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VTA and SJ Grand Prix out of touch
Posted: Jul 24 2007, 10:58 AM
Let me preface this with, I am a race fan!. I love the excitement it brings to San Jose. Ok… I got the Sunday Grand Prix supplement and I started to plan my 3 days at the races. There is the schedule. Friday Saturday and Sunday each day, events start at 9 AM and finish at 6 PM. Then we can walk to one of the downtown restaurants and maybe enjoy some of the night life. Driving and parking will be a pain, and with light rail in Campbell that’s the way to go… or so I thought.
The next page there’s an ad from VTA. Take the light rail, buy an excursion ticket! It good for 8 hours. 8 hours??? What?? The tickets are good for 8 hours after you buy them. The daily events are 9 hours. Plus you have to add travel time to the event. How short sighted was that? If the excursion tickets, which are really round trip tickets, were good for 12 hours, how much more would it cost VTA? How much would they lose? Nothing. I realize that most people won’t stay all day and into the night, but why discourage them with an arbitrary 8 hour rule?
That’s my rant.
The next page there’s an ad from VTA. Take the light rail, buy an excursion ticket! It good for 8 hours. 8 hours??? What?? The tickets are good for 8 hours after you buy them. The daily events are 9 hours. Plus you have to add travel time to the event. How short sighted was that? If the excursion tickets, which are really round trip tickets, were good for 12 hours, how much more would it cost VTA? How much would they lose? Nothing. I realize that most people won’t stay all day and into the night, but why discourage them with an arbitrary 8 hour rule?
That’s my rant.
Posted: Aug 3 2007, 06:40 AM
Hi Andy, why don't you write to Mr. Roadshow? I've written to him several times and he's printed my letters more than once and is very effective. This is definitely something VTA should have put more thought into. I'd use public transportation if it were easier and convenient but right now it's not. I know it's too late for this year but hopefully it's something they can iron out for next year, especially since the Grand Prix will be around for at least 5 more years.
Today's Roadshow column features a complaint about not enough ticket inspectors on Light Rail. They might change the URL so look for today's column dated 08/03/2007, Roadshow:Light rail is great, but system could use more ticket inspectors, http://www.mercurynews.com/mrroadshow. It's obvious VTA needs to get its act together.
Send an e-mail to Gary Richards at mrroadshow@mercurynews.com or call (408) 920-5335 by 3 p.m.
Today's Roadshow column features a complaint about not enough ticket inspectors on Light Rail. They might change the URL so look for today's column dated 08/03/2007, Roadshow:Light rail is great, but system could use more ticket inspectors, http://www.mercurynews.com/mrroadshow. It's obvious VTA needs to get its act together.
Send an e-mail to Gary Richards at mrroadshow@mercurynews.com or call (408) 920-5335 by 3 p.m.
