Re: LA SCAX expansion of AVL into Kern County There are a lot of good candidates that would work
Author: BOB2
Date: 08-25-2018 - 15:20
I've done a ride along to survey the ROW to Elsinore from Corona, and unfortunately, many parts are gone in many places and hard to piece together. Parts of the I-15 corridor and even median could be used, but that would not be cheap.
Perris and the I-215 have been looked at to Temecula as a terminus, and I've even shown where you could reconnect the California Southern between Temecula around Fallbrook to connect with the Coast Line at "old" Loa Angeles Jct..
Running full "all day" and weekend bi-directional service on the Perris line, instead of just the bare minimum peak commute service running now is step one in making proper use of the very expensive investment made in upgrading the line.
Regional and Interregional express service to Beaumont, Banning, Cabazon, Palm Springs, Thousand Palms, and Indio with the I-10 becoming a full blown parking lot is another candidate corridor, with good "catchment" areas, with trips bound to and from various points in the Sou Cal basin.
But, I disagree, I actually think that Tehachapi would make an excellent terminus, with a catchment radius of up to twenty five miles full of folks who do and would travel to the urban clusters down the line. Mojave would catch trips from as far away as China Lake, avoiding the final leg of the drive in gridlock.
Salinas is an excellent hub, with a large radius of passengers to draw on with both commute and ,interregional express services. And, I see that the Coast Line was just awarded a PTC grant, and maybe even some funding for some of the CTC and siding improvements.
You wouldn't think Acton has enough riders to warrant a stop, but it has the highest percent home to work census tract level transit mode split in Southern California, and a 10+ mile catchment radius.....
And, if you look at the data, from our existing successful IC and regional operators, these trip lengths from these "exurban edge centers" to the urban centers, represent the kind of trips that are diverted to rail now.