Mass transit is good way to commute but needs to be better

Q I’m responding to last week’s article on VTA and transit in general.

Bus and rail transit can indeed be a better way to commute and can reduce congestion on Bay Area streets and highways. I commuted to San Francisco on BART for 18 years. I still use BART when it makes sense.

To attract more passengers, however, transit has to be convenient, pleasant and affordable. Ms. Richards described a good commute on VTA, yet also noted their funding problem.

But transit in the Bay Area as a whole is very poor. BART is dirty, crowded and not very accessible because there has never been a bus feeder system. With no ability to expand capacity at the core, every BART extension crowds out closer-in passengers.

To go from my home in Moraga to the MTC office in San Francisco requires a 24-minute, 1-mile walk to a bus stop, a wait of up to 60 minutes for a bus off-peak (20 minutes in peak), a 10-minute bus ride to Lafayette BART, 31 minutes to Embarcadero, and a 12-minute walk to MTC. That’s an average of almost 2 hours each way. Driving time in mid-day from Moraga

to 375 Beale? 35 minutes.

Better transit is possible, but it will be REALLY expensive. Better transit and less highway congestion means higher taxes. You get what you pay for. — Daniel Smith, Moraga

A Tough choices loom for transit throughout the region. A big issue is cutting back service in outlying areas to improve service in stations with the highest ridership.

Q I’m responding to the posting by Deborah Richards regarding the use of VTA for commuting. I’ve been working at Sunpower Corp. for eight years and either ride my bike or take light rail to work.

I would like to second Ms. Richards’ comments on the lack of stress of taking VTA and being able to arrive home without feeling frazzled by Bay Area traffic. Sunpower pays for my annual pass, and I was able to reduce the insurance coverage on my car due to low mileage. I’ve turned into a big VTA fan and hope that local government and companies continue to support it. — Dave Musolf

A And …

Q I very much appreciated the letter you published from Deborah Richards. I have long enjoyed similar benefits of taking public transit to work. While it takes me longer to commute, I enjoy the relaxation and cost savings that she described.

I use my commute time to read, get a head start on work emails or just relax. This is so much better than the stress that I would experience driving in heavy traffic. It also has been a huge cost savings for our family, enabling us to get by with one vehicle instead of two. The environmental benefits are also something I am happy with, but it is those first two that have kept me taking transit for 26 years.

Thank you for printing her letter to help make others aware of the benefits of our transit system! — Robert Carvalh, San Jose

A This debate will certainly get more play in the upcoming weeks.