[PRCo] Re: Route 32-P&LE Shuttle

[Donald Galt]

On 5 Apr 2002 at 7:12, Fred W. Schneider III wrote:

> 
> I doubt that too many passengers used 32 as you described unless they
> were railfans.  It would be much more expeditious to transfer to any car
> going up Liberty Street.  In later years 32 was a one-car shuttle that
> ran rather infrequently ... its only value was to the few people who
> worked on that part of Carson Street or who wanted to connect to a 50
> car at Smithfield Street.  Those people were so minimal that in later
> years the 32 (at least the replacement bus) ran only during the morning
> and afternoon peak periods. 
> 

I should have thought that the 32 would have been a real 
convenience to West End passengers wishing to transfer to South 
Hills lines. particularly since it was a fair hike to Wood or Grant 
Street if you rode into the Triangle. And even more of a convenience 
if it had continued on to make a direct connection with the 53 and 
77/54.

In a comparable situation but with five bridges to connect, not two, 
Portland OR had its "Bridge Transfer" shuttle which survived well 
into the rubber era. Eventually, as service levels declined, it became 
handier just to ride downtown across the river and transfer there, 
and the service disappeared until revived after a fashion with 
modern restructuring of routes.