I’m back from my adventure and I’ve been reading through some of the responses sent my way about public transit in this region. The common thread is that you’re ready to dive into this conversation — though you’ve all got your own perspectives and ideal systems in mind. Don’t let the fact that I’m no longer waiting for the bus on a windy hill in Rancho Bernardo deter you from sharing your thoughts about these issues; let’s keep this going.
Here are a few more of the comments I received Monday and Tuesday:
Reader Bill Bradshaw is a senior citizen who uses the bus and trolley to go downtown. He had some compliments for the transit system, including gold stars for the “courteous and helpful” bus drivers and the clean buses.
… I think the MTS is missing a chance to increase usage by not advertising the system effectively. I have a lot of friends, retired as I am, who NEVER use the bus or trolley because they don’t know anything about it.
Bradshaw said he doesn’t think the system is reliable enough that he would use it to get to work unless he had “a pretty understanding boss.” And the senior rate of $1 is a steal, Bradshaw said — maybe the rates should increase for tourists over 60, he suggested.
All they have to do is raise the trip fare and keep the monthly pass rate the same, and they would accommodate those seniors too poor to have a car or too infirm to drive. They’re throwing money away for no good purpose.
Reader Wallace Danielson chimed in with a bit of his life story spent using transit in other places:
I am now 82 and retired, but for years I commuted. I lived in New York City during the late fifties, residing in Forest Hills and taking the subway to the city. I loved it. The convenience, the mile or so walk at each end, the mingling with thousands of people. I was even there during a subway strike when they had pushers at the door jamming people into the few running trains.
In the late seventies, I worked on Kearny Mesa and commuted from San Carlos every day on my bicycle: ten miles each way. … Each leg took about thirty minutes. …
My wife and I have travelled a lot and one time we spent about three weeks in Paris, going everywhere on public transit. …
I’m glad I don’t have to take public transit in San Diego. I live a couple of miles from a bus stop that I would be unable to walk to, and I can’t imagine how long it would take me to get anywhere by bus. …
A woman I know of my age manages to do okay getting to doctors appointments, etc. on public transit, but she sure spends hours doing it.
Wednesday, March 28 — 12:08 p.m.