Re: Evil Thomas Must Be Stopped?
Author: Carol L. Voss
Date: 12-27-2012 - 21:42
BOB2 Wrote:
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> It's sad to see that so many who feel they've been
> left behind by change, and haven't left California
> yet, are foaming and frothing tonight about the
> evil conspiracy at VTA.... But, it's just another
> sign of the times. In other words, just another
> chronic case of @#$%& and whining about how
> terrible we have it in these awful times we live
> in, right?
>
> Thank you to that ever vigilant watchdog of the
> public good the moribund Mercury News for
> uncovering this disaster and evil conspiracy...
> I'm so happy to see all of this foaming and
> frothing over an article that is mistating some
> facts and presenting a somewhat selective
> "narrative" as news or analysis.
>
> Yes, VTA is a system that is very far from
> perfect, and it is a relatively poor performer per
> mile and per dollar compared to anything in LA,
> San Diego, or the much better job done in
> Sacramento, which could have been a better model
> for VTA. However, not every "suburban" LRT system
> can be a Blue Line, with a far higher passenger
> density per line mile than even BART has, at a
> much much lower cost, right?
>
> VTA has had some very notable operational
> problems, too. This includes things like
> unnecessarily slow running times from things like
> the failure to fully integrate stop signals to
> priotize train operations, like is commonly done
> in Europe. This is also a common failure of
> almost all American LRT systems, even in LA on the
> Expo Line, though it's actually pretty easily done
> elsewhere in the world.
>
> VTA is also a system that has been built almost at
> cross purposes with the development and planning
> done by the City of San Jose, and the County. It
> tried to be center oriented system, which is a
> very small part of travel demand, in San Jose.
> Existing geography and sprawl were not taken into
> adequate consideration. Policies which continued
> to promote more sprawl have been encouraged. And,
> compared to things like the development along the
> Gold Line, or San Diego Trolley, not much thought
> (or more important: action!)appears to have been
> given to integrating the LRT with new or existing
> development opportunities, either downtown, or
> along the corridors.
>
> Leadership at VTA has been a problem, too. Ron
> Diridon is certainly no Jimmy Mills or Kenny Hahn,
> and never will be, from my personal experience
> with the man. I don't usually think of Norm
> Mineta first when the subject of poor leadership
> at VTA comes up, though. But, since I'm not an
> expert on the latest LRT conspiracy theories,
> maybe he is actually part of that vast evil
> conspiracy, too?
>
> As I was thinking about how good it was to see so
> many expert and knowledgeable opinions about how
> to do it better at VTA on this thread tonight, I
> suddenly remembered the secret pledge of some
> folks who visit this site:
>
> Trains Suck and Evil Thomas must be stopped!
I think you have missed a point here. None of us have ideas as to how to do it better, we just instinctively knew as natives and residents that what they were doing wasn't going to work but had no say in the subject or took no opportunity to have our say since the meetings were not convenient for those of us who were working and hey, we all know that "stuff" happens behind the scenes regardless of how many meetings you have. Rod Diridon had a vision for his own private trolley car and he got it----------------it hasnt worked well. None of us natives are surprised. Period. End of report.
C.