Bring On the Rails

Government often hesitates to react to a problem until it becomes a certifiable crisis. The Orange County Transportation Commission followed that script Monday, finally reacting to the bumper-to-bumper traffic that clogs the Riverside and Costa Mesa freeways and jams Santa Ana Canyon. It voted unanimously to seek rail service between Orange County and Riverside.

Although long overdue, the commission action was wise and welcome, particularly in view of the sparsity of alternatives--among them adding costly freeway lanes that would quickly clog up with more commuters.

The commission has added commuter lanes on the Costa Mesa Freeway between the Riverside and San Diego freeways; dedicated lanes historically have improved traffic flow. But rail service could actually remove some cars from traffic lanes, and, with Santa Fe Railway tracks already in place along the canyon route, it makes good sense to use them for commuter rail service that would take some of the load off existing roads.

Consultants hired by the commission to study the technical and financial feasibility of rail service concluded that commuter trains could carry 2.2 million passengers a year in the corridor between downtown Riverside and a planned Amtrak station in Irvine. That’s a lot of trips that would not involve the freeway. As in all transportation solutions, money is a problem. Consultants estimated start-up costs of $138 million for the trains, some new track and station improvements, but, at today’s construction costs, spending the same amount on freeways would not get commuters very far.

Enhancing the chances of finding the money to help start the new rail service is an increased awareness statewide of the need for more commuter rail transportation to take some of the load off the state’s overburdened freeway system. Legislation has been introduced in Sacramento to raise the state gasoline tax and truck-weight fees to bring in more transportation funds. Some of that money should be earmarked for rail service, not only in Orange County but in all parts of the state.

The county commission did stipulate that its decision to pursue further studies on the canyon rail line with Riverside County officials must not jeopardize efforts to add more commuter trains between Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Officials from Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties have agreed to form a joint-powers authority to increase service in the 128-mile San Diego-Orange-Los Angeles County corridor by 1990. The target date for commuter service between Riverside and Irvine is 1993.

The Orange-Los Angeles line does deserve a higher priority, but both lines are needed. Money may always be in short supply, but there is no such shortage of commuters who would fill the trains.