[PRCo] Re: Rumors

[John Swindler]

As a follow-up to Jim's comment and Derrick's reply:

>
>On Fri, 13 Dec 2002, Jim Holland wrote:
>
> > 	Ridership figures were low for a while but eventually became quite 
>substantial.    There  ARE  those who say that if the service is there the 
>people will follow, and maybe That is the Philosophy that VTA followed.    
>But we can now see an hole in that Philosophy!
>


There is no 'hole' in that philosophy.  Derrick mentions Monroeville, 
Cranberry Twp. and Robinson twp., and in all three cases development 
followed a transportation service improvement.  Except in these Pittsburgh 
cases, the transportation service improvement was not a high quality rail 
transit service, but a highway improvement.  The 'people' followed the 
service improvement, which in Pittsburgh meant the Parkway east, Parkway 
west and I-79.  That was the extent of "vision" by those elected to 
political positions in the Pittsburgh region.

Just an opinion.

John




>The problem with the opposite philosophy is you end up with Monroeville, 
>Cranberry and Robinson while the rails still go to (or most recently went 
>to Trafford, West View (yes, there was rail service in Cranberry if you go 
>back far enough) and Carnegie. To some extent I blame the end of "service 
>before development" for the disgusting sprawl which has come in the wake of 
>it. Clearly not that simple, because the post-war boom in development 
>couldn't possibly have been satiated by pre-existing rail service.


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