For the past several years, Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) have been working hard to put together a new public transit project to connect Marina and Sand City with a Bus Rapid Transit line. I support the Surf! project and I want to help bring more public transit options to our city.
Here is a quick overview of the project from MST:
The SURF! Busway and Bus Rapid Transit Project is part of Monterey-Salinas Transit’s larger vision for:
- Connecting communities.
- Creating opportunity.
- Being kind to our planet.
Once buses are in service, SURF! riders will enjoy:
- More travel time options and more frequent transit service
- Better, more reliable transit without getting stuck in Highway 1 traffic
- Quiet, modern, and zero-emissions buses
SURF! buses will travel the same routing as existing Line 20 between Salinas, Marina, Sand City, Seaside and Monterey as well as 5th Street Station in former Fort Ord. Riders will have a seamless one-seat ride with connections throughout the Monterey Peninsula, Salinas, and beyond! Here’s what’s included with the SURF! busway:
Traffic signal upgrades and improvements in Marina, Sand City, and Seaside for better traffic flow.
A five-mile busway – road for buses only – parallel to Highway 1 next to the old rail lines, from Marina to Sand City and Seaside. Here buses will bypass traffic congestion.
One mile of new multiuse trail extensions from Beach Range Road in Marina and Sand City with improved access to the Fort Ord Dunes State Park and the planned Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway (FORTAG) network.
A new multimodal mobility hub in former Fort Ord with a safe drop-off and pick-up area, public parking with EV charging, and bicycle and mobility amenities including a bicycle repair station.
New transit stops serving Marina, Sand City, and Seaside.
As you can see there is a lot to like about this project and how it will improve our transit options in Sand City. However, there continues to be a lot of opposition to this project from a number of sources.
While some of these groups will stress the negative environmental impacts of the Surf! project, MST has done a lot of work to minimize the impact as much as possible. The main fact of the matter is that this area where the Surf! BRT is planning to be built has been used for transportation for over 140 years and up until the 1990s it was an active railway line. Surf! is a restoration of a historic use, not a disruption of pristine wilderness.
I personally love that the Surf! line will add easier connections to the amazing trails we have as well as provide a quick way from Sand City to the theater and shops in Marina. I host guests in my short term rental in Sand City (http://theoceanviewbnb.com) and often they do not have cars or parts of their party do not, with the Surf! line a few blocks away they will have fast access to a host of activities in the area. The theater in Marina, shopping in Salinas and access to downtown Monterey via the existing JAZZ BRT will be improved with this project.
On September 12th, 2024 the California Costal Commission will be meeting in Monterey, CA they are looking to discuss a staff report on the Surf! project that unfortunately in over 800 pages of data, completely ignores the facts on the ground or the benefit to the community that Surf! provides.
MST has sent a letter to the California Costal Commission pointing out the over 40+ errors in the staff report and justifies why Surf! is the best solution for improving transit for the coast.
I have spoken up at Sand City Council several times in support of Surf! and our long time Mayor of Sand City, Mary Ann Carbone is Chair of the Monterey-Salinas Transit Board of Directors has done a great job working with all of the local agencies to bring this project to reality. I hope that this last Costal Commission hurdle can be over come and we will be riding Surf! buses in Sand City in the next few years.
Please show your support for Surf! and keep up to date with the MST website https://mst.org/about-mst/planning-development/surf/
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