Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 30, 2006 Moderators Share Posted January 30, 2006 I live in North San Diego. I work (Telephony Audio) about 25 miles away and the commute during high traffic times can be brutal. Sitting in your car for an hour at the end of the day sucks. So I switched to the train last week. I drive 3 minutes to the station in my town of Encinitas. I get on board at 7 and get off at 7:15 at Sorrentto Valley. The line runs down the San Diego coast and I watched surfers this morning surf 8 footers at Swami's instead of listening to talk radio and cursing the selfishness of my fellow commuters. Then I take a 5 minute shuttle and am left about 1 mile away from work. That 1 mile is crucial. It's the reason I didn't take the train for 5 or so years. That 1 mile is great. Who'd a thought? No more emergency coffee when I walk in the door. No more cracking open a brew the minute I walk back into my home in the late afternoon to relax. I'm already either awake or relaxed, depending on the time of day. Monthly Pass = $116. Monthly Gas = $160No more wear and tear on my car.I read while I commute now.No more insanity. All in all... I'm one happy Public Transit Patron! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Base Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Ah, the dream, it sounds nice, doesn't it. I've just gone back to train commuting for the first time in a couple of years, it's not far, just a 20 minute ride (I used to do 1 hour 30 into London). It's great, you can spend the time reading instead of roasting in a stress filled car... Until a wet leaf lands on the rail track. Then everything goes wrong, people aren't trained to handle emergencies like this! A whole leaf on tha track, that's a disaster, the train can't get past, so no other trains can get through the station!! So my 20 minute trip suddenly becomes a mad panic as the station staff try to cram everyone into taxi's!!! But there aren't enough and they don't know what to do so they panic and tell people to get buses!!! But we never get buses, and their already full anyway!!!?!?!? And the short trip home becomes a train wreck (pardon the expression!) and you have to give up and go back to the office to wait 3 hours for someone to come and pick you up... And this isn't a rare occurence, this is at least monthly, at least some sort of delay weekly!!! Maybe it's a signal failure, THEY FAIL WEEKLY, I can tell you they're b&*gered, get new ones damnit!!!!!!! Sorry, glad that's off my chest now, I'm sure your train line is a lot more reliable of mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryst Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 lee, I had a very similar experience. I used to live very close to where i work and I would have to leave 20 minutes before work because 2 miles took 20 minutes here in ATL. Then I moved to Midtown and I walk 7 minutes to the train (Marta) and then 20 to work. The train stops right next door from where I work. I rarely drive my car anymore. Twice a week for band practice and once to the grocery for the week. All bars in my area are in walking distance too. I spend $25 a month for the train. It's a big discount provided by my employer. I spend maybe $50 a month in gas at most. One thing I realiezed after I stopped driving is how much time I have wasted with my life just sitting in my car waiting to move. But for some of us it isn't a choice, unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 30, 2006 Author Moderators Share Posted January 30, 2006 Originally posted by Base Until a wet leaf lands on the rail track. Then everything goes wrong, people aren't trained to handle emergencies like this! A whole leaf on tha track, that's a disaster, the train can't get past, so no other trains can get through the station!! So my 20 minute trip suddenly becomes a mad panic as the station staff try to cram everyone into taxi's!!! But there aren't enough and they don't know what to do so they panic and tell people to get buses!!! But we never get buses, and their already full anyway!!!?!?!? And the short trip home becomes a train wreck (pardon the expression!) and you have to give up and go back to the office to wait 3 hours for someone to come and pick you up... And this isn't a rare occurence, this is at least monthly, at least some sort of delay weekly!!! Maybe it's a signal failure, THEY FAIL WEEKLY, I can tell you they're b&*gered, get new ones damnit!!!!!!! Yikes! I hope we don't have that leaf problem! So far so good here, but it sounds like I may be in for a suprise here and there. You know though Base, the delay problem isn't exclusive to the train, I was held up for an extra hour on the Freeway due to a Semi-Truck accident 2 weeks ago. Then there was the arrest on the Freeway that turned Highway 5 into a parking lot for closer to 2 hours. I'll take my chances with the leaves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Base Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Yeah, I know, it's not so much the delays on the trains, they happen I can accept that, it's the utter incompetence that SWT (my local train co.) exhibit when they occur. They're so freakin' often, they should be experts but they screw it up and make it worse EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!!! They've taken all sorts of government fines for it!!! When all runs well tho, it's great, I'm getting through some more books again (I rarely get time to read other than the train anymore) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 No commuter trains here in Kansas City...and they probably wouldn't go where I needed them too, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members offramp Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 None worth a damn here, either, unless you live in some very specific areas and work in some very specific areas. And every time the discussion gets going on adding more, there's all sorts of grumbling and bitching about the cost; invariably, these are the same people who bitch about traffic conditions. What steams my grumpus is that there are plenty of obvious, tangible examples of successful and efficient high-speed trains, yet when the discussion about I-70 mountain/resort traffic bubbles to the surface, an amazing number of people seem to think that the only option is to widen I-70, and that trains won't work. They also suggest sharing the commerce lines that weave and wander through the mountains...an idea that simply sucks because a mishap with one of those commerce trains can cause delays of up to a few days, as happened last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shniggens Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Yeah, but the light rail system they are installing in Denver is going to be very practical, I believe. As far as I-70 congestion goes . . . well, there are many options. I would like to see a monorail from DIA to Glenwood Springs. Monorail!