Comments by GlennYago
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Posted on February 8 at 12:45 a.m.
SBCAG's estimate for widening the remaining 8 miles of 101 has been at $428M for the last 5 years. I'd dare say $500+ is a much closer number right now, and in 20 years who knows how much more?
At presentations of Measure D '08 projects by SBCAG, it's been said said on numerous occasions that we're looking at 2 decades of road construction before 101 is widened to the county line. That's if we have a new tax measure.
Rail can do what roads can't. When you have an existing rail corridor, it's not too difficult to add capacity, and a commuter rail service between SB & Ventura County is very doable in a couple of years.
Metrolink operates in 5 counties to the south, and was able to get their system up and running in 2 years. That's 435 miles of track, and getting 5 counties to sit down and put an agreement together. Our 43 miles of track and a 2 county agreement shouldn't be too difficult - if there's political will.
Posted on January 17 at 11:52 a.m.
Face the facts:
· Road widening will take 20 years and $500M+
· Commuter rail will take 2 years and $40M
The rhetoric by SBCAG "leaders" today indicates:
· The North County agenda will prevail
· Measure D ’08 will fail
· Commuter rail will happen before widening
Posted on August 26 at 2:21 p.m.
Santa Barbara County was asked to join the original Metrolink JPA when it was formed in the early 90's. Too bad SBCAG didn't see the future, and didn't know plans to widen 101 would be killed.
A Metrolink solution must deal with the issue of reverse commute.
Their service is about getting people to LA in the morning, and back out in the afternoon. A Santa Barbara/Ventura service would bring people to SB in the morning and back south in the aftertnoon.
That's why Surfliner trains are being looked at as a possible solution. They run the right way at nearly the right times. The morning train needs to leave LA between 4 &5 AM to get to SB before 8. It currently leaves LA at 7 and arrives here after 10.
An additional morning train would also be needed, and could be a Metrolink (which are parked in Moorpark overnight) or an additional Surfliner that could be parked in the Oxnard area where there is a spur.
Posted on August 23 at 2:13 p.m.
Some education is needed here.
First of all the plan put forth by the SB City Council begins with a rescheduling of existing trains, this costs nothing.
KEYT coverage omitted the fact that the morning train arrives at 10:10AM, when they pointed out that only 12 people ride that train.
I would submit that for the commuters from the south who spend upwards of 2 hours driving the short distance from Ventura County would jump at the chance to take a train and leave the car at home.
A local employers forum on commuter solutions found that a vast majority would shuttle their people from the train each day.
"The last mile" as it is called, is part of the plan. MTD has already made a commitment to provide buses at the station when trains arrive. There's no reason for apprehension about leaving your car.
The argument about lack of density doesn't wash. The studies have been done, and the ridership is there. As you can tell by the gridlock on 101 morning and night, we don't have to wait for more density. Of the nearly 20K commuters daily from the south, I don't see a problem filling up the trains that would be breezing past those sitting in traffic. It would be an easy sell.
As the City Council pointed out, next year when the 15- 20 years of road improvements start, commuter rail will be even more compelling.
The problem is a regional one that is shared by two counties.
Why should Santa Barbara County help residents of Ventura County? and why should Ventura County help Santa Barbara County employers make it easier for their employees to commute?
Does that make sense? Shouldn't we be working together on this?
Regional solutions can be difficult, but are nevertheless important.
The Santa Barbara City Council has taken the first step to making sense of regional transportation. It needn't be all on rubber tires.
Posted on August 22 at 9:36 p.m.
Nick, you tell it like it is, and you also recognize those who have the courage to take a position on this important issue.
63+% of South Coast voters supported Measure D '06, and as you speculate, commuter rail may have been one reason for the strong support. I think that's true, and unfortunately North County voters were lead to believe they would be paying for the rail project, which was not true.
So it's a new day, and the SB City Council has stepped up to the task of managing the future transportation challanges of the South Coast. Good for them, and more power to them.
SBCAG is happy to just do what they always do, build and pave roads. Too bad for the folks stuck in traffic, while they play catch up.
We're lucky to have more forward thinking electeds in our neck of the woods, and I guess they'll be the ones to show the way.
Posted on June 26 at 10:50 p.m.
The stats are nice, but the board and staff exhanges were more interesting.
When did you ever hear a board member complain about getting too much money for road construction?
