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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 23h

Rail and trail in İzmir, Turkey, sent in by one of our volunteers. Bike to the station. Ride the train. Bike the last mile. This is what a complete, car-free trip looks like. #RailAndTrail

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Rail goes where the bus AND car can not. The straight shot between the Westside of Santa Cruz and Capitola is what makes rail travel times faster than a car, even without traffic. SC Rail transit is the only public transportation option with reliable travel times that will be faster than driving.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Our rail line connects to the rest of the state. Imagine all the places you could go with a connected rail system like this one. #CaliforniaRail #RailAndTrail

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The trail expands transportation choices. Rail expands them again. Why would we build one and permanently give up the other? 🚶 Walking works for some trips. 🚲 Bikes work for some trips. 🚌 Buses work for some trips. 🚆 Trains work for some trips. 🚗 Cars are necessary for some trips.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Transportation should work for everyone, not just the people who can check every box. That means a trail, a rail line, and buses that connect to each other, so more of us can leave the car at home when that works. That's what a complete transportation system looks like. #RailAndTrail

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

It's the weekend, and we're dreaming of trains again. The Suntan Special at the Boardwalk, 1940s. Rail moved people. It also brought them together. Still does, where it runs. Photo: Santa Cruz Trains

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Someone always says transit costs too much. Roads cost money too. Gas taxes and tolls used to cover most of that. Now they cover about half. The rest comes out of income and sales taxes, which everyone pays, including people who never drive.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

School's back, and everybody's morning got harder. Most families have more places to be than people to get there. A parent's shift starts at eight, a kid's class starts at eight, and they aren't in the same part of the county.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Hotel locations don't lie. The people staying in them eat and shop all along the rail line. Visitors spent $1.4 billion in this county in 2024, a big share of our economy. Let's give them a way to get around that supports our businesses without adding to our traffic. Map: SCCRTC. 2024

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

What does a rail and trail actually get us? A second way across the county. One that doesn't put everyone on Highway 1. A student in Watsonville reaching a class or a shift in Santa Cruz without needing a car to do it.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Every road has a bill. What you pay to own a car. Building and repairing roads. The people hurt and killed on them. How much of it runs on oil. The air. The land, every time we widen the highways. Rail and trail give us another way.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

"Just one more lane." It doesn't work with regular cars, and it won't work with robotaxis or flying ones. What gets people past traffic is an option that isn't in it. We already own ours. Rail and trail. #RailAndTrail - Cartoonist ZACH

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Rent is too high. Vehicles cost too much. Public transit helps everyone get ahead. Transit that runs separate from traffic is a public good. Everyone pays a little, anyone can use it.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

What happens if we put rail off for another thirty years? It gets more expensive. Construction costs don't go down. Another generation grows up with driving as the only way to get anywhere. More students and working people taking on a car payment, insurance, and gas just to get to work.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Santa Cruz is on California's rail map. Not as a someday idea. Our branch line is in the state rail plan, and Caltrans is doing the work now. Our line runs Davenport to Watsonville. At Pajaro it meets the main line, and from there it's San Jose, San Francisco, and south toward LA.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Capitola wants to hear from you about traffic and safety for pedestrians and cyclists! The city is writing its first Active Transportation Plan, and there's a survey open now. atp.cityofcapitola.gov

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

School is back in session, and thousands of kids in our county get there by bike and bus. They shouldn't have to share the road with cars to do it. On the trail, they don't. A safer system for our kids isn't a someday thing. We're building it now. #RailAndTrail

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Build for people, not cars. The rest follows. Community safety shouldn't be a second thought. #RailAndTrail

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Does it make sense to acquire a viable rail line simply to just abandon it? It was a functioning rail line when the RTC bought it. The Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line was acquired as a public transportation asset. Like any public investment, it required ongoing stewardship.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

How is California funding transportation this year? Here's a bit from the Governor's office. Nearly $2.5 billion just went out to more than 150 projects across the state: public transit, rail, local streets, and walking and biking routes.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Getting food, getting to work or school, having a little fun now and then. That's all most of us are really trying to do. Our transportation system: Sure. That will be $11,000 a year, plus a license, insurance, gas, and somewhere to park.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

What do we gain from a rail and trail? A way across the county that doesn't depend on Highway 1. A safe, separated route for people walking, biking, and rolling. All ages, all abilities.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Opposition to our Rail project uses tactics made famous from the Koch brothers to oppose public transportation projects nationwide. First - Delay, ‘question’, and hamper progress at every decision point.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

What does sustainable transportation planning look like? In 2012, Santa Cruz County bought the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line for $14.2 million. The idea was to secure a third transportation corridor for the county.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Myth: Gas taxes pay for our roads. Reality: Since 2008, Congress has transferred $275 billion from the U.S. Treasury's general fund to the Highway Trust Fund because gas tax revenues haven't covered the cost of highways. The federal gas tax hasn't increased since 1993.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The cheapest transportation system isn't one where everyone drives. It's one where everyone has choices. Every trip taken by train, bus, bike, or on foot is one less trip that calls for wider roads, more parking, and bigger highways.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Happy 4th! FORT is marching in the Aptos parade tomorrow and we'd love to see you there. Come watch the parade starting at 10am, or if you want to march with us, meet at 9am. Build the Trail. Keep the Rail. #RailAndTrail

