two more years?!

i guess i shouldn't complain. at least it is finally happening!

sorry. i am of course speaking of commuter rail along the wasatch front. what about it? i can't wait for it! that's what. after thirteen years of my wishing, finally there is some action. check out the Front Runner

by way of background, i am one of the thousands that work in salt lake city, but can't afford to live there. we live in outlying areas primarily to the north and south. (the wasatch front is much longer n/s that it is wide e/w.) how far outside downtown you live is by and large a function of your salary, versus the dramatically inflated housing costs.

anyway, thirteen years ago, i returned from living in japan. i spent nearly two years in the north end of tokyo and outlying areas to the north. i saw first hand the marvel that is the efficiency of the japanese rail system. the japanese can quite literally, set their watch by the trains.

shortly after i had returned home, and fallen back into my casual, car-driving, i began working in salt lake. my schedule at the time meant i never had to fight rush-hour traffic. with gas under a buck a gallon, i no longer considered the busses that took two or three times as long to get there. (express busses run during rush-hours, not my travel time.)

then, almost nine years ago, my new wife and i moved to new york city to work for a while. in many ways it took me back to japan. i rode the subway to work. i was reading books again. (i love to read, i just never found the time... but on the train...) i loved riding the train. plus the monthly transit pass was cheaper than my car insurance, let alone gas!

when we moved back to utah, and i began working "normal" hours, i quickly learned what rush-hour meant. since my wife and i both worked downtown, we rode in together, and occasionally had really bad traffic.

sidebar: for those who don't know, salt lake city is in the north end of a large valley. access to the valley from the north and south bottlenecks severely. (i mentioned how long and narrow the wasatch front was...) i-15 is the only thoroghfare on each end. if there is a wreck, or bad weather, the freeway backs up, and the few alternate, back roads, quickly fill beyond capacity, so there is no escape. (recently a bad snow and resultant crashes closed portions of the freeway, and there were people living by me who spend five hours getting home.)

anyway, about this time salt lake put light rail down the center of the valley, and seemed surprised how many people used it. i had always known that it would be a big success, and wished there was something like it for me...

later, after my five-year-old was born, mom stayed home, so i started going in to work alone. to save a little gas money, and to avoid stress on snowy days, i began taking the express bus. all together, it only took about 10 minutes longer than my drive. i didn't care because i saved a lot of gas money, and was reading again!

flash forward. after years of debate, including the legal debate that put the alternate highway project years behind schedule, commuter rail is under construction. i didn't care about the new highway, because with the growth rate in davis county, it wouldn't be enough for long, and even now, if it were available, a crash on it or i-15 would still fill the other, and back traffic up.

i wanted to ride a train to work again. how many times had i sat in traffic, barely moving, when i looked out the bus window to see freight trains flying past, wishing i was on it? at last, now i can look out the bus window and see construction progressing. in just about two years i should have my wish.

it looks like that in about five years, the rail system along the wasatch front will closely resemble maps i drew about seven years ago. i don't say this to brag. merely to show that even in the wide open spaces of the west, cars aren't always the answer.

i know this is kind of a boring, pointless ramble. if you couldn't tell, it took about 55 minutes longer than normal to get in to work this morning...