Misty Whisky - 30 November 2012 02:28 PM
whine: long island railroad is a ripoff sigh
...so is Tri Met (our local transit system). They keep raising the fares, building more over priced light rail lines with fancy station and incomprehensible public art while continually cutting back on essential neighbourhood and crosstown bus service.
We used to have one of the finest bus systems in the nation before the metro area council and board got into this “railvolution” (their term) kick back in the 90s.
When a new east side streetcar loop opened for service back in September, the director of the project admitted that it had little to do with commuting and everything to do with that dirty “D” word - Development. The line basically goes from a cluster of upscale condo towers through midtown to an upscale shopping district then across the river to the Rose Garden (the name of the local sports arena) and finally to a museum.
While bus/light rail fares recently went up to 2.50$, Streetcar fares are still only 1$ with operations costs subsidised by guess who? Tri Met (actually Tri Met’s riders). The Tri Met board is totally out of touch with the local ridership but lends a friendly ear to big buck developers (one of the board members is actually head of a local development firm)
