using the 35-minute service between Richmond and the Embarcadero. “It’s clean, easy, there are no homeless people and it’s faster than BART,” said Yu Matsu, a Richmond resident who now takes the ferry daily to get to work in the Financial District. It costs her $6.75 one-way on a Clipper Card, compared to $7.50 on BART. “I’ve…
Seventeen-year-old Phillip Poe starts his days early. He gets up at 5:45 a.m. so that he can catch a ride to BART with a family member. Then he takes a train to catch a bus, arriving at school just before 8 a.m. His days end late, too. He often doesn’t return until 10 p.m., sometimes taking a long bus ride home after evening varsity basketball practice. After finishing homework, he gets to bed by midnight, catching less than six hours…
First San Pablo’s Doctors Medical Center closed in 2015. Now Sutter Health’s Alta Bates hospital in Berkeley is planning to shut its doors. This means patients in Richmond, who already have fewer hospitals to turn to for critical medical care, could see the options shrink further. Pregnant women and new mothers could be the ones to most acutely feel the squeeze. Alta Bates hospital, expected to close in 2030, has by far the highest number of live births of any…
On a Saturday morning in August, a 23-year-old San Jose State University student was attacked from behind at the Richmond Bay Area Rapid Transit station while attempting to transfer trains to go home for the weekend. He was treated for broken teeth, possibly a broken jaw, and a concussion, according to ABC7News. And just the night before the apparently random attack in Richmond, two men were stabbed with a box cutter at the MacArthur BART station, only a few stops…
A series of recently proposed housing developments along Macdonald Avenue in downtown Richmond could spur a business renaissance in the struggling district if city and local business leaders’ predictions ring true. In a city desperate for affordable housing, the developments reserve only about one quarter of the total number of units for residents making below the median income. The rest of the apartments would be rented at market rates. Still, Richmond leaders are supporting the proposals on land that has…
The underground parking is cool and dark, even on the sunniest day. Bulbs let off pale white light, and green exit signs emit a neon glow. Three electric chargers are located near the building entrance, surrounded by six electric cars. By the time Cesar Zepeda leaves his office in downtown Oakland, his white Ford Focus Electric is fully charged. The ring-shaped LED indicator of the charge port shines brightly. The screen reads “thank you” when he pulls the plug out…
Twenty-four hours a day, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) mechanics repair the electric cars that transport commuters around the bay. But that task is getting harder as BART’s fleet gets older.
The United States Postal Service says the post office at 1025 Nevin Avenue in downtown Richmond is in “excess and no longer necessary.” Kimberley Savoy-Jackson, wearing a leg brace as she walks up the post office’s steps on a rainy afternoon, disagrees. “You see people coming in all the time,” she said. “I wouldn’t say ‘crowded,’ but it’s flowing, yeah.” On January 25, the United States Postal Service (USPS) put up a notice on the door announcing its intent to…
A coalition of advocacy groups is challenging the legal right of the California Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend the driver’s licenses of those who cannot afford to pay traffic fines.