Definitely. This is a pipe dream, but this proposed plan for BART (in 1956) would have been a-ma-zing.

Source: http://www.jakecoolidgecartography.com/regional-rapid-transi...

Unfortunately, there is absolutely no chance of anything close to that being built in our lifetimes.

I'm usually against taxes in general, but I'm actually for increasing taxes and using that to have a completely free mass transit system across the entire Bay Area. This would provide a tremendous benefit for everyone.

The problem is that unions will take advantage of all that money and increase wages and pension benefits for their workers instead of hiring more workers and increasing employment in general. This is what happens when there's an influx of money, it causes inflation.

Note how BART has been expanding down the East Bay over time while Caltrain has made zero progress.

The problem is that a lot of rich people live right along the Caltrain line and have been opposing its expansion for decades.

<sarcasm>But it's the unions' fault.</sarcasm>

Try not swallowing so much propaganda next time.

Caltrain already runs all the way to Gilroy. You can't really extend it much. But you can run it more frequently; and that's where you run into union issues. It's not propaganda that public employee unions are quite resistant to change; just look at MUNI's Union (in SF) for example.

But that's a topic for another day. :-)

They are planning on electrifying caltrain which makes running a larger number of smaller trains more feasible

They're also planning on extending caltrain to downtown and connect with BART there

yes, public transportation is very important to spread the liveable area beyond commutable distances. That would mean more land to build on. A more expansive and well connected BART network would be very beneficial.