Bob,
Sorry about my brisk writing style. In my regular line of work I email
many people with English as a second, or third, language and I dictate
instructions. Most of my correspondence must sound perhaps a bit too direct.
You are right that we must look at all the alternatives. With regard to
transit sub systems, there really is no one solution for us. My criteria
for evaluation is to consider how a system will effect three things:
A. Local Traffic in the community including local transit access
B. Incoming visitor congestion on Downtown including satellite parking.
C. Commuter traffic between Los Gatos and the jobs in Silicon Valley or
other regional destinations.
So lets look at all the transit options open to us, (that I am aware of
anyway), beginning with the high speed connections and working towards the
Los Gatos user.
BART will have little effect on any of the criteria. Even if it comes to
the south bay it will stop in San Jose. Its connection to silicon valley
will be from Milpitas down Tasman. And it still would be faster to San
Francisco to get a bus to Caltrain instead of a Bart Train through San
Jose- Oakland.
Caltrain actually has some effect on Los Gatos because there is an Amtrack
Bus which comes through town a couple of times daily. I think it stops
across from the Toll House. (Anybody out there know its exact schedule and
how it is different or the same as the Peerless Stage bus from the Airport?)
Greyhound also has (or had) a stop in downtown. It came from San Jose on
the way to Santa Cruz and I would also like an update if someone knows its
current status.
County transit runs busses through down town on a regular basis. Before
they got their cars, my teenagers used it to go to the movies and Great
America. Some mornings we'd pick up my kids friends waiting at bus stops on
their way to high school. People who have tried told me it takes over 2
hours to get from Los Gatos to Intel, National Semiconductor, AMD or any
other big employer in the valley.
The Highway 17 Express comes through Los Gatos on the way to San Jose, but
does not stop here. Something about a PUC regulation against the monopoly
they have given to Peerless Stage.
The Light Rail will be coming down the Vasona Corridor, which means
Southwest expressway to Bascom, right at Campbell Avenue and left up the
Kaiser rail till it stops at the A-Z nursery. This will be great for
commuters between downtown San Jose and northern Los Gatos. As it still
goes through San Jose, it will more than twice as long as a car commute to
Silicon Valley. Sadly it will create traffic problems as park and ride
commuters leave Highway 17 and travel down Lark, Oka, and Winchester.
Jitneys and corporate shuttle busses. If you want to know how good these
are, drive to Lawrence Caltrain station at 5 PM and count how many
commuters use them. A county transit bus will also stop but deliver only a
fourth the amount of passengers as the typical shuttle. These work because
there is a marshal ling point at either end of their route. They would
work in Los Gatos if we too had two such marshal ling points for uses at
either ends of Los Gatos.
That's about all I know that exists or is planned. As for other main
stream transit proposals:
California High Speed Rail will be on the ballot in 2000 or 2002. If
passed the billions will bring people up the central valley from LA and
come through either Pacheco Pass or 580. If by some miracle it comes up
from Gilroy, there is no way the Mineta Institute on Transportation will
allow it to by-pass Downtown San Jose and come up 85. Trust me on this.
There are proposals to put light rail down the centers of Highway 85
perhaps other freeways. I doubt it will happen as they are of limited
utility though a connection at A-Z nursery would force the Highway 17
express to also get off at Lark and go down Oka.
Now over the years I have been exposed to many, non-main stream transit
ideas. Some have been pretty far out like the idea (from a respected
researcher) that free 3 wheel motor scooters be made available at every
transit stations like the Dutch White Bicycles. These would be used by
anybody and could be alarmed against theft from the local circulation
district.
Another good idea is the Sun Train which is laid down the current HOV
lanes..The Sun Train is like a Light, light rail and gets its name from the
recharging pods located at the stations. There are some pretty fancy
proposals and they are trying to get some funding for one in Yosemite.
A great idea is the Electronic Chauffeur. It uses cell phones to dispatch
local drivers who circulate in neighborhoods near transit stations. It
actually embodies the best designs of the failed "Dial-a-Ride". That
project did not have the technology, and sadly we still lack the "near by
transit stations"
Santa Clara had a conference last decade on People Movers for the Great
America area. This location is really the Heart of Silicon Valley. But
such a system is for local use and needs some tie in to a higher speed
regional transit connection. Otherwise people just drive to it like
Disneyland's monorail. The only high speed regional transit connection
near by would be busses on Highway 101 But there are no stops for
anything on the HOV line next to the freeway or at the proposed People
Mover stops.
Don Wolf has a transit plan. I do not know anything about it but I offered
to put info about it up on the site.
Aerobus is of limited utility in the Bay area. It is only good for
bridging canyons and for use where the is no HOV lane or space for future
fixed rail line. That is what makes is so good for Highway 17 between the
airport and Santa Cruz. There is little else that is practical for this
corridor till the Jettsons come about. The nice thing is that it is
perfect for linking north Los Gatos feeder parking lots with the downtown.
It is about 2 miles to down town from the North 60 and almost a mile to
the Vasona Light Rail junction. The 50 mph is a top speed but we could
make it go slower if it were an attraction. It can be begun with only one
car and one cable and then expanded to meet demand. And if Highway 17
commuters demand it can be expanded up and down the freeway. Another
feature is that it can use much of the unused Caltrans airspace at the edge
of highway 85 as it maintenance yard.
It is a critical link for Los Gatos because it would remove may transit
buses as well as cars from our streets. But it too needs to be connected
to town and other regional transit lines.
Even with all these systems and plans, today transit is a failure. This
is because all these links have no place connect. The transit center, or
node , or hub or what ever you wish to call is it is missing from every
one of these "sub systems" Where is the Near-by transit connection? For
some reason, professional planners believed this meant barren Park and Ride
lots. Police even ticket vendors if they show up to provide commuters with
some refreshments.
Anyone who has been to Japan, Paris, Hong Kong, New York knows that this
is CRAZY. Every place with working transit has comfortable transit stops
located at places next to commuter services. Transit centers are often
famous destinations. They are places people feel comfortable waiting to
meet other people as well as catching a transit connection.
Los Gatos has 60 acres next to the intersection of two major freeways.
This land sits astride the corridor used by one fourth the total incoming
traffic into silicon valley. It controls the only pass to the ocean for 30
miles! It seems logical it should be the site of the west valley regional
transit center,
How better to support a childrens hospital, magnet hotel, soccer fields,
affordable housing, a gateway live theater center, mixed use commercial
shops and offices with affordable housing, Los Gatos designs, pedestrian
friendly arcades and alleys. It has the underground parking, the direct
freeway access. It focuses incoming visitors to park away from down town
and attracts teens to do something other than cruising. Locals get a
transit loop without surface buses and our commuters get connections to the
airport, caltrain, and the Light rail.
By my evaluation, North Los Gatos is the best systems solution. I'm always
open to learn about other ways to achieve the best answers to the criteria
above. All plans welcome.
Mark
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