by gokeefe
R36 Combine Coach wrote:91 miles is sufficient for regular MBTA commuter service.Statistically true. Politically unlikely.
gokeefe
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R36 Combine Coach wrote:91 miles is sufficient for regular MBTA commuter service.Statistically true. Politically unlikely.
The trip from Worcester to the Big Apple is estimated to take 3 hours and 15 minutes, which the company said is shorter than other bus service that stops in Hartford between the two cities.https://www.telegram.com/news/20190219/ ... -york-city
The bus leaves from Franklin Street outside Union Station and arrives at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Gate 21, in New York City. Departure times from Worcester are noon Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. Sundays, according to the website. Departure times from New York City are 6 p.m. weekdays, 12:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays.
Fares between Worcester and New York City cost $15 each way on weekdays and $20 on weekends. Tickets are electronic and can be ordered through an app or online.
gokeefe wrote:Joking aside- like I've pointed out before, this *was* a service that was able to last until "A Day" in 1971.Arlington wrote:Mass is left with the problem of the best way to get "Greater Worcester" to NYC. Choices include bus (which an HOV Pike would help), or driving to PVD or NHV. The Inlands are Tier 2 because CSX (and the Worcester hills) make it hard by train.You left out the P&W via Groton.
johnpbarlow wrote:Article in today's Worcester Telegram: "Nonstop bus service launched between Worcester and New York City"Having lived in or immediately adjacent to NYC for ~20 years, I'll tell you that the 3:15 estimate is basically best-case-scenario for a NYC-Worcester drive.
Excerpt:The trip from Worcester to the Big Apple is estimated to take 3 hours and 15 minutes, which the company said is shorter than other bus service that stops in Hartford between the two cities.https://www.telegram.com/news/20190219/ ... -york-city
The bus leaves from Franklin Street outside Union Station and arrives at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Gate 21, in New York City. Departure times from Worcester are noon Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. Sundays, according to the website. Departure times from New York City are 6 p.m. weekdays, 12:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays.
Fares between Worcester and New York City cost $15 each way on weekdays and $20 on weekends. Tickets are electronic and can be ordered through an app or online.
Hard to beat the transit time and price! By comparison MBTA charges $11.50 to go 45 miles from Worcester to Boston.
daybeers wrote:I agree that 3:15 is too short of an estimate.Sure, but what does it matter?
Ridgefielder wrote:The only two river crossings that point the right direction are the Alexander Hamilton (which carries I-95 over the Harlem River to the Cross Bronx Expressway) and the Triboro Bridge.Some bus lines use the Macombs Dam Bridge and the Madison Avenue Bridge. The Bee-Line, for example, uses the latter to transport passengers between Westchester County and Manhattan.
There's a reason there's little-to-no commuter bus service into Manhattan from Long Island, Westchester or Connecticut.
[Frailey] You seem almost as uncharitable towards the short-distance passenger trains. [O'Toole] Amtrak does its best to deceive people about how well these trains do, for example, counting state subsidies as “passenger revenues,” in order to make itself eligible for more subsidies. I wouldn't mind short-distance trains if they worked, but the Cascades, the California service, those trains aren't really doing anything. A lot of money is spent carrying not that many people.
[Frailey] Should the Northeast Corridor be paved over? [O'Toole] No. But be aware that the next technological revolution is not going to be high-speed rail, but driverless cars. Driverless cars are going to do a lot to relieve congestion, in the early stages by 25 percent or more. Eventually, they may double, triple or quadruple highway capacities.
[Frailey] That raises the question, does true high-speed rail have a role anywhere else in the United States? [O'Toole] I don't think it has a role anywhere in the world. High-speed rail has made an inroad into low-speed rail and into buses, but not really affected how much people drive or fly.
[Frailey] One last question. Pretend you’ve just become president of Amtrak. What do you do? [O'Toole] I would first try to contract out operations to private operators. When public transit contracts out bus service, they typically save almost 50 percent on operating costs. I would go after corporate sponsorships, to replace cars and locomotives that are worn out. Let’s have the Amazon Empire Builder, the Microsoft Coast Starlight, the JP Morgan Chase Acela, so that train riders pay only the operating costs.Here's the link to the entire blog: http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/fred-frailey ... rinch.aspx
Then there’s the Northeast Corridor, where Amtrak has a $51 billion infrastructure backlog. Most trains on the corridor are commuter trains, and I would insist that the commuter railroads and Amtrak, together, share those infrastructure costs amongst their passengers. The only taxes that I think ought to go to support those trains would be taxes from property owners who benefit from the density that the trains support.
Kilo Echo wrote:The Bee Line operates one commuter route all the way into Manhattan, the BxM4C. That runs down NY 100 from White Plains to the Cross County Parkway, then I-87 through the Bronx; inbounds cross the Macombs Dam Bridge, outbounds the Madison Ave. bridge. It basically replaces the NYC Putnam Division, whose trains used to terminate right by Macombs Dam. It uses the Madison Ave and Macombs Dam bridges but, importantly, it does not run into the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Southbound trips go down Fifth Ave and terminate at 26th St.; northbounds originate at 23rd Street and head up Madison to the bridge.Ridgefielder wrote:The only two river crossings that point the right direction are the Alexander Hamilton (which carries I-95 over the Harlem River to the Cross Bronx Expressway) and the Triboro Bridge.Some bus lines use the Macombs Dam Bridge and the Madison Avenue Bridge. The Bee-Line, for example, uses the latter to transport passengers between Westchester County and Manhattan.
There's a reason there's little-to-no commuter bus service into Manhattan from Long Island, Westchester or Connecticut.
Ridgefielder wrote:The broader point here is that, from a speed and timekeeping standpoint, a bus is not a great substitute for a train on a Worcester-NYC route.Speed: A page back I estimated that a re-instated WOR-NYP Inland would take: