A Boost to the North County Transportation Woes
Getting around in North County continues to be a challenge. Traffic is the issue, of course, and now that summer is here it has gotten worse.
The freeway tends to be more of a parking lot since we had the San Diego County Fair a few weeks ago, the racing season at Del Mar is currently in full swing, and there are more tourists (and local residents whose kids are not in school) out enjoying the terrific weather and all the things to do. I avoid the freeway at all costs, especially at rush hour (which seems to be rush hours...about 6 of them or more a day) unless I feel like sitting in traffic (link is to traffic report).
There are a good number of people who rely on public transportation - some to avoid traffic and parking issues, and others because they don't have cars (hard to imagine in this state where the auto reigns supreme).
Options for transportation here in North County are fairly good, actually. There is the Coaster (the train that runs between Oceanside and San Diego) and Amtrak (not really a commuter train but if you need to get up to LA and some other coastal towns this is the way to go). There is also the Breeze (the buses) although because it supposedly is so simple to get around (it's a breeze) they don't refer to them as buses but just by the name.
The NEW ADDITION to the transportation system that will help locals and visitors, especially those going east and west (yep, those roads, like 78, get real ugly too), is the new light rail line running from Escondido to Oceanside - the SPRINTER. The lines are already under construction and expected to be completed in December 2007.
And of course you can always travel by bike, skate board, roller blades, on foot, or motorcycle. And downtown San Diego offers other options, like those bicycle taxi things in the gas lamp district. But I shouldn't complain - there are other cities in the world with far worse traffic than us - like Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Bangkok, Tokyo and more. Have you been to Atlanta or Washington, DC lately?
The freeway tends to be more of a parking lot since we had the San Diego County Fair a few weeks ago, the racing season at Del Mar is currently in full swing, and there are more tourists (and local residents whose kids are not in school) out enjoying the terrific weather and all the things to do. I avoid the freeway at all costs, especially at rush hour (which seems to be rush hours...about 6 of them or more a day) unless I feel like sitting in traffic (link is to traffic report).
There are a good number of people who rely on public transportation - some to avoid traffic and parking issues, and others because they don't have cars (hard to imagine in this state where the auto reigns supreme).
Options for transportation here in North County are fairly good, actually. There is the Coaster (the train that runs between Oceanside and San Diego) and Amtrak (not really a commuter train but if you need to get up to LA and some other coastal towns this is the way to go). There is also the Breeze (the buses) although because it supposedly is so simple to get around (it's a breeze) they don't refer to them as buses but just by the name.
The NEW ADDITION to the transportation system that will help locals and visitors, especially those going east and west (yep, those roads, like 78, get real ugly too), is the new light rail line running from Escondido to Oceanside - the SPRINTER. The lines are already under construction and expected to be completed in December 2007.
And of course you can always travel by bike, skate board, roller blades, on foot, or motorcycle. And downtown San Diego offers other options, like those bicycle taxi things in the gas lamp district. But I shouldn't complain - there are other cities in the world with far worse traffic than us - like Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Bangkok, Tokyo and more. Have you been to Atlanta or Washington, DC lately?
Labels: Amtrak, public transportation, the Breeze, The Coaster, The Sprinter, traffic in San Diego
posted by Jeff Dowler | 6:50 AM
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