10 minute bus service is great, but it's much more likely that a high demand came first. I doubt a 10 minute run to outlying towns would increase demand much. I'm on the 21, which I think just went from hourly service on Saturdays to every 2 hours. As long as I plan my trips, I don't feel hindered by less service.
If the choices were to buy big buses or not have buses, I wouldn't call it a silly choice. And before thinking that smaller buses will be better, there have been times when I have been on full buses. I think a combination of small and large buses could work well, but I think the large buses are very important to certain routes and certain times of the day. -Andy Margaret McCasland wrote: > I've been wondering about this for years. > > BTW, I know those giant buses cause traffic problems in town and are > mostly empty most of the time. Back when we were trying to restore > Cayuga and Aurora as 2 way streets (partial success there), we were > told the giant buses were the reason they had to stay one way. > > I was given some silly reason for buying the biggest buses possible > back when I first pushed for restoring the two-way patter. It was > something like "but the feds will pay most of the cost, so we may as > well get bigger buses." But maybe there was a better reason. Now that > operating costs are higher, maybe the cost-benefit equation will shift > towards smaller, more frequent buses. And watch what happens to > ridership when buses come every 30 or even 15-20 minutes; just think > how popular the 10 minute shuttles are. > > Thanks to Valorie for asking a key question (and for deleting the > previous content so her post doesn't have a "long tail"). > > Margaret > > On Oct 21, 2008, at 9:26 AM, Valorie Rockney wrote: > >> Thanks, Ben, for posting this - it's very useful information. >> >> Is there any discussion currently about using smaller, more fuel- >> efficient buses, at least during non-peak times? . A few years ago, I >> heard that such buses weren't eligible for certain kinds of funding - >> is that the case now? >> >> Thanks, everyone, >> Valorie >> >> >> >> >> >> On Oct 21, 2008, at 9:18 AM, Ben Heavner wrote: >> >>> Hi Sustainable Tompkins Folks! >>> >>> There's been some interesting discussion lately about mass transit >>> choices being made right now in the City of Ithaca that I thought I'd >>> pass along in hopes of finding some creative solutions to the >>> possibility of reduced TCAT service in Ithaca and surrounding areas. >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County >> area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ >> >> RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: >> [email protected] >> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please > visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > -- Andy Goodell Assistant Director www.IthacaCarshare.org 607.277.3210 _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
