[PRCo] Re: Fwd: News from Pittsburgh//Jacksonville

Thu May 10 10:22:23 EDT 2012

On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 10:20 AM, John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com> wrote:
>   There's a community college that might be a large trip generator - depending on how PAT runs the service.

only if you're not so lazy that you won't walk up to the college.

we'll see.

>  > From: hrbran at cavtel.net
>> Date: Thu, 10 May 2012 10:15:31 -0400
>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Fwd: News from Pittsburgh//Jacksonville
>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
>>
>> You need to take a close look at the "new" Northside. It's not your
>> "fathers' Northside" any longer. There a lots of new venues, other than
>> Heinz Field and PNC Park, to cause people to take the new extension.
>> On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 7:09 AM, Jerry "Matt" Matsick <
>> jerry.matsick at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> > Fred - Our Jacksonville "Skyway Express" Monorail system, 3.5 miles is now
>> > "Free"  Ridership increased 75 percent, people are parking in garages at
>> > either ends of the system, city now actually starting to see a small
>> > profit.        The Pittsburgh Northside extension, will boom for Steeler
>> > games, I know if I lived out in the South Hills area that is how I would
>> > travel to Heinz Field!    I haven't seen the new Pgh extention, other than
>> > a ball game what would lead people to
>> > ride?    Americans do not fathom what the rest of the world is like?  do
>> > they?
>> > Jerry M
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net>
>> > To: Pittsburgh Railways <pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org>
>> > Sent: Wed, 09 May 2012 23:51:48 -0000 (UTC)
>> > Subject: [PRCo] Fwd: News from Pittsburgh
>> >
>> >
>> > Begin forwarded message:
>> >
>> > > From: Fred Schneider
>> > > Date: May 9, 2012 5:15:49 PM EDT
>> > > Bcc: John Swindler , Yonah Freemark , Ed Lybarger , "Bruce C. Bente" ,
>> > Pittsburgh Railways , Dave Hamley
>> > > Subject: Fwd: News from Pittsburgh
>> > >
>> > > Wonderful!   We just opened the new PAT North Side extension on March
>> > 23rd and now they admit having  no money to run it.  We cannot raise fares
>> > or tax our own people to run the system ... we have to demand that the
>> > state give us more money if we are to haul people.
>> > >
>> > > Trippers to the ball game at Forbes Field are a memory from the past.
>> > >
>> > > On the other side of the ocean the base fare in London is $8.60 for the
>> > first two zones ... less than half that if you buy an oyster card.  And if
>> > you wish to drive instead, then you will pay just about the same amount as
>> > a congestion tax each day for the privilege of driving your car into London
>> > and then add the exorbitant parking fees on top of it.   Exorbitant you
>> > ask?   Parking in central London can run 30 pounds or 52 dollars for a 9
>> > hour workday, so it still pays to take the tube even if it does cost $6 to
>> > $8 a day with an oyster card.   By the way, their gasoline is about 5
>> > pounds 43 a gallon, or $9.33 this week.   Is there something we don't
>> > understand?
>> > >
>> > > Fred Schneider
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Port Authority's Failures Frustrate Fans, Runners
>> > > Jon Schmitz  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > May 09--For many transit riders, Saturday's fireworks show at PNC Park
>> > was followed by a dud.
>> > >
>> > > Port Authority says it can no longer afford to provide extra Light Rail
>> > Transit service after crowded stadium events. But last weekend, a staffing
>> > shortage prevented it from meeting even its stripped-down regular schedule.
>> > >
>> > > Thousands of fans poured out of the Pirates game and a Marilyn Manson
>> > concert next door at Stage AE to find packed station platforms and trains
>> > nowhere in sight. Service is scheduled about every 15 minutes at that hour
>> > on Saturdays, but some riders said they waited 45 minutes or more.
>> > >
>> > > "There's no excuse for it," authority spokesman Jim Ritchie said of the
>> > dropped trips, which occurred Friday night and all day on Saturday. "We're
>> > trying to correct it."
>> > >
>> > > But he also said the past practice of running extra trains after major
