[PRCo] Re: Routes that Could Have Been Retained

[Fred Schneider]

This is a system I don't understand and I would be delighted if  
someone would explain it to me.

1.  The city lost one hell of a lot of jobs.   How many but  
category?   I don't know and the New York state's labor market  
analyst in Buffalo told me he could not tell me the answer.   The  
federal government changed the rules on us therefore we cannot go  
backward.   We now use an industry code book that is identical for  
the U. S., Canada and Mexico.   It would be too costly to go back and  
convert everything, so we tell anyone who wants to know what happened  
in the past, we don't know.   Good answer.   Some of the federal  
economic indicators I look at for Buffalo, like per capita income,  
look surprisingly strong.   Why?

2.   I've looked at downtown Buffalo and the place is deserted ...  
was there twice in the last couple of years.      Even the new Burger  
King that appears in Bill Middleton's pictures when the line opened  
was out of business.  Yes I see people on the cars.    Where are they  
going?

3.  How do they know how many ride.   The NFTA comes up with  
fantastic numbers of people riding the line.   Supposed to be one of  
the national success stories.   But anyone riding downtown rides for  
free.   If they don't buy a ticket, how are they counted?    But the  
numbers they have and the number I see don't see to make sense.

4.  I heard the same thing you did Jim .... but a motorman told me  
they were putting all the cars through a mid-life overhaul.

5.  The neighborhood the line services has gone down since it  
opened.   Not just downtown.   Remember it was on the surface of Main  
St. downtown, and in subway in the residential areas once you got out  
of the downtown district.
The neighborhood above the subway's inner several miles is very  
bad ... the usual litany of burnt out and boarded up homes typical of  
a badly declined urban neighborhood.   When the line was being built,  
these homes were at least habitable.

fws

On Oct 8, 2005, at 5:44 AM, James B. Holland wrote:

>
>
>> Matt Barry wrote:
>> .
>>
>>
>>> Why am I thinking about this at all? Tourists. While I was in New
>>> Orleans this past May, I realized that a lot of the folks riding the
>>> St. Charles (in particular) and the newer Canal Street lines, were
>>> tourists.
>>>
>>
>> James B. Holland wrote:
>>
>> They tried to -*Legislate-* East Liberty into a Pedestrian Mall and
>> that failed. The rehab of the near North Side failed as well. It's
>> possible to *-Legislate-* anything as a tourist attraction but will
>> the tourists follow?
>>
>
>
> Buffalo might be a good example, but has nothing to do with tourist
> trade per se.       They put in a Rail Line  (lrv)  with  Huge
> Non-Articulated Cars  --  not unlike the PE Blimps in size  --  and  
> word
> within the last decade is that they would like to abandon same  --   
> not
> reaching projected ridership.       They would have to pay back Fed
> Dollars if they abandoned so they plod on.       Rail Line was to
> revitalize downtown but That Never Happened!       Can't legislate  
> such
> things!
>
> TrolleyCars // StreetCars  *-As__We__Knew__Them-*  are gone  --  that
> era is Over.       Why don't we have Stage Coaches for public
> transportation any more?       Everything has its day in the sun and
> then fades into memory!       Portland, OR, has supposedly ReInvented
> the streetcar  --  will it spread?       Donut know.       For me it
> won't be the same.       My approach to rail transit is simply as an
> Hobbyist with 1930--1953 in Pittsburgh as my ideal.       I am  
> honestly
> Not Concerned if rail is used / liked / disliked today.       If  
> people
> want it and it works  --  FINE;  if people don't want it, that is   
> FINE
> too  --  don't force it upon them.
>
>
>
>
> Jim__Holland
>
>
> I__Like__Ike.......And__PCCs!!
>
> down with pantographs ---- UP___WITH___TROLLEYPOLES!!!!!!!
>
>
>