Regular Passenger Service From San Jose to Sacramento?

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:12:46 -0800, CHANGE USERNAME TO westes wrote:

I would feel
better than on the trips by car that take two and one half hours, and I
would be feeling a whole lot better than the trips that take five hours.

don't you have any reasonable public transportation? I thought there is a
train going along the coast connecting major cities (?).

#m

--
The policy of the American government is to leave its citizens free,
neither restraining them nor aiding them in their pursuits.
Thomas Jefferson

Sure, as long as you don't mind spending six hours making the trip that's an
option. The train has lots of stops and one major stopover and switch of
trains.

I'm looking for a way to shorten the trip.

--
Will
westes AT earthbroadcast.com

"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:12:46 -0800, CHANGE USERNAME TO westes wrote:

I would feel
better than on the trips by car that take two and one half hours, and I
would be feeling a whole lot better than the trips that take five hours.

don't you have any reasonable public transportation? I thought there is a
train going along the coast connecting major cities (?).

#m

--
The policy of the American government is to leave its citizens free,
neither restraining them nor aiding them in their pursuits.
Thomas Jefferson

"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
don't you have any reasonable public transportation? I thought there is a
train going along the coast connecting major cities (?).

Generally speaking, we don't have trains like exist in Europe, Japan, and
perhaps elsewhere. I know there's a high-speed rail on the East Coast, but
as far as I know, nothing like that on the West Coast.

So, in answer to your question, no...generally speaking we have no
"reasonable public transportation". There are certainly exceptions in
certain metro areas, but as a rule, Americans prefer to spend tax dollars on
pavement, not trains and buses.

Pete

don't you have any reasonable public transportation? I thought there is a
train going along the coast connecting major cities (?).

I'd have to say that "reasonable public transportation" doesn't exist
on the U.S. west coast - unless you live in one big city and want to
go to another (like SFO-LAX). And then you have the hassles of going
through all the airport nonsense.

Some years ago I wanted to travel one way between RDM and SBA. They
wanted $400 or so for a flight. Forget that. I went to two different
Greyhound terminals - and couldn't get a straight answer out of either
one. I wound up hitchhiking to Chemult, OR to catch the train. It was
an hour late, and I stood on an open platform in a snowstorm waiting
for it. After some time there some people waiting in a car took
pity on me and offered me a seat. The train ride itself was fine -
but I got off in Redding, CA at 4 AM - and NOTHING was open (except
the Greyhound bus station). BLNT.

More recently I needed to travel between the SAC area and SBA. To be
sure, there are flights - by way of SFO. Figure on the usual airport
hassles times two - including getting reinspected in SFO despite
never having left the transit lounge. I found that I could rent a
car and drive it at about half the cost and maybe an hour more
door to door.

More recent still was travel between FOT and SBA. You can take the
airlines from ACV with the usual SFO stop if you like. If you want
Amtrak it's a bus at 7 AM to Martinez (across from Vallejo), then
a train to Bakersfield, followed by another bus to SBA. Total 16
hours (barring delays, which are not uncommon). I can drive it in
12 hours and fly it in 3. Which would you choose?

By the way - the trains are just fine - clean and comfortable.
Pretty cheap, too. However, they are few and far between, frequently
late, and way too slow.

David Johnson

Some years ago I wanted to travel one way between RDM and SBA.

More recently I needed to travel between the SAC area and SBA. To be
sure, there are flights - by way of SFO.

More recent still was travel between FOT and SBA. You can take the
airlines from ACV with the usual SFO stop if you like.

I have no idea what RDM, SBA, and FOT are, and I live in the state.
Well, SBA I can guess is Santa Barbara. Why should I guess though?
Why not just type out the friggin' city names?

It's much worse when someone posts "I took a trip from SLW to CMI via
WPC, SQP, and XCS and the views were great" and you have no idea even
what part of the country they're talking about, 'cause it turns out
it's on the East Coast 3000 miles from you. I mean c'mon, type out
those place names so we can all read along.

Personally, I think a better practice would be to post both the airport code
and the name of the MAJOR city the airport is associated, much as is done in
the A/FD. Something like "XXX (Chicago)". Here in Chicago we have several
large airports that are just outside the city limits, but are considered
"Chicago" airports.




"Bob Fry" wrote in message
...
Some years ago I wanted to travel one way between RDM and SBA.

More recently I needed to travel between the SAC area and SBA. To be
sure, there are flights - by way of SFO.

More recent still was travel between FOT and SBA. You can take the
airlines from ACV with the usual SFO stop if you like.

I have no idea what RDM, SBA, and FOT are, and I live in the state.
Well, SBA I can guess is Santa Barbara. Why should I guess though?
Why not just type out the friggin' city names?

It's much worse when someone posts "I took a trip from SLW to CMI via
WPC, SQP, and XCS and the views were great" and you have no idea even
what part of the country they're talking about, 'cause it turns out
it's on the East Coast 3000 miles from you. I mean c'mon, type out
those place names so we can all read along.

In article ,
Bob Fry wrote:

Some years ago I wanted to travel one way between RDM and SBA.

More recently I needed to travel between the SAC area and SBA. To be
sure, there are flights - by way of SFO.

More recent still was travel between FOT and SBA. You can take the
airlines from ACV with the usual SFO stop if you like.

I have no idea what RDM, SBA, and FOT are, and I live in the state.
Well, SBA I can guess is Santa Barbara. Why should I guess though?
Why not just type out the friggin' city names?

It's much worse when someone posts "I took a trip from SLW to CMI via
WPC, SQP, and XCS and the views were great" and you have no idea even
what part of the country they're talking about, 'cause it turns out
it's on the East Coast 3000 miles from you. I mean c'mon, type out
those place names so we can all read along.

AMEN!

IMHO, those guys who post only IDs are trying to appear "professional"
and "knowlegeable" but fail to communicate clearly.

On 25 Nov 2004 10:51:16 -0800, Bob Fry
wrote:

Why not just type out the friggin' city names?


Because it makes them look like high tech aviators. It's all about
being cooler than the next guy isn't it?

In total agreement.
z

I see in another thread some grumbling about using airport
abbreviations instead of placenames. In general I agree that
it is appropriate to give the city name first, then use the
abbreviation in following remarks. In this case the topic
was lousy public transportation - and you could substitute
the name of just about any medium-sized city (with airline
service, and the story would be the same. I was also in a
hurry at the time of the previous post.

Be that as it may, the places I was referring to are as
follows:

LAX - Los Angeles CA
SFO - San Francisco, CA
SBA - Santa Barbara, CA
RDM - Redmond, OR
SAC - Sacramento, CA
ACV - Arcata, CA
FOT - Fortuna, CA (no airline service, but an Amtrak stop
- served by ACV).

David Johnson