CDTA Route 719 Downtown at 9:15 Bus Growth is Exponential

Thatโ€™s how I look at it. I think there was just one passenger on the Monday, when the service started. Then I rode the bus on Tuesday and Wednesday, and there was me and one other passenger. A third passenger got on Thursday. Today, Friday, there were 9 passengers on the bus โ€“ almost up to a sustainable ride count. It will be interesting to see how things are next week. ย Maybe by the time we reach the end of February the bus will be packed.


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More then half of the spaces in the Park and Ride Lot were filled this morning. Thatโ€™s encouraging.

I know itโ€™s off-peak, but some of it is the fault of CDTA not doing a very good job at promoting the new buses along the Voorheesville Route. They could do a lot better job at promoting bus ridership, especially to suburban commuters. I believe there is a lot of demand for express buses if they could only explain to people the benefits and ease of riding the bus.

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Maybe they should have done more advertising โ€“ either television or radio. Thatโ€™s expensive, but a good way to reach out to people. That said, the most effective way to reach people is direct mail. They could have mailed everyone a bus schedule within a ยผ mile of the new Route 719. Throw in a free day pass as an added perk, as the lost revenue would be minimal. It probably wouldnโ€™t have cost more than $10,000 or so โ€“ a reasonable proposition especially if youโ€™re planning on investing and building the bus service over the long-term.

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They could have also put big banners at the Park and Ride, and maybe even signs at select bus stops saying โ€œMore Buses Here Soon! See www.cdta.orgโ€. But by not fully pushing the bus service, they have failed to maximize the possible ridership and are potentially dooming the additional service to failure.

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Ridership is increasing on the late bus to downtown, but it could be better if there was more aggressive promotion of the Voorheesville/Altamont/Park and Ride Bus.

Good Morning! Happy Friday.

We have made it to a Friday. That is a good thing. Tomorrow starts February, which I like to call the most depressing month of the year, but its also the shortest month of the year. There are something like 47 days remaining until calender Spring, but the latest news suggests that the Ground Hog wonโ€™t see his shadow, so we can expect an earlier spring.

 God Rays

The sky is cloudy this morning, but the clouds are thin enough that the sun is shining through them. This is the kind of pretty cloudy weather that is so common in early November. Now if it was a little warmer, it would be delightful.

One day closer to calender spring, as we get through one more work day before the weekend.

Weekend Forecast Looks Warm and Crappy.

Sundayโ€™s weather was supposed to be nice then the forecast made it sound crappier then nicer. Here’s the latest — warm but fairly crappy weather for outdoors stuff.

weekendI think they just spin the dial around every morning, and pick a random forecast. I would like to go somewhere exotic this weekend, but preferably not too many miles away. Maybe somewhere in the Catskills?

Sheen of Sun on Ice

Spring can’t be that far away.

Looks like we will have a warm but crappy weather weekend on tap.

Would You Ride This Bus to the State Office Campus?

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That is when it’s 90 degrees out or -10 degrees out?

Think about it for a minute. Any bus rider who wants to ride the bus, under this rendering of the proposal will be forced to walk 500 feet with no shelter to their office building in the State Office Campus. If you not going to drive, the least you would expect would be the bus to drop you off in front of your office — especially if you’re a middle class person who works for government and can afford an automobile.


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No Shelter from the Office to Bus

Not only would such proposal make you walk, but if it’s raining out, you would get quite wet. There are no provisions for a roof over the sidewalk from the bus stop — 500 feet in the pouring rain. If you’re a professional who wears a suit to work, good luck not ruining it on your daily bus commute.


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A Dangerous Walk to Work

This picture suggests that one would have to cross not only the Busway to get to work, but the inner-loop of the State Office Campus. Look both ways, and maybe if the drivers are feeling very nice, maybe they will stop for you. But don’t bet on it! Run quickly, and buy yourself a good life insurance policy.

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Not to Mention Most State Office Workers Don’t Even Live in the City

Most Middle-Class State Workers live in the suburbs, such as Clifton Park or Delmar. A bus that heads from Crossgates Mall to the State Office Campus — or worst from Downtown to the State Office Campus won’t help them out much at all, besides drinking up their taxpayer dollars.

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Not Opposed to Bus Rapid Transit But Use Some Common Sense

It might make sense to speed buses up along Western Avenue by running them along one of the underused Ring Roads — possibly dedicated exclusively to bus use. Most of the traffic on the Route 10 bus goes between colleges, so avoiding some traffic lights might make sense. Or maybe the bus should just follow the existing State Office Campus Roads, with a simpler and cheaper connector to the University of Albany.

But it’s silly to build a bus station in the middle of nowhere that nobody is ever going to use, and claim your including the State Office Campus in your routing, when all your doing is driving through it to save time. If you want to improve transit, send more buses at an affordable rate to places where people actually live or park and ride to, rather than bus stop that will never be used.

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I had to laugh when I saw the proposed routing for the new BusPlus at the State Office Campus.

Doesnโ€™t Look Good for the Ground Hog

Sunday is Ground Hog Day. It looks almost certain that Phil will see his shadow in Punxsutawney. Going to be in the 30s and mostly sunny. So no early spring, at least not in Pennsylvania. And a lot of angry Pennsyltuckian rednecks wanting to get their revenge on Phil.

woodchuckThe ground hog in Pennsylvania might get a one day reprieve due to Pennsylvaniaโ€™s blue laws against hunting most species including Ground Hogs on Sundays, but it sure doesnโ€™t look good for him thereafter. At least itโ€™s going to be fairly cold for the following week, so most Ground Hogs will be safely hidden underground in their burrows.

Good Morning! Itโ€™s a Thursday.

A bright and sunny morning, although if the forecast man is to be believed, a fairly cold morning. But what the hell do I know about it, as I live in heated by gas apartment, followed by a short jog out to the bus, followed by an already warmed up bus, to a climate controlled office. But the forecast says itโ€™s supposed to get up into the mid-20s, as the cold finally breaks for a while.

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Another bright and sunny morning, but I really don't understand the cold because I rarely go outside in the morning.

Thirty One

Today, January 29, 2013 is my thirty-first birthday. It is exactly one decade since I turned 21, which is mostly a date on paper. In that past decade, Iโ€™ve seen some of the most troubling and exciting times in my life, and most of the experiences that have created my modern self have occurred in those ten years.

31st-birthdayPeople say the teenage years are more important then the years in oneโ€™s early 20s. I donโ€™t know. Graduating from college then starting work at my employer of almost 7 years now, had a vastly bigger impact on my life then anything I learned or didnโ€™t learn in High School. I almost feel like those earlier 10 years were consequential compared to the past ten.

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I was digging through the deep archives, trying to find interesting old essays to repost in celebration of my 31st birthday. But I really couldnโ€™t find much that I could agree with or represent my viewpoint on the world, which has evolved greatly over the decade.

Thru the Trees

Thirty one, for all itโ€™s indignities of life, really is a good life, with most of the rewards of living and working a good middle class life. I can afford most of the toys I want, if I am so inclined. I can travel when I want and can get away from work. It really is kind of nice being 31.

Some brief thoughts on turning 31 today.