Springfield to Boston rail (Windsor: mover, quality of life, airport)

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by mdovell

1) Students in CT with a UPass since it will cost them nothing

2) Uberx is fine but I don't use a wheel chair. What about those that are disabled? I've never seen a Uber MV1 on the road, maybe I'm wrong. It's possible but I've never seen it.

I'm usually critical of CT but CAA has interesting plans. There's a long term goal for another runway which could significantly add more flights. It could be decades off though.

I've taken uber a number of times and it's good but I don't think there's enough uber drivers to accommodate dozens of people at a time in the region. If you get a wave of foreign students from Springfield or Northampton they can't fit in one car or a dozen of them. I know there are some restaurants that bring people straight from Ireland.

Again this isn't about one part but rather pieces that are there that together gradually make up a system. I'm old enough to remember rolling down a car window but I wouldn't want to go back to that.

There's absolutely no shortage of Uber drivers and Uber is more convenient than waiting for a train that has an abysmal schedule to get you to or from an airport.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by mdovell

1) Students in CT with a UPass since it will cost them nothing

2) Uberx is fine but I don't use a wheel chair. What about those that are disabled? I've never seen a Uber MV1 on the road, maybe I'm wrong. It's possible but I've never seen it.

I'm usually critical of CT but CAA has interesting plans. There's a long term goal for another runway which could significantly add more flights. It could be decades off though.

I've taken uber a number of times and it's good but I don't think there's enough uber drivers to accommodate dozens of people at a time in the region. If you get a wave of foreign students from Springfield or Northampton they can't fit in one car or a dozen of them. I know there are some restaurants that bring people straight from Ireland.

Again this isn't about one part but rather pieces that are there that together gradually make up a system. I'm old enough to remember rolling down a car window but I wouldn't want to go back to that.

Yeah. UConn students fly all over the planet pretty much weekly. What was I thinking?


The Bradley Flyer bus from Hartford has a wheelchair lift. You can already get from a train at Union Station in Hartford to BDL in a wheelchair.


You're going to design a mass transit system around "waves of foreign students" who fly a couple times per year? Are you crazy?

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Yeah. UConn students fly all over the planet pretty much weekly. What was I thinking?


The Bradley Flyer bus from Hartford has a wheelchair lift. You can already get from a train at Union Station in Hartford to BDL in a wheelchair.


You're going to design a mass transit system around "waves of foreign students" who fly a couple times per year? Are you crazy?

People are flying in from Ireland to eat out in Springfield LOL.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by Dm84

There's absolutely no shortage of Uber drivers and Uber is more convenient than waiting for a train that has an abysmal schedule to get you to or from an airport.

No doubt Uber is faster though somewhat pricier. As for an abysmal schedule, it’s not too bad except north of Hartford (where the Windsor Locks transfer to the airport supposedly would be), but CT’s plan is to double-track that portion which then enables more trains to run north of Hartford. With what ridership does end up happening to Bradley, I’m guessing that some number of rides would be employees. Employees are certainly far fewer in numbers than the number of travelers, but a single full-time employee using this as a commute ends up racking a few hundred rides over a year.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Yeah. UConn students fly all over the planet pretty much weekly. What was I thinking?


The Bradley Flyer bus from Hartford has a wheelchair lift. You can already get from a train at Union Station in Hartford to BDL in a wheelchair.


You're going to design a mass transit system around "waves of foreign students" who fly a couple times per year? Are you crazy?

Right but the Bradley flier bus isn't north of Bradley.


"People are flying in from Ireland to eat out in Springfield LOL."
Uh
https://www.irishcenterwne.org/

Yeah about that. The Log Cabin brings over chefs from Ireland all the time. I didn't say people are flying from Ireland to eat in Springfield


"What is the link to Bradley going to be? A shuttle bus that's part of your ticket price? A shuttle bus that you pay for separately? A spur line of the train? I can't imagine an actual re-routing of the actual service. "

It's in the planning stages. I'm not making this up the governor already has it out
https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-...resents-CT2030

"CT2030 recognizes that airports are an important part of any region’s transportation system as they are major drivers of a solid economic engine that attracts business.
In the plan, commuters to Bradley International Airport – the second largest airport in New England – will have the option of accessing the airport by traveling on an autonomous tram that will connect them to Bradley directly from the Hartford Line at the Windsor Locks Station."

It's approximately 4 miles from Bradley to the Windsor locks station. If he want's a tram that's fine but I have no idea on the costs.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Right but the Bradley flier bus isn't north of Bradley.


"People are flying in from Ireland to eat out in Springfield LOL."
Uh
https://www.irishcenterwne.org/

Yeah about that. The Log Cabin brings over chefs from Ireland all the time. I didn't say people are flying from Ireland to eat in Springfield


"What is the link to Bradley going to be? A shuttle bus that's part of your ticket price? A shuttle bus that you pay for separately? A spur line of the train? I can't imagine an actual re-routing of the actual service. "

It's in the planning stages. I'm not making this up the governor already has it out
https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-...resents-CT2030

"CT2030 recognizes that airports are an important part of any region’s transportation system as they are major drivers of a solid economic engine that attracts business.
In the plan, commuters to Bradley International Airport – the second largest airport in New England – will have the option of accessing the airport by traveling on an autonomous tram that will connect them to Bradley directly from the Hartford Line at the Windsor Locks Station."

It's approximately 4 miles from Bradley to the Windsor locks station. If he want's a tram that's fine but I have no idea on the costs.

Oh what? An autonomous tram? Do they mean an autonomous shuttle bus(es) then? That's pretty interesting.

[johngolf]

Boston to Springfield is 90 miles on old railroad tracks so at best , with no stops, it would be close to a one hour and 45 minute trip. To long for typical commuting and if you add a few stops, it will be well over a two hour trip. I just do not see the feasibility of it for anyone but a casual traveler.

[jxzz]

Originally Posted by johngolf

Boston to Springfield is 90 miles on old railroad tracks so at best , with no stops, it would be close to a one hour and 45 minute trip. To long for typical commuting and if you add a few stops, it will be well over a two hour trip. I just do not see the feasibility of it for anyone but a casual traveler.

We will have to wait on the study ridership. It is hard to know exact number without a study.

I would estimate ridership between New Haven and Stamford today is higher than ridership between Providence and Boston. MNR between Stamford New Haven is 50 minutes to 1 hour ride. Few people in MA would believe given both are small cities on population, but this is true today on my estimate.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by johngolf

Boston to Springfield is 90 miles on old railroad tracks so at best , with no stops, it would be close to a one hour and 45 minute trip. To long for typical commuting and if you add a few stops, it will be well over a two hour trip. I just do not see the feasibility of it for anyone but a casual traveler.

Yea, of what's known about the proposal so far, the fastest Springfield to Boston option under consideration is slated for somewhere between 80 to 105 minutes while the slowest of just taking the freight line with minimal change to the tracks would put it to just under two hours. That's definitely supercommuter territory which unfortunately is a commuting segment that has been on the rise. NYC has several commuter branches where to get to Manhattan from the furthest reaches takes 2 hours or more for a single-seat ride on commuter rail. Of course, NYC is much, much larger than Boston and there are cities/towns along the way for some of these lines with somewhat sizable employment centers. Worcester is somewhat sizable as an employment center, but not huge.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Oh what? An autonomous tram? Do they mean an autonomous shuttle bus(es) then? That's pretty interesting.

If they want to do it more power to them but four miles seems pretty long to me.

The Cincinnati Street car is shorter.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinc...Bell_Connector

If bdl was in Hartford I could see the need. How much traffic could there be to hold up a bus shuttle in Windsor locks?