Sell your car and use mass transit

[citydweller]

My take on public transportation is that if you want to make it work you can, but it would require that you live AND work in a place that makes it feasible. If this is not something that you STRIVE to do, then no, it will not become feasible.

I live within a 7 minute walk of the Fashion Valley transit center, I work in Hillcrest and can take the 120 express which stops less than 1 block from my office. So, I can be at the office 18 minutes after I leave my house. When I had a car it took me 14 minutes.

Last week, after I left work I wanted to go downtown to check my PO box, but as I walked toward the bus stop the bus was pulling away. So, I WALKED downtown. It took about 25 minutes, but SO WHAT? It was nice out, and I didn’t have anything else to do. I got to the post office, got my mail, and took the 120 express home, which took another 20 minutes. I lost about an hour, that I would have spent in front of the TV anyway, so I think I came out ahead.

I know a lot of people have filled their lives with so many things to do and places to be that they cannot imagine “wasting” 25 minutes to get anywhere. But c’mon, life is short, stop and smell the roses…

[patientlywaiting]

navydoc, if you’re going to be at Balboa, you might try to convince your wife to select Mission Hills or Bankers Hill. Some houses there are quite beautiful.

[patientlywaiting]

Citydweller, 7 min + 18 min = 25 min vs. 14 min by car.

You have too much free time it seems. Why is your PO Box Downtown and not close to your home? I think that 1 hr to go check the mail it too much wasted time. What if a friend calls you for dinner or a drink?

What if it rains? Some cities in the world have covered sidewalks to facilitate pedestrial traffic during bad weather. Those cities also have all kinds of shops and interesting things to see as you walk. San Diego has nothing to see.

In New York, lower Manhattan is dead because of the huge blocks of office buildings. Upper Manhattan is much more pedestrian friendly and better place to live.

[citydweller]

The 7 minutes were included in the 18. 7 minutes to walk to transit center, 10 minute bus ride to Hillcrest, 1 minute walk to office.

And yes, I have tons of free time, which I used to spend zoned out in front of my TV. I much prefer to spend it walking around our beautiful city.

I have my PO box downtown for 2 reasons. I love having an excuse to go downtown twice a week. Also, I got the PO Box 17 years ago when I moved back to San Diego. I have moved 5 times in those 17 years but have not had to go through the change of address hassle in all that time.

I have been a mass transit rider since May and have not yet had to deal with rain (which is quite unfortunate, I love rain!) Once we finally get another rain day (possibly as soon as this Thursday) I will dust off my umbrella and use it as I walk the 7 plus 1 minutes from home to office.

Again, please realize that I am not trying to convert anyone to my way of life. I understand that we all have different circumstances. I am just trying to convey that anyone who WANTS to use public transportation that that option is available to them, and I am more than willing to share my experiences with them.

[lindismith]

“You have too much free time it seems.”

comments like that are truly scary.

[mixxalot]

Well I agree with most of the posters

I spent a lot of time overseas in Japan, South Korea and Mexico. All these countries have superb mass transit that is efficient cheap and fast. California except for bay area is horrible for most people because it is very slow, just as expensive and not convenient. I live near the beach so fortunately I can walk most places where I go so I dont drive that much. However, when I worked in UTC and Sorrento/Carmel Valley/Del Mar, I did need a car to get to work in the morning and home without spending 5-6 hours a day on the “loser cruiser”.

[LostCat]

The most effective way to use transit in So Cal is to combined the auto trip with the transit trip. What needs to happen is for there to be priority set aside for transit, for the long trips. Poway, to Sorrento Valley, UTC or Kearny Mesa. From your house to the Poway station, you would have to drive. On the way, you could drop your kids off and drop your business atire off at the laundry. At the station there would be around a 1,000 parking spaces so you wouldnt have to worry about getting a parking space. A starbucks would be waiting for you to. The bus or Bus rapid Transit would depart the median of the freeway using shared HOV lanes every 7-min. It would drop you off within 1/4-mile of your final destination or you would transfer to a timed shuttle bus the finalized the trip. Employeers could joint together to finance the shuttle service for their employees. This service should get you to work quicker than driving if your drive is down the 15 in the AM, up the 805 from CV in the AM or down the 5 in the AM. It would work, the it would cost a lot of tax payers money to get it there. Building more lanes on a freeway would never work. We’ve been doing it for years and still no success. Just more lanes and more cost. A mile of new lane on a freeway cost around 540-million. This include right of way, labor and materials. 6-miles of rail costs around 540-million.

[patientlywaiting]

citydweller, BTW, I think what you do is very commendable. But I wonder if most people can do the same.
How come it takes the bus only 10 min to get to work with all the stops, but it takes you 14 min when you drive?

Lindi, you’re right it’s scary that people are strapped for time but that’s modern life for you. With work, kids, gym, extra curricular activities, etc, families hardly have time to sit down for dinner together, much less prepare the meal.

[citydweller]

patientlywaiting, good catch on the time difference. It was unintentional but I failed to mention that even when I had a car I very seldom drove on the freeways (too fast and crazy), so to get to Hillcrest I would drive via Pacific Highway to Washington Street. The bus I now take is an “express” which means very few stops and also it gets to Hillcrest via the 163. So honestly, If I had driven the same route the bus takes I probably would have gotten to work in less than 10 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Thank you GM. You bought up the tracks and threw it all away and now we have hardly any public transport to speak of in the west. Too bad NY installed theirs before your gas guzzlers arrived.

There is no doubt that our transport system has been designed for special interest car and oil companies. Until we come to realize this and install some suitable systems like our Euro and Japanese friends, we will continue on a steady downhill slide into the 3rd world abyss. Thanks to the auto companies and our elected representatives for stranding us in the sprawl.

The future should be bullet trains along the national interstates, diesel hybrids and depots to park and ride located every few miles. Cars will be designed for short, uncomfortable rides to save weight. Only good for a ride to the train depot.

Detroit’s big three comeback is that Americans don’t like small cars, yet Toyota has just usurped them with smaller, more efficient models? Ford and GM are junk status and moving production overseas, Toyota and others are coming here to save shipping costs and kicking their butts on their home turf. Maybe it’s time to dissolve these stupid US car companies as they are a waste of money and non-competitive.

GM/Ford Too big to fail? guess what, already happening!

[Author]

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