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 30, 2006 Author Moderators Share Posted January 30, 2006 In reality, the train options where I live in San Diego are horrible. I just happen to live by a train station and my work happens to be on the route. Otherwise I'd be driving. When I mention it to people I work with they excitedly check it out only to find it won't work for them. They're too far away from a station to make it worthwhile. I used to take the train from Kenosha, WI, to downtown Chicago every day. Now there's a city with a great public transportation service. America! We need more trains! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorePaul Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Definitely depends on the area, in more metro areas it can be better, in more ruralized areas less so-- Doing something like the Golden/Boulder run better off with a TT bike! Talk about pray for me I'm on 93! -- jam for a few - grab beer at The Rocky Flats lounge (for "complex carbs" of course ) and rock the remainder that side wind, when it kicks up, feels like headwind both ways...but makes for some challenging training...just like the BussStop ride on the North end of Boulder) -- but it's a great training distance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GeoffonTour Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 I used public transport for years, when I got a bike I took 15 minutes off my journey. Used to overtake 2 of the buses I would've been on on the way. Traffic? what traffic? PS until some silly woman wiped me off it, new one pending til insurance money arrives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 excerpted Originally posted by Lee Knight I used to take the train from Kenosha, WI, to downtown Chicago every day. Now there's a city with a great public transportation service. America! We need more trains! Chicago mass transit works only if you are on a spoke. Like the one you mentioned. Still, I can't remember the last time I drove and parked downtown. I either take the train or drive halfway there to catch the L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members offramp Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 MorePaul, I don't know how you guys do that 93 trek. It's bad enough keeping my Explorer moving in a straight line when the winds kick in. I think that the light rail to Park Meadows will help, for a while, then people will be back to their cars. The monorail is the best damned idea. We already have the corridor, and altering that corridor for a monorail would be less damaging than widening the damn road for more {censored}ing cars.High-speed train or monorail, don't care. Adding more lanes for more cars is beyond stupid. What really fires me is that they always say "well, it'll be a 25-year study", which of course by the time the study is done, you'll have to start all over again because your original model is useless. I can NOT for the life of me figure out how it can take so long to figure out a solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 30, 2006 Author Moderators Share Posted January 30, 2006 Originally posted by offramp Adding more lanes for more cars is beyond stupid. Exactly. In San Diego we're widening the main North/South route. We'll fill them up in a hurry, I'm sure. More lanes... more lanes... more lanes. I say more trains. Incentives for taking the trains, more shuttles to more areas. MORE TRAINS! Our country should have a grid. A huge frickn' grid of train tracks, with all flavors of connections to anywhere. Shuttles to complete those connections. How is this a bad idea? We will be hosed when the spigot is turned off. Hosed I tell you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 30, 2006 Author Moderators Share Posted January 30, 2006 Originally posted by spokenward excerptedChicago mass transit works only if you are on a spoke. It all relative though. Chicagoland has spokes. San Diego has a stick! One line up and down the coast. I'm lucky I'm on the stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shniggens Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Originally posted by offramp The monorail is the best damned idea. We already have the corridor, and altering that corridor for a monorail would be less damaging than widening the damn road for more {censored}ing cars. High-speed train or monorail, don't care. Adding more lanes for more cars is beyond stupid. Well, if they ever do build a monorail, I'm going to wait a few years before I ride it to make sure they get all the kinks out. I'd hate to be on that bitch when the brakes give out on Floyd Hill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Billster Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 IMO we have pretty good commuter rail here in Boston. The system is definitely overloaded to the standard commuter schedule though. If you want to stay in the city for a show, or sports, or dinner, the schedule dries up and you might have to wait hours for the last train of the night to get out of downtown. And the midnight train is definitely a freakshow of drunks and oddballs. During the summer I bicycle to the train stop (only a mile from my house) so I'm totally green. There was a recent article in the local paper questioning how they justify subsidizing expansion and how it's a never ending cycle. If more people get out of their cars and onto the train, then other people want to take advantage