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ChineseIndio’s transit hub: Buses, trains and a lot of ambition
[tags]palm springs, sunline transit, coachella valley, indio, public transit[/tags]
Indio won’t just be a city trains pass through when the city’s transit center is completed.
Credit: Sonomabuzz via Flickr (Creative Commons license)
Indio, a city 20 miles southeast of Palm Springs, is breaking ground on a multimodal transportation hub at an old rail yard expected to open in about two years.
The city’s mayor, Ben Godfrey, is on a Napoleonic quest to make Indio another Oxnard or Oceanside, both of which have several modes at their transit centers. Here’s some of what Godfrey said to KESQ-Channel 3 that will serve Indio:
- Park-and-ride shuttles to Palm Springs and Los Angeles airports (!)
- Metrolink service to Los Angeles (!!)
- Bringing more Amtrak service into Indio (!!!)
Godfrey also said there are silent partners from the private sector who would pay for most of these improvements “who prefer to remain silent.” (!!!!) Yes, that’s a direct quote from the KESQ story.
Presently, Indio is served by four SunBus lines. Indio is the eastern terminal of Line 111, the backbone line of Coachella Valley. There are also three other bus lines: 80 and 90, loop routes with 30 minute service; and 91, a bus connecting with Thermal, Oasis and Mecca that runs every 70 minutes. One Amtrak Sunset Limited train passes through town three times a week, but stops in Palm Springs.
Discussion
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Metrolink to Indio (and PS, and the Coachella Valley as well) would be great.
As for “Park-and-ride shuttles to Palm Springs and Los Angeles airports” Just be aware that Ontario counts as a “Los Angeles airport.”
If they really want intermodal, they should sell the land next to the station to a tribe to build an Indian casino. That would be the only casino accessible to Southern California by rail without a bus shuttle.
Cal, the story did mention “silent partners who wished to remain silent.” A tribe, maybe?
That isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds, Wad… it seemed bizarre to me otherwise that a corporation would get involved without wanting the good publicity that could come with any development project.
Speaking of getting to Indian casinos…I figured out to get to some of them by mass transit relatively cheaply, if not easily.
Three of the casinos in San Diego County are accessible from L.A. by one train and two buses.
Once the Sprinter opens in December, it will be two trains and one bus!
1) Take Metrolink to Oceanside
2) Take NCTD Breeze Bus 308 (I think that was the express) to Escondido. Runs often.
3) Take NCTD Breeze Bus 388 to casinos. (Runs very infrequently.)
CONS: Total travel time, about 4 hours. (Almost as long as Las Vegas.) Impossible to get there and back in one day, necessitating overnight stay. Bus 388 only runs 4 times a day.
PROS: Very cheap. Metrolink to Oceanside from Union Station is about $12 each way. NCTD Day Pass is only 4 bucks. Bus 388 may only run 4 times a day, but it does run 7 days a week, same schedule.
I have not made this run yet, but I was amazed to know it could be done.
Actually, out of the Indian casinos, Harrah’s has an amazingly comprehensive shuttle system. It even serves the Crenshaw Metro Green Line station. http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/harrahs-rincon-san-diego/casino-misc/bus-schedule-detail.html They are free if you are over 21.