ACE Insider

September 29, 2006

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ACE to Hold Public Forum in Tracy
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The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) will be holding a public forum on October 2,
2006, in order to seek input on proposed expansion projects in the Tracy area.
From 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Tracy Civic Center, 300 East 10th Street, members
of the ACE staff will join their consulting team of HDR and provide information
to the public on issues of importance related to possible new routes, new
stations in the Tracy area, and better BART connections. The public is invited
and encouraged to attend this open house-style forum as ACE paints a picture of
several ideas for the future of commuter rail.

As the ACE service approaches the end of its first decade of commuter rail
service to the San Joaquin Valley, Tri-Valley and Silicon Valley, the San
Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC) is keenly aware of the need to expand
the existing ACE service and to improve the quality of the service to ACE’s
passengers, specifically in the Tracy area.

The input provided from the public at this crucial forum will be valuable in
relating the interests of the community to the Commission. Future meetings will
also be held in Stockton, Lathrop, and Pleasanton.

For complete information on this special public forum in Tracy on October 2,
2006, or any of the other public forums, please contact Thomas W. Reeves at
thomas@... or (209) 944-6242.





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WiFi Project Update
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Q: Is there currently any active internet service.
A: No. The upgrade process required the disabling and removal of the previous
equip-ment. While your system may be able to identify the new access point
there is no active service beyond that point.
Q: When will the wifi service be available again?
A: When all the necessary steps to provide the service level that has long been
lacking is able to be reliably delivered.
Q: Having said that, what has taken place so far and what is the current status
of the project?
A: A set up was built and tested in a lab environment and deployed to a
trainset. Field testing was performed and the necessary bug identification
process has been com-pleted. The identified issues were then brought to the
table of all hardware and software component suppliers and solutions were
ID’d. Through this process equipment became available that would provide a
better, more stable, reliable and trouble free system. Redeployment utilizing
the lessons learned has recently been completed. This process was intentionally
performed on the mid day train. The reason being that real live in operation
testing needs to be performed and this is the only train that would allow the
access to the equipment during operation without negative impact on the
passenger seating capacity. Another element of testing was identifying the
demands that would be placed on the system and which service provider would best
accommodate those needs and integrate the best with the hardware selected. This
process has also recently come to a conclusion and the contract activation is
days away. Once the contract has been initiated the final blueprinting of the
system will occur with real world performance test-ing will commence. This
process will begin in the coming weeks. The next and final phase before roll out
will be the fabrication of all necessary components for a permanent
installation. The implementation will be one trainset at at time with the mid
day train the first to see completion with the others to follow shortly
thereafter.
When all is said and done ACE Rail will have a state of the art rail internet
service. The service will remain free and exciting capabilities will exist that
were not possible with the previous system. Some but not limited to the
following items: Improved coverage with potential for 98% + corridor coverage,
DSL equivalent speeds, VPN capabilities, the ability to access the service from
any train car and the capability to roam from car to car without dropping the
connection.




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New Ticket Kiosks
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New Ticket Kiosks have been installed at both the Great America and Pleasanton
ACE Stations. Tickets are now being sold at both locations from the new
structures which provide a safe environment for personnel while working.

In addition, we are pleased to announce that we can now accept Credit Cards and
Debit Cards (with the Visa or Mastercard logos) for ticket sales at the Great
America Station.

Hours of operation for the new kiosks will be as follows: the Pleasanton Station
Kiosk will be open for ticket sales for westbound ACE trains #01, #03, #05, with
additional sales at the Pleasanton County Fairgrounds Administration Office.

The Great America Station Kiosk will be open for ticket sales for eastbound ACE
trains #04, #06, #08.”



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ACE Seeks Your Input for Keeping Track Newsletter
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The editors of the Keeping Track newsletter are soliciting responses to the
following question to be included in the next Keeping Track newsletter:

Taking ACE’s new midday train and its connecting transit partners, which of
the following destinations would you travel at your leisure to? You may
prioritize three answers if you would prefer.

San Francisco Monterey

Santa Cruz Stoneridge Mall, Pleasanton

Winchester Mystery House Santana Row, San Jose

East Bay Parks Downtown San Jose

Stanford San Jose HP Pavilion

Oakland

HOME (I would utilize it to go home early!)

Please send your responses to keepingtrack@...





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New Payment Policy
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As a reminder, beginning Monday, August 28, 2006, ACE will no longer
be accepting personal checks. Pin-based debit transactions will also
no longer be available. Debit transactions will continue to be an
option as long as there is a Visa or Master Card logo. Acceptable
payment methods remain: Cash, Commuter Checks, RideChecks, and Credit
Cards (Visa or Master Card only).

Valid COMPANY checks are accepted ONLY at ACE headquarters through the
mail at 949 E. Channel St., Stockton, CA 95202.




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