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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 89 responses total. |
slynne
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response 44 of 89:
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Sep 14 18:56 UTC 2003 |
The population in SE Michigan is just too spread out to make a train
like that worth while. Plus commuter trains only work well if there is
good public transportation at one's destination.
Gas would have to get really expensive, like over $10 a gallon, before
I would be willing to take the bus to work if the fares and schedules
remain what they are now but, of course, if gas prices were to rise so
would the bus fares. On the other hand, if gas prices were to get to
$10 a gallon, there would be a lot more people taking the bus so they
might have more convenient schedules which would increase the liklihood
of me taking the bus.
If gas prices were to get to $5 a gallon, I would probably try to
carpool. I also would considier replacing my car with a hybrid or I
might consider buying a moped or something.
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gelinas
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response 45 of 89:
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Sep 14 20:07 UTC 2003 |
A few years back, my car would be deadlined from September to December
(while waiting for me to come up with the scratch to repair it). I found
it just as fast to walk from Arborland to downtown as to wait for the
convenience of AATA. Since AATA doesn't service Scio Township, I also found
it just as fast to walk from Zeeb to downtown. And before that, the trip
from Arborland to Plymouth Road Mall went as fast on foot as on the bus.
I realised that I can get anywhere in Ann Arbor on foot in two hours,
which is about what it takes to meet the bus schedule and ride all over
everywhere to get any where.
Until public transportation can offer what *I* consider a reasonable
schedule, never mind fare, I'll walk or drive myself.
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slynne
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response 46 of 89:
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Sep 14 21:01 UTC 2003 |
It takes me an hour door-to-door to get from my house to work via the
bus which is from Ypsi to Ann Arbor so it isnt too bad as far as AATA
goes. However, it is 4 times longer than it takes me to drive.
It is too bad this area cant support a rapid transit system. I mean, if
there were some way to get from my house to work via public
transportation in 1/2 hour rather than 1 hour, I would probably do it
now even though it would double my commute time.
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russ
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response 47 of 89:
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Sep 14 22:21 UTC 2003 |
If it was my commute, I'd have to figure the time and hassle to
get from home to the train station and back at both ends. If
it was more than 10 minutes or so to walk, the time for the
train would probably equal or exceed the time to drive; so long
as time is my most precious asset, that would weigh heavily.
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keesan
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response 48 of 89:
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Sep 14 23:28 UTC 2003 |
Jim says he can bike to Ypsi faster than the bus. His housemate (6'5") used
to do it in 45 minutes door to door. No waiting time. Some time in the next
few years there is supposed to be a bike path from A2 to Ypsi that should cut
the time considerably as you don't have to wait for as many cars to get out
of the way so you can continue. I probably bike only about 2 miles an hour
in downtown Ann Arbor and maybe 4 in the near suburbs because of cars.
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happyboy
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response 49 of 89:
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Sep 15 00:22 UTC 2003 |
i can vouch for that. i use to bike from the hosp area to
downtown ypsi in about 45 min instead of taking the bus
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glenda
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response 50 of 89:
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Sep 15 00:23 UTC 2003 |
When I get out of class at 7:00 or 7:30 and the gets me home after 9:00 (with
a 35-45 minute wait in all weathers at Arborland), and it only takes me 8-12
minutes to drive it, depending on traffic; I am sure you can guess which route
I am taking.
We won't even discuss what I have to go through if class or work gets done
after 9:00pm.
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keesan
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response 51 of 89:
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Sep 15 02:03 UTC 2003 |
How often does that particular bus run? I thought they ran every 30 min or
1 hour. The wait sounds awful particularly in cold weather, outdoors.
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glenda
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response 52 of 89:
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Sep 15 03:50 UTC 2003 |
Starting at 7:00pm the entire bus system goes to once an hour. I have to take
the 7 to Arborland and transfer to the 4. During the day the schedule has
them arriving at Arborland 15 minutes apart. After 7 it becomes 35 minutes
with the 7 usually running on time or a bit early and the 4 running late which
often means 45-50 minutes to wait. The last 4 is scheduled for Arborland at
9:30. The last 7 from WCC is at 10 with no connecting bus of any sort. Up
until a few months ago you were just dropped at Arborland as the 7 went out
of service at that time and you were stranded or had to pay an extra $3 for
the night ride taxi. Now you can take the 7 to the bus garage on S Industrial
and catch the 6 to downtown. The 4 stops about 3 blocks from my house. The
closest the 6 gets is State St, close to a mile and gets there around 11:00.
Not a fun walk during the best of weather at that time of night. In bad
weather it is horrid. I drive! If STeve has to take the car he damn well
better be back in town early enough to pick me up. I shudder when I think
that we supposedly have a good mass transit system compared to others.
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cmcgee
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response 53 of 89:
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Sep 15 16:29 UTC 2003 |
WCC is not part of the Ann Arbor service area. It's outside, in (I think)
Ann Arbor Twp. You get the service that is paid for by the places you are
getting on and off the bus. If you were going to school inside the city
limits, you would be able to get a cheap ($2) cab ride home if the line buses
were not running.
I wish there were some magic way to get local funding for transit. However,
at current population densities, even within the city, things aren't what you
expect from an "urban" area. If height limits on buildings continue, we
probably won't ever see that density. So w will be stuck with low-density,
low demand service levels.
