[PRCo] Re: patservicecuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07

Mon Feb 5 12:42:48 EST 2007

So do Amsterdam and Brussels. (trains in the airport terminal basement).   
Gt. Brit just doubled their airport taxes, and Amsterdam may now be the 
low-cost airport for U.S. travelers, according to internet article last 
week.

>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: Mon, 5 Feb 2007 12:03:38 -0500
>
>John and all:
>
>I love my car.   And I think Ken Josephson loves his car too ...
>maybe as much as his wife and daughter.   But there are still places
>I will not take it.   I may drive it through but I see no sense in
>parking it in downtown San Francisco (hotels are a lot cheaper down
>in San Mateo and Caltrain works just fine or BART works fine from the
>hotels in the East Bay).   Most of my trips to Europe have been car
>rental trips because I love the countryside BUT I SCHEDULE THE
>BIGGEST CITIES FOR THE BEGINNING OR THE END OF THE TRIP BEFORE OR
>AFTER I PICK UP OR TURN IN THE CAR.   You do not need a rental car in
>London or Rome or Paris or Munich or Zurich or Basel or any other
>large European city, so find a hotel near the airport.   Best of all
>find an airport with a hotel and train service into town and when
>you're done there, then pick up the car.
>
>Zurich, Switzerland, for example, is a fabulous place.   The Swiss
>Federal Railways has a train station in the basement of the
>airport.   What better place can you find to arrive in a foreign
>country.   London Heathrow or London Gatwick are the same ... Gatwick
>is probably best of all because you don't need the fancy airport
>trains (the regular Brighton - London locals also stop at the
>airport).   Frankfurt, Germany also has mainline train service from
>their airport to all over Germany.   Stockholm has high speed train
>service from the airport to the center of the city ... rocket
>sleds ... I think it was something like 125 mph.   (I'm sure Derrick
>will tell us because he goes there frequently.)   These are a lot
>better than the bus in Lisbon.
>
>On Feb 5, 2007, at 11:28 AM, John Swindler wrote:
>
> >
> > Hi Fred
> >
> > Those on this list are not the average person.  The average person
> > does not
> > know what transit options are available.  And when it comes to foreign
> > travel, they take with them their US experiences - which often
> > means renting
> > a car.  But Fred knows that he can stay in a Newark hotel and that
> > PATH
> > exists to take him to NYC.  And the rest on this list have similar
> > "unusual"
> > knowledge.  That's one of the reasons I like Fred's travelogues -
> > they touch
> > on the transit options.
> >
> > A couple from church visited San Francisco and complained how much
> > they paid
> > for parking at Fisherman's Wharf.  I replied that Carol and I
> > didn't have to
> > pay for parking when we visited this tourist site.  We bought Muni day
> > passes and rode the streetcar.  At this, his eyes kind of glazed
> > over - like
> > I don't understand how you can visit and not have to use a car.
> > Suspect
> > most have had similar experiences
> >
> > 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 19:13:30 -0500
> >>
> >> And once you got that truck, it's bloody hard to go back to the bus
> >> isn't it....
> >>
> >> I used to use the bus too ... every where I went.   But when that car
> >> is right outside the door, it's hard to ignore.   The exceptions have
> >> been instance like staying in the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark and
> >> wanting to go into New York City ... in that case you know it's a
> >> whole lot easier to walk six blocks to the Lackawanna or
> >> Pennslylvania stations and take the train into the big city and live
> >> the damn car sit in the parking lot.   I react the same way if I'm
> >> going from Lancaster to New York or Lancaster to Center City
> >> Philadelphia, or Dawntawn Pittsburgh.   But aside from the largest
> >> cities, it's pretty hard for me to leave my car at home anymore.
> >>
> >> On Feb 4, 2007, at 4:44 PM, Herb Brannon wrote:
> >>
> >>> 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.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> _________________________________________________________________
> >>> Check out all that glitters with the MSN Entertainment Guide to the
> >>> Academy
> >>> Awards®   http://movies.msn.com/movies/oscars2007/?
> >>> icid=ncoscartagline2
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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>
>
>

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