Temecula Valley's I-15 Freeway upgrades, rapid transit and the Ultimate Interchange

Proposed: New interchange design at the I-15 Freeway
and Temecula Parkway.

Concept: Direct access ramp linking conceptual dual 2+ carpool lanes with a FasTrak toll option for solo drivers in the area of the I-15 Freeway and Temecula Parkway. The DAR links the express lanes with a conceptual transit station to the west and an officially proposed park & ride to the east.

Drivers and transit riders who regularly pass through Temecula along the southbound side of the I-15 freeway are well aware of long off ramp traffic queues which often spill over onto the freeway at the city's three exits: Winchester Road, Rancho California Road, and Temecula Parkway.

The Temecula Parkway exit is by far the most hazardous as the off ramp lacks an auxiliary lane which causes the long lines to back up into the far right general purpose lane. Sometimes the backup spans a whole mile. With a curve along the freeway just a half mile north of the offramp, the hazard is serious. Traffic in the far right lane cruising along at 70 mph will often, without warning, see the lane come to a dead halt, leaving drivers little time to react. The area has been the site of numerous traffic collisions. The hazard has also created a minor traffic bottleneck.

The City of Temecula has moved one step closer toward breaking ground on restructuring this congested and hazardous freeway interchange located on the southern end of town, a project long overdue. According to the city, construction would require the relocation of utility, water and sewer lines through an existing Arco gas station. The city therefore negotiated a purchase of the property for $5 million. The city also reported that this construction is dubbed "ultimate" with the expectation that this will be the final interchange upgrade and the new configuration is expected to be able to handle growing traffic volumes until 2030. The project also includes re-striping Temecula Parkway to four lanes in each direction between the freeway and Pechanga Parkway.

Concept: An extension of Bedford Court from Temecula Parkway serves as a direct access ramp to potential high occupancy toll lanes along the I-15 through Temecula. Numerous casino buses and future public express buses would utilize it. A transit station on the opposite side of the freeway would cater to connecting RTA buses and potential local high speed rail toward Los Angeles to the north and San Diego to the south. A gateway into the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve would also support the transit station and serve as a tourist stop.

We believe this area, let alone the freeway itself, will be seeing more projects to come. Therefore, upgrades are far from over. Pictured here, the Coalition is exploring the possibility of an additional interchange add-on at Temecula Parkway that would cater to high occupancy vehicle traffic, carpools, vanpools, future express buses, casino buses headed to the Pechanga Resort, and solo motorists willing to tax themselves into a carpool lane.

Concept: Dual 2+ Carpool lanes with a FasTrak toll option for solo drivers with the existing 4 general purpose lanes along the I-15 Freeway through Temecula.

With major high density development proposals planned along the western side of the freeway through Temecula, the freeway could very well use a set of dual high occupancy 2+ carpool lanes in each direction with express bus infrastructure which would seamlessly connect San Diego County's I-15 Express Lanes system to the south with the the proposed Riverside County Transportation Commission I-15 high occupancy tolled express lane network to the north. The conceptual Temecula-to-Elsinore HOV 2+ segment would also include direct access ramps to future transit stations near the Promenade Mall area, the Golden Triangle area or other selected spot for the RTA Twin Cities Transit Center, downtown Wildomar, and downtown Lake Elsinore. The lanes would also permit solo drivers to buy their way in by paying a toll with their FasTrak transponder. As we have been campaigning and as demonstrated by San Diego's system, all 2+ HOV's would travel free without a need to preregister for a transponder.

As much as officials want to designate the Temecula Parkway interchange upgrade as "ultimate," it certainly will not be the area's final infrastructure upgrade to come, especially with the projected growth in Temecula's west side.

Friday Tips: Honor Righteous Authority

Last week, the Friday transportation tip was "Question Authority." As Americans, it is a patriotic duty to question those in power whenever one suspects the government or a special interest is abusing its authority and not honoring the values of the people they are supposed to represent. Bring such matters into the court of public opinion for debate. The situation happening in Moreno Valley, exploiting CEQA law to capitalize on the Perris Valley Line, and the abusive federal financial fiasco at the U.S. Department of Labor under President Obama are a prime examples. There is positively nothing wrong with having constructive debates on controversies, but there is a line between questioning authority in the public arena and becoming outright disrespectful and disobedient.

Drawing the line

It is an absolute fact that every person living today is under some type of authority and it is our duty and responsibility to obey everything that is righteous and lawful to this authority. Yes, we and many fair-minded individuals would like to see the mandatory peak hour tolls and FasTrak transponder mandate abolished for 3+ carpools on the 91 Express Lanes with its outstanding debt paid off through tax revenue under a robust economy and responsible state fiscal policy. However, here's where the line is drawn. Even though, we at The Transit Coalition question OCTA's toll lane usage policies, we will continue to obey the rules and mount the FasTrak transponder before using the 3+ high occupancy lane to bypass traffic congestion.

