Friday Tips: Never quit or give up

The Transit Coalition has long envisioned for multi-modal transportation options for the 91 and I-15 freeway corridors in the Inland Empire. One ongoing threat is continued freeway and highway development without transit infrastructure. Our long term future visions for these major transportation corridors are high speed intercity and commuter rail service from early morning through late night combined with robust high occupancy lanes along the freeways complete with bus transit infrastructure and direct access ramps to/from transit stations.

Judging by RCTC's plans of addressing the chronic traffic congestion of the 91 and the car-oriented nature of the I-15 freeway, such a future vision seems a long way off even with the proposals to extend the 91 Express Lanes further east into Corona, north to Ontario, and south to Lake Elsinore. The Coalition can understand the public's frustration with substandard transportation infrastructure and limited public transit options outside of rush hour. We share your concerns for the future of Inland Empire transportation.

As the state continues to divert transportation and gas tax revenue away from the rails and highways, local agencies like RCTC must look for other means to fund projects, just to get the transportation corridors up to par. Mass transit often loses out when such funding diversions happen. That's why seamless connections between the proposed HOT lanes and adjacent transit stations remain unfunded and transit services remain peak-hour oriented. With the public constantly saying "enough" with the state funding diversions and ongoing anti-business climate, this is no time to give up on these corridors. Our future vision of establishing a robust, multi-modal transportation system for these corridors and the remainder of the Inland Empire remains unshakable and we will not allow funding obstructionism at the state level determine the outcome of this vision.

This week's tip: Never quit or give up whenever you experience trouble. Keep trying and you could convert what appears to be a failure into a victory.