[PRCo] Re: Pittsburgh - think tank blasts possible new transit taxes

[Fred Schneider]

John,

When did the SEPTA numbers first include suburban rail?   Or is this  
CTD, Frontier and RAD only?

What has happened to suburban rail riders?

I know that PATCO is way down simply because Philadelphia jobs are  
way down.  Jobs in the Metropolitan Area (8 counties) are up about  
20,000 in the last 20 years but Philadelphia City is probably still  
down.   If it continues to drop, then suburban rail as well as PATCO  
will continue to decline.

fws


On Sep 10, 2007, at 9:14 AM, John Swindler wrote:

> PAT has declined from around 120 million during early 1970s to  
> somewhere
> around 70 million total riders today.  SEPTA has lost about 200  
> million
> annual riders past couple decades.  Public transit just isn't as  
> important
> anymore.  The automobile is just too convenient and provides too much
> independence.  But the highway systems (roadways and parking) can not
> support unlimited auto travel.  At the extreme, that is why transit  
> does so
> well in New York City.  It should also do well in Pittsburgh with  
> the rivers
> and hills limiting roadway space.  That it does not .....  well,  
> let's not
> go there.