06-26-2019, 08:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-26-2019, 09:05 AM by danbrotherston.)
(06-26-2019, 07:15 AM)MidTowner Wrote: On the topic of the parking at Conestoga, when I got on for my commute home yesterday, some oldsters were having a conversation with someone about where the best place to park to catch the train is. I overheard one of them say, "well, people got on this last station, so there must be some place to park."
One then did ask me where I parked my car, to which I replied "well, I work a few minute walk from here, so I'm just on my way home." They then wanted to know, was there space in the lot? Do they have any way of knowing if a car belongs to an employee or not?
I'm happy that so many people are experiencing transit, from a few casual chats on the train it seems like the first time ever for many people. But I'm going to be happier when the free-of-charge period is over and people are on transit to get somewhere. My wife has opted not to bother trying it out until she can pay to get on. It's $2.75...
Departure information was working this morning! And it was accurate.
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.