-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Brodsky [SMTP:Mark@MrLaser.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 1999 11:42 PM
To: adallas@infospect.com; 'losgatos@listbot.com'
Subject: Re: Jitney transportation
Alastair,
You and Peggy are exactly right!!!. The way to start up a usable transit
system here is with small shuttle busses and jitneys. Once a ridership is
developed, then even more efficient vehicles will be viable.
We have the perfect location here in Los Gatos for a loop if we have a
magnet center in the North to circulate people to downtown in the South.
See the picture on www.northlosgatos.com/page9.html
The economics are excellent especially when companies subsidize them.
Dan Ponder, former manager of the Toll House, suggested that they would
provide the shuttles for free, if they had such a magnet hotel in the North
40 as well as their downtown site.
Currently the five largest employers of Silicon valley spend over $3.5
million yearly on shuttle busses between their sites. (source SCMG 9/23/99)
You are also correct about the various laws which hinder this. For example
the Public Utilities Committee does not allow the Highway 17 express bus to
stop in Los Gatos because they gave the monoply to Greyhound and Amtrak.
(How many people know that these buses stop in Los Gatos). And the taxi
industry sued the county successfully in the 70's to prevent competition
from the "dial a ride" fiasco.
There are also places where the shuttles can cause more problems. This
will be the case when the Light Rail ends at Highway 85 and Winchester.
Lark will be totally congested with both shuttles and park and riders
because there are not sufficient offramps to support the LRT terminus.
This is why the Autobus stands on its own merits as a link between a North
40 center and the Light Rail. It pulls cars off our streets by focusing
them to the underground parking accessable just off the freeway.
Best of all Aerobus is perfect to tie downtown to the North 40 and Vasona
and to the light rail. It is the type of attraction for which people will
pay to leave their cars at the North 40 to ride it downtown. Of course
Aerobus holds many other benefits. Over Highway 17 it would costs 70% less
than LRT or fixed rail and eliminates the construction pollution and
delays. If we have it in Los Gatos , the Highway 17 commuters will force
the officials to continue it to the beach.
I appreciate your efforts to disperse the information and I already used
your gas price chart.
Please let me know if I can answer any more questions and also send me your
pictures and suggestions for the site.
Regards,
Mark
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