THE TRANSIT ADVOCATE
Public Transit Policy, Analysis, Advocacy and Education
Newsletter of the Southern California Transit Advocates
Vol 6, No. 3, March 1998
Copyright: 1998 Southern California Transit Advocates. Permission is freely granted to reproduce or reprint ORIGINAL articles, provided credit is given to both the author and the Southern California Transit Advocates. In all other cases, permission must be secured with the copyright holder.

Disclaimer: The Southern California Transit Advocates is not affiliated with any governmental agency or transportation provider. Names and logos of agencies appear for information and reference purposes only.

San Diego Excursion #2 Dana Gabbard
For our third annual day after Thanksgiving excursion the membership decided to go to San Diego and ride transit there. And so it was that President Gabbard rendezvous with members Armando Avalos, John Ulloth, Woody Rosner and Michael Ludwig (down from the Bay Area expressly for the event) at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to catch the first San Diegan Amtrak train departing at 6:10 a.m. 35 minutes later at the Fullerton station we had Vice President Charles Powell, Newsletter editor Charles Hobbs, along with members Jim Gusky and Hank Fung plus Western Transit editor Edmund Buckley join the party. Although the train left downtown Los Angeles with a light load a large number of people boarded in Fullerton. After an uneventful trip we arrived at the Oceanside Transit Center where we met up with member Chris Flescher (who lives in San Diego). At the same time we bid farewell to Jim Gusky who was riding solo on to San Diego to ride the new Mission Valley extension of the San Diego Trolley.

We first explored the splendid Oceanside Transit Center. It is a model for multi-modalism, served by inter-state and commuter trains (Amtrak, Metrolink and the Coaster) along with local and regional buses (Greyhound and NCTD). There is a snack shop and even a mini Burger King. After a quick bite and look around we boarded the NCTD route 320 at 8:32 a.m. It was a New Flyer low floor bus and it took on a full load at the station. This line had steady movement of passengers on and off. This line served Transit Centers in Vista, at Palomar College and in Escondido. They varied from simple shelter/pull in combinations to more elaborate facilities with Greyhound service, public phones, bathrooms and park/ride lots. We marvelled at these and wondered why more such facilities don't exist in the L.A. area.

The next bus we took was San Diego Transit line 20 at 9:57 a.m. Ridership was moderate. In Fashion Valley at 11:30 a.m. we caught the San Diego Transit line 81, which took on a half-load. This passed the San Diego State University transit center (which was a bare-bones pull in). After a hurried lunch at Grossmont Trolley Station we caught CTS line 854 with two bikes in the bike rack at the front of the bus. The driver was talkative, telling of how she had earlier in the week seen a plane crash beside the road while driving this same route.

In Santee we caught the Trolley's Orange Line at 1:30 p.m. The area is basically in the middle of a field, although it is hoped that it will eventually be developed (possibly influenced by the proximity of the rail station). We had a full load (and it got much more full as we went toward downtown San Diego). A farewell was said to Chris Flescher at the La Mesa station, as he was feeling under the weather and decided to go home and rest.

We separated for a period of time, as some sought area transit schedules and others took a break from the frantic pace. At 4 p.m. we regrouped and caught a Chula Vista 706 bus at H Street Trolley Station and rode the loop. Ridership was rather light.

Our last bus was at 5:20 p.m. at Iris Avenue Station. It was MTS line 901, going to downtown via Coronado. The trip over the bridge at night was spectacular. While ridership was light initially it filled up during the trip. A last period of free time allowed people to snack and rest before leaving on another Amtrak train for the journey home.

The trip was instructive for its illustration of the value of transit centers. Recent coverage of the improvements at the Chatsworth Metrolink Station bear out that these are a valuable community asset that deserve more attention. Further a valuable lesson in logistics was learned as we gradually evolve improved means of organizing excursions. Hopefully lessons learned will apply to future excursions.

So where do we go this year?

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