Dateline: San Diego
JUNE 25th, THE "SNEAK PEEK"
San Diego Electric Railway Association (SDERA) chartered an excursion over MTS "Trolley's"' new Green Line, previewing some of southern California's most dramatic new rail engineering to 4 new stations through east Mission Valley, interconnecting to the Orange Line at Grossmont Transit Center, and running to end of track at Santee. Since SO.CA.TA.'s study tour there, Santee Town Center has grown into a big outdoor shopping mall surrounding the tracks, with some odd and unnecessary car crossings between parts of the parking lot! But because of single track capacity, the northbound Orange Line now terminates at Gillespie Field instead of Santee.

Over 100 attendees (including Ken Ruben) parted with about $40 each for the privilege, allowed SDERA to charter a 2nd new Siemens low floor car, helping MTS test multiple unit (MU) operation. Rumored by attendees to be troublesome even between new cars; and hinted at by our tour guide that MU was virtually impossible between new and older cars, the number of computers on the new cars (some said 38, some said 10) was blamed; at least 1 Siemens engineer is on the premises all summer to make sure the new cars work.

SDERA's trip began with a wide-ranging shop tour just steps from the 12th & Imperial Orange-Blue Line transfer station. Our tour guide, train operator, and all staff seemed delighted to be there and talk to us. They showed us the wheel-truing machine, yard switch operation, ran a railcar through the car wash for us, we took a unnecessary look at Austrian streetcars (MTS was going to use for an historic tram, but is now giving to SDERA). Though everyone wanted to stay longer, we boarded, following Blue Line track north to get to the Green Line's west end, at Old Town Transit Center. Surprisingly, the new low-floor, streamlined cars running through Blue Line stations caused no stir among MTS patrons. Turning east onto the Green Line (new total length 19 miles) we soon reached the highly-elevated Grantville station 40 feet in the air above the I-8 freeway for "photo run-bys" on or off the train. Crawling steeply up a slot cut on the south edge of the freeway embankment (ruling grade 4.4%), we entered the west portal for San Diego State University (SDSU) Transit Center, turned sharply, flanges squealing, around the 4,000 foot tunnel's sharp curves, into the most breathtaking (where most of the money went) Green Line station--the Trolley's first subway.

A pedestrian walkover inside exits onto a sunken grassy campus amphitheatre facing the north side of the station. Elevators connect both levels to the on-campus bus plaza, an on-street operation right above the tracks. Artfully decorated by neon, glass handrails, reflective & screen panels, SDSU compares well with LACMTA's Red Line stations (not as rich as Hollywood's, but less utilitarian than say City College); windows that let in light from the amphitheatre side are a great improvement over MTA's subway stations.

JULY 8TH
SO.CA.TA Vice President Lionel Jones & Director Hank Fung were attending the agency debut of the line for officials on Friday; I tried to reach Hank's cell phone thinking they might have stayed over for the public's opening day (the hotel room less than an Amtrak round trip), but they'd traveled by bus, and did not stay over.

JULY 9TH, OPENING DAY
Free-ride hours were limited to the Green Line, and lasted only from 10a.m.- 3p.m., though I saw no fare enforcement sweeps at 3p.m. Little surprise then trains
were packed like sardine cans. I arrived early at SDSU chatting with a very cool, frank MTS Planner about what's next, the cost of features on the Green Line, prospects for widespread transit ridership & stopping sprawl, instead of building freeways. I gave him a copy of our newsletter, invited him to meet with us or make a presentation if he had one ready. He said input transit advocates could offer is "welcome", and "MTS is very open to constructive criticism..." Just another part of the MTS' exemplary can-do, pro-customer attitude another agency we know about seems chronically short of. Websters can reach him at mark.thomsen@sdmts.com.

