Califonia Day 2: San Francisco and Baseball

Prior to the beginning of our holiday, my friends who were already in California had booked tickets for the baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies for the evening of 31st July. It was therefore an easy decision to spend our first full day in San Francisco prior to the match in the evening. Our driver had taken the car to work, so we got to San Francisco using the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) which runs for part of the route along the centre of the highway. One frustration was that the ticket machine only gives change up to $4.95, but I later found out that there was a change machine behind the ticket machine. Doh!

We got off at Powell Street and decided to take the San Francisco Cable Car to Fishermans Wharf. The Cable Car is like an old-fashioned tram that can get up and down the roads on the steep hills that are part of San Francisco (the film Bullitt is set in the city). The queue was incredibly long and a couple of us left it to buy a day ticket from the local booth (which quaintly, uses a scratch-card style system to choose the date one is travelling on, similar to the West Midlands daytripper cards for buses and trains back in the 80's). The ticket also allowed travellers to use other Muni transport in San Francisco. Back in the queue, we were harrassed by beggars and buskers which did not make for a great first impression of the city. When we finally got onto the Cable Car, it was rather overcrowded. For the first (and possibly only) time in my life, I got off at Fishermans Wharf with an appreciation for Travel West Midlands.



We wandered around Fishermans Wharf where I caught my first glimpse of Alcatraz and Clam Chowder in a bread bowl (although the latter really is an East Coast dish). For some reason, we finally settled for pizza for the third time in three meals. We spent some time walking around San Francisco, including the Ghirardelli shop in the square and an interesting street on a hill with a rather winding road that I am sure people were driving down just for the sake of it.



We got back on the cable car (past a non-threatening busker that looked like Michael Moore with a showman bunny sidekick) and ended up walking through the San Francisco business district, where a bunch of cyclists suddenly seemed to be cycling through the city. We unsuccessfully tried to get on the bus N or P to get the the AT&T park where the Giants play, before realising it was actually an old-fashioned (or should I say new-fashioned) tram and getting on it halfway towards our destination, not before we had walked past the Bay Bridge, however, an impressive bridge in its own right taht holds its own against the more famous Golden Gate bridge.

We managed to get to the AT&T park in time and quickly worked out that an innings is over when three people are out. Baseball is a strange game, and my prior belief that it was rounders for girls was only tempered by the fact I have seen how much more competitive the girls at the school I work for play.



Baseball is an intriguing game, but surprisingly for a US sport I have to say that I don't think it is as exciting as the British version, cricket. Many people believe soccer will never be big in the US because the yanks will never see the excitement of a nil-nil draw (and to be honest, neither do I). However, Baseball scores are more similar to football than to cricket, which is much more high-scoring. I think culturally, baseball is too embedded in the American psyche to be under an real threat from cricket, in particular, Twenty20 and the Indian Premier League which I can see one day turning into a true world series with clubs participating from all over the world. The Test-loving purists will hate it, but I think it would be great to see cricket competing commercially with its sister American sport. With India's ascent to superpower status and with its burgeoning population, surely this is only a matter of time?

For the record, the Giants lost 5-1 in the only game they lost in this mini-series to the Phillies. The Giants have never won the World Series since the franchise moved to San Francisco. Will the Birmingham City of baseball be lucky enough to win it this year? On the current evidence it is unlikely - but then again, what would I know?

A Trip to California

Two weeks ago, I set off for an overnight trip to London to stay at some friends' place before   flying from Heathrow on a trip to California the next day.  Over the next week or so, I hope to recount the experiences of my first trip to the USA and specifically to its most populous state.

