[Sosfbay-discuss] going car free

[Tian Harter]

I firmly believe that what we need now is more riders on VTA,
more riders on the busses, and more people that live near where
they work. When what we have has gone beyond critical mass,
then we will be ready for more infrastructure.

Politically, maybe it would help to put people on the VTA Board
that care about transit. Maybe it would help to elect pro transit
politicians. The problem is, to make this kind of change more of
the general public has to get it that "pro transit" is a good thing
in a politician. The best way to demonstrate this is to flass your
bus pass, and I have yet to see any local politician do so at a
public speaking opportunity.

Until then, everything else is "nibbling at the edges."

Tian

Rob Means wrote:

>After 6 years of pointing out the benefits of Personal Rapid Transit
>(PRT) to the VTA Board and staff, I'm very cynical about them doing
>anything outside their box.  They use 19th century technology (LRT) to
>solve 21st century transportation problems created by the automobile
>because the federal government doles out money for it.  
>That may make some financial sense, but when you throw in the operating
>costs, low ridership and near zero impact on car congestion, it looks
>like a boondoggle.  We could get a bigger bang for our buck by giving
>out thousands of electric bikes and scooters.
>
>Check the following link for an alternative to the (overly) expensive
>BART extension.  For about one-tenth the price, we can serve about half
>the demand (which goes between the Fremont BART station and the Great
>Mall LRT station) and provide better service all along the route.  
>http://www.electric-bikes.com/ciscofield.htm
>
>As for getting VTA bus service "up to snuff", how do you propose paying
>for it?  Right now, the farebox only covers 20% of the operating costs.
>Restoring recently-cut services requires money that the VTA claims not
>to have.
>
>Rob Means, Electro Ride Bikes and Scooters
>408-262-8975   rob.means at electric-bikes.com
>1421 Yellowstone Ave., Milpitas, CA 95035-6913
>Discover cycling that's Easy, Safe, Fast - and FUN!
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>---
> 
>-----Original Message-----
>
>Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:33:49 -0700 (PDT)
>From: JamBoi <jamboi at yahoo.com>
>Subject: Re: [Sosfbay-discuss] going car free
>To: Jim Doyle <j.m.doyle at sbcglobal.net>,	sosfbay discussion group
>	<sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org>
>Message-ID: <472474.76245.qm at web52215.mail.yahoo.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
>Locally we need to work on the VTA to get their service up to snuff. 
>There are many adjustments to the routes taken, additional community
>bus runs,  speeding up of the Light Rail and killing the rediculously
>expensive BART extension in favor rail service (a fraction of the cost)
>that could all make going car free in SCC *much* more workable.
>
>There is a VTA Rider's Union e-mail list that is moderately active.  We
>(the GPSCC) could support this coalitional effort!  Here's the eddress:
>http://www.vtaridersunion.org/
>
>Impeach for Peace!
>
>Drew
>
>--- Jim Doyle <j.m.doyle at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Andrea wrote
>>
>>One of the issues that Nader used to talk about was that of  
>>"facilities."  Without a decent and affordable transportation system,
>> 
>>IMHO, we haven't the "facilities" to allow very many people to go car
>> 
>>free.
>>Andrea
>>
>>My response is
>>granted, we do not have the "facilities."
>>So, how do we get them?  What do we do?
>>
>>earlier email was
>>
>>On Mar 13, 2007, at 9:54 PM, Jim Doyle wrote:
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>sosfbay-discuss mailing list
>>sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
>>http://lists.cagreens.org/mailman/listinfo/sosfbay-discuss
>>
>>    
>>
>
>
>Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:19:43 -0700
>From: Andrea Dorey <andid at cagreens.org>
>Subject: Re: [Sosfbay-discuss] going car free
>To: Jim Doyle <j.m.doyle at sbcglobal.net>
>Cc: sosfbay discussion group <sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org>
>Message-ID: <D89D5F4D-234F-46B5-9A2D-247B0DD33165 at cagreens.org>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes;
>	format=flowed
>
>I agree with Drew about bringing the services we have up to European  
>standards (my term, not his).
>
>We also need to get multiple methods of transportation, including  
>BART, going around the Bay Area and make it as user friendly as  
>possible?that, IMHO, means allowing car/gas slaves to park their  
>monsters for free until we have them hooked and out of their gas- 
>guzzlers.  We cannot set impossibly high standards for people who are  
>just starting to cope with $3.50/gallon and the reality of global  
>warming.  It's going to be a gradual process.
>
>Andi
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>sosfbay-discuss mailing list
>sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
>http://lists.cagreens.org/mailman/listinfo/sosfbay-discuss
>
>  
>


-- 
Tian
I went to an anti climate change rally put on by the Sierra Club today.
They called it a rally, but to me it seemed more like a speech fest.