"Free E-Bikes for Everyone!"

[sms]

<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/opinion/free-ebikes-climate.html>

I've long thought that, in my area, rather than spending money on mass
transit that almost no one uses, "free" or subsidized e-Bikes would make
a lot more sense than spending $40 million per mile on light rail (or in
San Francisco $941 million per mile for underground light rail). We have
mild weather, and expanding network of protected bicycle lanes and
multi-use paths, and a tech-savvy population that loves gadgets.

Buses and light rail in Santa Clara County receive tax-payer subsidies
of around $20 per ride, or about $40 for a round trip ride (as long as
no bus or light rail transfers are involved).

[pH]

I remember about 2-3 years back Mr. Roadshow (a local traffic columnist to
the area) was crowing how the coming "smart road" being made out of El
Camino Real would solve all your troubles over there.

Then it was activated and I heard nothing more about it. I'm thinking it is
probably the failure most of his correspondants predicted it would be.
(Like the BRT--Bus Rapid Transit--lane installed in some Stockton area
roads...don't hear much about the success of those, either.

pH in Aptos

[sms]

El Camino Real and Stevens Creek Boulevard are not really BRT since none
of Stevens Creek, and almost none of El Camino, have a bus-only lane.

But the bigger failure is because they don't go from housing-rich areas
to job-rich areas. Almost no one in Santa Clara County has a desire to
travel to downtown San Jose, unless they work at a place like Adobe. If
Google builds their new campus in that area then there will be more
daytime commuters, but Google has its own bus system so almost none of
those people will be riding a VTA bus.

You can see the ratings of the world's BRT lines here:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRT_Standard>.

[Tom Kunich]

Scharf, perhaps you haven't noticed, but your comments locally have as much impact as they do on this group - no one cares what bit what you think.

[pH]

Wow, thanks, that was interesting reading. So we have two "silvers" and
four "bronze" nationwide.

I'm real biased since I'm unabashedly pro-rail....trains are fun, buses are
heck (to me, anyway). Crowded trains aren't so fun, either, I guess.

pH

[sms]

On 11/23/2021 10:31 AM, pH wrote:

<snip>

> I'm real biased since I'm unabashedly pro-rail....trains are fun, buses are
> heck (to me, anyway). Crowded trains aren't so fun, either, I guess.

I rode a BRT from Logan Airport in September. It was awful. Terribly
crowded, long headways, hot, and slow. A great incubator for Covid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Line_(MBTA)>.

I guess that is below "Bronze" level since it isn't listed in that list
of BRT routes.