NANCY ROSSIGNOL
PRIDE STAFF WRITER
Unless you consider moving exciting, my Spring Break was nothing like a trip to Cancun. The highlight of my week, aside from avoiding any moving injuries, was the interesting afternoon I spent riding the Sprinter train.
By midweek, I had settled in to my new place in Vista, leaving behind the first half of the semester and the long commute from Fallbrook to campus. Now I am less than a mile from the Vista Transit Center and about nine miles from campus. My main motivation for the move from Fallbrook to Vista was to save time commuting, gas, money, and to avoid the stresses of driving in heavy traffic. What used to take a tank of gas per week will now take about one third of that.
My new place is very convenient to everything I need. I can walk a half block to the nearest bus stop, less than a mile to the Sprinter, a light rail train running a span of 22 miles between Escondido and Oceanside, and back again, seven days a week with newly extended weekend hours. A single ride, one-way trip, costs $2 or $1 for seniors and disabled persons. A regional day pass is $5, entitling passengers the use of Sprinter, Breeze, Trolley and MTS regular buses all day long. CSUSM students can purchase a monthly pass for $29, valid on Sprinter and Breeze. Other discounts are also available. See the complete schedule of station locations, departure/arrival times, and ticket prices at www.GoNCTD.com.
Most CSUSM students use the Sprinter to travel to and from campus, but I decided to explore my new surroundings by taking in all the stops and sights along the Sprinter rails. My excursion began with my parents at the Vista Transit Center at Santa Fe and East Vista Way, just off the 78 freeway, where we found plenty of parking and easily located the user-friendly Ticket Vending Machine (TVM). Free parking and TVMs are available at most Sprinter stations. We had no problems inserting our $15 cash for three tickets, but the machines do accept major credit cards and most debit cards. Passengers can also purchase a Compass Card: a refillable account card.
Since the Vista station is about halfway down the line, we decided to head east to the end of the track in Escondido then turn around and ride the entire length of the track to Oceanside for lunch. The eastbound Sprinter departed on time at 10:56 a.m. I found the online schedule very comprehensive since the trains run about every half hour in both directions. It took 20 minutes to get to the CSUSM station, five stops away from Vista, which is exactly how long it takes me to drive it in good traffic. The walk from the Sprinter station to campus is about the same as walking from the X parking lot. Going East past CSUSM, there is only one stop before arriving at the Escondido Transit Center. Once we arrived in Escondido, the Sprinter switched over to the westbound track and we headed back toward Oceanside.
The interior of the Sprinter was clean, and there was plenty of room for bikes, strollers, and luggage. The seats were comfortable with lots of legroom, and the windows provided a nice panoramic view of the springtime scenery. Passengers consisted of all age groups. Even the ticket taker was friendly. The stations were well maintained and seemed secure. We just sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the 53-minute ride from Escondido to Oceanside with 15 stops along the way. The ride was so quiet we thought the Sprinter’s power source must be electrical, especially given the name “light rail.” It surprised me to find that a clean burning diesel engine powers the train.
The Oceanside Transit Center is a major hub with connections to the Breeze, Coaster, AmTrak, Metrolink, and Greyhound. Passengers can travel on to popular destinations in San Diego County such as Balboa Park, PETCO Park, the zoo, Old Town, the airport or the far-reaching transit lines of AmTrak and Greyhound. There are also plenty of sights right in Oceanside including museums and restaurants within walking distance of the station, not to mention the Oceanside pier only four-blocks away. Since the weather was on the chilly side, we chose the closest place we could find: a little burger place near the Transit Store.
The next time you need to be somewhere, whether commuting to campus, work, sightseeing, or spending a day at the beach, bring along your bike, your buddies, and enjoy the ride. You never know what can happen on a train!
Photos courtesy of Nancy Rossignol