Frustrated! Mystified! Annoyed!

For about a year now a small, but energized, group of locals have been meeting and
exchanging emails on the topic of traffic in Cupertino and alternatives to an
automobile centric community.

My favorite pieces of feedback from community leaders include; 'we don't have a
problem in Cupertino,' 'you will never get them out of their cars,' 'the school
traffic only lasts a short time of the day and ends for 3 months during the
summer,' and, i do love this one, 'parking requirements are adequate.' This
final comment obviously comes from someone who has not tried to park at Whole
Foods, the new Ike's, Peet's behind Whole Foods, the Oaks front lot, La Boulanger, the Crossroads or Target.

The common theme that runs through my little list above is the Stevens Creek Boulevard corridor from the Post Office down to the end of town near Wolfe Road. As a
small group of visionaries we are not focused on today, or the past, so much as
we are on the future of traffic in Cupertino when a number of major projects
are completed. The question is begged; shouldn't we as a community be looking
forward to preventing a problem rather than snuffing it off to the outcome of
the Apple Campus 2 EIR? Apple is not going to be our savior!

Let's put it in perspective; other than Apple Campus 2, projects under development or near opening include the Bay Club at Vallco Mall, the new hotel on S. De Anza Boulevard near Stevens Creek, the Biltmore project, and the Main Street project. The truth is that Stevens Creek Boulevard is a valuable stretch of real estate for development and the resulting increased traffic.

Then there is the expansion of De Anza College. It goes without saying that this
growth is having an impact on our community.

This quote resonates with me daily, "Personally I love the idea of a trolley in
Cupertino and think it would add a bit of ambience and charm to a community
that is not known for having any personality."

"People are not going to give up their cars unless there is something very easily
accessible in Cupertino. It can't be something that would take a lot longer in
travel time than getting in their cars, because the time will trump the
environmental benefit." Author wished to remain anonymous.

I don't know what the solution is. Our little group is frustrated and stuck as we
appear to have reached a bottleneck of apathy toward the topic of alternative
transportation for our community.