timesledger.com I could not agree less with Larry Penner's assessment of local mass transit.
The cost per passenger mile of mass transit is way out of line. Mass transit is a disgrace. Have you ever noticed how almost every how every mass transit construction program goes ENORMOUSLY over budget and takes eons longer than originally planned & promised?
As particular examples, please consider the 2nd Ave subway in Manhattan and the Eastside connection of the LIRR. After spending not a fortune, but several fortunes, and close to half a century, on the 2nd Ave subway they hooked up a few stations, & seem to have forgotten about the rest of the line.
The slowwwwww progress & excessive cost, of the Eastside connection, would be comical if it wasn't so painful.
While it sounds good on paper, Mass Transit in NYC has been an expensive boondoggle.
Yes, it is used by tons & tons of people all of the time, but they don't have a choice.
Please find a copy of an old LIRR timetable from the 1930's or 1940's. You may be surprised to see that despite all types of improvements & new trains, travel times to Penn Station in Manhattan are about the same now as they were then. (At least for the Port Washington Branch, the one I use.)
If you take the Eastbound LIRR during evening rush hour, I'm sure you are familiar with the notably disgusting delays there have been during the past year or two. The LIRR blames it on AmTrak, but either way, it's mass transit.
AmTrak has a notably BAD record for not meeting the deadline for the installation of mandated safety devices.
The train tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting NYC with NJ, is VERY old & in SERIOUS disrepair. Additionally it is inadequate for the present traffic & certainly inadequate for any additional traffic; however, NJ has turned a blind eye to the problem & refuses to do anything about it.
And, while I'm on the subject, let me remind everyone that the MTA & LIRR are unable to support rail service from the fair box & demand contributions from other aspects of life (like mortgages payments, & bridge tolls, inter alia).
Investment in public transportation has funded notably expensive public works projects which have yielded only a pittance of an improvement to the transit situation. This is not unlike what the robber barons & exploiters of the RR industry did during the final quarter of the 19th century.
Please tell us, Larry, how much per linear foot have we paid so far for the 1.7 miles of the 2nd Ave. subway currently in service?
The Venerable Stan from Flushing
The cost per passenger mile of mass transit is way out of line. Mass transit is a disgrace. Have you ever noticed how almost every how every mass transit construction program goes ENORMOUSLY over budget and takes eons longer than originally planned & promised?
As particular examples, please consider the 2nd Ave subway in Manhattan and the Eastside connection of the LIRR. After spending not a fortune, but several fortunes, and close to half a century, on the 2nd Ave subway they hooked up a few stations, & seem to have forgotten about the rest of the line.
The slowwwwww progress & excessive cost, of the Eastside connection, would be comical if it wasn't so painful.
While it sounds good on paper, Mass Transit in NYC has been an expensive boondoggle.
Yes, it is used by tons & tons of people all of the time, but they don't have a choice.
Please find a copy of an old LIRR timetable from the 1930's or 1940's. You may be surprised to see that despite all types of improvements & new trains, travel times to Penn Station in Manhattan are about the same now as they were then. (At least for the Port Washington Branch, the one I use.)
If you take the Eastbound LIRR during evening rush hour, I'm sure you are familiar with the notably disgusting delays there have been during the past year or two. The LIRR blames it on AmTrak, but either way, it's mass transit.
AmTrak has a notably BAD record for not meeting the deadline for the installation of mandated safety devices.
The train tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting NYC with NJ, is VERY old & in SERIOUS disrepair. Additionally it is inadequate for the present traffic & certainly inadequate for any additional traffic; however, NJ has turned a blind eye to the problem & refuses to do anything about it.
And, while I'm on the subject, let me remind everyone that the MTA & LIRR are unable to support rail service from the fair box & demand contributions from other aspects of life (like mortgages payments, & bridge tolls, inter alia).
Investment in public transportation has funded notably expensive public works projects which have yielded only a pittance of an improvement to the transit situation. This is not unlike what the robber barons & exploiters of the RR industry did during the final quarter of the 19th century.
Please tell us, Larry, how much per linear foot have we paid so far for the 1.7 miles of the 2nd Ave. subway currently in service?
The Venerable Stan from Flushing
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