One of the regular topics on this blog is the overcentralisation of the country in the capital and Heathrow, in particular the decision to build a third runway, has been criticised previously. There were no direct flights from Britain's sixth busiest airport direct to San Francisco, and the indirect flights were as expensive as the direct flights from Heathrow.  As such, I was forced to use the busiest international airport in the world despite my disdain for it (although I was also travelling with some friends who were based in London).  Even more worrying, originally it looked like we would be flying by BA from a BAA airport; a recipe for disaster if ever there was one.  However, our incompetence meant that we missed the cheaper BA flight and ended up flying Virgin Atlantic - a blessing in disguise in my opinion.  While BA epitomises the third-rate Thatcherite-Blairite capitalism of privatisation of a publicly-owned service to monopolist profiteers who run it down to the point that it is now a dodgy pension fund which does a bit of flying on the side, Virgin Atlantic represents capitalism at its best; entrepreneurs building a business from scratch and delivering a decent product to attract the masses.  Let me say, the flight did not disappoint either; having not flown long-haul since the early 90's, I was amazed at the choice of food and entertainment, over 60 movies and numerous tv shows, numerous games that can be played some against other passengers and even a phone, e-mail and text-message service from the flight (the latter for a premium of course). Discussions with my friends who are temporarily staying in California seemed to confirm that Virgin was indeed better than BA in this respect.

However, flying from Heathrow still left me with the problem of getting to London for a mid-morning flight, which being a weekday could have proved rather expensive had the friends I was flying with not generously offered to let me stay over at theirs.  This left me with the option of getting to London by train either pre-booking via Virgin trains for £7 each way, or using the £19.50 super off-peak with Chiltern railways. Unfortunately, Virgin trains tend to be closer to BA than Virgin Atlantic, and the risk that I would miss the train back to Brum by flight cancellations meant I was prepared to pay more for the slower but more flexible ticket by Chiltern trains, which has the added advantage of leaving via the far superior Birmingham Moor Street Station rather than the overcrowded concrete mass that is Birmingham New Street.  The Chiltern line is really two local services; a local service from Birmingham Snow Hill to Leamington Spa, and one from Bicester to London Marylebone.  Hence the train left packed and pretty much emptied by Bicester, only to fill up again the closer we got to London.  We seemed to stop at a ridiculous amount of stations (I think it was 27) meaning the entire journey took 2 hours 14 minutes instead of the 1 hour 24 it would take from New Street to Euston. Once in London, I had to face the tube.

Life would be a lot simpler for the majority of the country if we used the extra capacity at regional airports rather than putting all our eggs in the baskets of London airports and in particular, London Heathrow.

Heath-Go

The decision to build a third runway at Heathrow is another example of bad London-centric government. There are arguments a lot wider than the simplistic environmentalism vs the economy dichotomy perpetuated by the government and the green lobby; there are some specific issues about the very positioning and nature of Heathrow as well.

Heathrow is based on a Hub and Spoke model, which is fine if you are flying packages around the world, but goes against the trends of passenger flights over the years. For example, when I used to fly to India in the 80s I used to have to take a coach to London, a plane to Bombay International, a taxi from Bombay International to Bombay Domestic and finally a plane from Bombay Domestic to Goa. The whole journey used to take around two days. The last time I did this journey in 1999, I flew direct from Birmingham International to Goa and it took eight hours on a charter flight (only double the time it once took me to get home from work on the infamous day the gritters of Birmingham went missing). I have not flown from Heathrow since 1990 and from London since 1994. Now that I have got the option, I want to fly from Birmingham (or somewhere else relatively closer). For example, in 2006 I flew to Munich and it took around an hour. It would have taken me four times as as long to get into London to make that flight.

Ignore the Airbus A380, Boeing (who actually make money rather than being subsidised by the European governments) have been concentrating on smaller planes for more tailored flying and the budget airlines tend to be the most successful at the moment, flying full planes to smaller airports.

Heathrow also lies in an awful position to the West of London meaning flights come in and go out over Greater London to the continent which is far from ideal. A new airport (as some have suggested) on an artificial island at the mouth of the Thames Estuary would in my mind be a better solution.

A new runway at Heathrow is set in the old business mentality. An alternative would be to develop the smaller regional airports to take more of flights and/ or a high speed rail link as the Conservatives have suggested. I would like to see Heathrow closed or scaled down with a new purpose built airport replacing it. Yet again the rest of the country is being ignored while the government defends the one-trick wonder British economy that is the financial sector in London. A new airport would be a brave decision, whereas a third runway is just the easiest one.

