Tag Archives: commute

20. Beautify 101

Bilboards-and-trees

Original Image: Flickr user occam.  Used under Creative Commons license.  Tree: Public Domain.

Many people use Hwy. 101 and it is really a boring drive and frustrating.  If we could make it more beautiful and relaxing, perhaps we could lessen the road rage, etc.  Also, this greening of the highway by planting more trees would bring more rain to this desert state (as trees attract more rain).  I, for one, take Hwy 280 because it is such a lovely drive and never go on Hwy 101 unless I have no alternative.  Once the trees are planted, they should not need any upkeep.  Nature would provide that.

- Ron Meier

Thanks for this opportunity.
My main concern is the ugly billboards.
Get rid of them.

- Rick Gilbert, Redwood City

19. Better North-South Bus Service

bussign

San Mateo County residents need to be able to get to work.

Current bus service is inadequate and leaves people stranded for us to 5 hours because it doesn’t run at night.  The bus ride from north to south is two hours. When the bus doesn’t start until 5 am in the north, a person can’t get to work until 7 am in the south.

Higher paying jobs are 9-5, lower paying jobs, the jobs that support us all, can be any time, day or night. These are service jobs, and many start much, much earlier.  Yet, low paid workers who desperately need to work more than one job, cannot get to 2nd and 3rd jobs.

Also, people going out at night are stranded if they don’t catch the midnight bus. This encourages drunk driving.

We basically only have one street in San Mateo County for north-south transport. Can’t we cover El Camino at least every 30 minutes?

-Dana Callen

16. More Road Signs for When Devil’s Slide is Out

DevilsSlideOriginal Photo: Flickr user Airplane Journal.  Used under Creative Commons license.

It would be wonderful if there were more signs that tell you when the Devil’s Slide is closed. Also, on the week-ends having more signs that tell you how long it will take to get to HMB using 92. - Larry Kleinman

The Devil’s Slide Tunnel Project April actively advocated for should solve the problem of an impassible Highway 1 come 2011.

15. Fund Regional Transportation with Express Lanes

Express LaneOriginal Photo: Flickr user rutio. Used under Creative Commons license.

Charge solo commuters to use the express “carpool” lane and use that money to help fund SamTrans and Caltrain. – Elizabeth Lasensky

The VTA Express Lane project in Santa Clara County already follows a similar model.

Assembly Bill 2032 directs that revenue from express lanes operations be reinvested in projects and services that provide traffic congestion relief in the express lanes corridor. This will include operation and maintenance of the express lanes and expanding public transit service within the corridor.  This may allow funds collected to be invested in SamTrans and other transportation within the county.

14. More (and Better) Bus Shelters

BusShelter

Original Photo: Flickr user crderivative.  Used under Creative Commons license.

Install bus shelters that provide shelter from the weather, not advertising space.

Recently many of the bus shelters which had provided shelter from summer hot afternoon sun and winter rain and wind, we removed and replaced with more open shelters which provided illuminated billboards for advertising, but which do not provide protection from weather.

Since a rider has to wait for up to an hour, sometimes more, for a bus, don’t they deserve some protection? It gets pretty rough out there. The old shelters should have been kept in place which would have increased the number of shelters. – Dana Callen

12. Build a Bypass Near Half Moon Bay

HMB-Map

Every time I’m creeping along on Rte 92 approaching HMB, I think how wonderful it would be to have a by-pass from Rte 92 about 1/2 mile or mile east of town that would connect with Highway 1 north of town.
I’ve seen signs hinting that this may have been considered, but nothing to indicate that there’s any serious planning going on. – Carole Kleinman

6. Pedestrian and Bike Bridges over 101

Arlie ped and bike bridge over 101I work two miles from home, but I cannot bike to work because it’s too dangerous to get across 101.  Both the Holly Street overpass and the Ralston overpass are too dangerous for bikes and anyway the  bikes impede the flow of traffic. – Arley Lewis