The cities of Cupertino, Saratoga and Los Altos have voted to initiate a lawsuit against Caltrans to stop the toll lanes project. As a result of this several organizations and people have been advocating that the lanes should be used for BRT lanes and/or light rail instead.
I spoke last night against the toll lanes as well as the BRT/Light rail proposal since in my opinion, both reward a small number of people and inconveniences everyone else. Why should preference be given only to those of means who can afford all the high taxes and tolls that we are consistently bombarded with by all levels of government?
Council member Rosenberg asked me if I was advocating no change, and I answered that I am advocating that all lanes be available to everyone. In my opinion, that would be a significant change.
BRT and light rail in the middle of a freeway are the worst alternatives possible. If we are talking about mass transit alternatives, I would be for branching Caltrain off along HWY 85 if it can be done without taking away traffic lanes or impeding traffic. During the campaign last year, I also brought up the idea of partnering with Google to create (G-RAIL or Grail) from the San Antonio Center area to the North Bayshore along 101.
Some have accused me of being anti-transit, but I am for smart transit alternatives. What I have seen so far is more along the lines of "We have all this money to spend on transit or we'll lose this federal money if we don't spend it; so we have to do a project whether it makes sense or not".
It is not our responsibility to "fall on our swords" and "get out of our cars" because people who can get by without cars demand it. Many people have long commutes, or need to make many stops in a short period of time, or have many people or things to transport that make it prohibitive to use public transportation, but there are some of us who would use public transportation more if it were better. It is up to the public transportation agencies such as the VTA, to find a way to offer a competitive service at a competitive price. Until they figure that out, they will continue to fail.
It is time for us to let our representatives know that we will only accept the very best in transportation alternatives because it is what we deserve for the massive amounts of taxes we pay to subsidize them.
Jim Neal
Old Mountain View
