Meanwhile, along El Camino,no waiting at all for the empty VTA buses.
Look into the windows of every bus you see. Quite nearly empty, each and every one.

Well, Caltrain will have one less regular rider soon, not entirely due to their service, but the fact that after 4 years of traveling almost exclusively on Public Transit, I have gotten sick of it. Literally and figuratively.

Too many people get on the trains and busses with colds, flu, and worse; or bring their pets (not service animals) on board; or are very rude (won't let you get off before they try to shove their way past to get on; or wait to the last minute after everyone is standing in line to get off at the next stop and shove their way through to get their bikes).

It also takes 2 to 3 hours each way to make strip that any car takes me only 1 hour each way and would cost me less than 1/3rd of what I pay now for Caltrain, Muni, and Bart tickets (for which the price never decreases). Now that gas prices have dropped, it is an ideal time to begin driving again and to get back 4 hours of my life each day.

All that being said, I'm glad Caltrain is taking steps to improve service, but until BART and VTA can get their act together, I'll mostly be using it in the future on the rare occasions I need to go to SF.


Jim Neal
Old Mountain View

I am interested in the concept that it is passengers who are "bogging down" the system. Obviously, it's the fault of the users that the trains are not running on time. They would evidently be more efficient if they didn't have to make time for riders to get on and off.

I am scared about the ignorance of the above comments:

- VTA has empty buses because the service is not good for a majority of people. That is mainly because the density of the area is very low (not enough people per sq mile), cities along El Camino Real have been banning a rapid bus lane (making it not worth for long distances) and because the frequency of buses is not enough to make it a reliable service on traffic. Still, it is the only way for many people to get to work or home. That is called Solidarity. And yes, it is paid with your taxes, the same ones you save when you donate your oudated clothes to the Charity.

- While I agree on the fact that the service is bad and slow, making the point of the flu and cold of people is sick. Figuratively and literally.

- It is not the fault of the users that the train goes slower. Or well, it is the same fault of drivers that the traffic on the highway goes slow. More people/cars = more congestion. The difference is that public transit moves people more efficiently, if well designed.

Fortunately Mountain View did not "ban" the rapid bus lane on El Camino, but instead voted to support it. The capacity and flexibility of that commuting corridor is going to be so much higher than the train that these discussions will seem so silly in the years to come.

According to the IRS, the cost of operating a car is 55c/mile, a national average, and your cost will vary depending on the model of car and your location. Most of the cost is in depreciation and maintenance. Gas comprises only a small fraction of the cost. Divide the price per gallon, $2.40, by your miles per gallon, say 30, and you get the cost of gas, 8c/mile. Now wait till you get the repair bills,or try to sell the car.

Cities cannot ban rapid bus lanes on El Camino. VTA has ownership of that stretch of road. They 100% own the repeated bungling of transit there.

Common sense, grass roots anger and a bungling VTA killed BRT. VTA proved it wis not /s not capable of such an effort when they attempted iot on a much smaller scale (BRT1). The rest of the cities along the corridor didn't even want to listen to VTA. MV said they might listen, that's as far as it got. Once the voters got involved even Transit Joe Simitian called for a stop to it...publicly. VTA has since shut up tight about it since they know it has cost them the upcoming transit tax vote because of it.

Well, the results are in! In order to deal with the passengers "Bogging down" the trains, Caltrain has replaced some of it's newer trains that were used as "Baby Bullets" with older trains that can carry fewer passengers. This means that even more passengers are having to stand up on the trains and and in the aisles. The first "Baby Bullet" that leaves San Jose at 5:45 am is completely full after it makes it's first stop in Mountain View, and gets progressively more crowded from there. Some people are having to stand up all the way from Mountain View to San Francisco! Not exactly the way that people envisioned starting their day, and certainly not an "improvement".

In the mean time, some of the newer trains ARE IN SERVICE at times when there is very little demand and are running almost completely empty. This is why many people give up on public transit. The lack of common sense is staggering!


Jim Neal
Old Mountain View