Victim of its own success
In many ways, ACE has been a routine part of my life for now more than 3 years.
There are, in a way, 2 levels of routine:
-When ACE runs properly, it is mostly on time in the mornings, and it typically gets 5 minutes late in the evenings. I still haven't figured out why there's a difference between mornings and evenings. And then there are events at Levi's Stadium that close the entire neighborhood of the train station and retire to leave work earlier than usual in order to catch the train.
-When ACE fails, which it continues to do more or less monthly, it fails catastrophically. Not long ago, a train hit a pickup truck on the tracks, and the rest of morning service was cancelled, my train terminated at Livermore, from where I ended up going to San Francisco instead of Silicon Valley. Last month, an early morning train failed, which rippled down through the whole morning commute, such that even the last morning train was late, 5 hours later. Luckily, VTA did a great job at waiting for the trains.
However, there's a second part of ACE for which the routine has changed: ACE is victim of its own success. Parking lots fill up in the morning, such that for me taking the last train in the morning becomes a gamble on Tuesdays through Thursdays. Some evening trains now run as standing room only, which also makes for an unpleasant commute. Overall, the success of ACE is lowering my quality of life.
Finally, with no midday, late evening, or weekend service, the usefulness of ACE is practically limited to commuting. In 3 years, I have never taken ACE for anything other than commuting. ACE only does one thing, it's never done it well in the last 3 years, and it's steadily worsening.
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