Re: San Jose's Light Rail after 25 years----inefficient etc
Author: Gene
Date: 12-27-2012 - 15:13
Carol.
Were one to look at the map, then decide that one wanted to board at the station on Cottle Road at 85 and go to the Eastridge Mall (doesn't quite go there yet but what else is new), you would see that you would have to go all the way through down town way out First Street, do a 180 and double back for the same distance. Round trip you would quadrupple the mileage. It is totally inefficient and takes you an hour to get there. You are better off taking a bus which is more direct and faster. If you live downtown, it might be a good deal but if you are on the fringes, you are better off in a car which is what the dang light rail was supposed to eliminate in the first place. Not the way this town is laid out at anyway. The original concept was to incourage the population to move to down town but that didn't work for people to commute from home to work. Allot of people commute to jobs in San Jose from other communities because they can't afford to buy a house or rent here. Rail transit systems work best in localities (Like New York City) where they were laid out before the automobile. In California, urban sprawl pretty much renders them usless to a large part of the population. In my neighborhood they don't even have bus access. Inter urban, Caltrain and Bart work pretty well. I can't wait for Drew's comments. "Incoming!"
Gene