Santa Cruz Public Transit Forum - iridethebus.org
General Questions (2005)
Saturday, June 11, 2005 10:05:00 AM (
)
I saw on the directions for San Jose Airport that you are recommending taking Caltrain from the San Jose train station to the Santa Clara station. I think it is easier (and cheaper) to get a VTA transfer and take the following buses that go form the San Jose Caltrain station to Santa Clara's Caltrain station:
Route 22
Route 300
Route 305
Saturday, June 11, 2005 2:41:00 PM (
Paul)
Thank you for your comment about using VTA Routes 22, 300, and 305 instead of Caltrain to get from San Jose to Santa Clara, on the way to SJC. Caltrain is easier, especially with luggage. The VTA routes in question stop in front of the Arena, not at the train station. Caltrain is faster, and there is in fact no difference in price ($1.75) as of this writing. (You will notice that we do mention VTA Route 22 as an emergency late-night connection for people returning from SJC.) We will reevaluate the SJC itinerary in late summer, 2005, after Caltrain reduces service to Santa Clara Station and raises fares, and VTA finally introduces Rapid Bus (Route 522). Again, thanks for your comment, the first one to be posted on http://iridethebus.org/ !
Thursday, August 11, 2005 4:19:00 PM ( )
Preparing for the Metro strike, I went to 511 rideshare but there were no matches for my Santa Cruz to Watsonville commute, even when I used the most flexible possible parametersa nondriver could use. I called to doublecheck, and talked to a rideshare coordinator who was helpful, sympathetic -- and eventually as disappointed as I. But, hey, you have created a really nifty and useful website and I particularly appreciate having so many of the options in one place. Thanks, Paul!
Friday, August 12, 2005 3:31:00 PM ( Paul)
I'm sorry to hear that you didn't find a match through the ridesharing program. One thing that impressed me during the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) strike of 1997 was casual carpooling. Kind car owners would pull up to designated locations and offer rides to people without cars. Though the Regional Transportation Commission here in Santa Cruz County doesn't have a casual carpooling program, hopefully drivers will help non-drivers in the event of a Metro strike. Thanks for your comments about the iridethebus.org Web site, by the way. Let me know if you have suggestions for the site.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005 5:01:00 PM ( )
What are we suppose to do about getting our children to and from school now that the Metro is on strike?!?!?!?! There are no school buses for our non-elementary age children and we live 4 miles from the SLV school on East Zayante with no other transit choices. We have 3 boys in school. The youngest one is able to ride the school bus, but our two older boys have no way to get to or get home from school. Luckily the elementary school bus driver picked up our older kids this morning, so they were able to get to school, late. But, both of us, the parents, work 1.5 hours drive away (South San Francisco), so it's
IMPOSSIBLE to drive our children home from school. Normally they catch the SC Metro bus #33 at 7:14am at the Zayante Market bus stop. Then the bus pickes them up after school and takes them home. There are no regular public buses available in the Zayante, Felton area, nor are there any other options for getting our kids home after school. There are no
sidewalks along East Zayante, and it's 4 miles from SLV High school to our home. Their only choice is to walk home on the road and try not to get hit by a car. I already talked to SLV High about suggestions on what to do. They had none. So, I'm asking you, "How can I get my kids home from school?" We can be late to work driving them to school in the
morning, but it's impossible to drive them home when we work 75 miles away. Thank you.
p.s. I know our Metro is underfunded, so this will fall on deft ears, but we really need the #33 bus line to be a regular route line all year long, instead on only 2 times a day, only during the school year, and only at 7:14am and ~2:40pm. Adding even 3 more times, like once between the 7am and ~3pm times, once around 5pm for our kids that do sports practice after school, and then once in the eve, say around 8pm. This would be great. thanks for listening.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005 9:33:00 PM ( Paul)
We are not affiliated with Metro (or the strikers, for that matter), and really are just trying to pick up the pieces by letting people know about alternatives. I'm Paul and I run this Web site. I have a few suggestions for your children's school, such as setting up a carpool board and sending a note to parents, encouraging families to help each other with transportation. It rather bothers me that the school had no plan in place. Please contact me via info@metroridersunion.org if there's anything I can do to facilitate. I will be available to make calls etc. during the day on Wednesday, September 28, 2005. Also, thank you for sharing your strike story. To others who are reading this -- car-owners especially -- please think how you can help people get around during the strike.
Friday, September 30, 2005 12:22:00 PM ( )
I saw no sugjestions of alternatives for getting our non-driving children to school from rural areas around Boulder Creek.Truancy is illegal and as my son is a marginal student missing a couple of days can effect his education for a life time. I have a job which needs me to put in a full day.This is certainly a blow to the concept of mass transit. When the dust settles, someone should be held acountable.
Saturday, October 01, 2005 7:50:00 AM ( Paul)
The carpool/ride-matching link in the strike alternatives guide is one alternative that parents can consider. If an advocacy/problem-solving call to school authorities would help, again I am available via info@metroridersunion.org . One of the problems you are no doubt facing is that only a small percentage of public school students in Santa Cruz County use public transit. However, this also means that the number of people for whom arrangements would have to made is small -- so school authorities (and other families) really could do something.
This is a public forum; the opinions expressed are those of the participants, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the iridethebus.org Web site. A public service of the Metro Riders Union / La Unión de Los Pasajeros, not affiliated with Santa Cruz Metro or any other transportation provider.