rochester subway

[garmin239]

I don't have a background in engineering. I'm just going on what I have read. We have streets in bad shape because of the horrible condition of the tunnels under them. Parts of Broad street were closed off recently because of it.
And the whole profit thing. Many articles I read on cities that have put in light rails or subways in recent years have said that many cities are losing money on these projects. Many of them operate at a loss.
I support a light rail system or a trolley, I'm just saying that it may not be profitable and using existing tunnels may not work.

[jackson92186]

OK. In which case we should agree at the very least, having the existing tunnels would make it less expensive to fix them up and put in new infrastructure, as opposed to making a new line entirely. Secondly, all of these systems operate at a loss in our country. Thats because of two reasons: they are slower than the car, thus cannot compete with the car, and because they don't charge enough money. I think that most people who commute would be willing to pay more money per transit trip (like 5, 6 dollars) if it could compete with the automobile (that that would still be a lot less money than driving your car). I guess for the poor, you could give some kind of financial aid to help them be able to afford it. But in either case, like i said, if you zone high density around the line, and many people who live in the suburbs will move back to the city. And I hate to break it to you, but you are crazy if you think suburbs have a future with the amount we pay for energy today. Prices can only go up, and if you offer a cheaper, faster form of transportation to areas of the city that have been zoned for dense development, developers are going to build up that land like crazy and people will come back to the city. And this system will have no operating loss the city has to pay for.

[mga]

about 25 years ago i submitted a letter to the rochester regional tranist service. i suggested putting a mono-rail in the gennessee river gorge that would run both ways downtown to charlotte and out to henrietta to RIT. naturally, it was turned down for lack of interest.

when the bogus fast ferry was taking off, i again submitted the idea to the mayor, which never acknowledged my letter.

the mono-rail would not disturb the roads, being in the gorge, it would stop at the zoo and kodak with a bus terminal there and continue downtown to crossroads where a large bus terminal would be and near the train station. the next stop would be (along the river) to the airport where there would be another bus/taxi center and then along the river to the RIT campus. again, with a bus/taxi terminal.

building along the river will not disrupt traffic, would provide a scenic view and would be run entirely on electric. many additional stops could be added if or where needed.

[cheese9988]

I understand where you guys are going with this. It could be great potential. I would love to have a subway, if it could take me completely around the city, basically from Pittsford, to Kodak Elmgrove, to Marketplace Mall to Greece Ridge Mall, with interconnections downtown.

If I were the person trying to fund the project, I would like better examples of a city similar to ours where this has successfully worked. Like everyone says, it isn't chump change and needs to be laid out proporly to be effective.

[SLCheng]

I have went to Rochester twice and stayed in Radsion Inn 3 years ago, I didn't see any bus at that time, I will be Rochester at the end of this month, where can i find a buy?

[rochacha]

Originally Posted by SLCheng

I have went to Rochester twice and stayed in Radsion Inn 3 years ago, I didn't see any bus at that time, I will be Rochester at the end of this month, where can i find a buy?

RGRTA

[pdx14607]

PLUS light rail.

I live in Portland right now, where the transportation system is incredibly progressive. It is truly a unique city in this way, and with a progressive mindset. And yes, that sort of thing DOES attract the right businesses. Vestas wind systems recently moved their US HQ's to downtown.

Rochester has amazing potential, (Jackson did a great job going over these points) and you already have much of it existing. Nice radial structure with a core downtown prime for a hub and spoke transit. Two miles of underground tunnels already dug (any idea how expensive and slow tunnel boring machines are?), that just need structure..

What this country and even local communities should realize is that energy costs leave the country/community, and any energy saved through efficiency will largely go right back into the local economy. For the converse point, just look at cities in Ohio, which have just about some of the highest transport co2 footprint in the country (and the world!): they are bleeding wealth out rapidly. Wouldn't they have been better off if they ranked in the top 10 rather than bottom 10?

Just five miles of rail can make a huge difference (two 2.5 mile lines ). Let's hope the next big asphalt pave in town will be a park and ride at the city limits of Rochester.

[pdx14607]

Just 300 miles away they're doing the right stuff:

http://img.timeinc.net/time/quotes/2...718_tunnel.jpg


Friday, Jul. 18, 2008 - Quotes of the Day - TIME

[DJ-Uno]

Has anyone cheerleading for this idea actually been in the tunnels?

I have, during the Chill The Fill event a couple of years ago (before they said they would charge people with trespassing if they went into the tunnels). They are trashed. It will cost a ton of money just to rehab the whopping 2 miles (An estimated $24 million, how much did the Fast Folly go over its estimated costs?), then you have to get the tracks and a train installed again (Mag Levs for 2 miles?). All so you can travel from the library to the old Tahoes.

The 'subway' wasn't making money when its passenger service was shut down either, the cost to subsidize it was 10 times the subsidy for buses...

http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/~roch...1974/v36i2.pdf (page 20)

Save it for posterity? Maybe. Return it to service? No way.

[mgover77]

I'm a little late to this thread but have any of you seen this Rochester Subway map?
http://rochestersubway.com/rochester...oster_2008.php

It shows the original subway route and several other lines that might have been added. It's totally hypothetical but if nothing else it's very interesting.