Unmet transit needs

Sometimes a picture really is worth 1,000 words.

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments is in the midst of another round of hearings, requesting input, asking people to gripe about how transit doesn't meet their needs.

Here's mine: I want to be able to take transit to the Safeway store at the intersection of Fair Oaks and Manzanita. The picture below offers 1,000 words about my unmet transit need.

It is actually worse than it looks since the No. 10 and No. 9 community bus routes offer very limited service. When they are not available, the route uses the No. 82 to No. 23 bus at Watt and El Camino. That bus goes east on El Camino to Fair Oaks, increasing the trip time from 49 minutes to more than an hour.

There are a number of ways to submit your "unmet transit need" example to SACOG:

• Mail your comments to:
  Sacramento Area Council of Governments
  Attn: Barbara Bechtold
  1415 L Street, Suite 300
  Sacramento, CA 95814
  
  
• Email: transit_needs@sacog.org
  
  
• Phone Comments: (916) 340-6275
  
  
• Fax Comments: (916) 321-9551
  
  
• Online Comment Form: www.sacog.org/transit/comments.cfm

As a supporter of transit, I feel a need to offer a postscript to this post. I may not be able to get to the grocery store closest to my house, but that doesn't mean I can't shop for groceries conveniently from the No. 82 bus that goes by my house. As the map below shows, getting to Raleys at Watt and Marconi is a very real option. Driving takes about 5 minutes and the bus just 12 minutes.