Sick of It wrote on Jun 16, 2006 12:06 AM:Let's see more letters begging for a train along I-15, we haven't even finished this one yet, or paid for it.

Luke wrote on Jun 16, 2006 4:33 AM:I ask you. What kind of gold plated buses could we have had for $400 million dollars? They could have supplied free pastries, the coffee or latte of your choice, your favorite newspaper, stewardesses, you name it. Instead, we have this boondoggle, with the crossing guards coming down every thirty minutes throughout North County across the tracks while you sit fuming in your car. All of this to soothe the egos of top management at SanDag and North County Transit.

Chris wrote on Jun 16, 2006 6:21 AM:Yet another boondoogle delay for a project that was supposed to be on line in 1999. Why not put gold sinks in every bathroom while your at it, NCTD board.

Fleecing of America wrote on Jun 16, 2006 6:22 AM:Wait until this project is finished. The amount of money wasted will come to light. San Diegians are not going to dump their cars and take a train. The only ones going to do that are the people who cannot afford a car in the first place so the car count on the 78 corridor is not going to deminish. Waste, waste, waste. I see it all day long. The Escondido Council allowed a building permit to Walgreens for the corner of Felicita and Center City. The problem with that is there is a Sav-on, a Rite-Aid and a pharmacy at Vons all on the adjacent corners. Oh yeah, we now have 4 pharmacies to choose from at one location. What are these people thinking????

Gary wrote on Jun 16, 2006 6:46 AM:Who did they say was going to use this train? I wonder how many lanes they could have added on the 78.

LAWSON wrote on Jun 16, 2006 7:29 AM:I'm an environmentalist. Trains are friendly to the environment. When BART was built in the San Franscisco bay area, the same arguments were made against BART. Also, the same arguments were made against the Coaster and Metrolink. With $3-4 gas Metrolink can't put trains on fast enough. What a shame Sheri Mackin voted "no" to increase the budget for the Sprinter. As late as Saturday night, at the Labor Council dinner in San Diego, Mackin said she was voting for this worthy project. Even SANDAG views it as a priority by diverting money from other transportation projects. All aboard Sheri. The train is about ready to leave you at the depot.

guess wrote on Jun 16, 2006 7:41 AM:10,000 daily boardings? Right and it will cost $350 million. These numbers are from the same source, pulled out of some bureaucrats arse to justify wasting our tax dollars.

big waste wrote on Jun 16, 2006 7:42 AM:big waste of dollars, and keeps getting worse. does anyone on SanDag or NCTD actually sit down at nite and think about projects and their real value. Californians, especially San Diegans, are not going to stop using their cars and hop on trains! This is not the place for it. Lanes should have been added onto the freeways, the 76 should have been addressed, and now the 78. Remember North County is a commuter community - residents commute out, and non residents commute through. This 400million dollar train does not address the real issue. Its not residents clogging the freeways through north county, its non-residents coming in and through, and residents leaving. The trains will be empty to half full, while the roads remain over capacity! Good job NCTD and SanDAG, I remember these boondoggles when it comes election and proposition times. You wont have my dollar, I need it for gas as I commute out of North County.

words of wisdom wrote on Jun 16, 2006 8:48 AM:Fleecing of America, you obviously don't have an understanding of how city government works. I work for the City of Escondido. The City Council does not approve building permits. The building department does. City's are merely reactionary to private sector development and investment. If Walgreens thinks they can do business on that corner, then they probably can. They have smart people working proformas for them; people much smarter than you. Try to relax.

Screwed in Oceanside wrote on Jun 16, 2006 11:51 AM:This boondoggle is not only costing way too much but its severe impacts on surrounding neighborhoods is horrifying. Why in heaven's name couldn't this group vote to put some enhancements in? Ridiculous! We on the Oceanside corridor will suffer from excessive noise and traffic. The least you could have done would be to have put some betterments in for us! Vista gets a soundwall? That's outrageous! What about the 7 stations in Oceanside! We are sick of being the red-headed stepchildren! Look for an angry public in this town!

Matt wrote on Jun 16, 2006 12:23 PM:All this for Illegal mexicans. How sweet.

GFN wrote on Jun 16, 2006 12:38 PM:"Screwed in Oceanside" is so right. Judy Ritter, Vista Councilwoman, and Lori Pfeiler should be tarred and feathered for this monster. I promise you that the final cost will be more than $600 million when they put in sound walls, water fountains and restrooms. The route through Vista will create gridlock at Escondido Avenue and at Vista Way. Emergency vehicles will not be able to navigate through these areas in an acceptable time. Vista Way is already the most negligent intersection ever designed. Look for huge projects of low-income housing to be built close to the stations; smart growth they call it. Wouldn't it be interesting to know who is buying up the land in these areas? Ritter, Pfeiler, Issa, other local politicians?

Boondoogle on its way wrote on Jun 16, 2006 1:58 PM:The sprinter boondoogle is on its way to a community near you. And GFN is right it is all about that Dumb Smart Growth Sandag wants to shove down our throats. Just look at the transportation corridor of the Sprinter and you will see where Sandag and Developers intend to put all that housing in. Bob Campbell, Vista, Hal Martin, San Marcos, and Shari Mackin, Oceanside, seem to be the only city officials that care about the enhancements that should be given to their cities. At least someone is looking out for Oceanside.

