> Zoning outside the city spreads buildings and destinations so widely, > there aren't enough potential riders along any one route, nor at any > one stop to make transit efficient or convenient. Though TCAT tries > valiantly to serve outlying areas, it is forced to chase far-flung > development, resulting in meandering routes, confusing schedules and > infrequent service. Hence, only 7% of commuters ride busses to work. > maybe a bit more since the fare cut. > ... > The inherent potential for transit routes to guide development gives > TCAT the power to make the towns rapidly adopt more sustainable land > use policy. TCAT should refuse to serve every random house farm, condo > barracks and strip center that pops up in the towns at the whim of > developers. It must designate which main roads and village centers > will get service, and refuse to extend service beyond.
You know, I live on a state highway, where there's all kind of traffic between Dryden - especially TC3 - and Cornell and Ithaca. And TCAT's rural service (the 43) still basically sucks here. No weekend service, hours designed for commuters only, lousy evening service. My wife did take the bus to Cornell when she was working there, but otherwise the schedule severely limits the usability of the bus. This road is the oldest highway in the county, linking the very nodes that county planners tell us over and over are the key to our sane transportation future - yet mostly I marvel that anyone would think even current service to TC3 (41 or 43) makes sense, never mind trying to take the bus myself. (I work at home, so I pretty much only use it to go to meetings once in a while. Since the night service is lousy, that basically means showing up and hoping someone will give me a ride home.) The other point to remember is that TCAT presently has no claws. There is certainly a benefit to building apartment complexes etc. along its routes, and that's happened. Proposed zoning changes in Dryden at least will further encourage that. Still, I can't imagine a situation in Dryden where TCAT's saying that they wouldn't extend a route would have an impact on development. There aren't a lot of people currently building large complexes in the woods and then asking for bus service. I'd be surprised, in fact, to see TCAT create new bus routes out here at all, especially routes that wander off the main roads. Those claws will certainly get sharper as energy prices climb - but they'll still be pretty static claws. Assuming TCAT's service gets no crappier than it already is, those routes will slowly get more developed. It would be great for Towns to find ways to support TCAT to provide better service, but calling for "harsh measures", uh, doesn't really resonate. I know Rob, and I like Rob, but I'd strongly encourage folks who want change in the outer towns to actually live here for a while to see the what, why, and how of the situation. Urbanism is a great mantra for urbanites, but not necessarily the right answer to every situation. Knowing what the "right answer" should be doesn't take you very far toward implementing it. But maybe they'll finally put in bike racks at the stops someday, which might make at least part of Rob's proposal workable.... Thanks, Simon St.Laurent _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
