News
by Gennady Sheyner / Palo Alto Weekly
Uploaded: Mon, Feb 6, 2023, 11:23 pm 9
Time to read: about 4 minutes
The rendering shows the new Palo Alto Link shuttle, which will debut in March. Courtesy city of Palo Alto.
Palo Alto’s new shuttle system is almost ready to launch.
Starting on March 7, residents and visitors will be able to summon through an app or a phone call a shuttle service called Palo Alto Link, which for a fee of $3.50 will pick them up and drop them off near their chosen locations. Boosted by a $2.5 million grant from Measure B, the 2016 transportation tax measure, the program will be in place on a pilot basis for 18 months.
By prioritizing flexible over fixed and fee over free, Palo Alto Link represents a stark departure from the Palo Alto Shuttle, the free bus system that the city discontinued in the early days of the pandemic as part of a broad round of budget cuts. The old shuttle system had two routes, the Crosstown and the Embarcadero, and it served about 550 riders per day, many of them students and seniors, according to staff from the Office of Transportation. Rides were free for all.
In its form and function, the new iteration of the shuttle system will resemble ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft more than a traditional public bus service. With a fleet of seven vehicles (with two more in reserve), the shuttles will circulate throughout the city, picking up and dropping off passengers based on algorithms that group people who are traveling in the same direction.
Though the new shuttles will be emblazoned with the city logo, they will be operated by Via, a transportation company that currently provides services to public agencies such as Mountain View, Cupertino, BART and private companies such as Google and Genentech. Some will be hybrids, others will be electric vehicles.
Help sustain the local news you depend on.
Your contribution matters. Become a member today.
While the shuttle system has yet to make its debut, reviews from residents are already mixed. Some favorably recalled the old shuttle service. Resident Herb Borock noted that the former system, with its fixed times and routes, focused on “activity points” where residents without cars wanted to go and stopped near areas where they lived. The new system, he suggested, is mainly motivated by the fact that “there is a bunch of money to spend.”
Resident Jonathan Erman lamented the fact that unlike the old system, which was free, the new one charges a fee that is $1 higher than a ride on a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus.
“Not only is it a completely different system but now it costs money as well,” Erman said during a Monday public hearing on the new shuttle service. “So we used to have a free shuttle, but now you have to pay money, and in fact the full price for adult fare is more than a VTA fare. I can ride VTA to San Jose for $2.50 but to go across Palo Alto apparently a full-price adult fare is $3.50.”
Cicely Coetsee stands by the shuttle stop at the corner of Channing Avenue and Newell Road as the Palo Alto Shuttle pulls up on April 30, 2014. Photo by Veronica Weber.
Winter Dellenbach, however, said she was stoked about the new shuttle system, which she said will make it easier for her and other residents to go about their businesses when they don’t have a car available to them.
“This is a fix and it’s low-cost and the difference between this and the freaking bus is you can … get this service easily and then it takes you right where you want to go,” Dellenbach said. “And this is fantastic, and the bus doesn’t do that.”
Stay informed
Get the latest local news and information sent straight to your inbox.
Stay informed
Get the latest local news and information sent straight to your inbox.
The council was generally enthusiastic about the new service, even as members acknowledged some of its limitations. One is its hours of operations. The new service will only be available Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims suggested that the city consider expanding the hours to better match Caltrain peak commute times, which are 6-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m. She noted that one of the objectives of the new program is to provide a last-mile option for commuters into the city.
“I’m not sure our stated hours fully align with those particular goals,” Lythcott-Haims said.
Lythcott-Haims also said she was concerned that the city is becoming a “pay-to-play city” and suggested enhancing marketing efforts to attract more ridership so that prices can be lowered further. But Philip Kamhi, Palo Alto’s chief transportation official, noted that Palo Alto Link already represents a bargain when compared to other on-demand services. For low-income residents, riders with disabilities and youths, the price per ride is only $1.
Kamhi gave the example of Avenidas, the nonprofit that provides services to local seniors. When a senior needs to get to an appointment, Kamhi said, they often have no way to get there through public transportation and require someone from Avenidas to arrange a Lyft ride for them each way.
“So you can imagine how much that costs. This is now a $1 trip for them each direction,” Kamhi said. “It’s hard to compare to traditional transit service, but it does typically reflect higher costs.”
Most Viewed Stories
■ Man arrested for sexual assault in Cal. Ave. tunnel may be Princeton alum
■ Police seek suspect after woman was sexually assaulted at Cal. Ave. pedestrian underpass
■ Once polarizing, bathrooms to become fixtures in Palo Alto parks
■ Cyclist, 37, dies after bike and car collide on Cañada Road near Filoli estate
■ Why a Palo Alto City Council member risks breaking the law by giving speeches
Most Viewed Stories
■ Man arrested for sexual assault in Cal. Ave. tunnel may be Princeton alum
■ Police seek suspect after woman was sexually assaulted at Cal. Ave. pedestrian underpass
But the program remains an experiment. Kamhi pointed out that the old shuttle system saw its ridership drop every year since 2016 and it remains to be seen how big the demand will be for the new service. After 18 months, it will be up to the council to decide whether to continue the system and, if so, how to fund it.