Likewise, the good folks in Moreno Valley are exposing potential abuse and developer pandering in City Hall. They are taking the matter to the public square through peaceful protests and social media. Their message is clear: "No" to worsened pollution. "No" to urban sprawl. However, the line in this example which should never be crossed is obstructing traffic during protesting or infusing personal attacks or threats on Facebook. Thankfully, the residents are behaving themselves and we've not ran into any major reported incident.

On the other side, elected politicians also have the responsibility to honor the values of the people they represent. Judges have the responsibility of interpreting the law impartially. Californians should hold those in power accountable by their votes at elections and the power to recall fundamentalist politicians and biased state judges.

Lastly a tip for those who are raising children:

Resolve to take full responsibility of your children and youth to keep them out of the gang, crime and drug cultures. Be their leader, protector and their provider. Spend more time with them and be with them throughout their lives. Teach them to honor righteous authority through proper discipline. Be a mentor for a child who lacks caring parents, especially to children who lack fathers. Work smartly to provide for the needs of these children so they can grow up, learn the skills to compete in the American marketplace, and become responsible and selfless leaders when they assume a position of authority.

AB 1290: California Transportation Commission reform for the right reasons

A state transportation bill awaits the Governor's signature which would affect a major state transportation agency. The California Transportation Commission (CTC) is responsible for the programming and allocating of state funds for the construction of highway, passenger rail and transit improvements throughout California.  According to the transportation advocacy group TransForm, the CTC is the only state transportation body that holds regular public hearings of where the state should allocate transportation funds. AB 1290 will restructure the CTC and add pedestrian and bicycle projects as transportation modes eligible for state funding.

We and many informed individuals understand that state public works infrastructure projects often have artificially inflated price tags, no thanks to bloated labor salaries which exceed the market rate. California's dismal highway conditions reflect that. Look at the chronic traffic congestion along the 91 Freeway into Orange County. Calculate how long it would take to get through West Los Angeles at 4 pm. Try to find a sidewalk or a bike lane and count the number of cracks along Highway 74 west of Hemet through Green Acres and Homeland. Let's not even mention the inflated price tags for the Oakland Bay Bridge eastern span and the California high speed rail project which have caused concerned citizens to come into the public arena and voice opposition. As mentioned, California's ongoing failure to deal with its transportation network and the artificially inflated infrastructure costs at a statewide level is a disgrace.

A first look into AB 1290

Let's take a first look at the proposed law. The important bill would modernize CTC. AB 1290 certainly is not the answer to the misspending of transportation money and won't necessarily make infrastructure projects more affordable, but will give CTC some more decision making power to allocate state transportation funding toward additional multi modal options including bicycle and pedestrian travel. Governor Brown has pushed for the CTC to have more control over such transportation options. The Coalition has noted locally that local pedestrians and cyclists utilize State Highway 74 west of Hemet, but the road lacks sidewalks and bike lanes. For a pedestrian to get between the Riverside Downtown train station and the downtown core, one has to undergo a circuitous journey around the 91 Freeway.

AB 1290 would modernize the CTC by adding new members with a focus on sustainability, and integrating new climate pollution reduction policies into its mission of official responsibilities. Sounds like the bill has a connection with the climate change debate. As mentioned, man-made global warming is still a hot debatable topic; there are valid facts on both sides of the issue from both scientists and meteorologists. However, it is no question that we have to continue to take a serious stand on pollution and traffic congestion.

Simply put: Breathing dirty air is destructive to life. Let's work together to make the planet cleaner.

Modernizing the California Transportation Commission

Having multi modal transportation options goes beyond climate change and cleaner air. The reasons are obvious. Having sidewalks and bicycle lanes to transverse locally along Highway 74 west of Hemet outside of the car is sound policy in the name of safety. Having an option of taking a train into downtown Riverside, being able to get off it and walk over the 91 Freeway into downtown core would eliminate the necessity of driving into this dense area, and thus cut down on traffic and parking lot congestion. How about extending the Colton Avenue bikeway over the I-215 freeway into downtown San Bernardino, again for the safety of bicycle commuters?

Although AB 1290 may have been written in the name of climate change, having options to get around other than a car is vital. Having the option to allocate state funds to the projects mentioned warrants its support.

