SamTrans hasn’t addressed Coastside concerns

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter to the editor of the Half Moon Bay Review is a response to an opinion column by Mark Simon of Caltrans in the May 17 issue of the Half Moon Bay Review.  Simon’s column was a response to a letter by Jo Chamberlain in the May 3 issue of the Review.  The Review inadvertently re-ran Chamberlain’s May 3 letter instead of this letter in Wednesday’s issue. We present it here because it deserves wider distribution before Tuesday’s election.  Jo Chamberlain is a candidate for San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.

Editor,

Thanks to Mark Simon for his response to my concerns regarding SamTrans service to the Coastside.

Those concerns, however, were not addressed. Why do we have two buses (294 and 17) and no express buses to BART and Caltrain from the Coastside? If we provide $6 million in equitable income for public transportation, we should have express buses that connect with all the assets we are paying for.

Mr Simon’s suggestion that coastsiders catch an express bus in Pacifica is, of course, little more than a cruel, if perhaps unintentional, joke. But even with Devil’s Slide open, current schedules make it impractical to use a chain of buses to get to work.

For commuting via public transit to really work, we need direct connections to BART, Caltrain, and the rest of the over-the-hill transit system, with consistent service at flexible hours (not everyone works 9-5).

Our unique geography isolates us from the rest of the county. Additionally, many of our low-income residents live in communities that are isolated from food, school and work.

The Route 17 mini-bus, transportation for Coastside students and workers along the north-south corridor, has been leaving passengers behind. Bus 17 requires large buses, and more of them that coincide with school and work schedules.

I thank SamTrans for the Sam Coast, para-transit and Redi-Wheels service. All are vital and needed on the Coastside.

Coastside transportation needs are especially acute right now because of the Devil’s Slide closure. But traffic will only get worse with the planned doubling of the coastside population, and better public transit is the only real alternative to paving the coast with a tangle of superhighways.

Jo Chamberlain
Lobitos Canyon