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Re: Smart- San Rafael & NWP
Author: The Odd Duck
Date: 09-18-2015 - 21:20
Here are some thoughts from the letter to the IJ editor.
relentlesscactus an hour ago
The downtown station should be built, but a plan where each train stops at two of three stations is INSANE from an operations and service standpoint. You get on a station in the morning and leave your bike there, and you come back later in the day and the train you are on stops at the other station??? That's literally insane, politically based BS. Novato needs to get its head out of its ass. Build the downtown station and cancel Atherton. You can't please all of the passengers some of the time, and some of the passengers all of the time. Schedules need to be uniform on a system like this. You can't build an efficient rail operation on political compromise.
Novato makes a no brainer decision----Gosh, do you really need an IQ to be on this council! Or just a stealth motive/secret agenda? (Like hi density housing within 1/2 mile of adequate transportation).
David Randolph 4 hours ago
Downtown Novato station should been on the books from the get-go. Do it!
OldAs Dirt 5 hours ago
If were going to have SMART, it makes sense to have it stop downtown, Fischer said at the meeting.
Fischer doesn't get it. Every rail station should be an aggregation point for travelers, with commuter conveniences (parking, drop-offs, bicycle storage) and bus or shuttle routes. Novato's downtown has constrained streets, ignored parking, and never had easy routes for buses to and from the station site.
Skip the current plan for buses if you're serious about a downtown station, and be prepared for some serious eminent domain actions.
Ventress Dugan 7 hours ago
Wow....just thought of opening the downtown train station and now it is on the fast track. This is going to cost the city of Novato alot of money. First, the city manager wants to hire a consultant for about $50,000 to $100,000 to determine what it will cost the city to open this train stop. Then a new platform and tracks will have to be built and if you have a stop you will have to have new signals (which San Rafael is now discussing with very high bids). And technically Novato will have ONLY two stops. Will all three train stops be eligible for high density housing, I think so.
Goer 7 hours ago
This is a commute train, not an option for transportation throughout day. It's not going to be an option for jaunts to various towns for lunch or shopping. So to me I feel that a station stop in Novato downtown is going to be a waste of space. You can just shuttle people from San Marin station down there. And San Marin station will have parking aplenty for commuters and only commuters. The downtown Novato station parking lot will be poached by folks who aren't riding train.
Ventress Dugan Goer 6 hours ago
Don't forget the parking in Whole Foods, which has designated the back of the covered parking on both floors and with a limit of 2 hours, but with no one to police the parking.
Robert J. Cleek 7 hours ago
The Novato City Council fought tooth and nail, spending into the six figures on pointless litigation, trying to stop the restoration of rail service to the Redwood Empire at any cost and now that the service is about to begin, they want a station in downtown Novato? Boy, talk about "The Little Red Hen!"
David Randolph Robert J. Cleek 4 hours ago
Thanks to Carole Dillon Knutson, the train hater. Thanks for nothing, Carole!
kj 8 hours ago
NOVATO CITY COUNCIL: BUILD THE DOWNTOWN STATION!!!!!!!!!!
relentlesscactus an hour ago
The downtown station should be built, but a plan where each train stops at two of three stations is INSANE from an operations and service standpoint. You get on a station in the morning and leave your bike there, and you come back later in the day and the train you are on stops at the other station??? That's literally insane, politically based BS. Novato needs to get its head out of its ass. Build the downtown station and cancel Atherton. You can't please all of the passengers some of the time, and some of the passengers all of the time. Schedules need to be uniform on a system like this. You can't build an efficient rail operation on political compromise.
Novato makes a no brainer decision----Gosh, do you really need an IQ to be on this council! Or just a stealth motive/secret agenda? (Like hi density housing within 1/2 mile of adequate transportation).
David Randolph 4 hours ago
Downtown Novato station should been on the books from the get-go. Do it!
OldAs Dirt 5 hours ago
If were going to have SMART, it makes sense to have it stop downtown, Fischer said at the meeting.
Fischer doesn't get it. Every rail station should be an aggregation point for travelers, with commuter conveniences (parking, drop-offs, bicycle storage) and bus or shuttle routes. Novato's downtown has constrained streets, ignored parking, and never had easy routes for buses to and from the station site.
Skip the current plan for buses if you're serious about a downtown station, and be prepared for some serious eminent domain actions.
Ventress Dugan 7 hours ago
Wow....just thought of opening the downtown train station and now it is on the fast track. This is going to cost the city of Novato alot of money. First, the city manager wants to hire a consultant for about $50,000 to $100,000 to determine what it will cost the city to open this train stop. Then a new platform and tracks will have to be built and if you have a stop you will have to have new signals (which San Rafael is now discussing with very high bids). And technically Novato will have ONLY two stops. Will all three train stops be eligible for high density housing, I think so.
Goer 7 hours ago
This is a commute train, not an option for transportation throughout day. It's not going to be an option for jaunts to various towns for lunch or shopping. So to me I feel that a station stop in Novato downtown is going to be a waste of space. You can just shuttle people from San Marin station down there. And San Marin station will have parking aplenty for commuters and only commuters. The downtown Novato station parking lot will be poached by folks who aren't riding train.
Ventress Dugan Goer 6 hours ago
Don't forget the parking in Whole Foods, which has designated the back of the covered parking on both floors and with a limit of 2 hours, but with no one to police the parking.
Robert J. Cleek 7 hours ago
The Novato City Council fought tooth and nail, spending into the six figures on pointless litigation, trying to stop the restoration of rail service to the Redwood Empire at any cost and now that the service is about to begin, they want a station in downtown Novato? Boy, talk about "The Little Red Hen!"
David Randolph Robert J. Cleek 4 hours ago
Thanks to Carole Dillon Knutson, the train hater. Thanks for nothing, Carole!
kj 8 hours ago
NOVATO CITY COUNCIL: BUILD THE DOWNTOWN STATION!!!!!!!!!!
