REDWOOD NEEDLES
REDWOOD NEEDLES
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During the last year, the Sierra Club Sonoma Group has been researching how best to apply the Santa Rosa Avenue Marketplace Mitigation funds. Most of this money will be devoted to projects designed to alleviate traffic congestion on our city streets, and thus to improve our air quality. The Sonoma Group is committed to expand and develop transpor-tation alternatives to the gasoline-fueled private automobile. While traffic is a primary concern in Sonoma County, solutions are not easy. Much of the work of the consultant and the Club's Marketplace Task Force has focused on how to provide the missing links between existing transit service and the automobile so as to increase convenience and service.
Ideally that link would probably be a 'smart' vehicle network that would be coordinated with existing bus and eventual rail service from a central reservation center. Each 'smart' vehicle would be equipped with an electronic positioning device that identifies its location. This information is displayed at the computer reservation center enabling the dispatcher to determine which vehicle would be routed to pick up a client. Such a computer system allows riders to be linked in real time to vehicles so as to maximize ride efficiency. Eventually, with enough 'smart' vehicles, a passenger could receive door-to-door service within minutes.
Unfortunately, such systems are still embryonic, although Santa Clara County Paratransit Service has now completely installed 'intelligent' vehicles and serves the entire county with integrated taxi, van, bus, and light rail service. Locally only one developer, Alan Strachan, is making plans to provide such a service. Residents of his Courtside subdivision, now under construction, will pay a monthly fee for use of this service. What is needed eventually is a network of such operators who could provide countywide service.
The Task Force has therefore decided to enhance and complement some existing services as a first step towards traffic reduction. Any realistic alternative to the private vehicle must consider the various uses of transportation for work, family, and other personal needs. A commute service initiated by Santa Rosa Transit at the beginning of this year is seen as contributing to work transportation needs. The Sonoma County ChildrenÕs Shuttle, also started during the last year, has proved of considerable assistance in the transportation of children to various activities in the Santa Rosa area.
In recognition of the importance of both of these services, a portion of the mitigation funds has been used for the purchase of 200 passes for the ChildrenÕs Shuttle. These passes have been given to Hewlett Packard and Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. companies to acknowledge their support of the commuter service. These companies will distribute the passes to their employees for frequency-of-use of this commuter service or other vehicle trip-reduction program. The Sonoma Group is interested in extending this incentive program to other large employment centers who encourage employee participation in the commute service.
The second financial commitment is the donation of a natural gas passenger vehicle for the Volunteer Wheels Program. This countywide paratransit service is currently operating at its maximum capacity for available vehicles. Linda Finch, the director, anticipates a growing need for such services as the elderly population increases in the county. The vehicle will help meet this need and at the same time contribute towards cleaner air. It will be refueled from the recently-completed county natural gas station.
In the future, the Club is interested in contributing start-up costs to operators of jitney-taxis interested in participating in a 'smart' network. The Club would be particularly interested in promoting a lunch-time employee shuttle service to downtown Santa Rosa, or a goods delivery service. One of the first requirements to initiate a 'smart' system will be a coordinated computerized system that provides the public with information on how best to arrive at any location in Sonoma County. Currently, enquiries are proceeding with Sonoma County Transit on a possible contribution towards an automated transit information that could be linked to a smart vehicle reservation system.
For further information or to express interest in these programs, please contact 570-0721.
-- Report By
Joanna Becker,
Planning Consultant
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