>> > events is no longer possible. With the authority facing a $64 million
>> > budget deficit and record-breaking service cuts scheduled for September,
>> > "it's not within our financial means," he said.
>> > >
>> > > Jan Grice of Shadyside and her husband, Don Marinelli, parked at First
>> > Avenue Garage with the intention of taking the free T ride to and from the
>> > North Side for the baseball game. They waited 20 to 25 minutes before a
>> > one-car train arrived and it was packed, she said.
>> > >
>> > > After the game, after waiting 20 minutes at North Side Station, they
>> > gave up and walked back to First Avenue. "More and more people were flowing
>> > into the station. We realized when this train gets here, it's going to be a
>> > madhouse," she said.
>> > >
>> > > "The thing that just kills you is you had all these people in from out
>> > of town [for the Pittsburgh Marathon the following day]. We look like a
>> > second-class city that can't quite get it together," Ms. Grice said. Her
>> > husband, in a comment on the Post-Gazette's website, called it "a major
>> > black eye for Port Authority."
>> > >
>> > > Mr. Ritchie said the agency's rail division is going through a series of
>> > staffing changes. That, coupled with higher-than-normal absenteeism because
>> > of illnesses, injuries and other authorized leaves, left the authority
>> > without enough operators to meet the schedule. "It became impossible to
>> > overcome that quickly," he said.
>> > >
>> > > Throughout Saturday, 10 vehicles that should have been in service were
>> > not, including five Red Line units that were out of service after 4 p.m.,
>> > Mr. Ritchie said.
>> > >
>> > > Even meeting the full schedule, which has shrunk in recent years because
>> > of service cuts brought on by chronic underfunding, the agency is
>> > hard-pressed to keep up with demand after Saturday night baseball games,
>> > which typically draw more than 30,000 fans.
>> > >
>> > > The current schedule has only three outbound trips serving North Side
>> > Station between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Saturdays. About 400 people can
>> > squeeze into a two-car train, meaning the system can move only about 1,200
>> > people in the hour after which most games end.
>> > >
>> > > If a game runs late or is delayed, the situation gets worse -- only two
>> > trips are scheduled from 11 p.m. to midnight.
>> > >
>> > > The September service cuts would eliminate all weekend service on the
>> > Blue Line, leaving just two trips from North Side Station between 10 p.m.
>> > and 11 p.m. and one between 11 and midnight.
>> > >
>> > > "It makes the whole expenditure for the T extension seem ridiculous if
>> > it doesn't function," Ms. Grice said.
>> > >
>> > > "Our resources are very limited," Mr. Ritchie said. "What we're seeing
>> > right now essentially is the gap between the level of service we offer and
>> > can afford and the demand."
>> > >
>> > > As the June 30 expiration of its current union contract approaches, the
>> > authority is anticipating a wave of retirements by workers who are worried
>> > they will lose benefits under the new contract. That could create
>> > additional scheduling problems.
>> > >
>> > > The agency also drew complaints over the weekend from marathon
>> > participants and spectators because it didn't add bus or rail service for
>> > the event, which attracted 19,000 runners and thousands of onlookers.
>> > > Alexis Rzewski of Point Breeze said he boarded a P1 East Busway-All
>> > Stops bus in East Liberty at about 6:20 a.m. By Negley Station it was full,
>> > leaving an estimated 40 people, many of them runners, to wait for the next
>> > bus 30 minutes later.
>> > >
>> > > He said a collective groan went up when the bus approached the crowded
>> > station. "We all knew they were not all going to fit in."
>> > >
>> > > Bus crowding has been a problem on many routes since service was reduced
>> > by 15 percent in March 2011. Another 35 percent of service on Sept. 2 will
>> > eliminate 48 of the remaining 102 routes. Authority officials say the cuts
>> > can be avoided only if the state moves to provide a more reliable and
>> > growing funding stream.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Herb Brannon
>> In Cuyahoga Valley National Park
>>
>>
>>
>
>

-- 
Derrick