Group Steers Toward Ideas for Transit in Ventura : Government: A workshop collects proposals for the draft California Transportation Plan.

In the future, Ventura County commuters could hop aboard a hydro-foil boat and zip up the coast to Santa Barbara, or make the drive in their hydrogen-powered vehicle. Or better yet they could become “telecommuters” to take care of business and never leave home.

These were just a few of the ideas kicked around among transportation planners and city officials at a workshop Thursday sponsored by Caltrans and the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

The purpose of the workshop was to collect ideas from local officials on the draft California Transportation Plan, a working document aimed at improving and expanding public transportation to serve the state’s growing population over the next 20 years.

The plan’s goals include improving mass transit, while reducing air pollution, reliance on gasoline-powered vehicles and the number of commuters driving alone to work, said Caltrans planner Christine Ratekin.

The plan is also intended to improve the state’s economic development by moving people, goods and services more easily and efficiently on the state’s highway system or by rail, or other means, Ratekin said.

County and city officials are being encouraged to consider developing new and energy-saving transportation.

Bill Prince, Ojai’s planning director, suggested developing a hydro-foil boat that would whisk Ventura County commuters to Santa Barbara as a way to reduce congestion on the Ventura Freeway.

“It seems the solution is always to make the freeways bigger,” Prince said. “Hydro-foil could be used” instead to get people out of their cars.

Norman Wilkinson, Santa Paula’s public works director, said the state should consider investing heavily in new technology to manufacture hydrogen-powered vehicles that would run without emitting any pollution.

“If we don’t start working now on how we can get off fossil fuels, then we’re going to come up against the same issue in another 30 or 40 years with no solution,” Wilkinson said.

Other planners talked about developing a high-speed rail line and encouraging better cooperation between the trucking and rail industries to move goods more efficiently.

But most officials said that while it’s nice to talk about improving and expanding transportation services, they said there is barely enough money to maintain existing roads and transit programs.

“We keep expanding what we’re doing now in transportation, like rail and other things,” Wilkinson said. “Yet, the revenue doesn’t expand.”

Wilkinson and other planners said cities and counties also need more flexibility in how they can use state and federal transit money. But the overwhelming cry was for more money.

“We need more of everything,” Wilkinson said. “We’ve been living off the investment of our parents in transportation for the last 20 years and we’re not investing for our children.”

Ginger Gherardi, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, said telecommuting or “electronic travel” may be the best and cheapest way to reduce traffic congestion. Telecommuters work at home or at satellite offices using telephones, computers and fax machines to communicate with their company’s main office.

“I think in the future we’re going to see telecommuting grow tremendously,” Gherardi said. “It’s one of the few areas that is probably not going to require a lot of public investment.”

Ratekin said federal law requires that all states put together a comprehensive 20-year transportation plan, if it is to continue receiving federal funding. She said California’s plan must be submitted to Gov. Pete Wilson by December.