Post by 11ball on Oct 20, 2011 15:58:36 GMT -8
The new parking structure at the Tustin Metrolink station opened about 2 weeks ago. The last time I took a train to LAUS over a month ago, it looked far from ready. I was hearing rumors that the opening date may be pushed back to Jan/Feb 2012.
The building is not quite 100% done. You will see an occasional construction worker finishing up.
There are now 800+ new parking spaces. The only bad thing to report is that there isn't any little boys/girls rooms. They want you to use the nearby Subway/76 station a minutes walk from the track #2 boarding platform or the Jack in the Box a couple of additional minutes away. There is still no elevator but the ramp to the tunnel underneath the track has a very gentle slope.
Another advantage for public transportation is that the buses now meet inside the station instead of being exposed to the high speed traffic on Edinger. There are 8 boarding stations with 7 of them occupied. I request that OCTA assign OCTA route #71 to the last empty stall. This would add ~3 1/2 miles to each trip on the existing route #71. The extra mileage is from driving from the train station at Edinger to Red Hill Ave. This bus route is a long route from Yorba Linda to beyond Newport Beach. The benefit of this change will be primarily from the real downtown Tustin (Larwin Square/Civic Center) to beyond PCH as this route ends in Balboa/Balboa Pier. Going south, you now have a direct bus route to a train station at the OC Fairgrounds (Costa Mesa). Of course, you now open Newport Beach/Balboa to a direct bus as well.
For those of you looking at a map, you may wonder why I didn't suggest a route on Jamboree Ave which is ~ 1/4 mile from the Tustin station. Jamboree from the Tustin station to its end across the street from John Wayne is served by the Irvine Shuttle route B (at least on the weekdays.) Jamboree from Edinger to I-5 seems more like a freeway than highway. It's not condusive to a rapid transit stop. Continuing on Jamboree crossing over I-5, you have shopping for about a half mile. Beyond that, Jamboree is mostly detached single family home till it ends at Chapman Ave. This area is worse than South OC for public transit.
I think extending OCTA route 71 to the Tustin Metrolink station is almost a no-brainer.
DS
The building is not quite 100% done. You will see an occasional construction worker finishing up.
There are now 800+ new parking spaces. The only bad thing to report is that there isn't any little boys/girls rooms. They want you to use the nearby Subway/76 station a minutes walk from the track #2 boarding platform or the Jack in the Box a couple of additional minutes away. There is still no elevator but the ramp to the tunnel underneath the track has a very gentle slope.
Another advantage for public transportation is that the buses now meet inside the station instead of being exposed to the high speed traffic on Edinger. There are 8 boarding stations with 7 of them occupied. I request that OCTA assign OCTA route #71 to the last empty stall. This would add ~3 1/2 miles to each trip on the existing route #71. The extra mileage is from driving from the train station at Edinger to Red Hill Ave. This bus route is a long route from Yorba Linda to beyond Newport Beach. The benefit of this change will be primarily from the real downtown Tustin (Larwin Square/Civic Center) to beyond PCH as this route ends in Balboa/Balboa Pier. Going south, you now have a direct bus route to a train station at the OC Fairgrounds (Costa Mesa). Of course, you now open Newport Beach/Balboa to a direct bus as well.
For those of you looking at a map, you may wonder why I didn't suggest a route on Jamboree Ave which is ~ 1/4 mile from the Tustin station. Jamboree from the Tustin station to its end across the street from John Wayne is served by the Irvine Shuttle route B (at least on the weekdays.) Jamboree from Edinger to I-5 seems more like a freeway than highway. It's not condusive to a rapid transit stop. Continuing on Jamboree crossing over I-5, you have shopping for about a half mile. Beyond that, Jamboree is mostly detached single family home till it ends at Chapman Ave. This area is worse than South OC for public transit.
I think extending OCTA route 71 to the Tustin Metrolink station is almost a no-brainer.
DS
