[PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07

[Herb Brannon]

This past Christmas I broke down and bought myself a Christmas present.................a truck. I did not have a vehicle for nearly one year. So I used GCRTA to go everyplace..........the grocery store, the bank, the mall, work, etc. Bear in mind that I have always worked the "Extra Boad". Therefore, every day is a totally diffenent run assignment. I am happy to report that, at least in Cleveland, public transit still works well. I was always able to get to work at any hour of the day, any day of the week. Living downtown helped. Only on one occasion did I have to call a taxi. This was one morning when the 6-Euclid bus due at the Euclid/32nd stop at 3:57am never showed. Otherwise you can get around Cleveland pretty well. However, now that I have the truck I have not resorted to the bus, car (lrv), or train. I have learned two things from this: 1) I know what our customers go through in order to use our services and I want to give them a decent transit trip, and, 2) We need
 to keep a very high level of service, safety, passenger amenities, etc if we want customers to stay with public transit. The new level of "freedom" they attain will keep them in the private vehicle if we (public transit providers) do not do all necessary to keep them.
Time to get off the soapbox. I made gumbo and the aroma is calling me to the kitchen. Later gang ! 
Herb Brannon



----- Original Message ----
From: John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com>
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Sent: Sunday, February 4, 2007 12:50:41 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07


It's the convenience of letting someone else deal with rush hour traffic.  
Most small towns don't have rush hour traffic.    But even Harrisburg has 
rush hour congestion and parking is limited.  So I am happy to let the bus 
driver deal with it.

And transfers on small systems are horrible because of the headways.  So if 
the factory job is not located in the center city, a car becomes much more 
attractive.

Another factor:  how many young people today experienced the joy of being 
bused to school?  And getting access to a car eliminated being tied to the 
school bus schedule.  Suspect many never want to go back to reminders of 
their school bus experiences.  It has become a tough sell.

While the feds will assure you that there is no difference in modal split 
between bus and rail for new start funding purposes, and that bus is 
cheaper, don't believe them.  They lie.

John



>From: Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net>
>Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>Subject: [PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07
>Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 08:10:36 -0500
>
>I don't think it is that Herb.   I remember the Chief Dispatcher at
>Conestoga Transportation Co. telling me back in the 1970s about a
>special bus service they established to serve the women who worked at
>Shick's razor factory and several other plants in the same industrial
>plant.   Their drivers noted that the passengers disappeared after
>they received the second pay checks and when they inquired of the
>other passengers where Suzy or Martha was the answer was universal,
>"They now have enough money to buy a car."   Factory runs no longer
>pay.   It's the services to dentists, doctors, lawyers and malls for
>the indigent and retired and under 16 that seem to have become the
>mainstay of public transit, at least in the small towns and in the
>suburbs of the larger cities.   Some management types will use
>transit because it is easier than finding a place to park downtown.
>But the factory worker doesn't, even if the factory still exists.
>
>On Feb 3, 2007, at 7:39 PM, Herb Brannon wrote:
>
> > Too bad. I guess since there are no factories remaining everyone
> > works bankers hours? Or so the PAT management believes. We still
> > have 14 routes w/ 24-hour service.
> >
> > Herb Brannon
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > From: Joshua Dunfield <joshuad at cs.cmu.edu>
> > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> > Sent: Saturday, February 3, 2007 5:29:30 PM
> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07
> >
> >
> > Herb Brannon wrote:
> >> Interesting to note that 24-hour service is beginning again. When I
> >> worked at PATransit 24-hour service was offered on both the 42/38
> >> and 35
> >> car lines as well as many bus lines.
> >
> > Unfortunately, 24-hour service died in the first round of cuts,
> > around 2003
> > if memory serves.  When it started in '01, one of my friends (who
> > grew up in
> > Stockholm) told me that "Pittsburgh is becoming a real city!"  Well...
> >
> > Best,
> > -j.
> >
> >
>
>

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