The comments (edited) by David Yamaguchi in yesterday's Vallejo Times
Herald make the same point we have been promoting for some time. The
Bay Area needs a single, coherent urban mass transit jurisdiction
that coordinates all the modalities into a single network of people
moving. Each of the transit operators is fighting for a finite pool
of money, proposing ambitious expansion plans, and pretending that
they are the solution to the Bay Area's traffic gridlock. That
defies all logic. Perhaps this metaphor might help: To function as
an urban transit system, it needs to be a web the way the Web is a
web. The difference is that an urban transit system, in order to be
truly a system, needs a single coordinating body that weaves and
supports all the components together.

Imagine what could be accomplished with the proposed $40 billion for
the north-south high speed train
which intends to connect the two major population basins in
California and which we certainly do not need, all their promotional
verbiage to the contrary. What if each basin were to receive $20
billion (or half that) to make it's fragmented transit operators into
a coherent network which provides convenient, cost-effective transit
to all of us. Wouldn't you stop using your car to go to work if it
was easy/close to get on at one end and easy/close to get off at the
other? If it was convenient and attractive, as fast or faster than
driving, and cost the same or less than using your car? Why do
people insist on "selling" us what we don't need and depriving us of
what we do need? (Rhetorical question. No need to answer it.)

Martin

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Comment: Bay Area needs one 9-county mass transit authority

Published Wednesday, October 31, 2007, by the Vallejo Times Herald

Comment

Keep it simple

I have lived in other regions of the country, from the Northeast to
the South to the West Coast. Mass transit is very strange in the Bay
Area. There are multiple transit agencies for metro rail, commuter
rail, light rail, ferry service and bus service. Why can't the Bay
Area transit systems be run under a regional, nine-county transit
authority? All mass transit needs to be consolidated into BART, and
have separate departments for the others. In areas like New York,
Boston, New Jersey, Philadelphia and others, just one agency runs
all forms of mass transit.

The present ferry consolidation bill being passed is good news,
especially as a first step of consolidating transit services. As
usual, Vallejo is always against progress. If Vallejo stays against
progress, I will not move back there upon retirement from the U.S.
Navy.

Since I joined the Navy back in 1991, I noticed Vallejo has added
more freeways and widened more roads, but has reduced transit
service. If transit service never gets consolidated, Vallejo needs
to implement a Transit First plan. Instead of wasting more money
building more freeways, widening more roads, and allow uncontrolled
suburban sprawl, Vallejo needs to provide better mass transit
service: Construct light rail to connect to BART, Solano County and
Napa County: Construct sidewalks on every road; place bicycle lanes
on busy thoroughfares, encourage car sharing, and build more high
density, new urbanist, livable neighborhoods like Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C.
--------------------------

Just fix the potholes and provide better infrastructure for non-
automobile use. The goal of Vallejo should be to encourage people to
live car free or car lite.

David Yamaguchi
Jacksonville, N.C.

-- 
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Martin Engel
1621 Stone Pine Lane
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650:323-1670
martinengel@earthlink.net
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