06-26-2019, 09:13 AM
danbrotherston Wrote:I'm very surprised there seems to be interest in this. I really wouldn't think the average commuter would transfer to a train from a car long term. It's neither cost effective (even expensive parking is close to the price of a bus pass) nor is it more convenient (driving downtown is easy). I would like to make it those things, but it's also telling that people are willing to ride the train, but cannot even conceive of riding the bus. There was a comment on facebook, that I believe was serious incredulity "what, do they expect people to take the bus to the train?!" I think it speaks to broader problems in our society, more than it does to bussing. I wonder if any of these people have even investigated what bussing looks like in their area.
Edit: As an aside, has anyone done any cost analysis? A parking space costs about 10k in capital costs, which is almost 10 years of transit fares. I suspect free parking would run at a loss once you include operations cost. I realize that the fact that parking costs money is a revelation to most, but this could have been an opportunity to explain how expensive it is, if the business case isn't justified.
These were tourists. The fellow who had been talking to the oldsters before I got on told me that he was taking it today end-to-end "while it's free."
I've been saddened this week to hear so many people's opinions and ignorance about our transit system. More than a few acquaintances who have talked about riding the train, and driving to get there, have looked at me like a space alien when I asked why they didn't hop on a bus to get there instead. Yesterday on the way home from picking a kid up from school, one of the parents asked if the train would be "replacing the buses." She meant all the buses.
I've spent a lot of time pointing out to people that the whole system is free of charge until Canada Day, and you can take a bus anywhere you want in the Region for no fare. People I know to have pretty good service near their homes instead just drive to one of the malls to joy ride for a while. It's a missed opportunity that they aren't getting on their local routes this week to see what it's like and how good the service generally is.