Replace CenterLine with efficient bus lines The...

Replace CenterLine with efficient bus lines

The possible end of the CenterLine could be the beginning, not the

end, of transit planning in Orange County.

Orange County citizens support better transportation options, and

we voted to pay for them with Measure M. However, the proposed

solutions need to make sense.

The Orange County Transportation Authority does not have a vision

for a transportation network. CenterLine would spend a lot of money

on a problem without considering more flexible and cost-effective

options. For example, bus travel could be made faster with a

combination of express and local routes and designated bus lanes with

more frequent runs. Routes could be extended to their logical end

points. For example, many buses run to the Newport Transit Center at

Fashion Island, but a transfer is required to get to Corona del Mar,

one mile away, at MacArthur and Coast Highway, a common tourist

destination.

The “preboarding” experience for bus riders should be improved as

well. For example, at the Harbor courthouse on MacArthur, the bus

stop has no benches and minimal sidewalk. At Fashion Island, the bus

depot is well-visited all day long, yet there is no place to buy a

cup of coffee or a sandwich.

Commuting via bus would be more pleasant if train-like depots were

built, where you could buy a cup of coffee, dial into your wireless

connection and read the paper while waiting, just like at a train

station or an airport. Orange County is missing out on a revenue

opportunity -- to construct commercial properties centered around bus

depots.

Dedicated, safe bikeways could make cycling our local roads a more

viable commuting option.

The OCTA should look at examples in other U.S. cities, such as

Seattle, where buses are an integral part of the transit network, and

construct a transit network we all can use. I’d even contribute to

trips for OCTA members to transit-friendly, bus-enabled towns if it

would help expand their vision of transit options.

LAURA C. CURRAN

Newport Beach

Jane Doe shouldn’t fall into the defense’s trap

I just read the article by Marisa O’Neil headlined “Doe’s stint on

the stand ensues.”

I found the account shocking.

Jane Doe appears to be fairly intelligent, but she doesn’t seem to

understand the trap Cavallo is trying to lay for her. He is trying to

get her to say that she remembers something after drinking the gin.

To me, the prosecutors have simply not prepared Jane Doe well to

handle the traps being laid by Cavallo. Why is it so hard to tell the

witness to answer Cavallo’s trick questions by stating the simple

truth: “I was unconscious during the rape.” She could also refer to

the tape and say: “The videotape shows that I’m telling the truth,

and nothing you say can change that fact.”

Like previous prosecutor Dan Hess, Chuck Middleton doesn’t appear

to be any match for Cavallo. If the prosecutors can’t win this case,

they can’t win any rape case, because the evidence pointing to guilt

in this case is overwhelming.

Jane Doe certainly has my sympathy. If I were questioned for a

week by Cavallo, I would probably confess to killing Martin Luther

King Jr., John F. Kennedy and even Abe Lincoln.

I hope the jury has the common sense to know that no teenage girl

could hope to match wits with Cavallo.

GARY L. VAN ZANDT

Mission Viejo