Now George is getting personal. Darn! A park'n'ride in the town of Ithaca is one of my dreams! Actually I greatly appreciate his expanding my awareness of the many factors involved. Some I see as challenges to be addressed, but as usual, George has also challenged my way of thinking.
Margaret On Nov 13, 2008, at 9:17 PM, George Frantz wrote: > Park and ride lots are a popular approach to reducing traffic and > increasing bus ridership, but they are extremely inefficient and > come with their own environmental and economic costs. > > For every busload of 40-45 riders who might be attracted to the park > and ride concept, one-third to half an acre of land would have to be > converted to parking spaces, driveways, shelters, etc. > > There are now about 5,000 commuters traveling past my house on Cliff > Street each day. One hypothetical bus, lets say an express bus > directly for a park and ride in Trumansburg with no stops between > there and downtown Ithaca (morning and afternoon) would take just 1% > of them off the road. Attracting just 10% of commuters within the > area served by Cliff Street and Route 96 would require converting > 4-5 acres of land somewhere in Turmansburg or Ulysses from > productive use to parking lot, and require an investment in 5 > additional buses ($100,000-$150,000 each), plus their operating costs. > > There is also the cost burden imposed on everybody else through the > heavy subsidies needed to sustain rural public transit systems. > > Finally the park and ride concept is just another example of how > throughout the US we continue to encourage through infrastucture > development and transportation policy an environmentally, > economically and socially unsustainable lifestyle choice. > > George Frantz > > > > --- On Thu, 10/30/08, Margaret McCasland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > From: Margaret McCasland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] TCAT bottom line > To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" > <[email protected] > > > Cc: "Kris Townsend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008, 4:03 PM > > Yes, we do want to tweak our bus system in ways that will reduce--not > increase--car dependence. Park'n'rides can be gathering places for > more than cars: people who walk and bike can--and do--use them. But > there are still far too few of them in Tompkins County (and beyond). > > And there should be a shelter too, so people aren't sitting in their > cars with the engine idling while they run the heat or the AC. But > that's also a good reason for having relatively predictable > schedules. Plus five minutes is OK; being off by 30= minutes is NOT. > And I heard one driver say that she was running so far behind one day > she just started telling people she was a few minutes early. (just > missing a bus and then having to wait 2 hours for next one is not a > good system--and I know people that has happened to with TCAT.) > > There's no point in having buses run on time, but mostly empty, so > yes, we do need some flag stops under some circumstances. However they > do need to have some limits. The more people who get on at the same > stop, the more efficient the system is. I did hear that one reason > some (all?) of the rural buses are no longer running as often is > because--with more riders and more flag stops--the routes get too long > (in terms of time). > > As often as possible, shelters should be existing buildings--just > perhaps with a bike shed added to the side. This is not a new idea: > rural bus stops used to be diners, or gas stations, or general stores. > Socializing at the bus stops is part of how public transport builds > community, just as riding a bus is. If new shelters do need to get > built plexiglas has fantastic solar gain: a windproof, unheated > shelter with plexi walls facing south could get quite comfortable > during MOST days. > > My plexi solar porch is warm today and the sun has barely peeped > through the clouds. > > Margaret > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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
