Community Corner

Issue: Are Trains, Trolleys the Best Way of Spending Transportation Dollars?

Sprinter trains in North County resume work Saturday, and hearings are set Friday for UTC and UCSD trolley extension.

San Diego is getting back on track this weekend.  

On Friday, the San Diego Association of Governments opens a public review and comment period and unveils a draft environmental report for the $1.7 billion Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project, which would extend trolley service 11 miles from Old Town to the UTC area and UCSD.

Eight new stations are proposed along the route, including Tecolote Road, Clairemont Drive, Balboa Avenue, Nobel Drive, Pepper Canyon (UCSD west campus), Voigt Drive (UCSD east campus), Executive Drive and the terminus station at Westfield UTC Transit Center, reported City News Service.

On Saturday, light-rail service between Oceanside and Escondido resumes. The North County Transit District took the trains out of service March 9 because the electrically activated brakes were wearing out too fast.

But mass transit isn't carrying its freight, critics say, and the taxpayer dollars that support these efforts might be better spent on smarter use of expanded freeways.

Should mass transit authorities pursue trolley and right rail or improve the freeway system?  Share your thoughts in the comments.


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