By Jill Richardson, Dana Point
Dear Decision Makers,
I’m writing to stress the importance of making Dana Point a town that offers a wide variety of options for mass transportation—inter-city trolley’s, bike rentals, bike lanes and pedestrian friendly walkways. With all the changes taking place in our city, transportation options other than vehicles has to be planned out, discussed and implemented.
Add bike rental stations throughout the city, where people can rent a bike at one location, and then drop it off at another location. I’ve used bike stations in Chicago and they worked fabulously. The bike lane on Pacific Coast Highway is so much more dangerous to ride on now—which is disappointing. Please add more bike lanes on streets parallel with PCH.
Our neighbor city Laguna Beach has a trolley every summer that is packed with locals and visitors taking advantage of mass transportation for free. In addition, this local trolley operates throughout the year for a minimum cost to ride. Make a Dana Point trolley happen. Connect with other cities close by to extend a “local” trolley system. I know more and more people will use it, especially locals.
Regarding mass transportation (public trains and buses), I know I would use mass transportation more if it took less time using these then driving in a vehicle. Have you noticed how infrequent train rides are from San Juan Capistrano to downtown Los Angeles? Implement more bus service on PCH past 10 p.m.—especially on Friday and Saturday nights.
What makes any city unique is people experiencing the look and feel outside of their cars. Implementing other modes of transportation other than vehicles in Dana Point will make our city stand out.