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perhaps they should park every other bus then and ditch half of the labor cost. Costs the state $4 for ever $1 in... in other words, they can park 4 of every 5 buses, and give $4 out to the passengers for every dollar they pay. Socialism at it's finest
Do you even know anything about mass transit? First of all, no form of mass-transit is profitable, NONE. All require government subsidy of some sort. That goes for the much bally-hooed transit options in Portland, OR to the New York City subways to the Metro-North New Haven Line trains. This is because mass transit is expensive to operate and people would not or could not afford the cost if it was self funded. That is why private mass transit operators went out of business decades ago. IT is just not sustainable financially.
The second thing to know is that mass transit capacity is designed to meet the needs of the peak hours of travel. Generally this is from 7:00 to 9:00 AM and 4:00 to 6:00 PM. That is when the most people are riding the systems so you need buses that can accommodate the maximum number of people during those periods. That is why the buses on CTfastrak are the bigger ones and not smaller.
In between those times (like when you saw that bus) and just before and after them, it costs the system very little to run the buses. The buses are already out with drivers and the drivers are paid the same whether they work a full 8 hours a day or just the 2 hours that cover the peak hour periods. That is why you will see buses running with only a few people. There needs to be such excess capacity in the system that can meet the needs of the peak hours whether people like that or not.
By all accounts CTfastrak is a success. Its ridership numbers which have posted here before and are readily available on the CT DOT website have exceeded all projections. Remember that ALL mass transit takes time to build its ridership and that thousands of riders just don't show up on the first day of service. It takes time to get people out of their cars and the only way that you can do that is to provide a clean modern system that offers regular reliable service throughout the day. That is what CTfastrak does.
Another part of what CTfastrak is supposed to do is encourage development along the corridor. Already you are seeing new transit oriented development being built near the stations. Just look at what is proposed and/or built at Park Street, Flatbush Avenue and in downtown New Britain. I doubt any of these new buildings would have even been considered unless the service was there. It is only a matter of time before more similar projects will follow.
I would further like point out to you that another state mass transit operation that is highly successful today but was almost eliminated because its ridership numbers were perceived by some to be too low to support the service. Back when he was Governor, John Rowland proposed to end the now popular Shoreline East train service east of New Haven. The service had started a few years earlier and was slowly building ridership. Governor Rowland questioned the costs and proposed to end the service but he couldn't because a number of promises were made as part of the Q Bridge reconstruction project to not only maintain the service during construction, but expand and improve it. New and improved stations have been built all along the corridor and today the system is considered to be highly successful. In time, the same could happen with CTfastrak. Jay
Do you even know anything about mass transit? First of all, no form of mass-transit is profitable, NONE. All require government subsidy of some sort. That goes for the much bally-hooed transit options in Portland, OR to the New York City subways to the Metro-North New Haven Line trains. This is because mass transit is expensive to operate and people would not or could not afford the cost if it was self funded. That is why private mass transit operators went out of business decades ago. IT is just not sustainable financially.
The second thing to know is that mass transit capacity is designed to meet the needs of the peak hours of travel. Generally this is from 7:00 to 9:00 AM and 4:00 to 6:00 PM. That is when the most people are riding the systems so you need buses that can accommodate the maximum number of people during those periods. That is why the buses on CTfastrak are the bigger ones and not smaller.
In between those times (like when you saw that bus) and just before and after them, it costs the system very little to run the buses. The buses are already out with drivers and the drivers are paid the same whether they work a full 8 hours a day or just the 2 hours that cover the peak hour periods. That is why you will see buses running with only a few people. There needs to be such excess capacity in the system that can meet the needs of the peak hours whether people like that or not.
By all accounts CTfastrak is a success. Its ridership numbers which have posted here before and are readily available on the CT DOT website have exceeded all projections. Remember that ALL mass transit takes time to build its ridership and that thousands of riders just don't show up on the first day of service. It takes time to get people out of their cars and the only way that you can do that is to provide a clean modern system that offers regular reliable service throughout the day. That is what CTfastrak does.
Another part of what CTfastrak is supposed to do is encourage development along the corridor. Already you are seeing new transit oriented development being built near the stations. Just look at what is proposed and/or built at Park Street, Flatbush Avenue and in downtown New Britain. I doubt any of these new buildings would have even been considered unless the service was there. It is only a matter of time before more similar projects will follow.