As for the governments argument that they want to defend British jobs during the current economic crisis, given that it will take around five or possibly more likely ten years for the new runway to be built, one wonders how long they expect the credit crunch to continue.

Adapted from my comments on the Stirrer Heathrow new runway and terminal approval thread.

The Nifty Fifty

If his first post is anything to go by, this Birmingham-based blog will be brilliant. I used to be a frequent traveller on what is generally regarded as the best bus service in Birmingham. I think killing the planet by global warming may well be more humane.

Hope this blog continues. Too many do not make it past the first year. What we need is a trust fund to help those blogs abandoned by their authors. Or a new reality TV series where someone like Tim Ireland or Iain Dale goes around rescuing abandoned blogs.

Update 16:05: Also linked to The Cowfield, Bob the Black Country Brummie and Methodist Preacher in the Greater Birmingham Blogs area. If you have/ know of a good West Midlands blog please e-mail me at the address on the right-hand bar. If you link to me and have not got a link back please also use this e-mail address to let me know. Please note that I am unlikely to link to blogs of an extremist nature.

Wheeling Around

Finally! The New Street redevelopment project has been given the go-ahead after the government released the remaining cash. Regular readers will know this is one of my favourite topics (see here, here, here and here). With a new coach station also on the way, the first impression people get of Brum will finally be closer to reality.

Why retire a good strapline? The Sun resurrect the Talibrum headline that they previously used during the plot-to-behead-a-British-Muslim-soldier case. Of course, the fact there is very little substance to the story and that the Black Country is not part of Birmingham will not get in the way of a good headline.

It appears London is slipping behind in the world's largest Ferris Wheel league table. Perhaps they can retain world class city status by building a giant merry-go-round instead?

And finally... in the South it is about race; in the North it is about gender. A detailed analysis of the demographics of the support of Clinton and Obama.

Finally Moving On

Some long awaited good news regarding Birmingham's transport network finally arrived this week like buses in two's. On Monday Digbeth Coach Station finally closed for its long overdue revamp, hopefully giving future passengers who come to Birmingham by coach at least a better first impression of our city. The day before on Sunday, Central Trains were replaced with the new franchise responsible for the West Midlands network, branded London Midland.

Is this an indication that our city has stopped competing with London and is now trying to leech of the London brand? I bet there will not be any trains in London being branded Birmingham South-East.

New St Pancreas

Why is it that we can spend £800 million on largely cosmetic changes that will improve the connection between London an Paris /Brussels, but we cannot spend £550 million to improve the state of Birmingham New Street, a pivotal station in Britain's railway infrastructure and a terrible eyesore in the middle of our city.

I think we all know the answer by now.

Two Become One

Birmingham Airport has scrapped plans for a second runway in favour of proposals to extend the existing runway and build a third terminals. Earlier this year business leaders agreed this was the way forward for the airport, as it would open up the West Midlands economy to destinations such as China and the US, and potentially lure business travellers away from the likes of Manchester and Heathrow. The proposals will please local residents and green campaigners who opposed the second runway, and there is even an argument that being able to travel further from Birmingham is actually a "green" proposal because it will save unnecessary journeys by car to airports further away. On the other hand, green campaigners will still point out that this is an expansion of air travel, and according to the Stirrer Friends of the Earth have asked Birmingham Airport if they can make these developments carbon neutral.

The airport hopes that the changes will be in place in time for 2012, when London will be hosting the Olympic Games. A further expansion of the airport should not be necessary for another two decades, at least 2030.

New Street?

Reading up on the long-overdue £128 million investment announced by the Government yesterday, I noticed the following things:

1) It is only £128 million and not £350 asked for the complete redevelopment of the station. It will be spent "underground" on the rail infrastructure and platforms, so this naturally lighted glass structure has not yet been agreed.

2) Most of the money is coming from increased fares. The Government has actually cut funding for the railways so the passenger will be paying 75% of the costs in 2014 rather than 50% now.

