Hello Coastsiders, I have put up a blog on the subject of:

“How to change the public bus system so it takes away the need to always have a running automobile.”

http://lessco2essay.blogspot.com/

Probably like you, I find the high gasoline prices aggravating and dragging my finances down.

As a result of the current pain, I decided to restate and rephrase what I found when I studied
the Los Angeles public bus system.during the 1979 Energy Crisis.

The summary of my advocacy is:

The public bus system should add services
of carrying carts and containers of 30 to 150 pounds
with the service purpose of allowing more
individuals, families, and small businesses to function
sometimes without the use of an automobile or truck.

And the fine print is: This is a proposal to use the “off peak” bus system capacity.
A trial program would yield modest community vehicle mile savings.
There is enormous upscale potential as freight and carts on buses could break the grip of the personal car or truck on people who live a suburban life.

I agree that the bus system should be more versatile.  I doubt anyone will use the bus if it stops less than once every 15 minutes or takes more than 30 minutes to get from Montara to Half Moon Bay. Add Moonridge into the mix, and you could serve the Coastside with six buses at a frequency that might start to make some sense.

Not a complete solution but it would cost a lot less than that bypass some folks are itching to build.

I didn’t answer the survey, because I’m not certain I’d use any of those services.  There are plenty of folks who could use a real bus service, however. And if gas gets much more expensive, or perhaps rationed, and I’d wager you’d see a lot more of us on that bus.