by Douglas John Bowen
We'd welcome JCGUY to offer evidence that the mean old River Line somehow offers a service that buses could or should. The data we have, showing ridership on NJ Transit's comparable bus routes (409 and 419, among others), suggests that DLRT didn't steal or misplaced bus ridership at all. Instead the River Line created (or induced) demand.
In essence, protests like this come from entities such as Bergen County, and they're politically leaden. One could phrase the issue: "Hey, Burlington County can justify light rail; why can't we--Bergen, most populous in New Jersey--get light rail, too?" That would be preferable to what Bergen (and others) continue to do: "They don't deserve it." Not politically savvy, in our view.
Political reality also must take "north versus south" Jersey into effect. We at NJ-ARP don't like that much -- we believe in a unified rail approach -- but the split often drives rail decisions along the lines of "one for you, one for me." (If one's cynical, one can say the north plays it like Bugs Bunny does: "One for you and one for me. Two for you and one, two for me. Three for you and one, two, three for me." But the principle still holds.) Put simply, denying the River Line politically doesn't translate into creation of any other project, north or south.
Al Fazio, who heads up Bombardier Transportation's team on the River Line (it's a DBOM project), not only can be seen riding the River Line; sometimes he's seen operating a revenue-service run. We're also informed that NJ Transit Executive Director Rich Sarles has been seen on the route from time to time; if so, that's a better commitment than that of his predecessor.
In essence, protests like this come from entities such as Bergen County, and they're politically leaden. One could phrase the issue: "Hey, Burlington County can justify light rail; why can't we--Bergen, most populous in New Jersey--get light rail, too?" That would be preferable to what Bergen (and others) continue to do: "They don't deserve it." Not politically savvy, in our view.
Political reality also must take "north versus south" Jersey into effect. We at NJ-ARP don't like that much -- we believe in a unified rail approach -- but the split often drives rail decisions along the lines of "one for you, one for me." (If one's cynical, one can say the north plays it like Bugs Bunny does: "One for you and one for me. Two for you and one, two for me. Three for you and one, two, three for me." But the principle still holds.) Put simply, denying the River Line politically doesn't translate into creation of any other project, north or south.
Al Fazio, who heads up Bombardier Transportation's team on the River Line (it's a DBOM project), not only can be seen riding the River Line; sometimes he's seen operating a revenue-service run. We're also informed that NJ Transit Executive Director Rich Sarles has been seen on the route from time to time; if so, that's a better commitment than that of his predecessor.