As the cost of gas rises to $3 a gallon, so does the importance of
public transit in the Glendale-Burbank region, where Glendale
Beelines, Metro bus lines, Burbank shuttles, Metrolink and Amtrak
trains make their rounds daily and a trolley is in the works.
As commuter Fred Jones told a Burbank Leader reporter this week,
as he stood at the Glendale Metrolink stop, his preference for public
transit is cheaper and easier.
Not all agree, of course. For some, cars, SUVs, trucks, the nature
of their work and life -- and maybe even security concerns -- work to
exclude public transit from their lives, and $3 a gallon is not
enough to get those commuters on a bus or a train. Indeed,
month-to-month data from Metrolink does not suggest a spike in
ridership as gas prices have risen precipitously in recent weeks,
according to Denise Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for Metrolink.
That's not surprising in Southern California, where we are
conditioned to drive.
On the other hand, a survey in 2003 did reveal that 10% of new
Metrolink riders said they began riding the train because of rising
gas prices.
Regardless, $3 a gallon is certainly a wake-up call to consider a
change in at least our perception of public transit.
For many, it is cheaper. And travel by bus or rail, or by
carpooling, helps decrease congestion, connects Glendale and Burbank
commercial and residential areas in cities that are investing heavily
in mixed-used, downtown developments that beckon for nearby bus and
rail systems, and even bicycle paths.
But public transit is not always that practical. Routes do not
always go where we want them to go, or at the right time. There is
hope.
Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena have approved a study that would
look at the possibility of a linking North Hollywood to Pasadena
through Burbank and Glendale.
A new shuttle system links riders from the North Hollywood Red
Line Metro station to the Burbank Media District. Glendale's City
Council unanimously approved a preliminary study Tuesday that could
lead to construction of a trolley system serving the downtown
Glendale area. And the House of Representatives recently approved
$3.3 million in street and transportation improvements in Glendale
and Burbank.
These programs -- yes, even a trolley -- should be serious
considerations in a built-out region that is growing up, not out,
where more people will live downtown.
They, and even a recent proposal to cut part of Metropolitan
Transportation Authority's Line 201 through Glendale, which MTA
officials said not enough people are riding, should prompt us to
seriously consider the future of public transit in the area, and our
perceptions of it. This is a region where public transit makes sense,
and where a change in public perceptions also does.
Or, we can continue paying the price, like Glendale resident Daryl
Delacruz did recently at the pump, where $5.15 got her two gallons.