3) The Government was interested in the more sensible Grand Central Station idea

4) There will be no decision until 2012 at the earliest whether or not to build a new line between London and Birmingham, despite the fact that the current route is predicted to be full by 2016. There is talk of resurrecting the disused Grand Central route, but this would have the same maximum speed (125mph) as now and there are no plans for a high speed rail link, which has previously been mooted (see link for 2)

All in all, not such a great deal then. It is good that there will be some investment in the station of course, but it is likely in 10 years we will still have a concrete station stuck between a car park and a shopping centre.

A far cry from the station that was once written about in the following manner:

"that station alone is enough to make one proud of being a modern Englishman".

Birmingham by Bus

I cannot really be bothered to blog at the moment and news is a bit thin on the ground anyway. In an attempt to move this blog away from just writing, here is a video from the new net craze YouTube. It is called Broad Street by Bus. Unfortunately I cannot bring you the aroma of cannabis on the top deck, or the litter on the floor, but I know this blog has an international readership and hopefully it will bring back a few memories.

Not all bad hopefully.

Incidentally I have resumed using the buses on my break from work this week after six months of using almost nothing but the car for longer-than-walking-distance journeys. I was amused to see the signs up asking for passengers to smile and say thank you if the driver got you to your destination safely and on time, because "it is not easy being a bus driver".

I know how they felt - on Travel West Midlands, it is not easy being a passenger either.

Train Planes and Automobiles

It appears that car production may be returning to Birmingham as the lease on part of the Longbridge site is renewed by new owners Nanjing automotive. Around 600 - 1000 jobs may be created to build the MG TF sports car. If the business cannot be resurrected however,they have an option of canceling the 33-year lease in 6 months.

Meanwhile a plane nearly crashed in Birmingham airport as it came into land. The Mahan Air plane from Iran had to 180m six miles from the airport when it should have been at 500m.

We always seem to have problems with the transport in this city.

Trains (Plain) and Automobiles

Yesterday it was revealed that Birmingham is the biggest emitter of carbon after London in the country. Now it is not surprising that the a***hole of England (look at its position) is the biggest emitter of noxious vapours, and really it is not that surprising that the second city is, well, second. As the report by the Carbon Trust pointed out, there are many unnecessary car journeys in the city which could easily be made using the existing public transport.

It is interesting that this report came out in the same week as the redevelopment of New Street hit the headlines. Mentioned here on this bog before, unfortunately it seems the City leaders are still intent on re-developing New Street at a cost of half-a-billion pound which would increase passenger numbers but not capacity for trains unlike the rival idea of a Grand Central Station. One of the councillors involved claimed re-developing New Street was the only sensible option because it was Birmingham's main station. The truth is that people interested in the history of the railways in this city know that New Street's dominance was a quirk of history caused by BR deciding to electrify the lines through that station rather than the superior Snow Hill, which is only a shadow of it's former self in its re-opened state.

Another potential problem noted by the media is that any potential investment may come hand-in-hand with a congestion charge.

The People's Republic thinks this is another reason to go ahead with the development. After all, currently the consensus is that congestion charges are ten to fifteen years away - and that's too much time to spend being stuck in a traffic jam.

The Prime Minister of Birmingham

The People's Republic have always known that Birmingham is more important than Britain, but we were surprised to see that this idea was shared by Birmingham City Council. Apparently the new Chief Executive will get a package totaling (including benefits) £230,000 per annum, compared to the Prime Minister's paltry salary of £183,000.

We haven't got independence yet boys...

On Monday councilors from Birmingham were in their London office (!) to lobby the Government over funding for New Street Station. Apparently the Minister for Transport has decided that something finally needs to be done about Birmingham New Street station come what may and thcouncilorsrs have a plan for a underground rail link that will cost nearly a billion pounds according to some estimates. Meanwhile, a more realistic individual has proposed a Grand Central Station near Moor Street station where the railway lines cross, which is a cheaper alternative because there is plenty of space in this area. This proposal would leave New Street, Snow Hill and Moor Street stations still serving the city.

The People's Republic says the cheaper the better - we need to end the congestion now and we don't need any capital-style white elephants.

