[Winona Online Democracy] Wow! This is an amazing discussion of this issue. I'm reading a lot of great ideas and I'm wondering, "Who is in a position to consider, evaluate, and implement these kind of things?" Can someone better informed than I let us all know? What is the process for getting WOD ideas like these to the point where action can be taken? So much seems to depend on what part of our "system" has the authority to act (and of course, who controls the "purse strings!").
I, too, am an "old fogey" who remembers getting around town by foot, bike, or bus in high school and college. A bus pass really opened my options for getting around town and to and from work and internships when I lived in Madison, WI. An idea I had (related to the parking issue as well) was for a shuttle service to and from campus/downtown to a lot in an outlying area east or west end--might that be an option? I remember using one in Rochester when I worked at Mayo Clinic. On nice days, I walked from the lot and I even used the shuttle after I had a card for parking in the downtown lot--I avoided a lot of traffic and it was faster! (not to mention easier to remember where I'd parked my car each day!) Kathy Seifert ----- Original Message ----- From: "Clayton Templeton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 8:23 AM Subject: RE: [Winona] mass transit > [Winona Online Democracy] > > Dean & others, > I wonder, is a city bus the only thing that makes sense for Winona? Are there > other transit ideas that would work in our community better than it may in > others? Our size is small, the town is flat, would a tiny rail system (built > partially alongside DM&E routes) make sense here? Would electric cars or golf > carts that require a prepurchased mag stripe card make sense? Maybe crossing > busy streets would be too much of a risk for those with poor eyesight. How > about shuttle vans? How many passengers would it take to pay for 3 or 4 city bus > lines running 17 hours a day? > > I don't believe that there is enough of a draw for shopping in town to keep them > busy, but traffic to and from workplace may work. I have heard that there is a > city bus that comes out to my neighborhood, but I've never seen it. Maybe if it > was designed to run between 6 and 8:30am, then 3:30 and 6:30pm it would be more > useful to more people. > > Clay Templeton > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 9:42 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [Winona] People in Winona Do Have a Choice > > > Bikes may be a good alternative to gas consuming autos, but not everyone is able > to take advantage of this choice. In particular, the elderly and the disabled > may not have the same opportunity to bike around town that Dan does. > Another alternative to the private automobile that is sadly lacking in Winona is > that of public transportation. > For a town of 35,000+ to have a bus service that only runs during the daylight > hours, and goes into hibernation on weekends and several holidays is ludicrous. > Many Winonans work evening and night shifts but they are not able to use mass > transit to get to work. > Many more probably are forced to turn down employment opportunities because they > do not have cars and the bus service is so poor. > Furthermore, it is next to impossible for the person without a car in Winona to > attend a movie, a sporting event or go grocery shopping after 5PM. > Even in St. Cloud, a community just this side of purgatory, the buses ran until > 9PM and on Saturday afternoons. > Dean Lanz > > _______________________________________________ > This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy > All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. > No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. > To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit > http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona > Any problems or suggestions can be directed to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
