Public transit not practical or convenient for some residents
Q I read all your Roadshow columns and am prompted to write a response to transit problems in the Bay Area. Public transportation is not practical and impossible during non-commute hours. Like finding a parking space at BART during the day. Impossible! Take public transit to BART? Yes, if you have all day and can walk miles.
Transit riders are treated like noncitizens. The silent minority gets the shaft again over and over. — Marty Chew, Danville A The issue was getting more transit from neighborhood to neighborhood after Clay Kallam discovered that a bus ride from his home in Walnut Creek to meet his wife for dinner in San Ramon would stop 29 times and require a long walk. Q I understand Mr. Kallam’s problem all too well. However, not being able to join his wife for a dinner is far different from having to do things like grocery shopping, haircuts, medical appointments, etc.
I am a 72-year-old widow who has never been able to drive. I regularly walk 2-4 miles to do most of these things and more.
Even though I have become a maven of the transportation system in the County Connection district, there are many things I would like to do that I simply have to accept are not in the cards. I certainly don’t expect hundreds of billions of dollars to be spent to make my life easier. — Nancy Morris, Walnut Creek
And …
Q We don’t need highfrequency transit service to every Bay Area neighborhood. We just need effective transit. I don’t need a bus down the street from me every 15 minutes. But the last time I tried to plan a route from home to work, an 11-mile commute, I was looking at three transfers and a 2½-hour ride in each direction. — S.S. A Ouch. This is an issue facing many transit agencies. Do they try to provide decent coverage for all or cut expenses and reroute lines to areas where most riders live? The Valley Transportation Authority will likely scale back service from 30 percent to 10 percent of Santa Clara County and reroute bus lines through downtown San Jose, so stay tuned. Q Concentrate service in the highest-demand locations? There lies the problem. Is there transit service to the San Jose airport? No. Is there legitimate grade-separated transit service to Santana Row/Valley Fair, Oakridge mall, Westgate mall, Eastridge mall, the Great Mall, Raging Waters, Stanford, Apple, Levi’s Stadium/ Great America, Google, Facebook, etc?
No, there isn’t. No wonder transit in the Bay Area is broken. — M.B. A Whoa. There is light rail to Levi’s Stadium, the Great Mall and Eastridge and grade-separated crossings are coming to Caltrain.