Reconfiguration of Bus Routes when a new trunk LR/HR is buil

It seems to me that the best way to increase light rail and make it relevant is to change all the Bus Routes in that quad to feed into the light rail. Somehow it seems to me that Baltimore never quite did this. You eliminate parallel bus routes and have instead feeders into a spine line. City buses are a cause of traffic and air pollution problems and taking them out of downtown would make traffic flow and the quality of like much better.

One of the reasons for buses during the era of streetcar conversion was that they were "flexible and could be rerouted as needed to meet demands." The reality is that urban bus routes can become politically entrenched - when an authority tries to change routes, sometimes it can generate very vocal opposition from a small number of riders to retain the existing routes. Many cities have seen this occur. Sometimes a route is retained parallel to a rail line because the bus stops more frequently, and passengers that cannot walk longer distances rally to retain the bus. Other times, riders from bus served communities resist having to change midway from bus to train, and thus lobby to keep existing routes in place.

I don't know that I'd single out one city in particular. Most larger systems have examples of both cases. It's been a while since I've lived in the Baltimore area, but I do recall that at least to the south there was a realignment of some routes (the one I remember was the 14 to Annapolis, that used to go all the way into Baltimore, was cut back to meet light rail).

Since you are from Boston...I had the experience of taking 3 different buses from Haverhill to Lawrence to Lowell. It took 3 and 1/2 hours of hot stinking hell. I did not want to go all the way in and all the way out. But now I see its six and half dozen or the other. Unlike Chicago which is all one suberban system there are a dozen local systems in the Boston Burbs.

Yes...the outer 'burbs (beyond the Route 128 corridor, roughly) are all served by RTA's (Regional Transit Authorities). Lowell is in one, whereas Haverhill and Lawrence are in another. And of course, the commuter trains are run by the MBTA - which is its own RTA in the areas where it runs buses, subway and trolley service.

The RTAs all have varying degrees of whether they coordinate with each other and/or the MBTA commuter rail. One of the biggest "misses" for commuter rail is that at least on my end of the system, the RTA buses provide little or no connectivity with the trains - in fact the Lawrence station is served by I believe only one infrequent RTA route.

But this of course is getting into a whole 'nother can of worms, and goes beyond the specifics of this discussion.

Did each town out there have its own muni trolley company and the bus companys in lowell lawrence haverhill came from those?

I know the towns in the Merrimack Valley all had trolley service, although I believe all lines had converted to bus under private ownership, before public takeover.

Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill all were served by the Eastern Mass Street Railway. In fact, at first, all were served by the MBTA, when they bought it. Several of my in-laws used to work for the T and started in Lowell. Then, the operations were "sold off" to various RTAs.

I also remember being told that Lowell, Lawrence,Haverhill,Fitchburgh were self contained citys in there own right with there own econmic base and mini suberbs that there was little need to commute into the city at that time. That Boston was a city with little citys surronding it but some farmland between "Da Hub" and the "Da Burbs"

I know that Metro Transit rerouted a number of routes to feed into the light rail system from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America, and I assume that they'll do the same with the Minneapolis/St. Paul Central Corridor. However, Metro Transit has said on several occasions that the Route 16 Central Corridor light rail won't preclude their running Route 94 express buses on the interstate between the two downtowns. For some, it does cost them a one-seat ride, but the light rail is speedy enough that it doesn't usually take longer and is usually more comfortable. If anyone has a specific example in Minneapolis or elsewhere where a shorter bus ride has been superseded by a longer two-seat ride, feel free to give it here.

Well York PA Rabbit Transit Commuter Shuttle takes like 2 1/2 hours from York PA to Baltimore Hunt Valley to Downtown. It would be better if they just stayed on the Interstate 83 all the way in. They make several stops at office parks of I 83.
Number 2 is Eire transit from Rockville MD-Fredrick MD-Hagerstown. The Contract bus service beats the Commuter train by a good half hour. (http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&ge ... M&dirflg=r)

The Light rail should act as a spine line were buses feed into rather then going all the way into downtown. You free up traffic from buses downtown and you create more on street parking as there is more room and cleaner air.

gearhead wrote:The Light rail should act as a spine line were buses feed into rather then going all the way into downtown. You free up traffic from buses downtown and you create more on street parking as there is more room and cleaner air.

The way many downtowns keep expanding, you may expand the Light Rail further into another area. How many cities build a "Transit Center" where all the bus come together & one can transfer from one line to another. Having some routes paired reduces this need. The Market works. Light rail needs to be built from where people are & where they want to go. Having routes that connect residential, commercial, medical, sports & other needs does this.