From: heller@deepsoft.com

At Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:00:24 -0500 Stephen Sprunk  wrote:

>
> On 22-Apr-14 08:58, conklin wrote:
> > "John Levine"  wrote in message
> > news:lj47qj$top$1@miucha.iecc.com...
> >>
> >>> What about telling the truth for a change?  City buses stop all
> >>> over the place and having ridden them many years, I never saw
> >>> even a shelter in NYC.
> >>
> >> You must not have been looking very hard.  There are subway
> >> stations with attached bus stations, like this one:
> >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Avenue_/_74th_Stree
_(New_York_City_Subway)#Victor_A._Moore_Bus_Terminal
> >>
> >> It really exists.  I've used it on the way to and from LGA.
> >>
> >> Or here's a bus shelter in the Bronx, with ticket machines:
> >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Select_Bus_Service_bus_shelter.jpg
> >>
> >> Here's one in midtown:
> >> http://publictransport.about.com/od/Pictures_Of_Transit/ig/
ransit-Pictures-From-New-York/New-York-Bus-Shelter.htm
> >>
> >> And here's one in Brooklyn:
> >> http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/09/blog-tells-the
tale-of-a-bus-shelter-destroyed/
> >
> > How nice 2% of stops might have something near them.  Now they need,
> > like the RRs, a $60 million station like Raleigh is planning at
> > public expense for a couple hundred passengers a day.
>
> A rail stop doesn't need anything more than a platform, which is all
> that Amtrak provides in most places; that is cheap.  A bus shelter and
> TVM are customer-friendly, cost-effective additions but hardly universal.
>
> If the local taxpayers want to build some extravagant monument to
> wasteful spending, as in Raleigh, that is their choice, but it's not
> _necessary_, nor should Amtrak be saddled with the cost of such
> wastefulness.

There is a big difference between a corner stop for a local transit bus, 99%
of whose riders are only going a few blocks and are carrying little more than
a briefcase or a bookbag, and rarely have to wait more than 10-20 minutes for
the bus.  Compare that to 100+ riders, who expect to spend several *hours* on
a train (or bus) traveling 100+ miles, carrying substansial luggage.  Yes, a
platform and a simple shelter is fine for a commuter rail stop (again for
passengers traveling for only a short time carrying little luggage).

Intercity bus (long distance, read: Greyhound or Trailways) and long distant
train (read: Amtrak) travelers generally need more than a platform and a
shelter.  Also, Intercity bus stations and LD rail stations generally offer a
lot more than just a place to wait for the bus or train.  Often this is the
place to buy tickets, grab a bite to eat, something to read on the bus or
train.

>
> S
>

--
Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933 / heller@deepsoft.com
Deepwoods Software        -- http://www.deepsoft.com/
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