ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Suburb to Suburb: A Pioneering Link

There was a time when commuting patterns were fairly simple. Suburbs grew up on the perimeters of cities, and people rode automobiles or trains from bedroom communities into the downtown area in the morning and returned in the evening.

Commuting patterns in Orange County, with its complex mix of residential and business areas, have evolved into something far from simple. That’s why the inauguration this week of suburb-to-suburb service via the new Irvine-Riverside train link represents an important development in regional transportation services.

Commuter rail service in and out of the county has been rather late developing, at least when compared to some other American exurban areas, such as that around New York City, where daily rail travel is a way of life. The expansive network of freeways and the culture of the automobile only recently ran headlong into an era of limits in which people regularly were stuck in traffic or couldn’t find affordable housing close to work. By the early part of this decade, driving for many workers had gone from a source of enjoyment at being out on the open road to a source of confinement. In survey research, congestion ranked very high on the list of concerns of residents in a county otherwise believed to represent a relatively hassle-free lifestyle.

It long has been clear that freeway improvements, while essential, are not enough. As one response, commuter trains were inaugurated in 1990 from points in Orange County to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to supplement existing Amtrak service running from points south. That was a good start. But as an employment center, Orange County has needed commuter services to supplement the relatively few and congested arteries bringing workers into the county who have sought affordable housing in Riverside County.

With all that, some glitches on inauguration day this week, such as faulty ticket machines, could hardly dampen the enthusiasm of commuters. It is a new day for many who now can read or work on trains instead of standing still in traffic. Metrolink officials have estimated that more than 500 commuters will take advantage of the new service each day. And trains will run back and forth six times daily between downtown Riverside and the Irvine Regional Transportation Center.

The suburb-to-suburb line is said to be the first of its kind in the nation. May it have a long and successful run.