Earlier this week the San Jose Mercury News ran an article stating that numerous freeway repair and traffic improvement projects in this area have been put on hold due to lack of funding. They then went on to list some of the projects on hold.  And I, for once, was happy to hear that they had run out of funds. I don’t know who makes the final decisions on how to use public funds for traffic improvements, but maybe it is time to take a deep breath and really think long and hard about where we want to go and how we want to get there.

I say this because it seems that there are conflicting messages out there with many of these projects. Let’s take carpool lanes for example. They have been around for a LONG time, yet to this day there are sections of the peninsula, such as the north San Mateo County section of highway 101, where they simply don’t exist. If, the original intent was to reduce traffic congestion, what incentive is there to carpool if you get some benefit for a few miles and then have to merge in with the rest of the traffic anyways? Why are we letting some early hybrid solo owners use car pool lanes (yes, they have committed to lowering emission pollution by buying a hybrid, but they also got substantial rewards already with tax credits and lower gas costs?) And now there is a push to let even more solo drivers use the carpool lanes (or eliminate carpool lanes and convert them into toll lanes) if these drivers, who clearly have no intention of ever carpooling, are wealthy enough and willing to pay for the privilege. How is that going to help to reduce congestion? All it will do is give the road authorities more money to spend (or waste) on our behalf.

Speaking of waste, I happen to think metering lights are the biggest waste of all. First we try to get people out of their cars by carpooling, and then we try to make it easier for those who refuse by adding metering lights at every freeway entrance. Here is my take on metering lights: They add to congestion and pollution by causing huge backups of stop and go traffic on city streets as people inch their way toward the freeways, they trap people who have no intention of entering the freeway but simply might want to go 2 block but they have to cross over a freeway overpass (so even more cars in stop and go traffic,) they cause people to come to a complete stop, even when they are the only car trying to enter the freeway, and then gun their engines like mad (causing even more pollution and decreasing gas mileage) to get up to speed even when there is almost no traffic on the freeway (it happens to me several times a day, every day, and at numerous entrances,) and, when the freeways really are congested, the cars with the green light can’t move forward because, guess what, the freeways are already congested!!

Personally I would like to be able to take back all of the millions and millions of dollars that have been spent on metering lights and use that money on fixing the potholes, beefing up carpool lanes, and making a genuine commitment to mass transport. Mass Transit. What a concept!! We have been talking about it for years but there seems to be little real commitment to it. I suspect it is because there is no centralized authority to make decisions for the benefit of all. Instead we seem to have a patchwork quilt of pet projects… light rail in San Jose, that actually extends into Mountain View but no farther, Bart that extends along the east bay as far as Fremont, but what happens to people who want ot get to San Jose from Oakland or Hayward? And a huge shortage of feeder lines (to get people to and from the main transit corridors) and inadequate parking for those who are forced to drive to the transit stations. There is enormous room for improvement.

Why do I care? Because I sell real estate, and the public transit mess negatively impacts our quality of living. I see more pollution, more frustration, longer commutes, less time to enjoy the beautiful area that we live in. I do feel that people will use public transit if it is efficient and affordable. But if it takes a rocket scientist to figure out how to get from point A to point B without wasting the entire day, or if you really want to go there but there is no place to park your car at the station, it just simply isn’t going to happen. Is there anybody out there listening?