[PRCo] Re: Mass transit usage

[Jim Keener]

I'm just out of college. Most of the people I know will take the bus if a car isn't available. Why? They don't consider the busses reliable enough. Also, certain routes, Shadyside and squirrel hill routes are heavily used most hours of the day. That's probably a mix of frequent service and higher density. Even then i/we count on the busses not running on schedule.

Even I'm hesitant to take a bus off the peninsula because of how infrequently they run.

My friends in philly use septa, especially regional rail heavily.

I really think it all comes down to service. I pay septa fare over renting a zip car because I count on septa to work. I take a cab from the airport, when with someone, because I don't trust the 28x to be on time.

I guess my point is that for my circle I've never heard the argument about the people you meet, its about service.

PAT needs to re-organize. The tdp wasn't enough. The whole system needs to ne optimized. Better service is the only way to get more customer. You have to (smartly) spend money to make money.

Jim

"Dennis F Cramer" <trombone at windstream.net> wrote:

>Outside of this list, I know no one who uses mass transit.  Most are 
>terrified of the
>"types" of people the think they will encounter. It is not just people
>in
>the rural areas, but also people in the two largest metro areas of
>Pennsylvania.  It never ceases to amaze me how something so practical
>is met
>with such derision.  I guess Mr. Ford and cheap gasoline spoiled many
>of us.
>I also suspect many of us are not quite as willing to accept the
>"melting
>pot" (I prefer the term "salad bowl") that is the United States of
>America.
>In their cars they can avoid those types of people whom they do not
>understand.
>
>When I visit Delaware County, people respond to where I live as being
>"out
>West".  I guess Kittanning and California are close enough.  When I was
>going to school in Westchester County, NY, anything across the Hudson
>was
>way out west.  I can say though the understanding and usage of mass
>transit
>in the NYC metro area is well ingrained.  Even the students who never
>used
>it at home learned quickly. It was nice to get on the train and ride
>into
>Manhattan without the tolls, traffic and parking.
>
>If you live in an area that has mass transit, treasure it.  Living over
>80%
>of my life in an area that is void of mass transit makes one realize
>how
>lucky others have it.
>
>
>          Dennis F. Cramer
>http://home.windstream.net/dfc1

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