About Me

My photo
Nazareth, Pa., United States

Friday, May 30, 2008

Try Transit Day


Try Transit Day is the last Friday of every month. With fuel prices now creeping over that magical $4 amount, many more of us will be doing just that.

7 comments:

Blah Society said...

If only it were possible for me to take LANTA where I needed to go.

I used LANTA when I was a teenager and even then it was a risk because you never knew whether or not the driver was going to stop and pick you up or even complete his or her route at the end of the day.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Now and then, I take the bus from Nazareth to the courthouse. With one transfer, I can be there in about an hour. But to get back home, I must leave mid-afternoon. If I wait until 5 PM, the closest I can get is about 5 miles away. And this is with transfers.

Now compare this to the turn of the century, when a trolley car left every half hour for Easton and many other points. I could ride to Tatamy, Easton, or Bethlehem, all for 5 cents. From what I've read, the trip from Nazareth to Easton took just 30 minutes, and there were connections there to everywhere.

We are ill-equipped to handle the emerging peak oil crisis. Even those of us who live in the cities andf older 'burbs will have trouble making connections.

Anonymous said...

I would like to be able to use LANTA more. One of these days, I'm going to use the S route to go to Wind Gap. Most of all, I wish we had rail service to Philly and NY/suburbs. I hope I see it before I die.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Most of all, I wish we had rail service to Philly and NY/suburbs

We might, but only bc the suits want more people who work in Jersey to move into the 'burbs. They have to con the gov't into subsidizng the enormous expense.

Jake Barnes said...

This community ripped out the trolley lines in the name of 'progress' in the mid-50's. The Valley spent the last 60 years designing the community around the automobile. Industrial parks were the answer in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Regional malls. Sprawl.
Now we want public transit and wonder where it is? It is a miracle that we have any transit at all.
Our transit system is marginal because that is what we asked for: less transit, more access by auto.
The train has left the station. To get back to the level of infrastructure Colonel Trexler enjoyed, would cost hundreds of millions.
Who is going to pony up that investment?
You've nailed it BOH, only those who moved here from the big city are pushing for light rail. And they want someone else to pay for it because local government doesn't have the will to invest in that.

Anonymous said...

I'm not from the big city and I'm pushing for rail service. Not light rail, but heavy rail to Philly and NYC/suburbs. Light rail, I think would be logistically, extremely difficult to pull off. About the money, we spend $$$'s on roads and they aren't working and they're getting more expensive. 412 is being improved in Bethlehem and instead of pushing for rail service to Philly, tying in with service from Quakertown/Lansdale, we get a stupid walking trail on the railbed. Anyone wanna go for a walk in Southside of Bethlehem?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Jake makes more sense on this. Passenget trains to NYC/Philly will just encourage more commuting, just like widening Rte 22. Far better to encourage people to live where they work. Besides, people who commute 4 hours every day tend to get divorced.