SFO: the Bounce is Gone

(WSJ photo)

During my working years I flew on United Airlines dozens of times (nothing compared to the marketing guys who were members of the million-mile club), and I grew very familiar with the moving walkways in Terminal 3 at San Francisco International Airport. The 400-ft.-long rubber coverings will soon be replaced with metal plates, and, surprisingly, there appear to be more than a few travelers who will miss the rubber bands:

The bouncy walkways at SFO’s Terminal 3—three are inside the passenger connector to the building—have been around for at least 30 years—even airport officials aren’t exactly sure when they were put in. Unlike the ones more common with movable metal plates, these are made of a long, continuous piece of rubber, and sit on rubber wheels.

Kids like to hop and skip on the "bouncy," and the padding is easier on aging hips, knees, and ankles. However, these modest benefits do not outweigh the economic costs.

The bouncy has been no fun for mechanics, though. At the three other terminals at SFO, which all feature more conventional walkways, [SFO spokesman Doug] Yakel said those belts are made with metal modules that can be swapped out if one breaks. But since the bouncy is made from one continuous section of rubber, he said a malfunction often means the entire belt has to be replaced.

“There’s only one outfit that makes these and there are very long lead times, and these are very expensive to procure,” he said. “It’s simply not a cost effective moving walkway anymore.”

Of all the places and things that have bowed to the ravages of time the rubber-band walkways are far down the list, IMHO, of items that will be missed. For the vast majority of travelers who do not have mobility problems it's better that they walk and do not ride anyway.

Taking a Chance

Smoothing the mixture before cooling and cutting.

I love chocolate and phở (Vietnamese noodle soup), but this is weird :

Wendy Lieu fills her chocolate truffles with the flavors of a four-course Vietnamese meal: jasmine tea, phở, Sriracha, durian, lychee, Cognac.

The chocolate collection is the perfect bite-size feast to take on a plane — which travelers at San Francisco International Airport can now do. Lieu’s SoMa chocolate shop, Socola Chocolatier, opened its second location at the airport on Thursday, Aug. 1

To be fair, Wendy Lieu doesn't mix phở soup with chocolate in order to make her truffles:

The phở confection, in particular, represented a breakthrough for Lieu. Despite its name, the chocolate doesn’t actually contain beef or rice noodles. Instead, Lieu makes it by infusing cream with the spices that typically go in soup broth.

Although these chocolates don't appear to be something I'd enjoy, I applaud entrepreneurs for taking a chance. When flying out of SFO's terminal 3, I'll try to remember to pick up a box.

Slow and Safe Travels

The ticket agent asked to see my vaccination credentials, but he didn't want to see the copy on the iPhone or even the real card itself.He wanted the information from the Hawaii Safe Travels website.

The State of Hawaii has imposed a 21st-century version of "show me your papers." Last week I had uploaded the image of my vaccination card and re-typed the information (location, dates, provider name, etc.--absurdly redundant with OCR) on various input blocks. To Hawaii it wasn't reality unless it was in digital form.

And so it was that after the baggage was checked and the boarding pass printed there was just one more thing.

I typed in the Safe Travels URL on the iPhone, logged in with the userid and password, then answered the familiar questions (are you sick, have you been in contact with anyone who has COVID, etc.). One would think that Hawaii could have created an app with Face ID to ease the hassle of logging in, but one would be wrong.

After pressing "submit" (thinking sardonically upon the several meanings of the word), I received a QR code that acknowledged my legitimacy. The agent gave me the precious wristband that told Hawaii officials that I was cleared to enter.

The take-off was delayed one hour because the catering truck was late. A long day had just gotten longer.

Nearly Every Day

From 13 years ago:

The Millbrae BART/Caltrain connection is a maze of concrete, escalators, ducts, stairs, turnstiles, and ticket machines. The designers did their best with the translucent roofing, but there are too many dark, cold areas. Yes, the station is functional, but the parking lots are mostly empty and traffic is far below expectations.

The booming Bay Area economy and the addition of a BART line to San Francisco Airport should have improved Millbrae Station's utilization. However, [bold added]

By now, BART’s Millbrae Station — with its connections to Caltrain, buses and shuttles — was supposed to see 16,500 passengers pass through its fare gates every weekday, making it the fifth-busiest station in the system.

But 13 years after it opened, it’s pretty much just another BART station, nowhere near the bustling Peninsula transit hub that planners envisioned. With just under 7,000 riders entering and exiting daily, the station ranks 27th in activity among the transit system’s 46 stations.

One of the problems is that there's little coordination between BART and Caltrain. A passenger trying to get from Oakland to Mountain View would take BART to Millbrae, then often wait more than 30 minutes for the next southbound Caltrain---and that's when both BART and Caltrain are running on time.

BART riders coming from the north and bound for Caltrain arrive on the east side of the station. To catch Caltrain, they have to ascend escalators or stairs, exit through the BART fare gates and walk a few yards across the concourse before descending to the Caltrain station’s west side.

When it's not rush hour, the drive would take one hour, and mass transit two. When Millbrae Station opened, a round-trip BART fare from Millbrae to San Francisco was less than $5. Parking was free, an obvious inducement to try the new station.

Now the round trip costs $9.30, and parking is $3. It's no wonder that BART doesn't attract more commuters; it's too expensive for low-wage earners (even if the minimum wage rises to $15 an hour), and it's too inconvenient for those with high incomes, who choose to park in downtown buildings at $25 per day ($5,000 per year).

Don't get me wrong--I'm glad the station was built. It's very useful to have an alternate means into the City since the highways are backed up nearly every day.