The North County Transit District’s Sprinter train offers a picturesque ride on a 22-mile route between Escondido and Oceanside in San Diego County.   

As the late afternoon train took me west across San Diego’s North County, winds from the Pacific gained strength, whistling as they hit the front car.

Through large windows, the tracks grew so bright in the setting sun that I had to squint whenever I looked ahead.

Californians with the bad luck to live far from San Diego may never have heard of Sprinter rail. It’s their loss. And not just because of the gentle, picturesque ride it offers on its 22-mile route from Escondido’s mesas to the Oceanside coast.

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But rather because Sprinter, operated by the North County Transit District, is a rare source of transportation inspiration during a time of pitch-black pessimism.

California’s 200-plus transit agencies are often said to be in a “death spiral,” suffering from diminished ridership, faltering revenues, service cuts, and public perceptions that their trains and buses are dangerous and dirty.

Sprinter suggests that our transit future might be brighter.

In an ugly world, Sprinter is reliably pleasant. Its two-car trains, painted green and blue and white, are striking on the outside and clean on the inside (by the standards of your columnist, a frequent rider of Los Angeles’ filthy Metro trains).

More importantly, Sprinter has proved itself to be a viable public transportation model for a state........

© San Francisco Chronicle