Dan Dirks of DDOT ran the SMART buses on time

[stasu1213]

I disagree Honkytonk. There are many people using public transportation. Especially in Detroit. The biggest myth is that there are not enough people using publiic transportation. Look at all of the people at the bus stops. One of the plots is to make it inconvenient to use public transportation in Detroit. It had been that way since the final days of the DSR

[Honky Tonk]

I disagree Honkytonk. There are many people using public transportation. Especially in Detroit. The biggest myth is that there are not enough people using publiic transportation. Look at all of the people at the bus stops. One of the plots is to make it inconvenient to use public transportation in Detroit. It had been that way since the final days of the DSR

I'm not a PT expert, but for a time period, my ride was in the shop. Luckily, I lived [[@ the time) within walking distance of a major DOT bus route, that dropped me off within walking distance of work. Sure it was packed @ rush hours, both a.m. & p.m., but the rest of the day you were lucky to get half a dozen people @ any given time. It doesn't seem financially feasible that you can run a business this way.

[Khorasaurus]

I'm not a PT expert, but for a time period, my ride was in the shop. Luckily, I lived [[@ the time) within walking distance of a major DOT bus route, that dropped me off within walking distance of work. Sure it was packed @ rush hours, both a.m. & p.m., but the rest of the day you were lucky to get half a dozen people @ any given time. It doesn't seem financially feasible that you can run a business this way.

Public transportation isn't a business. It's a public service.

[That Great Guy]

Public transportation isn't a business. It's a public service.

Yes it is a public service.

In my opinion, Oakland County should help pay for Detroit. Or, NO widening of I-75

[Honky Tonk]

Public transportation isn't a business. It's a public service.

Well then with that approach, I'd say it's running just like it's supposed to.

[leapfrog]

Well then with that approach, I'd say it's running just like it's supposed to.

Honky Tonk, I don't always agree with your posts, but this one made me laugh out loud! I have to clean up my spilled coffee, now.

[Wesley Mouch]

Public transportation isn't a business. It's a public service.

Sure. But there's little difference between the two in terms of how to best operate.

[stasu1213]

I'm not a PT expert, but for a time period, my ride was in the shop. Luckily, I lived [[@ the time) within walking distance of a major DOT bus route, that dropped me off within walking distance of work. Sure it was packed @ rush hours, both a.m. & p.m., but the rest of the day you were lucky to get half a dozen people @ any given time. It doesn't seem financially feasible that you can run a business this way.

I don't know what line that you live off of. Gratiot, Grand River, Michigan, Hamilton, the mile rds routes, are busy all day and after 6pm. I catches the bus daily. Not just temporarily. I see it. Motorist don't have a clue

[Hermod]

I'm not a PT expert, but for a time period, my ride was in the shop. Luckily, I lived [[@ the time) within walking distance of a major DOT bus route, that dropped me off within walking distance of work. Sure it was packed @ rush hours, both a.m. & p.m., but the rest of the day you were lucky to get half a dozen people @ any given time. It doesn't seem financially feasible that you can run a business this way.

Even when the transit systems were privately owned, the operators were always faced with the problem of being able to afford the capacity for the morning and evening rush while not getting much revenue providing service during the slack times of the day or night.

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[professorscott]

Even when the transit systems were privately owned, the operators were always faced with the problem of being able to afford the capacity for the morning and evening rush while not getting much revenue providing service during the slack times of the day or night.

Indeed. The streetcar companies came up with many novel ways to try to increase the off-peak business. Among other things, this is why amusement parks were originally created: by streetcar companies who would build them at the remote end of a line, to give people a reason to ride on the weekend.

The problem of being too busy a few hours a day and barely busy at all the rest of the time was always an issue for transit operators. Before automobiles became popular and governments started building roads, streetcar companies had a captive audience, so they could make money despite this problem, though in many cases just barely. Of course the streetcar companies put in all their own infrastructure at their own expense, so when the government put in competing infrastructure at government expense, it was the ruin of the private streetcar-line industry.

Once the government started subsidizing any kind of transportation, we became addicted to this and now the government subsidizes, in one way or another, nearly every kind of transportation, freight railways and toll expressways being the notable exceptions.

[Hermod]

Indeed. The streetcar companies came up with many novel ways to try to increase the off-peak business. Among other things, this is why amusement parks were originally created: by streetcar companies who would build them at the remote end of a line, to give people a reason to ride on the weekend.

Jefferson Beached jazzed up weekend traffic on the Jefferson line.
Eastwood Park jazzed up traffic on the Gratiot line.
Edgewater park jazzed up traffic on the Grand River line