“They are very different types of models,” Kahmi said. “Ultimately, we’ll have to make a decision at the end of this pilot program about what type of service we want to continue with.”
To sweeten the deal, staff is preparing to offer the first month of rides for free and to create weekly and monthly passes that will cater to regular commuters. The Office of Transportation is discussing with Stanford Research Park a possible partnership, with Stanford providing funding and the city offering the service to its tenants. Nathan Baird, the city’s transportation manager, suggested that the city may also look at ways to add hours in the future.
“We do know some of the supercommuters who come here and folks who come here and need to go to other places really could use additional evening services or even weekend service,” Baird said. “So we’re looking at ways to expand that as we can.”
Craving a new voice in Peninsula dining?
Sign up for the Peninsula Foodist newsletter.
Follow Palo Alto Online and the Palo Alto Weekly on Twitter @paloaltoweekly, Facebook and on Instagram @paloaltoonline for breaking news, local events, photos, videos and more.
by Gennady Sheyner / Palo Alto Weekly
Uploaded: Mon, Feb 6, 2023, 11:23 pm
Palo Alto’s new shuttle system is almost ready to launch.
Starting on March 7, residents and visitors will be able to summon through an app or a phone call a shuttle service called Palo Alto Link, which for a fee of $3.50 will pick them up and drop them off near their chosen locations. Boosted by a $2.5 million grant from Measure B, the 2016 transportation tax measure, the program will be in place on a pilot basis for 18 months.
By prioritizing flexible over fixed and fee over free, Palo Alto Link represents a stark departure from the Palo Alto Shuttle, the free bus system that the city discontinued in the early days of the pandemic as part of a broad round of budget cuts. The old shuttle system had two routes, the Crosstown and the Embarcadero, and it served about 550 riders per day, many of them students and seniors, according to staff from the Office of Transportation. Rides were free for all.
In its form and function, the new iteration of the shuttle system will resemble ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft more than a traditional public bus service. With a fleet of seven vehicles (with two more in reserve), the shuttles will circulate throughout the city, picking up and dropping off passengers based on algorithms that group people who are traveling in the same direction.
Though the new shuttles will be emblazoned with the city logo, they will be operated by Via, a transportation company that currently provides services to public agencies such as Mountain View, Cupertino, BART and private companies such as Google and Genentech. Some will be hybrids, others will be electric vehicles.
While the shuttle system has yet to make its debut, reviews from residents are already mixed. Some favorably recalled the old shuttle service. Resident Herb Borock noted that the former system, with its fixed times and routes, focused on “activity points” where residents without cars wanted to go and stopped near areas where they lived. The new system, he suggested, is mainly motivated by the fact that “there is a bunch of money to spend.”
Resident Jonathan Erman lamented the fact that unlike the old system, which was free, the new one charges a fee that is $1 higher than a ride on a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus.
“Not only is it a completely different system but now it costs money as well,” Erman said during a Monday public hearing on the new shuttle service. “So we used to have a free shuttle, but now you have to pay money, and in fact the full price for adult fare is more than a VTA fare. I can ride VTA to San Jose for $2.50 but to go across Palo Alto apparently a full-price adult fare is $3.50.”
Winter Dellenbach, however, said she was stoked about the new shuttle system, which she said will make it easier for her and other residents to go about their businesses when they don’t have a car available to them.
“This is a fix and it’s low-cost and the difference between this and the freaking bus is you can … get this service easily and then it takes you right where you want to go,” Dellenbach said. “And this is fantastic, and the bus doesn’t do that.”
The council was generally enthusiastic about the new service, even as members acknowledged some of its limitations. One is its hours of operations. The new service will only be available Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims suggested that the city consider expanding the hours to better match Caltrain peak commute times, which are 6-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m. She noted that one of the objectives of the new program is to provide a last-mile option for commuters into the city.
“I’m not sure our stated hours fully align with those particular goals,” Lythcott-Haims said.
Lythcott-Haims also said she was concerned that the city is becoming a “pay-to-play city” and suggested enhancing marketing efforts to attract more ridership so that prices can be lowered further. But Philip Kamhi, Palo Alto’s chief transportation official, noted that Palo Alto Link already represents a bargain when compared to other on-demand services. For low-income residents, riders with disabilities and youths, the price per ride is only $1.
Kamhi gave the example of Avenidas, the nonprofit that provides services to local seniors. When a senior needs to get to an appointment, Kamhi said, they often have no way to get there through public transportation and require someone from Avenidas to arrange a Lyft ride for them each way.