Ex-Vistian wrote on Jun 16, 2006 2:52 PM:We just sold our property in Vista that hosted a Sprinter easment. The train going through is VERY load and those of us in Vista have NEVER heard of any proposal for sound walls. If so, we could have explained that to people looking at our house (which we had to sell for $100K less than its worth because of the Sprinter coming through).

Stop the Sprinter wrote on Jun 16, 2006 3:26 PM:I wish they would vote to stop the Sprinter. No one asked the public if they wanted to spend all this money on this boondoggle! Oceanside dirvers will cursr this train every 7 minutes as it backs up traffic on College, El Camino, Crouch, Melrose and all points in between. NCTD has been a problem for years. They have a bus system that is under utilized because of its cost and the fact that you cannot get from one place to another without long waits and transfers. Back in the early 60's Oceanside had a bus system run by the city. It cost a dime and you didn't have to look at a schedule because the buses ran so frequently you never had to wait more than 5 minutes. I say disolve NCTD and stop the Sprinter.

Mike L. wrote on Jun 16, 2006 3:57 PM:Another example of wasted taxpayer money. Anyone who believes this will relieve traffic congestion on north county roads has got to be a complete idiot. Just wait and see, you will be stopped in traffic, burning expensive gasoline, watching as an empty Sprinter goes by on the tracks. After it passes, the crossing gates will rise and you get to continue on your way to work or school having been delayed by another obstacle in the flow of traffic.

Sick of It wrote on Jun 16, 2006 4:50 PM:For a comparison, adding 4 new managed lanes, and a rapid bus system on I-15 from Escondido to CA-163's total cost is only going to be about twice as much. The whole system should end up being able to move somewhere around 6000-8000 commuters per hour. 10,000 passengers a day they say for this? The crossings aren't all grade separated to allow the trains to move fast safely, and to avoid backing up traffic? Why not just spend this money on managed lanes on CA-78 instead, with a rapid bus transit system. They'll move faster than this massive mistake. North County could have had a great train, or a great freeway system, and instead keeps choosing neither.

Jack wrote on Jun 16, 2006 4:54 PM:I cannot believe that more than 88% of the people queried in the NCT poll about the Sprinter say they will NOT ride it. How stupid are these NCT readers anyway I ask? I won't ride it every day but I can hardly wait to see it up and running so I can ride it to Escondido and back. Since decent restaurants and bars are nearly non-existent in Oceanside I plan on frequenting Restaurant Row in San Marcos as the Sprinter breezes down that way.

GFN wrote on Jun 16, 2006 6:54 PM:Oh no; there will be riders on the "Stinker". They will be the low-income people riding to their minimum wage jobs in the tourist industry. Most of the jobs in the tourist industry pay within a dollar or two of minimum wage...so Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido, make sure you load up on the smart growth projects. Wait, San Marcos already has a bunch of those.

Way to go SANDAG wrote on Jun 16, 2006 10:28 PM:Was this why some of the "subsidized" bus routes in east couty and parts of north county were cut, so that the money saved could be spent on the Sprinter?

lol wrote on Jun 16, 2006 10:34 PM:like this is a shock.

Rodney wrote on Jun 17, 2006 8:12 AM:San Diego is becoming a train-oriented community. Everyday, we see a larger percentage of people riding the San Diego Trolley to downtown, Qualcomm Stadium and to San Diego State bringing much needed development and improved communities along the way. We see long lines to ride the San Diego Trolley for each of our major sporting events and the Coaster and Metrolink have become a vital link and a great success for people who live along our northern coastal communities. The Sprinter will be a new addition and a great success when completed. It will connect our northern communities of Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido. When completed will allow our community leaders to begin the process for planning and thinking creatively about providing better pedestrian and urban designs that would begin to make our communities more livable, easier to get around, and could begin to show down dreaded suburban sprawl. The Sprinter could have a major impact on San Diego and traffic on the I-15. The Sprinter really needs to find its way down the inland corridor to San Diego to provide much needed relieve for commuters. The Sprinter could connect Escondido, Rancho Bernardo, Poway, and Mira Mesa with the San Diego Trolley at the Q. Maybe the Sprinter could even find its way over to the Wild Animal Park on its way down to Rancho Bernardo. San Diego and tourists would appreciate having an alternate and convenient way to get out or their cars and be able to enjoy to the Wild Animal Park. This would be a true multi-model transportation solution that should be a priority for our regional transportation needs by lessoning demands on I-78 and I-15, reducing air pollution, and our dependence on imported oil.

David F. wrote on Jun 18, 2006 9:12 PM: 'Though I'm an O.C. resident I've always felt that those who claim such rail transit projects are a boondogle and a waste of taxpayers' money too often overlook the fact that our highways cost far more to operate and maintain but they don't see that part of it because of the hidden subsidies the highways get where by contrast the passenger train and urban rail transit operations get little or nothing of the sort. The county that I live in has had a sorry history of dropping urban rail transit projects due to oppossition of what I like to refer to as Republican pro-highway(& pro-seatbelt law) suburban-sprawl NIMBYs. I'm amazed that we've saw any improvments to both the Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink train services.