Comments on: San Juan Unveils Plan for “Walkable City,” Hopes for Light Rail on Isleta

By: Robert Quintana

Robert Quintana — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:25:15 +0000

The tren Urbano is an extrodinary transit system in san Juan Puerto Rico. Unfortunately like many things in Puerto Rico projects like this one becomes entangle in politics and never gets done. The victims are the communters. Please lets get this work done for the benefit of EL Pueblo

By: Pedro Ramos Jr.

Pedro Ramos Jr. — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:02:55 +0000

I think that the idea of a “light Rail”for San Juan,as proposed,is a very good idea.In order for this project to be successful,the fare charged should be reasonable.

I hope that the fare paid at this facility will not be as ridiculous as the toll that is actually paid at the “Teodoro Moscoso” bridge.

By: Wow

Wow — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 05:02:53 +0000

They said ‘no’ only because the government expected Plaza to fork up the money for the station, when the rest had been at government’s expense.

By: Crossroader 53

Crossroader 53 — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:01:23 +0000

I really wish they would have built the Tren Urbano coming into the San Juan Metroplex from cities such as Ponce, Cayey, Caguas. I believe the investment would have been smaller and the revenues much greater. After all, who wants to have to drive from so far away and then park their cars just to take the Tren Urbano for a short trip around the general San Juan area? People really want to avoid the famous “Tapon” and would gladly pay not to have to get caught in it.The greater revenues could have then been used to create an intra-city rail system. But then, what do I know?

By: JL

JL — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:15:36 +0000

The Netherlands has the best Light Rail system in the Heart of the City that serves both tourists and Locals. Puerto Rico should model its lightrail after the Netherlands system.

By: Michael R

Michael R — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:16:14 +0000

I do not live in San Juan but I used to work there before Tren Urbano opened and I visit yearly so I’m familiar with the system. One question, does anyone trying to get to OSJ from points along the train’s route ever transfer from the Hato Rey station to the Acuaexpreso terminal? I did it once last year and it worked very well. The ferry runs frequently enough so it’s feasible, the trip is only 15 minutes and the cost is only $1. Granted, you might think it’s not frequent enough (running every hour) but, if you plan your trip smartly, you can time the transfer easily. I just recently heard the cost for TU dropped to 75 cents making the total cost $1.75. I currently live in Chicago where one trip without transfer costs $2.25 and many people, like me, have to make at least one transfer to get to work.

Doesn’t this solve the problem of getting to Old San Juan from anywhere along the train’s path?

By: Engiguy

Engiguy — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:46:09 +0000

Well not exactly ‘fought the plans’. When the train was in the planning stages, the government went to the Fonalledas Family (owner’s of Plaza) and asked them if they wanted a station nearby the mall. The Fonalledas smugly said: No thanks; the people expected to use the train are not Plaza customer’s.

A bit shortsighted and elitist I would say…

By: John W

John W — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:41:04 +0000

Presumably it also brings more shoppers as well! The question is, does the shoplifter to customer ratio change? Or the ratio of shoplifting losses to sales? If shoplifting rises by 10% but sales rise by 25%, there’s not too much to complain about. Do you have any statistics to back up this ‘fact of life’? It sounds a bit like when they do surveys about people’s perceived fear of crime, which can show an increase (presumably due to media sensationalism) even though actual crime stats are down.

By: eldondre

eldondre — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:18:05 +0000

John W-because it brings people, many of modest means or less. It’s a fact of life. they just opened a new line in santiago and shoplifting is up. Does that mean they shouldn’t have done it, but I can see that as a rationale for Plaza las Americas. Anyways, peaton-I’ve oftened wondered why there is no intercity bus service. Perhaps it’s because, as I saw elsewhere, it takes years to launch a new business, esp in the tourism sector. I’ve often thought about launching an intercity bus service terminating in old san juan making maybe two stops in san juan (one at the airport) on the way to ponce. I don’t live there, my wife is from there, and if PR gets it’s fiscal (and transportation act) we may move there. I think intercity bus service probably makes the most sense in the nearterm.

By: Peaton

Peaton — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:05:59 +0000

Try coming back to Santurce, even on M1, after getting out of work at 730-830 in Hato Rey. Try getting from Carolina to San Juan on Sunday. Its not easy. Miramar is fairly central, but from my time without a car I can’t call Metrobus amazing. Maybe my frame of reference is tainted by Europe, but my experience with las guaguas de la AMA has never been positive. The problem is that the service is erratic. I will agree that if you are in Miramar, Santurce, OSJ, or Hato Rey during working hours the bus service is fine, and people (especially middle class people) are too stuck up about it.

What intercity transit are you referring to, la linea sultana? Hardly any towns have bus lines with regular schedules. I can’t agree with you that there is even average transit between any regions of PR. The publico system may have worked at some point, but it is broken. A typical experience is showing up and having to wait 3 hours while it fills up.

Maybe Houston is worse, but I don’t agree that PR is acceptable, especially given the population density of the island, and how expensive car travel is for most residents here.