A
few nights ago, I came back from Los Angeles by train to Oceanside
and discovered that I had left my car keys somewhere else. It was
8:30 at night and I was roughly 20 miles or $90.00 by taxi to get
home.
It
turns out that I got home by spending $6.00 on local transit and
$10.00 for the final 3 miles. It took a few hours, but was otherwise
pleasant and educational. But it would not have happened without
the help of many of the other people on the poor trail home.
The
North San Diego County Transit Authority (NCTA) runs all the buses
and trains in the North County. Believe it or else, there is a light
rail system that connects Oceanside (pop 180K) to Escondido (150K).
How is it possible that these two communities are connected by train
when in Los Angeles they can not connect Santa Monica to Los Angeles?
Well I am here to tell you that they act that way down here out of
fear, fear that they will turn out to be Los Angeles, that hunk of
vile stinking shit, if they are not careful.
But
even a train does not do people much good if it is not run and the
fact is that all good white people in North County are home in bed by
8 PM in order to be able to get up at 5 AM when the rooster crows and
they have to start plowing the back forty. And except for Friday
night when they run it late for their teenagers, the last train east
is at 8:33 PM.
So
here I come wandering up at about 8:40 PM and all I see is an empty
train station and one black guy hunched over his bike. So I say to
him, I think we missed the last train. He looks at me. I say, I
think we missed the last train. He says, where you going. I say
Escondido. He says so am I. We have to take the 302/303 and then
connect to the 305, he says. It takes about two hours.
Now
I had been living in this here part of the world for a few years now
and I can tell you that I had never been able to figure out the
buses. I had not tried all that hard, it is true, but I had tried a
few times to figure it out and I could not make heads or tails out of
it.
But
with some discussion with my new friend and his bicycle these are the
things that I have learned which I write here so that the knowledge
may not be lost. And to encourage others to use the system when it
fits their lifestyle or circumstances.
1.
Although the train stops about 8:30 PM, major segments of the bus
system continues until about 11 PM or so on weekdays. After that, I
think you are either walking, taking your bike, or staying over in a
local motel or hotel lobby.
2.
All the buses that I saw were new, clean, did not seem to be pumping
out diesel or other shit, and were driven by nice people who spoke
English, whatever their first language may have been.
3.
Every bus I saw that night had room for two bicycles on a rack in the
front. I do not know what would happen if a third bicyclist showed
up, but that did not happen.
4.
It is not self-explanatory, but once you know, you realize that the
302 bus goes from Oceanside to Vista. And that the 305 goes from
Escondido to Vista and, although it does not say so, back again.
And furthermore, that the 305 arrives at Vista a few minutes after
the bus from Oceanside arrives at Vista.
5.
Now, armed with that knowledge, and with the knowledge that the buses
of the NCTA actually run on time, at most a minute or two late, you
can take two buses and arrive at Escondio transit center.
6.
But even better than that, I noticed that the bus to Escondido also
stopped at Nordahl & Mission, which is several miles closer to my
house.
7.
Now I have to admit that the 302 in particular seemed to go in
circles and that not everything was as speedy as it might be. It
took about an hour to go the 7 miles from Oceanside to Vista but it
took about 30 minutes to go the 12 or so miles from Vista to
Escondido.
8.
On top of that was a very nice, young, hip security guard at the
Vista station who was extremely helpful.
9.
I was also impressed that everyone was looking out for my interests,
moneywise. Unlike my experience in Escondido where you are expected
to pay like you were living in Manhattan or Beverly Hills, the people
of the NCTA and their passengers made no such assumption, and worried
whether I would have the 2 * $1.75 fare to get home.
Then
as a footnote to all this, when I arrived at Nordahl & Mission
expecting to have to walk the 2 plus miles home, I ran into a taxi
cab, which never happens, and he took me home for $10 including one
stop at the local mini-mall.
So
there you have it. It is not speedy, and the routes seem to be quirky as hell, but it does get you there and the people are very friendly. Be prepared to walk the last mile or two, of course.
I
really have to get over my “I hate buses” thing which I developed
living in LA where the buses are dirty, slow, unfriendly and made me
sick from the exhaust fumes.
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