Bite the Bullet Now -- Jump Into the Carpool

I confess that I am one of those persons plying the 101 Freeway alone in my automobile, hauling 4,000 pounds of steel, glass and rubber into the city every day. Not a day goes by that I do not realize that I should be carpooling from my home in Agoura Hills to North Hollywood. Like the vast majority of commuters who keep the carpool rate at perhaps 10%, I am too selfish to sacrifice convenience to join a carpool.

Caltrans’ meetings with the public to suggest alternatives to massive construction projects apparently ignore the obvious. If 90% of the commuters joined carpools or used public transportation, rather than 10%, there would not be any congestion on the 101 Freeway.

Maybe I need leadership to abandon my selfish ways -- perhaps the abandonment at all levels of government of SUVs provided by public funds. Why not toll booths at every freeway entrance during the rush hour? Too much sacrifice?

Kevin H. Park

North Hollywood

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“A Chastened Caltrans Gets Public Input on Easing 101 Congestion” (Dec. 13) mentioned the fact that all input from the public on the widening of the 101 Freeway was now being considered. I don’t believe this is the point to be stressed. Because of the state’s financial problems, money is very scarce for many badly needed highway and freeway projects, including the widening of the 101 Freeway. I believe this is the time for the private sector, which has benefited the most from the automobile -- the automobile manufacturers, the tire manufacturers and the oil companies -- to step forward to be part of the solution, by contributing financially to an alternative transportation system, a monorail, to be built alongside all the major freeways in Southern California.

David Einhorn

West Hills