North Shore Connector: Positives (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: for sale, buying, live in)

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Definitely. If I lived in South Park I'd be delighted at the prospect of being able to walk to the "T" and then take that to the casino, a football game, a concert, etc. From the East End I just walk to North Side destinations.

I think you are the exception. I think most people are pretty lazy. Polish Hill is pretty isolated and most people wouldn't even think of walking to Heinz Field from Polish Hill.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I think you are the exception. I think most people are pretty lazy. Polish Hill is pretty isolated and most people wouldn't even think of walking to Heinz Field from Polish Hill.

Yeah, I think people need to realize that regardless of how they behave personally, it is observable that once you get more than about 1/4 of a mile or so away from a destination, the percentage of people willing to walk to that destination starts to decline rapidly. You'll still get some people out to about 1/2 mile, but after that you will be getting down to a pretty small minority.

So if you are talking about going from, say, the Gateway or Wood Stations, you are already at the 1/2 mile mark by the time you hit the North Shore end of any of the relevant bridges. You've already lost a bunch of people at that point, and you can't actually get to much of anywhere in the North Shore without losing even more.

Again, whether that should be the way people work or not, that is indeed how they work. Accordingly, the Downtown T stations really can't serve the North Shore. Conversely, the future North Shore T stations will indeed likely be used by people as close as Downtown, provided they can get to a Downtown T station and then from the North Shore T station to their ultimate destination with less than 1/2 a mile of walking. And vice-versa--people will originate trips from the North Shore to as close to Downtown subject to the same constraint.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I think you are the exception. I think most people are pretty lazy. Polish Hill is pretty isolated and most people wouldn't even think of walking to Heinz Field from Polish Hill.

I loved taking the T from Mt.Lebo/Dormont to Pgh when I lived there. Used to get off either downtown and walk to the stadium or do the Station Square Clipper boat to the games. To be able to jump on the T and get off at PNC Park, that would be great. Damn, should not have sold my duplex!

[stevo6]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Just to remind you of something:

1. PA has a huge deficit going.
2. School districts are going to suffer due to the deficit.
3. We are building a very expensive tunnel and have 4 walkable bridges over the Allegheny river and one could easily be close just for pedestrian or a street car to go back and forth over if people are that lazy.

I am not totally against it and it is a moot point, but I think there were better ways of spending money the State and Feds don't have and any money Pittsburgh spent isn't a good idea considering all the money problems we have locally. The credit card living needs to stop. Who is going to actually pay for all this?

Agreed but Pittsburgh doesn't have the ability to take money earmarked for public transit and use it on other things- especially federal money. If we didn't use it for transit it would have gone to another city.

[nuwaver88]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Yeah, I think people need to realize that regardless of how they behave personally, it is observable that once you get more than about 1/4 of a mile or so away from a destination, the percentage of people willing to walk to that destination starts to decline rapidly. You'll still get some people out to about 1/2 mile, but after that you will be getting down to a pretty small minority.

So if you are talking about going from, say, the Gateway or Wood Stations, you are already at the 1/2 mile mark by the time you hit the North Shore end of any of the relevant bridges. You've already lost a bunch of people at that point, and you can't actually get to much of anywhere in the North Shore without losing even more.

Again, whether that should be the way people work or not, that is indeed how they work. Accordingly, the Downtown T stations really can't serve the North Shore. Conversely, the future North Shore T stations will indeed likely be used by people as close as Downtown, provided they can get to a Downtown T station and then from the North Shore T station to their ultimate destination with less than 1/2 a mile of walking. And vice-versa--people will originate trips from the North Shore to as close to Downtown subject to the same constraint.

This is very true even for those in decent shape to walk. Ten minutes is a long walk for most people for a leisure activity or going to get a meal. I know this from working at a Downtown hotel that has a good location if you have a business meeting or symposium, but is somewhat isolated from most of the better restaurants. People ask for me a restaurant that is not more than a block or two from the hotel. The options are limited from our particular hotel. If they can extend that walk to ten minutes or even fifteen, the options expand greatly. Imagine staying on Wall Street in NYC and limiting yourself to a few blocks at 9pm. It is the same thing. Five minutes more opens up a whole world. Some people love to walk and will gladly walk up to a mile to The Strip for breakfast from Downtown. Most people do not have that mindset for leisure activities.

[pman]

[LEFT]Port Authority of Allegheny County officials said this morning they tentatively plan to begin North Shore Connector service on March 25.
Authority officials said at a committee meeting the project is 97 percent complete, with only finishing touches left...The start date ... was picked to coincide with service adjustments that occur every quarter.

Read more: Tentative start date set for North Shore Connector - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Tentative start date set for North Shore Connector - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review[/LEFT]

[trotter_rej]

The start date ... was picked to coincide with service adjustments that occur every quarter.

Does this mean the service can start and end on the same day?

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by trotter_rej

Does this mean the service can start and end on the same day?

YEA....Service will start the same week the need to Cancel All Weekend service.....Go Figure.

[BrianTH]

I'm actually looking forward to seeing the new Gateway station.

[pman]

I really think they're going about this the wrong way. first, I think the free fare zone would be more beneficial to the north shore than downtown. more importantly...

[LEFT]It would cost an estimated $500,000 a year to make the 1.2-mile North Shore Connector part of the fare-free zone, said Lucinda Beattie, the partnership's vice president of transportation. Making the North Shore and Station Square fare-free while also running North Shore Connector trains more frequently could cost at least $1.5 million annually, she said.

Read more: Consortium urges extension of Port Authority fare-free zone - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Consortium urges extension of Port Authority fare-free zone - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review[/LEFT]
maybe they can raise $1.5 million annually, but if it comes down to a choice, I think it's more important to run the extra service than to have it be free. I think they should look at an alternative where there is NO free fare zone but station sq to the north shore is, say, $1...while the rest is covered by a parnership and naming rights.
and naming rights, if PNC takes a station, would people be confused as to whether it was the baseball park or the HQ? (people being visitors). that said, I could see the last stop being named Rivers Casino Station.