“So you can imagine how much that costs. This is now a $1 trip for them each direction,” Kamhi said. “It’s hard to compare to traditional transit service, but it does typically reflect higher costs.”
But the program remains an experiment. Kamhi pointed out that the old shuttle system saw its ridership drop every year since 2016 and it remains to be seen how big the demand will be for the new service. After 18 months, it will be up to the council to decide whether to continue the system and, if so, how to fund it.
“They are very different types of models,” Kahmi said. “Ultimately, we’ll have to make a decision at the end of this pilot program about what type of service we want to continue with.”
To sweeten the deal, staff is preparing to offer the first month of rides for free and to create weekly and monthly passes that will cater to regular commuters. The Office of Transportation is discussing with Stanford Research Park a possible partnership, with Stanford providing funding and the city offering the service to its tenants. Nathan Baird, the city’s transportation manager, suggested that the city may also look at ways to add hours in the future.
“We do know some of the supercommuters who come here and folks who come here and need to go to other places really could use additional evening services or even weekend service,” Baird said. “So we’re looking at ways to expand that as we can.”
Palo Alto’s new shuttle system is almost ready to launch.
Starting on March 7, residents and visitors will be able to summon through an app or a phone call a shuttle service called Palo Alto Link, which for a fee of $3.50 will pick them up and drop them off near their chosen locations. Boosted by a $2.5 million grant from Measure B, the 2016 transportation tax measure, the program will be in place on a pilot basis for 18 months.
By prioritizing flexible over fixed and fee over free, Palo Alto Link represents a stark departure from the Palo Alto Shuttle, the free bus system that the city discontinued in the early days of the pandemic as part of a broad round of budget cuts. The old shuttle system had two routes, the Crosstown and the Embarcadero, and it served about 550 riders per day, many of them students and seniors, according to staff from the Office of Transportation. Rides were free for all.
In its form and function, the new iteration of the shuttle system will resemble ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft more than a traditional public bus service. With a fleet of seven vehicles (with two more in reserve), the shuttles will circulate throughout the city, picking up and dropping off passengers based on algorithms that group people who are traveling in the same direction.
Though the new shuttles will be emblazoned with the city logo, they will be operated by Via, a transportation company that currently provides services to public agencies such as Mountain View, Cupertino, BART and private companies such as Google and Genentech. Some will be hybrids, others will be electric vehicles.
While the shuttle system has yet to make its debut, reviews from residents are already mixed. Some favorably recalled the old shuttle service. Resident Herb Borock noted that the former system, with its fixed times and routes, focused on “activity points” where residents without cars wanted to go and stopped near areas where they lived. The new system, he suggested, is mainly motivated by the fact that “there is a bunch of money to spend.”
Resident Jonathan Erman lamented the fact that unlike the old system, which was free, the new one charges a fee that is $1 higher than a ride on a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus.
“Not only is it a completely different system but now it costs money as well,” Erman said during a Monday public hearing on the new shuttle service. “So we used to have a free shuttle, but now you have to pay money, and in fact the full price for adult fare is more than a VTA fare. I can ride VTA to San Jose for $2.50 but to go across Palo Alto apparently a full-price adult fare is $3.50.”
Winter Dellenbach, however, said she was stoked about the new shuttle system, which she said will make it easier for her and other residents to go about their businesses when they don’t have a car available to them.
“This is a fix and it’s low-cost and the difference between this and the freaking bus is you can … get this service easily and then it takes you right where you want to go,” Dellenbach said. “And this is fantastic, and the bus doesn’t do that.”
The council was generally enthusiastic about the new service, even as members acknowledged some of its limitations. One is its hours of operations. The new service will only be available Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims suggested that the city consider expanding the hours to better match Caltrain peak commute times, which are 6-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m. She noted that one of the objectives of the new program is to provide a last-mile option for commuters into the city.
“I’m not sure our stated hours fully align with those particular goals,” Lythcott-Haims said.
Lythcott-Haims also said she was concerned that the city is becoming a “pay-to-play city” and suggested enhancing marketing efforts to attract more ridership so that prices can be lowered further. But Philip Kamhi, Palo Alto’s chief transportation official, noted that Palo Alto Link already represents a bargain when compared to other on-demand services. For low-income residents, riders with disabilities and youths, the price per ride is only $1.
Kamhi gave the example of Avenidas, the nonprofit that provides services to local seniors. When a senior needs to get to an appointment, Kamhi said, they often have no way to get there through public transportation and require someone from Avenidas to arrange a Lyft ride for them each way.
“So you can imagine how much that costs. This is now a $1 trip for them each direction,” Kamhi said. “It’s hard to compare to traditional transit service, but it does typically reflect higher costs.”