But when the money is going for rail, well that's a different story. It's like a zero sum game for those on the board who haven't bothered to learn the material. I guess they don't know that 1B gave $400M to rail, and that SB County has a rail corridor running through it, and that (as staff pointed out) it's a 1940's style rail line that is in desperate need of work.
Let's hope the next round of Supervisors understand that transportation means more than roads, and actually do their homework.
Posted on May 14 at 11:34 p.m.
In the news today was some buzz about the President's 20 in 10 program. I was curious to see what the plan proposed in order to reduce fuel consumption by 20% in 10 years.
It was no surprise that mass/public transportation is not mentioned by name. The closest reference that could direct resources to transit is:
The President's Plan Calls For The U.S. Department Of Transportation (DOT) To Work With States And Cities To Explore Ways To Reduce Traffic Congestion, Help Save Fuel, And Reduce Commute Times. In 2003, drivers in America's 85 most congested urban areas experienced 3.7 billion hours of travel delay and wasted 2.3 billion gallons of fuel, costing a total of $63 billion.
This is the laissez faire approach, and as such will not imply behavior change. Although we know different the implication is that the roads are free, and people have the right to drive anywhere, anytime, like it was a god given right.
There are some that say if you put more resources to public transportation it suggests people are being told to leave their cars, because the resources aren't being put into the "free" roads that everyone (if you have car & license) has the right to use (Like it was a zero sum game). The truth is, eg. transportation funding that is earmarked for transit (TDA) is typically spirirted away to highway projects. That's been happening for years in north county, and I understand it's the case in Ventura County too. Imagine all those unrecoverable dollars that could have been invested in rail and transit?
Look for Public Works wishes to be upheld at Thursday's SBCAG meeting. The word is that the Supervisors are going for the 70/30 just like the old Measure D. As has been pointed out in the past, this is unprecedented in California counties with a transportation tax. Measure D 2006 was forward thinking and equitable to all, while Measure D 2008 is shaping up to be backward thinking and a loser. So far the county doesn't want to spend the money to find out what the people want, and some claim to know without asking.
Posted on May 9 at 12:43 a.m.
There is another source of funds for commuter rail that would help stretch Measure D 2008 revenue.
Caltrans Rail Division head Bill Bronte recently said that Caltrans highway work in the Altamont Pass will be mitigated with commuter rail. There is a system in place there (ACE, Altamont Commuter Express) www.acerail.com
Bronte's predecessor, Warren Weber, was working on securing funds that could help get our commuter rail service up and running in advance of the ongoing Caltrans work south of Milpas.
That would make commuter rail a win-win, and a way to sell it to the voters that is currently being overlooked.
In the future, when commuter rail service to north county is seriously being considered, it becomes obvious that a platform or station needs to be built to service Orcutt and S. Santa Maria.
As the land southwest of the airport is developed, a stop south of Highway 1 & Black Rd. becomes the obvious location.
There's a lot of wisdom in the postings above, and as one points out, the cost of oil will play heavily into future transportation decisions. Due to the high cost of highways (with little return) they're becoming more and more obsolete, and rail becomes the mode of choice. That's why government needs to find a way to partner with the rail co's for cost effective investments in ROW improvements.
Posted on May 6 at 3:08 p.m.
You can be sure that with such a measure, the south's numbers will be more like the north's were for the '06 measure.
It's not looking good, and I see the only place to get balance is from the 70% local piece. Otherwise it sets the stage for status quo and the loss of support from the South Coast.
Without widening off the top support in the south drops further,
and without an expenditure plan up front it'll never work.
People are too smart, and won't vote a blank check no matter what promises are made. It has to be in black and white.
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Posted on October 11 at 11:27 a.m.
Many thanks to Helene, Grant and Roger for their work in promoting commuter friendly train service. The "missing link" in our local train service is "peak hour" trains for the 15-20K daily commuters from Ventura County. On-TRAC addresses this, and there's $25M in Measure A funds for rail, which could certainly be used to partner with Ventura County for a train service that would serve their residents who commute to jobs in the SB-Goleta area. Ventura County is said to be working on a transportation sales tax measure for the 2010 ballot, and I'm sure a new bi-county organization - ASERT (Alliance for Sustainable and Equitable Regional Transportation) will be advocating for Ventura County to at least match the $25M SB County has in their Measure A expenditure plan for commuter rail.
Why should everyone be stuck in traffic?
On Chatsworth Tragedy Shines Light on Need to Overhaul Entire Corridor