I would further like point out to you that another state mass transit operation that is highly successful today but was almost eliminated because its ridership numbers were perceived by some to be too low to support the service. Back when he was Governor, John Rowland proposed to end the now popular Shoreline East train service east of New Haven. The service had started a few years earlier and was slowly building ridership. Governor Rowland questioned the costs and proposed to end the service but he couldn't because a number of promises were made as part of the Q Bridge reconstruction project to not only maintain the service during construction, but expand and improve it. New and improved stations have been built all along the corridor and today the system is considered to be highly successful. In time, the same could happen with CTfastrak. Jay
This is such a distortion of the truth. Via heavy regulation and taxation, Govt / Democrats colluding with Union socialists made it expensive for privates to operate. “See how expensive it is!? Now, I’ll just take it over.” So they shut down the filthy capitalists making a profit on the backs of the middle class. If you think this was innocent “oops, we didn’t mean that” then you are very naive.
In other countries, private firms operate transit just fine. They make a profit, govt gets to regulate it, and the public benefits better than the American public.
About Republicans funding another money pit. Why? Fixing potholes for the next 20 years — is not a strategy. I wouldn’t give Malloy another cent until we see some hope or Plan that CT will manage trasnprtation better in the future. Right now CT is running of fumes — investments that our ancestors did last millennium.
Do you even know anything about mass transit? First of all, no form of mass-transit is profitable, NONE. All require government subsidy of some sort. That goes for the much bally-hooed transit options in Portland, OR to the New York City subways to the Metro-North New Haven Line trains. This is because mass transit is expensive to operate and people would not or could not afford the cost if it was self funded. That is why private mass transit operators went out of business decades ago. IT is just not sustainable financially.
The second thing to know is that mass transit capacity is designed to meet the needs of the peak hours of travel. Generally this is from 7:00 to 9:00 AM and 4:00 to 6:00 PM. That is when the most people are riding the systems so you need buses that can accommodate the maximum number of people during those periods. That is why the buses on CTfastrak are the bigger ones and not smaller.
In between those times (like when you saw that bus) and just before and after them, it costs the system very little to run the buses. The buses are already out with drivers and the drivers are paid the same whether they work a full 8 hours a day or just the 2 hours that cover the peak hour periods. That is why you will see buses running with only a few people. There needs to be such excess capacity in the system that can meet the needs of the peak hours whether people like that or not.
By all accounts CTfastrak is a success. Its ridership numbers which have posted here before and are readily available on the CT DOT website have exceeded all projections. Remember that ALL mass transit takes time to build its ridership and that thousands of riders just don't show up on the first day of service. It takes time to get people out of their cars and the only way that you can do that is to provide a clean modern system that offers regular reliable service throughout the day. That is what CTfastrak does.
Another part of what CTfastrak is supposed to do is encourage development along the corridor. Already you are seeing new transit oriented development being built near the stations. Just look at what is proposed and/or built at Park Street, Flatbush Avenue and in downtown New Britain. I doubt any of these new buildings would have even been considered unless the service was there. It is only a matter of time before more similar projects will follow.
I would further like point out to you that another state mass transit operation that is highly successful today but was almost eliminated because its ridership numbers were perceived by some to be too low to support the service. Back when he was Governor, John Rowland proposed to end the now popular Shoreline East train service east of New Haven. The service had started a few years earlier and was slowly building ridership. Governor Rowland questioned the costs and proposed to end the service but he couldn't because a number of promises were made as part of the Q Bridge reconstruction project to not only maintain the service during construction, but expand and improve it. New and improved stations have been built all along the corridor and today the system is considered to be highly successful. In time, the same could happen with CTfastrak. Jay
I don't recall where I read the article a week or two ago, but it stated that the operating cost is running around $25,000,000. The incoming revenue is about $5,000,000. So for every dollar spent by a rider, $4 is subsidized by us taxpayers. If as you said, the buses are needed for peak times, 80% of the drivers should be part time employees with no benefits. Between 9am and 3:30pm, buses running should drop by 80%.
Never ridden public transportation. Probably never will. Doesn't go where I go.
Do you even know anything about mass transit? First of all, no form of mass-transit is profitable, NONE. All require government subsidy of some sort. That goes for the much bally-hooed transit options in Portland, OR to the New York City subways to the Metro-North New Haven Line trains. This is because mass transit is expensive to operate and people would not or could not afford the cost if it was self funded. That is why private mass transit operators went out of business decades ago. IT is just not sustainable financially.
The second thing to know is that mass transit capacity is designed to meet the needs of the peak hours of travel. Generally this is from 7:00 to 9:00 AM and 4:00 to 6:00 PM. That is when the most people are riding the systems so you need buses that can accommodate the maximum number of people during those periods. That is why the buses on CTfastrak are the bigger ones and not smaller.
In between those times (like when you saw that bus) and just before and after them, it costs the system very little to run the buses. The buses are already out with drivers and the drivers are paid the same whether they work a full 8 hours a day or just the 2 hours that cover the peak hour periods. That is why you will see buses running with only a few people. There needs to be such excess capacity in the system that can meet the needs of the peak hours whether people like that or not.
