[milwaukee-electric] Re: Electric railways, streetcars, interurbans, trams, light rail lines and trolley buses worldwide. City officials announce Downtown Milwaukee streetcar route.

[Gary Schnabl]

On 5/8/2010 12:51 PM, Don L. Leistikow wrote:
> Ken and list:   No contest.... No one is going to do that.  This will be
> a circulator, obviously intended for the convenience of UWM students and
> Faculty.  The attraction will be the Fare Factor.
Hi Ken, Don, et al.

Just why should UW-M students get a "free ride" in the form of cheaper 
streetcar rides when there is ample bus service to UWM? When I lived at 
Park and Murray or next to the Oakland carbarn, I simply walked to UWM 
most of the time, when I attended it. And I had a 1959 Harley Duo-Glide 
hog, a 1957 Jaguar XK150, and a 1961 Impala convertible at the time. 
Plus, I had one of more jobs then as a student and never took out a 
student loan. Sorry, but college kids today are just that--kids, 
dependent upon others for the very existence...
> Senior Citizens retruning to the CBD will find it useful, particularly
> those who no longer can Drive an automobile.
>
> There is a very definite plus side, that being the introduction of
> non-air polluting streetcars.  With UWM at one end and  Amtrak at the
> other end yes, there will be riders.  No more problems with finding a
> Parking lot, expensive as they are, will be a significant attraction.

Alhough I do not live in Milwaukee any longer, I am now elderly. Why 
would we oldsters bother to go downtown? I live four miles from the 
heart of downtown Detroit, yet I almost never go down there. A streetcar 
connecting me to the CBD would not entice me to ride it.
>
> Rebuilding the Central Business District will be the answer to the still
> declining population in the City of Milwaukee.  The real porblem is;
> What comes first, the Chicken, or the Egg

Detroit lost over 60% of its 1958 population number. Lack of jobs is the 
critical factor--not transit. Transit is a second (or third)-order 
factor, compared to jobs in the private sector. I expect Detroit's 
population to get down to 500,000 (from its current 750,000?), but 
before that, it will go Chapter 9 bankrupt.

> Some 24+ Cities have swung over to electric rail transit, in one form or
> another. The response has been phenominal.  Once established,  Ridership
> in thsoe Cities jumped so quickly and strong, that extensions are
> quickly planned and built.  some Cities are now in their thrid expansion
> of rail transit.
>
> Wisconsin lags drastically as the Highway Lobby and the Road Builders
> Associations, continue to push for Freeway extensions and widening
> programs.  We don't need more Freeways and we don't need to spend
> endless dollars for more cement and asphalt.  We need, balanced
> transportation.  Toll Gates on the Freeways of Wisconsin, will
> automatically reduce rubbertired vehicles and give us a return on
> investment.

The Detroit to Ann Arbor commuter rail project (along the Amtrak ROW 
that is less than 1000 feet from my residence) is probably dead now, 
although millions were spent "planning" it by planners who live from 
plan to plan. The cost/ridership figures from SEMCOG--the group that 
does most of the "planning" came up with $146 per passenger ride--one 
way. Just why would the taxpayers swallow that boondoggle? Almost a $275 
subsidy per passenger for a daily round trip?!

> The magical formerly introduced when funding for Freeways was
> considered... was then 90% Federal monies.  All other transportation was
> funded at only 50%.  Of late, the 90% from the Feds, is long gone.  What
> the highways and freeways get from the Feds today, I am not aware.
>
> A strong CBD is what we need in the Metro Area. Wihtout that, the Metro
> Area is doomed to bedroom communities with high taxes tp pay for public
> services... electricity, gas, water, garbage, snowplowing... to name a
> few.....

The CBDs in Detroit and Milwaukee are hardly "central," both stuck way 
by themselves far to the east and away from the center of gravity of 
their populations. Their time came and went--long ago. I would rather 
shop in my own neighborhood (and do...), so I never buy anything 
downtown. There are practically no stores in the CBD anyway, other than 
coffee and sandwich shops that come and go. The downtown workers are 
gone in a flash when they drive home to the suburbs.

Gary

-- 

Gary Schnabl
Southwest Detroit, two miles NORTH! of Canada--Windsor, that is...