Can rail help unclog the 101?

Looks like work will begin soon on solving that notorious 101 bottleneck at the Ventura-Santa Barbara county line. But The Times' Catherine Saillant says there are doubts about whether the new carpool lanes alone will work. The widening will begin in 2008 -- but could last eight years. That means eight years of construction delays. Some are looking to rail:

Many commuters say the problem won't be truly solved until a widened freeway is combined with commuter rail service between the two cities. Rail advocates have been pushing for the service for at least five years, as rising home prices forced many Santa Barbara workers to buy homes in Ventura County. The sticking point has been the $126-million cost of getting such a service up and running, said Dennis Story, an advocate with CoastalRailNow.org. An attempt in November to raise Santa Barbara County's transit tax failed. "It's inevitable that we will look to trains as the real solution to these problems," he said. "As soon as you widen the freeway, it fills up."

Catherine notes that carpool lanes would give a boost to the popular bus service between Ventura and Santa Barbara. More on the coastal rail idea here.

What do you think: Rail vs Roads? Hit comment button and have your say.

Comments

[alan berk]

Why there is even a discussion is beyond me

the car culture has ruined the whole area

why there isn`t a viaible train between Ventua and santa barbarais ridiculous- the tracks are already there!!!!

What a solution build more freeways- how stupid is that- 8years of delays- it will be obsolete the day it opens!

Widening the freeways isn`t the answer- mass rapid transit is- the cost is cheaper then paving over everything to build more freeways.

[Robert McCoy]

Rail is definately the answer along the 101-134-210 corridor. (See the previous comments I sent in but as yet not published.) The bottleneck is in downtown, upstairs in the Gateway Plaza Building where the MTA operates. Until that bottleneck is solved we will not see any realistic or meaningfull transportation projects anywhere in the LA Basin, unless of course they involve more busses or EMC, the MTA's captive Design Engineering Company. And if EMC is involved expect little real help in solving the congestion problems in LA.

[Rick]

It's about time rail is being discussed. For the life of me I can't understand why light rail is not discussed for the 405 from the Valley to Westwood, Santa Monica, Century City, LAX, etc. This region desparately needs more and better public transportation. The car culture has exploded into unlivable conditions. We love So Cal, but what kind of quality of life is there when you have 1 hour commutes in gridlock?

Take a lesson from the Bay Area, New York, London, Paris, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong. They all have fantastic rail systems that move millions of people.

[Sameer]

It's sad that this should even be a question. Obviously, we absolutely have to have both rails and roads to maintain a functioning city. Over half a century of pro-car anti-rail sentiment has destroyed too much of Southern California, and it's about time we realize our mistakes and treat the rail system the same way we treat the road system. It's not surprising that the people who refuse to support rail are the same ones who have never tried it - if we expand our rail system and increase service to really make it a viable alternative to solo driving, we can hope to convince more and more people that our current way of life is unsustainable and irresponsible. I think that for every mile of road added between LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties, we should extend the already successful Metrolink system in that direction, and increase service frequency to attract new riders. Let's give people more options to leave their car at home!

[Sameer]

It's sad that this should even be a question. Obviously, we absolutely have to have both rails and roads to maintain a functioning city. Over half a century of pro-car anti-rail sentiment has destroyed too much of Southern California, and it's about time we realize our mistakes and treat the rail system the same way we treat the road system. It's not surprising that the people who refuse to support rail are the same ones who have never tried it - if we expand our rail system and increase service to really make it a viable alternative to solo driving, we can hope to convince more and more people that our current way of life is unsustainable and irresponsible. I think that for every mile of road added between LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties, we should extend the already successful Metrolink system in that direction, and increase service frequency to attract new riders. Let's give people more options to leave their car at home!