By all accounts CTfastrak is a success. Its ridership numbers which have posted here before and are readily available on the CT DOT website have exceeded all projections. Remember that ALL mass transit takes time to build its ridership and that thousands of riders just don't show up on the first day of service. It takes time to get people out of their cars and the only way that you can do that is to provide a clean modern system that offers regular reliable service throughout the day. That is what CTfastrak does.
Another part of what CTfastrak is supposed to do is encourage development along the corridor. Already you are seeing new transit oriented development being built near the stations. Just look at what is proposed and/or built at Park Street, Flatbush Avenue and in downtown New Britain. I doubt any of these new buildings would have even been considered unless the service was there. It is only a matter of time before more similar projects will follow.
I would further like point out to you that another state mass transit operation that is highly successful today but was almost eliminated because its ridership numbers were perceived by some to be too low to support the service. Back when he was Governor, John Rowland proposed to end the now popular Shoreline East train service east of New Haven. The service had started a few years earlier and was slowly building ridership. Governor Rowland questioned the costs and proposed to end the service but he couldn't because a number of promises were made as part of the Q Bridge reconstruction project to not only maintain the service during construction, but expand and improve it. New and improved stations have been built all along the corridor and today the system is considered to be highly successful. In time, the same could happen with CTfastrak. Jay
Do they fudge CTfastrak numbers the same way they fudge crime stats?
Do they fudge CTfastrak numbers the same way they fudge crime stats?
Totally fudged..... the regular street buses are mostly gone and replaced by Fasttrack buses.... so the street bus stats that were existing got rolled into the Fastrack stats and they say "Look at how much are ridership is" when the Fastrack stats are putrid on their own.
This is such a distortion of the truth. Via heavy regulation and taxation, Govt / Democrats colluding with Union socialists made it expensive for privates to operate. “See how expensive it is!? Now, I’ll just take it over.” So they shut down the filthy capitalists making a profit on the backs of the middle class. If you think this was innocent “oops, we didn’t mean that” then you are very naive.
In other countries, private firms operate transit just fine. They make a profit, govt gets to regulate it, and the public benefits better than the American public.
About Republicans funding another money pit. Why? Fixing potholes for the next 20 years — is not a strategy. I wouldn’t give Malloy another cent until we see some hope or Plan that CT will manage trasnprtation better in the future. Right now CT is running of fumes — investments that our ancestors did last millennium.
This is not a distortion of the truth. Please provide unbiased backup to this claim. Back when the private transportation companies went bankrupt, there were few regulations and little taxation. We are talking in the 40's and 50's, not the 21st Century. My aunt worked for CR&L (a private commuter bus company) in Bridgeport and she said that ridership plummeted after World War II so the company just could not support itself, plain and simply. The same thing happened across the country.
In case you don't know it, it is the Republicans that are not offering a real transportation plan. They are against any increased funding for it including raising the gas tax or implementing tolls. Mark Boughton has already said that if he is Governor he will cancel MANY of the major highway projects currently being planned. That includes widening of I-95, I-84 and I-91. So basically he would just be for keeping our highways the way they are today and just continue to "fill potholes". Do you really think we do not need to make major investments in our transportation system? The last time we did this here in Connecticut, we had a major bridge collapse on I-95 in Greenwich. Do you want more of that? I don't. Jay
Totally fudged..... the regular street buses are mostly gone and replaced by Fasttrack buses.... so the street bus stats that were existing got rolled into the Fastrack stats and they say "Look at how much are ridership is" when the Fastrack stats are putrid on their own.
Do they fudge CTfastrak numbers the same way they fudge crime stats?
Come on now. Really? No, they do not. The figures must be submitted to the Federal Transit Agency in order to get federal money. Do you really think they are going to "fudge" numbers for some reason? Jay
Hard to believe people are still arguing about public transportation in the year 2018. AT this point it should be common knowledge that no public transportation systems generate a profit (except maybe a couple in Japan or Hong Kong)
Public transportation benefits every one in society which includes those who do not use it.
I wrote here before that CT transit farebox recovery is approx 25%. If riders had to pay 100% to sustain the system the bus fare would be $1.75 x 4 = $7 one way. No ones going to pay that to go across town. Throw in a couple kids now the fare is $21 one way. That's insane.
Take all the riders off fast track, ct transit, and metro north and watch what happens to the highways. It would take 6 hours to drive from New Haven to NYC.
Totally fudged..... the regular street buses are mostly gone and replaced by Fasttrack buses.... so the street bus stats that were existing got rolled into the Fastrack stats and they say "Look at how much are ridership is" when the Fastrack stats are putrid on their own.
WRONG. CT Transit buses still provide the same basic route they did before the CTfastrak service started. They may have adjusted a couple of overlapping routes but the rest are still in service and accounted for in the CTfastrak numbers. Jay
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