Metrolink Fare Too High for Rail Fan

* About 20 years ago I moved to Southern California from Boston. Before that I had lived in New York. Everywhere I lived in the Northeast, I used public transportation. I really missed it when I came here because the bus system was not well organized.

So you can imagine my elation when I opened my paper last weekend to read about the new Metrolink train service.

Living in San Juan Capistrano and working at the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine, I figured I could finally go back to mass transit with some assurance that it would work for me on a regular basis, five days a week. What the heck, a 10-mile ride from one station to the next should be a piece of cake.

But they stopped me in my tracks with their pricing. At $80 a month (or $20 a week), it’s cost-effective. Since I spend about $16 to $18 a week on gas, this would be very competitive with my auto commute. But, they’ve made it a trip of two “zones” to get to work. So even though it’s only about 10 miles from one stop to the next, OCTA wants me to pay $112 a month, not $80. I can’t do it at that price. At $28 a week, it’s not as competitive. Especially when someone can go from Anaheim to Burbank, more than four times the distance, through five stations and through three “zones,” for only $32 more a month (or $36 a week). Somehow that doesn’t seem right to me.

I don’t know who priced the Metrolink service, but when I can’t go from one station to the very next one without getting nailed for a big fare jump, then I’m not going to get out of my car and use the trains. Simple as that.

DON ALLEN

San Juan Capistrano