Mikaela:
While the world burns, good things abound here in the Duke City.
- Rail Runner Commuter Service (FREE for 3 months)
- New FREE downtown bus service
- Parking meter machines
Today is a big day for public transportation. The new commuter rail service, much touted and debated, is finally up and running, (eventually) linking Belen and Los Lunas to the south with Albuquerque and the town of Bernalillo to the north. Stations south of downtown are not yet on-line. Starting today, you can travel from downtown ABQ to the Journal Center/Los Ranchos to Sandoval County/550. Belen and Los Lunas will be ready by the end of the summer; others should be ready by the end of the year. Even though not all stops are available yet, I, for one, am interested in taking a trip to the Range via rail. The service seems more interesting for regional tourism than for daily commuters, but here's hoping for the best!
In conjunction, the City has instituted a downtown bus loop to run every 7 minutes, basically between Gold and Lomas, picking up bus and commuter rail passengers from the Alvarado Transportation Center and shuttling them around downtown for free. A great idea, and one that I loved in Seattle.
Lastly, the Journal reported that the City is replacing parking meters with fancy-schmancy machines that take plastic. Woo-hoo! This no-cash-carrying, all-credit-card girl is ecstatic not to live in fear anymore, although the movie buff in me is saddened at the passing of the technology that opens Cool Hand Luke so perfectly.And now, I'm taking a deep breath to say ... thank you, Mayor Chavez, for your part in supporting efforts toward making Albuquerque more walkable, more urban, more useable, and more fun to live in. See, Marty? It's not that hard. Just focus on what's already here and make it work better! My really huge and unqualified thanks go to the staff at ABQ Ride for helping put the right ideas in front of the Mayor and for the tenacity to follow-through to implementation.
See you on the bus!
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