Widen Minds, Too

Recently, our local public transportation system, the North County Transit District, added a seasonal route within Solana Beach. The Solana loop provides public transportation to our beaches, shopping areas, library, restaurants, etc. every half an hour.

This addition to our public transportation system was at the request of the city’s representatives on the NCTD as a way to further meet the needs of our city.

Unless there is sufficient use of our newly added service, it will be hard to justify a local route on a continuing basis and even questionable for summer-only use. The NCTD established the six-week trial of the Solana loop this summer as a way to test the market for this kind of routing.

We are all concerned about traffic problems, and public transportation can be one of the answers to the problem, if it is used. Future plans include a trolley extension into North County along the freeway corridor and a light-rail commuter system on the existing Amtrak lines along the coast. These systems will be part of the Proposition A projects, funded with our half-cent sales tax increase approved last year for the next 20 years.

Solutions to our traffic problems will require some changes in our habits. Hopping in our cars to go to the market, to the beach, downtown or around town may all have to change someday to eliminate congestion, pollution and energy waste.

Adding and widening freeways and roadways is not the only answer to our problem. We need to add/widen our thinking on how we can eliminate cars and still get where we want to go--but together instead of alone.

MARION B. DODSON

Solana Beach