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

One of our volunteers is traveling through Europe right now and sent us this. Bikes rolling past rail loading zones, trains used by everyone in the city, and infrastructure that just works.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

While trail construction on the North Coast continues, RTC’s change in direction for the mid-county trail from the trail with rail plan to a Greenway trail-only plan has led the RTC into shaky legal territory.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Tourism brings $1.4 billion into Santa Cruz County every year. Now most of that arrives by car, and Highway 1 shows it. Rail along our coast means visitors can move between the beaches, the Boardwalk, Capitola Village, downtown Watsonville, and everything in between without adding to the gridlock.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Not everyone drives, and not everyone can. Whether you're walking to the beach, riding a bike, or using a wheelchair, getting around shouldn't depend on owning a car. A Live Oak resident pointed out what rail offers here:

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Yes! We did vote on this, and no, we don't need to choose. We can preserve our rail corridor, maintain eligibility for future rail investments, and continue building the trail network that residents want.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

If the rail line disappears, traffic doesn’t magically vanish. Costs rise. Commutes get longer. People get pushed out. We’re standing up now so we don’t regret this later. Rail & Trail. Together. Stand up for what our community needs -> secure.everyaction.com/qwCstKMcyUul...

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

The car people are right, who needs rail? It's not like there are 70,000 students across the county at UCSC, Cabrillo, and our K-12 schools who might want a way to get around without a car. #RailAndTrail

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

A health care worker recently told us, "I work on the Westside, I live in Watsonville. It took me two hours to get home from work last night."

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Our community is fired up and ready to defend the local democratic process. This year our spring match raised more money than ever. People are putting their money where their values are to make sure the Rail & Trail projects happen as intended. Thank you to each and every one of you who show up.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

What happens if we postpone rail work for 30 years? That choice has a cost. A high cost. 77% of the people who live in Santa Cruz County and commute to work stay within the county. The great majority of them commute from Watsonville and the surrounding area northward.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Connecting the rail line plugs Santa Cruz into the larger California rail network. That means more opportunities for people here and access to more jobs.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Everyone in this county has different transportation needs. Some drive, some bike or walk, and a lot of our neighbors have no car at all. This map shows where zero-vehicle households cluster, from Santa Cruz to Watsonville. Different needs, but one shared answer. We need to be connected.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Rent is too high. Vehicles cost too much. Public transit helps everyone get ahead. Public transit is a public good, like libraries and schools. It saves money and gives anyone who needs it access to work, school, or recreation without an enormous monthly bill.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Sunday, June 7, join us for a fabulous celebration and a chance to share the good news about the rail and trail with our community. Wear your FORT t-shirt if you have one and join our contingent marching in the LGBTQ+ Parade. All are welcome! Look for us assembling on Cathcart St. Parade steps 11am.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Fresh pavement on the North Coast Trail. The trail now reaches Red, White & Blue Beach, and it's getting very close to Davenport. Real progress along the rail corridor, mile by mile. #RailAndTrail #SantaCruz

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Tomorrow we vote. Get those ballots in. Save the tracks. #SaveTheTracks #RailAndTrail #SantaCruzCounty www.railandtrail.org/bignews/does...

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Worth a watch. A cyclist rolling right over railroad tracks on the Cherry Avenue bridge in Chicago. That rubber strip in the gap is called a flangeway filler, standard infrastructure where bikes and rail share a corridor. Small thing, but it's part of what makes trail-with-rail designs work.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Here's what our Save the Tracks rally looked like. Neighbors of every age, background, and corner of the county showed up loud, with homemade signs, real speeches, and a message you couldn't miss: keep the tracks, don't derail our future, the way forward is hybrid trail-with-rail.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

"Traffic is a nightmare. Climate change is getting worse. And our county is segregated by that 20-mile parking lot we call Highway 1." That's how Wednesday's launch of our Summer of Action to Save the Tracks opened, and it set the tone for one of the best rallies we've had.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Ever wonder how a rail line is repaired and replaced? Take a quick look at the process in this condensed timelapse. Undercutting, tamping, welding, all the work that goes into smoother, faster tracks. #RailAndTrail

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Rail with trail works. Communities all over the country are proving it. This one's Falmouth, Massachusetts. 🚲🚆 📸 Steve Hurley, via Cape Cod And Islands Railroads And Trains History #RailWithTrail #RailAndTrail

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

No matter how you spin it, a car is still a car. 🚗 Gas, hybrid, EV. They all need parking, pavement, and miles of highway. They all leave people stuck in traffic and stuck with the bill.

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Friends Of The Rail & Trail @railandtrail.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

People want to get from home to work. The rail line does exactly that. Look at where the Santa Cruz Branch Line runs and what's around each stop. This corridor wasn't drawn on a map by accident. It threads directly through where people already live and where they already work. #RailAndTrail

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