Disposable Home Appliances, Safety and Pollution

It is a disturbing fact that many household appliances have now become disposables. In the past, when an appliance breaks down, it gets repaired. What's troubling now is that repair costs are so expensive that users find it more affordable to purchase a brand new appliance than to have the broken one fixed; thus more refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, stove tops, coffee makers, and washing machines end up in the trash.

The amount of e-waste is so high that it has become an industry of itself. Numerous resources are being spent to handle the recycling of such waste. However, much of that "recycling" involves the demanufacturing of the product. Without strict regulations and safety procedures for protection, such labor is damaging to both the worker and the environment. Worse yet, recycling companies are finding that the cheapest way to demanufacture broken appliances is to ship them to third world countries where protective safeguards are not existent.

Demanufacturing

The evidence of pollution from disassembling appliances is overwhelming, but here's the stat. According the textbook Principles of Environmental Science, taught in California's colleges and universities, groundwater and surface water contamination in China's demanufacturing areas alone are found to be as much as 200 times dirtier than what the World Health Organization considers safe.

It gets worse. A significant portion of the very cargo ships that are used to haul our consumables from developing countries which may include the very vessels that export our natural resources and electronics waste to China are dangerously demanufactured by boys and teenagers in Bangladesh. The groundwater has to be polluted beyond belief, but worse yet, such workers are regularly injured and killed under the dangerous conditions.



The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights is credited for exposing that colossal scheme back in 2009. When presented with such shocking evidence like that, repairing and reusing such ships, the broken television set, desktop printer, or rice cooker might not be such a bad environmental and economic idea after all. We are now living in a disposable culture and the environmental and safety costs are grave even with the recycling programs. If every living person in the world lived like us, the entire globe would be flooded in such contamination. Have Congress, President Obama and the union-pandering U.S. Department of Labor cracked down on this maltreatment of workers?

Repair and Reuse

So what exactly makes repair costs so expensive? In many cases, the spare parts are proprietary or outsourced. Therefore, many parts are simply not available at your local Home Depot. What's worse is that many cases of broken appliances center around faulty electronic control panels, whereas the rest of the hardware works perfectly. Replacing such proprietary parts such as the computer microchip would be too expensive and therefore near impossible for the user. So, throwing out the whole unit and replacing it with a another one is the only option left. The cycle normally would repeat itself well before the next decade.

Today, there is certainly a market demand for a return to appliances and electronics that are not only user repairable, but also last for decades at a time. Many people are fed up with the disposable culture. The fact is that if appliances are built to last, less would end up in the trash and fewer units would have to be demanufactured. The question is what exactly is preventing start up companies from introducing such premium products into the marketplace? It's true that many companies capitalize on the sales of brand new complete units, but why not profit from the spare parts or on the repair guy? It's certainly doable. Look at commercial-quality machines. Look at the Odyssey Electronic Validating Farebox found on a transit bus near you. How about electronic traffic control systems like the stop light? Profits can still be made with premium quality appliances.

"Energy Star Plus" Concept:
A powerful sell item toward
appliance buyers looking for
long lasting products that can
be easily repaired.

Tax Incentive: "Energy Star Plus"

Many appliances today carry the Energy Star logo. The famous symbol is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency voluntary program that provides an incentive to manufacture and sell clean and energy efficient electronics. The star has been a powerful sell item toward buyers. If one sees the seal on an appliance, he/she knows the machine won't drive up the utility bill. However, because most machines cannot be repaired by the user let alone a professional repairman, the Energy Star symbol becomes absolutely meaningless whenever a breakdown occurs and the appliance has to be thrown out.

Perhaps Congress should authorize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement a second incentive program called the "Energy Star Plus" with the tagline "Long lasting with user repairable parts." This powerful seal combined with a tax rebate would incline manufacturers to get back into the business of manufacturing durable appliances that can be easily repaired.

The incentive includes the requirements needed for an Energy Star seal, but would also entice manufacturers to design and develop long lasting appliances with common user repairable parts and open source circuit board firmware which can be easily replaced should they fail or break. This would include spare user repairable microchips, electronic components, display screens, and buttons for easy repair of defective appliance circuit boards. Such common spare parts would be sold all throughout the marketplace with plenty of competition to keep quality high and prices low. The man of the house would once again be able to fix broken down machinery. Servicing jobs would be created as both supply and demand for affordable appliance repair would significantly rise. E-waste pollution would be significantly reduced. Deaths and injuries in developing nations caused by unprotected demanufacturing would drop. What's the hold up?

