What would improve Wilkes-Barre and the greater Wyoming Valley? (Pittsburgh: 2014, college)

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by auntieannie68

Currently,they use stolen cars and or rentals,so the train would make it easier to travel without detection.they are here cause of little police pressure and the over abundance of greedy people here who are profiting from the drug culture under the guise of appearing as regular businessmen. Having lived in rather larger cities in the north and south,this area is far more infiltrated with scum for its size

You said it yourself.

They are here not because of cars or highway systems, but because of an ineffective police force and apathetic citizenry. The rail system wouldn't change that IMO.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Magritte25

Enough riders or enough commuters?

From my very informal "survey" most people support a rail system between here and Philadelphia, NYC and Boston. I would definitely use it several times per month to visit Philadelphia.

Figure out what the full cost would be without subsidies and then ask them if they support it.

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

Figure out what the full cost would be without subsidies and then ask them if they support it.

I don't understand your mindset.

Roads are subsidized. So is public transportation like buses and subways. So why shouldn't a rail way be subsidized as well?

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Magritte25

Roads are subsidized.

30 to 40 percent of the federal gasoline fuel tax paid by motorists goes to mass transit, how much of the state fuel tax paid by motorists goes there I'm not sure but it's substantial.

Here is your fuel tax dollars at work:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/03/us...inds.html?_r=0

Amtrak charges about $2 for a soft drink, but the cost to taxpayers is about $3.40 when labor is included. A $9.50 hamburger on the train costs taxpayers $16, the charts showed.

[ecoscape]

If a train line is such a big boogeyman in this particular area nothing will ever change

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by ecoscape

If a train line is such a big boogeyman in this particular area nothing will ever change

If you are going to spend billions of dollars it better make sense. As I have already mentioned a light rail from Carbondale to Nanticoke with stops in between makes sense. Eliminate and reconfigure the busing routes as needed. A rail line so people can work elsewhere is not mt idea of something ideal, we should be trying to bring business here. Not drive it away.

[ecoscape]

Coalman I agree and I also agree drivers should not subsidize rail by higher gas tax but at the end of the day no business will relocate to an area with no mass transit connections or any modern infrastructure like high speed internet, mass transit be it light rail modern highways etc.

[auntieannie68]

Originally Posted by ecoscape

If a train line is such a big boogeyman in this particular area nothing will ever change

the only "boogeyman that is real here is that it will be used for scum to increase their presence here cause of the lack of policing and the profit of drug and hooker trade here

[CarbonCountyLiving]

There is never going to be a high speed rail line. I don't understand why people keep banging that drum. They have been throwing that idea around since I was in middle school. Maybe even before.

Instead of coming up with pie in the sky ideas, people in the region need to devise real, workable solutions that build upon what already exists there.

I don't have any offhand, but I know enough about the political landscape and the mindset that exists in NEPA to know that you can't just come up with a top level idea that will cost billions and expect it to fly. You need to walk before you can fly.

Getting the local chamber, economic development orgs (are there any?), the local DCED branch and other job creation networks on the same page would be a nice start.

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

If you are going to spend billions of dollars it better make sense. As I have already mentioned a light rail from Carbondale to Nanticoke with stops in between makes sense. Eliminate and reconfigure the busing routes as needed. A rail line so people can work elsewhere is not mt idea of something ideal, we should be trying to bring business here. Not drive it away.

I think installing a rail line COULD invite businesses to move here actually.