Why are there no car alarms anymore? Roadshow
Plus: More about the bike trail that's not next to Highway 85.
Q: It seems that there are more car break-ins (in San Francisco, specifically), and there was one in my neighborhood this past week. Sooooo, what’s with car alarms? Where did they go? Years ago you only had to nudge a car and their alarms would sound. Now I hear none and vandalism continues with parked cars and damaged windows.
K.J., Scott, San Jose
A: Car alarms are popular, maybe too popular. Police say alarms are so sensitive that they are often triggered accidentally, and people have become immune to them, ignoring them as false alarms. They may be effective against amateur thieves and joyriders, as they will usually select a car without an alarm before one that is alarmed. Professional car thieves, however, can disable an alarm in just a few seconds.
Car thefts now account for a staggering $8.2 billion a year in losses in the U.S., and the cities with the highest rate of thefts per resident may surprise you. Albuquerque had the most stolen in 2018, with Bakersfield No. 4. Redding, Stockton, Vallejo, Los Angeles and San Jose all came in the top 50.
Q: I believe the Highway 85 transit idea down the median is too good of an idea not to happen. Saying it would attract too few riders seems ridiculous, given how congested 85 is during normal times at rush hours.
Steven-A-Light-Rail-Fan
A: Ridership would likely not be high outside of commute times. About 40% of riders through downtown San Jose come between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Instead, the VTA is looking to convert the current carpool lanes on 85 into express lanes and also to run more buses and shuttles.
Q: You say that a bike trail along the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) tracks parallel to Highway 85 is planned but not imminent. What does that mean?
Don Collins, San Jose
A: Cupertino has launched a study to build out a portion of the trail along UPRR — named the De Anza Trail. Alas, UPPR does not support any trail along their tracks. Despite a significant and protracted effort, Cupertino was not able to reach a compromise with the UPRR. Building a trail along this corridor is still a long-term goal, but is not feasible in the short term due to current UPRR policies.
But don’t give up. The VTA has identified the 85 corridor and the proposed UPRR trail as an important element of a conceptual countywide bicycle superhighway network. Cities have separate plans that, when combined, would provide a continuous 20-mile bike path/low-stress bikeway/protected bike lane from the end of Stevens Creek Trail (at Heatherstone Way in Mountain View) to the Coyote Creek Trail in San Jose.
That would be cool.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com or 408-920-5335.