Detecting defective FasTraks along HOT lanes that support free non-transponder carpooling

The Transit Coalition ran across an excellent question about the We want toll lanes done right campaign, a project where we're advocating for free non-transponder carpooling for the 91 Express Lanes and along proposed Inland Empire high occupancy toll lanes for I-15 and I-10. The question deals with defective FasTrak transponders along tolled express lanes that support free non-transponder carpooling. What would happen if a solo driver wants to buy his/her way into a HOT lane system that supports free non-transponder carpooling, follows the rules of mounting a FasTrak transponder on the windshield, but unknowingly has a defective transponder that won't get read by the overhead toll antennas?

That's a great question, and on the surface it might appear to be a red flag toward supporting free non-transponder carpooling in the toll lane network. In HOT lane corridors that mandate transponders for carpoolers like the 91 Express Lanes and LA's Metro ExpressLanes, photo enforcement systems ensure that tolls are collected for any vehicles that pass through with a defective FasTrak. Cameras take the picture of the license plate of any vehicle that does not have a transponder. If the license plate happened to belong to a preregistered vehicle, the toll amount is automatically deducted from the patron's account; otherwise, the vehicle owner will get a toll payment violation notice in the mail.

Addressing the issue of defective FasTrak transponders in HOT Lanes

For HOT lane systems that support free non-transponder carpooling like San Diego County and Bay Area corridors, if the toll antennas don't detect a working FasTrak, the system assumes that the vehicle is a free carpool. So, that leaves an issue of solo drivers who follow the rules of the road but are not paying the toll.

There are three ways address this, each using intelligence driven enforcement methods. First, prevention measures would include the regular rotation of FasTrak transponders and proper maintenance of the toll antennas.

Secondly, the overhead toll antennas combined with other traffic cameras along the corridor could be set up in a way to visually detect defective transponders. If one is found, the license plate number would be photographed and agency staff would review the case in confidence. If necessary, the account holder would be asked to exchange the FasTrak transponders for no additional charge.

Lastly, the CHP would visually check for the presence of a transponder for non-carpoolers combined with using remote mobile transponder readers to check for its functionality and account status. If a FasTrak is properly mounted, but not functional, the officer would pull the motorist over and validate the FasTrak account using the transponder's ID number. If a valid toll account from any FasTrak agency is found, the account is simply billed by the officer, data collected from traffic cameras would determine the toll amount, and the account holder would be asked to replace the defective tag. The driver is then free to go. If the FasTrak is not linked to any valid account, the driver is issued a carpool violation ticket. Any counterfeit, altered or fake transponders would also be confiscated and used as evidence toward the carpool violation ticket. Those are ways to solve this problem without having to mandate transponder accounts for toll free carpools.

Separating the toll traffic from carpools near the toll antennas

The I-25 HOT lane system in Denver which supports free non-transponder carpooling separates the toll traffic from free carpoolers at the overhead toll antennas. Toll paying solo drivers who drive in the tolled lane and pass through without a working EXpressToll transponder will have their license plate photographed with a bill sent in the mail. The separated HOV lane is a dedicated carpool lane; solo drivers caught in the lane will have a chat with law enforcement.

This method of enforcement works with Denver and could also work with the Inland Empire's HOT lane system. The challenge is predicting and keeping track of the number carpools and toll paying traffic to determine if additional lanes need to built to prevent bottlenecking and control lane weaving.

Californians have to wait again

The 2013 state legislative session concluded last Friday with the Legislature scheduled to reconvene January 6, 2014. Generally, the state government has once again failed to pass legislation that will allow the private sector to improve the state's market economy and the state's spending spree under the will of labor groups continues. Between the state and local governments, Californians owe nearly $850 billion in debt, and that figure will likely top $1 trillion according to a report by The California Public Policy Center if the public wage and pension madness continues in the state.

That debt can never be paid off or controlled under the current economic and political climate no matter how high taxes are increased. In August, we've called for the state to take action on this spending fiasco problem by passing fair and sound legislation. Trivial regulations have sapped marketplace economic expansion. Government misspending and high public employee salaries have led to overpriced and delayed transportation infrastructure and operations. Both controversies place heavy obstructions on getting Southern California moving with a first-rate transit system. So what kinds of bills did the Legislature actually send to Governor Jerry Brown? How did the lawmakers fare in solving our transportation problems from the state level? Let's take a look at few:

CEQA Reform - Under current law, loopholes in the landmark legislation allow just about anybody with a lawyer to send any major development project to court whether or not such development would actually negate the environment. This undoubtedly inflates costs.

Guess what? Significant reform will have to wait until 2014. Instead, the state approved special favor legislation that would speed up the judicial review process of any lawsuits filed specifically against the replacement of an NBA sports arena in Sacramento. To be fair, the new arena will serve as a replacement venue from the existing Sleep Train Arena and the facility will be developed in the downtown area. We'll take a closer look at this project before making a judgment, but granting special favors and exemptions in general is certainly not fair public policy. By the way, local officials in Riverside County requested a similar favor when the Metrolink Perris Valley Line was stalled in court; that never became law. 