of the now presumably free-flowing roads and get into their cars. But I love the train ride, I take my laptop and do batch file conversions and other housekeeping so I can use my studio time to play instead of maintain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Those west coast cities weren't built by and around public transit the way ours were here in the east. New York's suburban sprawl, for example, was tied to its rail system like vines to a trellis. It's structure is radial, whereas the SoCal version of suburban sprawl is patterned after the greater latitude of the automobile. The great "travel" writer Robert D. Kaplan has a lot to say about this kind of thing in his sole book about the USA, An Empire Wilderness. Good read. What was the question again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorePaul Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Originally posted by offramp MorePaul, I don't know how you guys do that 93 trek. It's bad enough keeping my Explorer moving in a straight line when the winds kick in. Keeping the truck moving the right way is kinda harder...You have to deal with 2+ tons of metal and glass that...if it starts getting lateral motion...tends to keep going I weight abt 10 times more than my vehicle so it's easy to feel the trim against the wind and jink it over in a gust (cycling is abt dynamic stability anyway) now a TT disc wheel (which is really just for events)...those things get all friggin nutty in the wind but yeah, there is a surprising amt of technique that you learn without realizing it...both solo and in a pack (BTW - thanks for manic story time...interesting read!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Counterpoint Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 "Out of my brain on the train..." Thank goodness for soft synths! I could ride all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hugo H Posted January 31, 2006 Members Share Posted January 31, 2006 We have very limited train service in the Atlanta area. Most of the lack is caused by infighting among the politicians. Some of them get ridiculous ideas. We had one metro country comissioner who's main plan was running an express line from one mall to another within his county. Hooking up with anything else was "out of the question". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 31, 2006 Author Moderators Share Posted January 31, 2006 Originally posted by Hugo H We have very limited train service in the Atlanta area. Most of the lack is caused by infighting among the politicians. Some of them get ridiculous ideas. We had one metro country comissioner who's main plan was running an express line from one mall to another within his county. Hooking up with anything else was "out of the question". It almost seems as though we'd (USA, sorry to be America-centric) be better off not thinking localy but thinking nationaly. Like our Interstate System. All of America needs the ability to not drive. We need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Billster Posted January 31, 2006 Members Share Posted January 31, 2006 Originally posted by Lee Knight It almost seems as though we'd (USA, sorry to be America-centric) be better off not thinking localy but thinking nationaly. Like our Interstate System. All of America needs the ability to not drive. We need it. Yeah, Amtrak has worked great I agree that we need a saner transportation policy. It comes down to scheduling convenience (see my earlier post). As long as the most convenient thing is to drive yourself, that's what people will do. Light rail, like monorail and trolley service is more sensible for some applications because they don't have to operate at near capacity to be cost-effective. Heavy rail, like a commuter train needs to be close to capacity to realize the cost benefit. I really think that interstate trucking is a huge drain on resources. Long haul cargo belongs on the railways, which would make the highways safer for passenger car traffic, and also contribute to the roads lasting longer because they don't get pounded by several hundred ton 18-wheelers constantly. Imagine a highway trip without the constant construction zones re-paving crumbled pavement. Trucking should be reserved for final delivery within a smaller radius of rail terminals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 31, 2006 Author Moderators Share Posted January 31, 2006 Originally posted by Ryst lee, I had a very similar experience. I used to live very close to where i work and I would have to leave 20 minutes before work because 2 miles took 20 minutes here in ATL. Then I moved to Midtown and I walk 7 minutes to the train (Marta) and then 20 to work. The train stops right next door from where I work. I rarely drive my car anymore. Twice a week for band practice and once to the grocery for the week. All bars in my area are in walking distance too. I spend $25 a month for the train. It's a big discount provided by my employer. I spend maybe $50 a month in gas at most. One thing I realiezed after I stopped driving is how much time I have wasted with my life just sitting in my car waiting to move. But for some of us it isn't a choice, unfortunately. You Ryst, are living the dream. A nice short commute like that... nice indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 31, 2006 Author Moderators Share Posted January 31, 2006 Originally posted by Base Until a wet leaf lands on the rail track. Then everything goes wrong, people aren't trained to handle emergencies like this! A whole leaf on tha track, that's a disaster, the train can't get past, so no other trains can get through the station!! So my 20 minute trip suddenly becomes a mad panic as the station staff try to cram everyone into taxi's!!! Yeah, well it happened to me already. The shuttle driver, my work to station connection gets into a fender bender 30 seconds before picking me up. I actually missed it but easily could have seen it had I been turned the other way. I got home 1 1/2 hours late. Amazing how a little thing can turn to muck so easily. It's still worth it so far I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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