Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.
Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.
Support the Peninsula’s only locally-owned newspaper. Subscribe!
Subscribing annually brings you big savings. We also offer monthly and weekly subscriptions.
Premium Subscription
As low as $8.25 per week
Premium Includes:
-- Access to the Daily Journal’s e-Edition: a digital replica of our daily newspaper including crossword puzzles, games, comics, classifieds and ads. You can download a digital replica of the Daily Journal for offline reading. You can also clip & download articles or images from the e-edition to share with others The most recent 90 issues are available at any given time.
-- Unlimited access to our award-winning online content
-- Commenting access on all stories as a valued member of the DJ community
-- NEW! Access to our online-only digital crossword puzzle. A new puzzle every day, seven days a week!
| Rate | Price | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Year | $99.00 | for 365 days |
| 1 Month | $20.00 | for 30 days |
| 1 Week | $8.25 | for 7 days |
Support the Peninsula’s only locally-owned newspaper. Subscribe!
Subscribing annually brings you big savings. We also offer monthly and weekly subscriptions.
DJ Basic Subscription
As low as $5 per month
Basic includes:
-- Unlimited access to our award-winning online content
-- Commenting access on all stories as a valued member of the DJ community
What you're missing -- Additional features available only with the Premium level:
-- Access to the Daily Journal’s e-Edition: a digital replica of our daily newspaper including crossword puzzles, games, comics, classifieds and ads. You can download a digital replica of the Daily Journal for offline reading. You can also clip & download articles or images from the e-edition to share with others The most recent 90 issues are available at any given time.
-- NEW! Access to our online-only digital crossword puzzle. A new puzzle every day, seven days a week!
All for as low as $5.00 per month.
| Rate | Price | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Year | $60.00 | for 365 days |
| 1 Month | $12.00 | for 30 days |
| 1 Week | $5.00 | for 7 days |
| Rate | Price | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Home Delivery - Year | $120.00 | for 365 days |
| Mail Delivery - Year | $480.00 | for 365 days |
Aerial view of the existing alignment.
Conversations over a new bus-only road connecting the Dumbarton bridge with several cities in the south Peninsula are being revived, hoping to take advantage of a railway corridor that’s been unused for years.
Rather than reopening the corridor to expand rail service — which doesn’t have as much estimated demand — the effort would likely create a dedicated bus-only lane parallel to the existing railway.
“Busways are a proven technique to provide high-quality transit service in a very cost-effective manner, especially when compared to a rail service,” SamTrans Strategic Planning Manager Chelsea Schultz said. “The project itself would be flexible by allowing for future rail if that becomes an option.”
The busway would connect the Dumbarton Bridge to Redwood City, passing through several localities in between, such as Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and North Fair Oaks.
The Peninsula’s Dumbarton railroad was built in the early 20th century, but hasn’t been in operation for several decades, and discussion over its potential use has been discussed on and off for years. Prior to most recent discussions, a public-private partnership was underway between SamTrans and Meta, potentially using the railway to connect the Redwood City Caltrain station to the Union City BART station. But the project was scrapped around 2021, and the latest projections, which do not include Meta anymore, show that a busway would be more cost-efficient and have higher ridership. Average daily trips between East Palo Alto and Redwood City have increased by about 30% since 2019, according to the staff presentation.
“There’s currently insufficient market to support the cost of a transbay regional rail project, and that’s currently estimated at $3.6 billion,” Schultz said. “A lot of the demand that we found in the study is actually on the Peninsula side, so between East Palo Alto and Redwood City.”
This wouldn’t be the first such endeavor in the state. In Los Angeles, the G line uses part of the Southern Pacific’s former Burbank line to connect to other rail services and also includes a bike path. In Monterey, a planned 6-mile bus-only road is expected to be completed by 2027.
Most SamTrans Board of Directors vocalized support for the efforts, citing the importance of mass transit, as well as bike and pedestrian-friendly lanes.
“When you go down to Dumbarton corridor, it’s a weed-covered branch line, and some folks probably think, ‘What good is this?’” SamTrans Board Member Peter Ratto said. “Well, it’s a very wide corridor. It can accommodate bus lanes, it can accommodate a rail line as well, even a bike lane. This is an asset that we have that cannot be replicated.”
Based on current project plans, the railway corridor would still be preserved for potential future use, and options for a pedestrian or bike pathway are also tentative. The board approved $5 million for a feasibility study, with construction potentially starting around 2030. Total estimates for the project are about $150 million.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
Daily Journal staff
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Murder for Two Read moreMurder For Two
Join us for the first-ever Fostoberfest on Saturday, October 18, 2025, a brand-new fall fest… Read moreFostoberfest
5K/10K 17th annual Halloween-theme. 9am Paved, flat, fast in Seal Point Park. Goody bag an… Read moreFun Run San Mateo Rotary
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.