Wage Reform and California's Market Economy - We've called on the state to seriously reform public employee wages and pensions to match salaries offered in the marketplace. We've pushed for the state to support legislation that would allow the private sector to invest in the state's economy without directly dumping any public money into the marketplace. That would have increased the value of worker wages and benefits. A strong labor workforce fuels our transportation systems with the resources needed to operate. Such policy would be a win-win for both businesses and their workers. Did the state and unions propose productive legislation like that?

Nope. Instead, the state approved a bill that would hike California's minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2016 in a vain attempt to prop up the economy. Brown reported that he would sign the bill into law. To be fair, many working Californians will see an increase in take home pay and may be inclined to spend more. Although it looks fine on the surface, the value of the wage dollar will only go up under a robust economy and the abundance of marketplace jobs. Under the current political climate and job market, that's not going to happen. Instead, Californians are going to see the dollar further inflated and devalued if nothing is done to improve the state economy.

To make up for the losses, businesses are going to have to increase their prices or cut positions. That's a reality. Just wait and see how much you'll be paying for a Big Mac a few years from now. Also, with the devalued dollar in the state, fed up Californians and businesses may simply move out.

The state had better whip up some plans to make California a better place to do business and fast. The state needs to cut out trivial state regulations so that the wage hike doesn't worsen a soft state economy nor cause a cost hike of already overpriced transportation infrastructure projects. Specifically, California will need to get its economic level to match the robust economic times of 1968 where the value of a $2-per-hour federal minimum wage spiked over $10 in today's currency. This must be done without inducing pollution, urban sprawl, traffic congestion, or corporate corruption. You want a high minimum wage? That's how it's going to work for the economy. In fairness, the state did pass modest public pension reforms last year and is fighting to keep the legislation active in federal court. However, much more must be done to get California's economy back to a robust state. 

Clean Air - On the pollution front, things aren't so bad. China's top climate negotiator and Brown signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday to combat dirty Chinese air. The MOU does reference heavily on global warming, still a debatable topic, but the fact is that China's pollution remains at disastrous and unhealthful levels and must be controlled. The focus certainly should be about protecting the lives and the health of the Chinese with clean air, especially given that much of our consumables are manufactured there. We'll see if this MOU does anything to clean up China's disgraceful air quality.

We'll continue to analyze what's happening up in Sacramento and see how the proposed laws will impact the future of Inland Empire mass transit. However, it generally looks like fair and sound legislation to fix California's transportation system with a strong and productive marketplace labor workforce is going to have to wait again.

Transportation Tips: Question Authority

One of the countless blessings we have as United States citizens is the freedom to peacefully question authority under the 1st Amendment. The good folks in Moreno Valley are showing that being an informed individual pays off. Instead of going forth with their individual agendas, many in the valley "where dreams soar" have noted questionable special interest pandering in City Hall and responded by exposing it in the public arena. The controversy is the logistics development industry indirectly dictating city policy. Developers have donated to politicians in order to get them elected and, thus, attained a government that would say "yes" to whatever projects they applied for with total disregard to the people's will. Concerned citizens caught on to the madness and are peacefully fighting to take back their local republic called Moreno Valley. Residents are peacefully protesting in front of City Hall. Multiple Facebook pages have emerged opposing the runaway warehouse development. Residents are even organizing a campaign to put those sitting on the City Council out of power. The local press has been on board with detailed articles and sound editorial positions which echo the public's will.

This week's tip calls for you to question authority whenever you suspect the government or a special interest behaving badly. Besides Moreno Valley, we've pointed to several other controversies that have been obstructing both the market economy and the expansion of the Inland Empire's transit system. We've got a federal executive branch, the U.S. Department of Labor specifically, possibly overreaching its power to pander to the will of labor unions. Government labor groups are demanding higher wages without proposing realistic ways to improve the market economy and the value of the wage dollar that goes with it. Public infrastructure costs are artificially high because public workers are paid more than market value. The feds continue in a vain attempt to form a centrally controlled economy by pumping money into the marketplace which saps motivation, devalues the dollar and worsens the $17 trillion national debt. The State of California is one of the least business-friendly states in the nation. Trivial regulations are restricting the growth of jobs to part time or contract only.

With today's technology of blogs, social networking, and instant access to the news, getting legit and fact-based concerns into the public arena has never been easier. If you think that a special interest or a governing body is behaving badly by obstructing a robust transit system, clean air, and a first-rate market economy, question its authority.