San Diego Trolley Adjustments - New Station at Market Street
As the San Diego transit planners begin their push for projects to gain public backing, I’ve noticed that the projects associated with light rail are large, multi-billion dollar projects. I could speak at length about the pros and cons of those projects, but I will focus on smaller projects that can begin to change the psychology of the San Diego commuter.
Right now, San Diego is an auto-based culture. If given the choice, residents will choose to commute via car. It is always an uphill battle to entice commuters to utilize other forms of transportation. If given the opportunity, commuters will use the most efficient options available and they will walk and schedule their days around the transit schedules. Especially with increased usage of phone platforms for entertainment and productivity, public transportation is an attractive option.
The problem is not the public will; the problem is access. The public cannot conveniently access the efficient forms of transportation. In cities in Southern California, the commuters are especially fickle and will use the most efficient means.
The commuters will walk short distances along relatively safe paths and corridors. Unfortunately, the access may be travelling along curving roads which require crossing wide avenues and even backtracking along adjacent roads to reach a station. Commuters will walk in straight lines and maybe make one or two turns. Asking people to go on adventures or making bus transfers is not feasible. A serious commitment needs to be made to walk and ride rail.
Commuters will take a bus with the intent on transferring to more efficient rail. They will not however, take a bus in an opposite direction to reach that efficient transportation option. Faced with these options, commuters will continue to get in the car and drive, further congesting our roadways.
How do we provide this access? I am not informed on the internal activities of the transit planning authorities, but what I’ve seen is a need to establish new routes. I suggest that we review how we can make adjustments to the current transit corridors so that the lines can actually reach destinations and provide access to the surrounding communities and businesses.
The map shows the current route of the Orange Line Trolley and Gateway Center along Market Street to the north. This is a great model to show how the existing trolley line misses important job centers and how highways have restricted efficient pedestrian access to trolley stations in proximity that are challenging to reach even if you wanted to walk.
Although I’m calling this a minor adjustment, it is only in comparison to the multi-mile line that is being proposed. My comment to the transit planners would be to find all the smaller adjustments that can be made before proceeding with the larger lines; repair the system we have before trying to expand. Performing these smaller tasks will show the public a commitment to efficient transit. Maps like this clearly show a lack of access and how efficient rail lines bypass very important job centers and residential areas.
I’ve also highlighted this area because rail access and constructability for a existing community are high due to the adjacent cemetery and highways which can be used to gain access to a new station along Market Street and reconnect with the line for the existing adjacent stations. A short tunnel, a center median station and a bridge; Two bridges and a elevated station; maybe, a cut and cover subterranean type station? There are many possibilities at this location. Although any trolley line adjustment into an existing community will be challenging, navigating the way along a cemetery may present less challenges; maybe more. Moving graves to accommodate a overpass footing can be a sensitive subject. However, my thought is this: if you cannot move a few dead people, then you surely cannot move the living.
I have a clear understanding of this location because I worked in Gateway Center and commuted by bus to work. I’ve taken the late night bus home and this place can handle the change. Another aspect for transit planners to consider is that people, especially young adults, need to cross neighborhood boundaries to access the transit. These boundaries are not delineated on any map, but these local political boundaries need to be considered when thinking about access and the lack of efficient means of getting to the stations. For example, a young man may understand that in order to reach a trolley station, he may have to walk through an adjacent neighborhood that he is not familiar with and more importantly, is not familiar with him. faced with that challenge, that commuter will chose to drive every time. That is why it is critical to get stations to major destinations because convenient station locations can actually motivate commuters such as the example above, to overcome those mental obstacles and ride the transit.
There are many commuters that would consider public transit if options like these we available. Furthermore, commuters would ride if the access was available. The winding suburban roads, lack of a rigid street grid and large zones and buildings that force pedestrians to go around present the most problems. A way for transit planners to counter that would be to see beyond the creation of lines to increase access: we need to look at creating shortcuts. Planners should look at all available paths to transit. If a path can be created, create it! Use great signage, lighting strategies and incorporate exercise stations to make it multi-functional.
The best way for planners to find these shortcuts is to find the access on a map and then get out there and walk it. Walk it in the morning. Walk it in the night. If you feel a tinge of fear, note it. Then think of a solution and then think of the problem from more angles. Let’s say that you walk the area at night and there is a fear. An immediate reaction is that “There needs to be a really bright night here.” Then think from another angle. From the pedestrian perspective who travels a great deal at night, a bright light might be the worst thing. The light actually signals that there is someone there. Solutions need to be a mix of light and shadow and so forth. This is getting into other areas which are not relevant to this post but maybe I may go into it at another time.
An additional item to note regarding the creating of shortcuts is that a map cannot always properly depict the topographic conditions. In San Diego, there are many hills and valleys which are not attractive to potential commuters. They jump in their cars and join the mass vehicular commute. When looking at shortcuts, planners also need to consider stairs and ramps and maybe even elevators. It is a challenge, but if viewed upon as an opportunity to integrate public features like street furniture, exercise equipment and public art, then it becomes more than just creating pathways; it is the creation if important public space. Doing things like this changes the psychology of perception toward transit.
Making trains run more frequent is not that difficult (other than the financial implications). Improving security and ticketing systems is not difficult either; many cities have done this. Changing public perception of a transit system that, for the lack of a better term, totally sucks, is a huge mountain to climb. It is however, an interesting challenge to me. How do we make that change? How do we entice, encourage, persuade, maybe even “gently force” commuters to utilize public transportation? It is actually pretty simple: Get the rail to where people travel, provide commuters the means to efficiently access those stations by walking, open up all shortcuts and provide design guidelines so that communities can establish their own, build dense communities around stations, THEN, design the bus system around that.
Finally, When I look at the map of a potential station at Market Street, I think “If I was out at the fringe of this neighborhood and I only had to make two turns and walk along a main road to catch a train, would I do it? I see that the public park on Boundary Street presents a welcoming shortcut and I may be able to cut across a parking lot or two. With that in mind, I would absolutely make that trek. Would I wake up an hour earlier to make the trip under those same conditions? Yes, for sure.