But the program remains an experiment. Kamhi pointed out that the old shuttle system saw its ridership drop every year since 2016 and it remains to be seen how big the demand will be for the new service. After 18 months, it will be up to the council to decide whether to continue the system and, if so, how to fund it.
“They are very different types of models,” Kahmi said. “Ultimately, we’ll have to make a decision at the end of this pilot program about what type of service we want to continue with.”
To sweeten the deal, staff is preparing to offer the first month of rides for free and to create weekly and monthly passes that will cater to regular commuters. The Office of Transportation is discussing with Stanford Research Park a possible partnership, with Stanford providing funding and the city offering the service to its tenants. Nathan Baird, the city’s transportation manager, suggested that the city may also look at ways to add hours in the future.
“We do know some of the supercommuters who come here and folks who come here and need to go to other places really could use additional evening services or even weekend service,” Baird said. “So we’re looking at ways to expand that as we can.”
This is great.
That it doesn’t have a set route but is on demand and actually takes me right where I want to go in town for a small fee is exactly what I want in a shuttle service.
I would call this a very different service and in no way like the old shuttle.
How will they deal with 35, 40, 50 Paly students wanting to get to school on a wet day?
How will they deal with similar number of residents wanting to get to Stanford for a football game?
How will they deal with shoppers on Black Friday wanting to get to Walmart, Costco or Stanford SC?
How will they deal with seniors getting to medical appointments with wheelchairs and walkers, or children who need car seats?
Not saying that this is not a great idea, but the fact is that it is not the old shuttle or can do what the old shuttle did.
There is no perfect solution but this is a worthy trial program. We can support the city staff and their ability to fine tune the program as ridership grows. Let’s hear more about the program not later than early next year.
One detail missing for the new transport service is what are the boundaries? For example, can I use the PA Link to travel to/from Santa Cruz in Menlo Park or over to the Stanford campus or??
What proof or ID does one have to show for a low-income $1 ride?
The old shuttles mostly drove around empty. That was two shuttles with 550 trips per day, running all day long – outside of commute times that means it was empty. If someone took it somewhere and then back home, that was 2 trips.
The old shuttles were not working.
$1 for a direct ride for those in need seems pretty awesome. I hope we give this a chance and its highly successful.
We’ll see how it works. There’s something to be said for a reliable, fixed route. You can plan on it.
Yes. It is supposed to be available on demand. However, if capacity doesn’t meet demand, will it be available WHEN you want it? How long are you willing to wait?
I hope it works. I hope there will be a follow-up study of rider satisfaction. Every person who calls for service, whether they use it once or many times or not at all, should be included so that we will understand why people try it might choose to not use it or discontinue using it.
An on-demand system really needs to understand what people need to be effective.
How PAL will fit in with my needs: On tight budget due to chronic health problem without any financial help. I’m restricted to where the Samtrans 280 bus that I can walk to and places its connections serve. It’s likely I can afford this new ride service 2-3x max a week, with passes probably more expensive than the bus ones that I already can’t afford. The buses don’t go to Byxbee nor Arastradero parks which I love and need for therapeutic reasons but never go to due to lack of transportation. It’s likely I can afford one round-trip per day so errands will have to be done on different days than trips to the park. Destinations for me will almost entirely be: Doctors appts at Stanford, Trader Joe’s and Mtn View Walmart (I guess service won’t cross town line and go to Menlo nor Mtn View though, I guess Shoreline is a no go too). Food for thought.
The service is terrible.
I tried to use it today, called to book a ride, was told that it didn’t accept booking for a later time. So I called again when it’s close to my pickup time. Jake helped me book a ride. But when I went out, there was a couple out there got booked on the same car/driver. I had to have a family member drove me to my doctor appointment. After the appointment, I tried again to book a ride, this time the car/driver never showed up.
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to be notified of new comments on this topic.
In order to encourage respectful and thoughtful discussion, commenting on stories is available to those who are registered users. If you are already a registered user and the commenting form is not below, you need to log in. If you are not registered, you can do so here.
Please make sure your comments are truthful, on-topic and do not disrespect another poster. Don’t be snarky or belittling. All postings are subject to our TERMS OF USE, and may be deleted if deemed inappropriate by our staff.
See our announcement about requiring registration for commenting.
Home
News
TownSquare
Blogs
A&E
Community Calendar
Sports
Home & Real Estate
Visitor Info
Send News Tips
Become a Member
Print Edition/Archives
Express / Weekend Express
Promotions
Special Pubs
Obituaries
Circulation & Delivery
About Us
Contact Us
Advertising Info
Place a Legal Notice
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Mountain View Voice
The Almanac
TheSixFifty.com
Redwood City Pulse
© 2023 Palo Alto Online
All rights reserved.
Embarcadero Media
PR MediaRelease
Spotlight
Mobile site
© 2023 Palo Alto Online. All rights reserved.