Le Métro
During the last few days of jury duty, I've made
my way downtown from East County by way of the
trolley, San Diego's light rail mass transit
system. Though I have to drive my car a short
distance from my apartment to the trolley station,
it's still quite a treat to even have the option of
using a fast public transportation option. As
spread out as San Diego County is, there's no way
any mass transit system here can compete with the
likes of Chicago's el-trains, New York City's
subways or San Francisco's BART. But by southern
California standards, it's nice to even have a
choice.
Los Angeles has also made strides in recent
years with its ever-increasing warren of subway
tunnels. Last year, when I still made frequent
trips from San Diego to Studio City, I was able to
walk down to the local trolley station, hop a few
stops down to the Santa Fe Depot downtown, get
onboard the Amtrak to Union Station in downtown
L.A., then take the subway to North Hollywood, a
mile or two from my final destination. In the Land
of the Automobile, such a trip is quite an
accomplishment.
For overall efficiency, ease and joy of use,
however, I have never come across any light rail
system like Paris'
Métro. Paris is no small city by any
stretch of the imagination. And with so much to
see, one could spend lots of time getting from one
destination to the other, were it not for the
subway system. But during my visit, the coverage of
the city's Métro was so thorough that one
could find a station within a three-block radius of
just about any location, ensuring a quick hop with
no more than a couple of transfers from virtually
anywhere to anywhere within the city. Trying to
figure out which configuration of lines and
transfers would get you there quickest made even
public transportation adventurous.
Caught in southern California's infamous traffic
jams, I often think how much easier it would be to
live in a city with a more robust public
transportation system. With the web of San Diego's
trolley system continually expanding, perhaps such
yearnings will soon fade away.
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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