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glenda
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response 54 of 89:
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Sep 15 16:37 UTC 2003 |
It is not a $2 cab ride anymore, it was raised to $3. Arborland is inside
the city. If I were to take the cab from WCC I would have to pay meter rates.
Even during the morning when the 4 runs every 15 minutes it takes me about
45 minutes to make the trip I can drive in about 7. AATA can usually get me
where I need to go, close to the time I need to be there (if it is between
the hours of 8am-9:30pm), but at the cost of a big chunk of my time and,
usually for where I go, more money than I would be spending on gas to drive
myself. I use it as a backup plan, not a main means of getting around. My
schedule is too full to spend 8-10 times more time to ride than to drive.
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cmcgee
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response 55 of 89:
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Sep 15 17:36 UTC 2003 |
Yeah, in general, an urban bus moves at 12 mph over its route. That counts
stops, loading and unloading, making connections, etc. You can almost always
drive faster than that.
Where buses become effective is when the time to park at either end of the
trip is added in. I often take the bus because the time to find parking, and
then walking to my destination is an extra 10-15 minutes on my door-to-door
time.
It also saves me serious ;money because, about once a month I arrive
downtown with insufficient change, or I need to be there more than 2
hours.
Has anyone tried the Link? It runs every 8 to 10 minutes in a barbell shaped
route between Forest and Hill and the Ann-Ashley parking structure. The "bar"
part of the route is from 4th and Liberty to North U and State. At each end,
it does a clockwise loop.
I tried it last Friday night to get between North Main and the Diag area,
hopping on and off as I pleased. It's free until the end of September.
Worked pretty well on Saturday afternoon too. Coop, library, Red Hawk,
etc are all easy to get to.
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tod
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response 56 of 89:
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Sep 15 17:41 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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gelinas
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response 57 of 89:
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Sep 15 20:25 UTC 2003 |
(In addition to the slower average speed, the bus takes a longer route between
almost any two points than a car would.)
Someone tried to sell me a lottery ticket the other day. When I refused, he
asked if I gambled. I replied that I do, but I didn't elaborate: I play
parking-meter roulette. If I have the change, I feed the meter. If I don't,
sometimes I pay City Hall.
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mary
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response 58 of 89:
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Sep 15 23:13 UTC 2003 |
The AATA serves me well. It is how I get to work and back, in 10 minutes,
door to door, saving probably $1000.00 a year in parking stickers and
gasoline. Taking the bus also makes it dead easy to enjoy Farmer's Market
on Saturday mornings, attend Art Fair, and get to Ypsi to meet John for
dinner and drive home together, in one car.
I took the AATA into consideration when planning our last move. I like
the service that much.
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slynne
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response 59 of 89:
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Sep 15 23:59 UTC 2003 |
To be fair, I took AATA into consideration when planning my last move.
It was important to me to live near a bus line as a backup in case my
car broke down. This is one reason why I think it is a good idea to
spend tax dollars on public transportation
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cmcgee
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response 60 of 89:
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Sep 16 00:02 UTC 2003 |
re 57: Yes, commuter lanes are good, but the bus needs to be an express bus,
not making many local stops, for that to work.
Even better are bus-only lanes, with buses having the right-of-way over
individual vehicles. When the bus can scoot down the median of the highway,
right past all the fender-benders and stalled cars, in its own lane, bus
riders get better service than drivers.
It is however, extremely difficult to convince streets and roads folks to give
away a lane of asphalt to buses.
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gull
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response 61 of 89:
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Sep 16 00:15 UTC 2003 |
Re #56: I think people in Michigan regard carpool lanes as some sort of
communist plot.
In Minneapolis, buses were allowed to use the shoulder on some stretches
of freeway. I got in the habit of doing a right head check before
exiting, even if I was in the rightmost lane, just in case there was a
bus over there.
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slynne
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response 62 of 89:
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Sep 16 15:33 UTC 2003 |
If you are going to bother building giving away a whole lane of traffic
for busses, you might as well go whole hog and build a trolley or
something.
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remmers
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response 63 of 89:
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Sep 16 15:57 UTC 2003 |
Indeed. Maybe we should never have dismantled the interurban
railway system.
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tod
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response 64 of 89:
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Sep 16 16:51 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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cmcgee
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response 65 of 89:
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Sep 16 17:03 UTC 2003 |
Actually trolleys are counter-productive. With a bus-lane, once the bus
leaves the congested primary road, the route can be set to meet the rider's
needs. Neighborhood route changes with rubber-tired buses are much easier
to implement than with tracks or overhead-wire infrastructure.
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tod
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response 66 of 89:
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Sep 16 17:17 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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rcurl
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response 67 of 89:
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Sep 16 17:31 UTC 2003 |
San Francisco has a mix of buses, wheeled buses with overhead wires,
and tracked trams with either overhead wirers or third rails. The
mix seemed to me to work very well (though I still heard complaints
fromlong-time residents about the services).
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other
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response 68 of 89:
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Sep 17 04:21 UTC 2003 |
Some states expressly permit motorcyclists to use restricted lanes, in
recognition of their comparable efficiency.
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