Going downstairs for a train, I spotted a familiar ponytail, belonging to Director Armando Avalos, inspecting Cubic System's new Smart-Card-capable fare machine; touring the line along with member Johnny Adel (Benicia Transit)--what coincidence! We hadn't really seen the Alvarado Medical Center station- extremely convenient to its namesake's doors- before, so we squeezed into a train and got there for the opening. Like MTA, all stations had artists; Roman De Salvo cast letters spelling out a riddle into the poured concrete retaining wall holding back I-8 freeway traffic above... his contribution to the health care theme- to get you to walk the length of station to solve the riddle! Likewise, I hadn't seen 70th Street station, but it seemed to be little more than a bus stop and Parkn-Ride (130 spaces) in a narrow gap between the freeway and the bottom of a cliff.

We went to lunch at Santee; after lunch, Armando & Johnny went to ride buses. Because trains weren't the only new transit event on Green Line's opening; July 9 was picked as the official debut of 47 new lowfloor busses with the new MTS logo & paint- that keeps the eye busy- reminiscent of 1960's Op-Art - significant improvement over the uninspired red, white, & blue blocks. MTS routes that have changed due to the Green Line include: 1 & 936 now at 70th Street station, 13 connects to Grantville & SDSU, 14 & 18 (both new) stop at Grantville and Fashion Valley or Vista, with added local service between. Route 40 goes out of local- into express service to downtown S.D. after the Grantville stop. Route 81 was canceled; the Green line replaced it entirely. For more, call 1(800) COMMUTE; websters can download route information & updated schedules at http://www.sdcommute.com.

MTS is expecting great productivity out of this line- 11,000 daily riders (4,300 of these projected from SDSU alone), and should- Half a Billion dollars were spent go 5.8 miles that doesn't lead to anywhere particularly new. Revenue service began July 10; time will tell.

JULY 16 TRAC MEETING AT SDERA
Due to complete meltdown of the I-5 freeway **, I arrived massively late at Train Riders Association of California's (TRAC) public meeting that began a SDERA at 1p.m. But not late enough to miss a great presentation on east-west lines through Mexico that could run (freight) around Union Pacific. Or the Q&A period, asking former State Senator Jim Mills (currently a TRAC board member) whether there had been any plans to give the Green Line somewhere to go- namely a destination to layover right inside San Diego's airport, straight west from the Blue Line's Middletown station. Mills replied there have been suggestions San Diego's airport may not stay at Lindbergh Field, but if it does, he would see the advantage of an airport line, but would be in favor of a route branching west from a point on the Blue Line further north. A clever woman in the audience suggested "using the car rental office" (National, I believe) next door to the Middletown platform, whose free bus you could catch right to the airport, then catch the train instead of renting a car! I also attempted to ask Mills whether the possibility of pulling a self-propelled railcar behind a Coaster train, then switching it off at Oceanside for a 1-seat ride from Santa Fe station to Escondido had entered the thinking of its planners. He answered the Sprinter isn't F.R.A.-crashworthy, which missed (or dodged?) the point of the question.

After the meeting, I went out with TRAC's Executive Director Alan Miller, board member Mike Dickerson, his wife, and a couple visitors from Escondido to ride the Green Line- we were not lucky enough to ride the new equipment, but we were impressed with early evening ridership.

[** LATE TO SAN DIEGO? DRIVING: CHEAP BUT STUPID; A TALE OF 3 WEEKENDS

After $700 in car repairs, I didn't feel I had $70 for Amtrak, so drove the first 2 weekends, leaving Mission Hills before 7a.m. into San Diego at 9:30am: 2+1/2 hours elapsed. July 16th, I'd left at 9a.m. for the 1p.m. TRAC meeting. But still crawling through the middle of Camp Pendleton at 12:30, I ditched my car for a Surfliner in Oceanside, and MTS' Blue Line to 24th Street, a 3 block walk west to SDERA's restored National City Depot. A whopping 5+3/4 hours elapsed! Exhausting! The freeway is truly no longer viable.