Central Trains are Rubbish

Central Trains, not to be outdone by Travel WM's fare-rises last week, make their attempt to win worst public transport operator in the West Midlands today by canceling every single train because there were not enough drivers. Apparently, drivers volunteer to work on Sunday's and not enough of them did.

Yes, this is what happened. Read it again and see how ridiculous it sounds. For providing such a bad service, perhaps payment of fares should be voluntary? Thank God they have lost their franchise.

Travel WM Talking Rubbish

In the week that it was revealed Sandwell's binmen turned down an offer of a £900 bonus to work the three days over Christmas (they were holding out for £1300) Travel Wind-Up Merchants revealed price rises of 8% on their bus fares. A standard peak-time single ticket goes up from £1.10 to £1.20, but more surprisingly a 4 week faresaver for the Birmingham & Black Country goes up from £38.75 to £42.25 - a rise of £3.50. Travel WM claim it is due to the "uncertainty in global energy prices".

What about the uncertainty in the arrival times of their buses?

Strikes Averted at Brum International

Strikes at Birmingham Airport over the Christmas period have thankfully been called off. The strikes were over the dismissal of two staff that the unions took offence to. The People's Republic is glad - such disruption over the Christmas period would have been disastrous for the passengers and the city. You wouldn't see this kind of thing going on in London and Manchester.

Unless British Airways are involved.

The Falling Tower of Birmingham

It took me two-and-a-half hours to get home from work on Thursday night, even longer than the usual hour-and-a-half since the clocks went back. It is high time a congestion charge was introduced in Birmingham, along with forcible re-tests for those idiots who think it is ok to block junctions so they can wait two minutes at the next set of lights five second earlier. I doubt that Birmingham City Council will have the guts to introduce the former however - another reason why Birmingham needs its own elected mayor.

The problems on Thursday were caused by panels falling from Beetham Tower, which will become the second tallest building on the Birmingham skyline after the BT tower. This is the second time something falling from the tower (last time it was scaffolding) has brought traffic to a standstill. Major roads were still closed on Saturday as a result of the incident, while a safety check on the tower was completed by abseilers (is that a proper word?). This morning it was claimed Birmingham City Council are threatening to sue the company involved for the problems it has caused.

While the People's Republic agrees that something needs to be done about this, we hope this does not adversely affect any future developments in Birmingham city centre.

Spend a Penny on the 50

In the Birmingham Mail this week there was an article about a protest by residents of Druids Heath over the drivers of the 50 route using the terminus as a communal toilet. Apparantly they are urinating in the hedges or into bottles which they are then throwing into the hedges.

Is this proof that the service is after all piss poor?

Death of a Legend

Rosa Parks, famous for refusing to give up her seat on an Alabama bus and sparking off a bus boycott that lasted just over a year died this week and it would be wrong if the People's Republic didn't acknowledge the death of this great woman in some way. She was an inspiration to all of us who are oppressed and unjustly treated; instead of standing there and taking it, we should make a stand up for what we believe in.

It's a pity no one organises a boycott of Travel Wind-Up Merchants. With the Government planning to stop alcoholic drinks being consumed on public transport, maybe it's time Travel West Midlands stopped people smoking drugs on the top deck of their buses. They can stop stereotyping people too; once when an inspector came onto the bus, he grabbed my bus pass out of my hand rather rudely and and gave it a longer look than he did everyone elses. I suppose the Travel WM thugs are trained to treat anyone who looks like a fare-dodger as a fare-dodger.

It's called discrimination, and perhaps next time we should make our own stand against injustice.

Second Tornado hits Brum

There was another nightmare day yesterday for commuters in Birmingham as heavy rain brought traffic to a standstill on the way home from work, bringing back memories of that snowstorm a year-and-a-half ago. Flooding was rife throughout the city and there is currently a ford outside the delivery entrance of M&S (and I don't mean a Mondeo). To make matters worse, a mini-tornado caused damage in Moseley for the second time in three months.

Any more of this and we'll have to rename the city "Twisterville".