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1. Matt says:

   March 3, 2009 at 1:37 am

   The Federal government might approve a project like this, especially now as part of the stimulus is allocated toward public transportation projects. The problem is that I doubt there has been anything even submitted for approval! Orlando, FL just got approved 250 million towards a project like this. Basically if we can get our politicians to actually listen instead of assume everything is great (Maggie Brooks’ comments made me gag, she really doesn’t have a clue about the people of this city, does she? And from the sound of it, she apparently can’t be bothered), a Rochester subway/lightrail project might cost taxpayers nothing.

   I am tired of the decadent, unneccesary projects that Rochester gets involved with…. and your telling me no one has brought other forms of public transportation to the table? The audacity of going forward with such a project as purchasing a movie theater equipped cruise ship and building an entire port for it, while we have a very mediocre public transportation here. Just unreal.

2. Matt says:

   March 3, 2009 at 12:46 pm

   Check out this link: The Norfolk, Va lightrail system – pop. 800,000. This is an example of a Rochester sized city, probably a lot more economically depressed, taking the initiative to construct a nice looking system.

   [ http://www.ridethetide.com ]

   11 stations, 7.4 miles of track for 280 million. That is roughly the price of the Renn. square project, correct? 7.4 miles of track would be enough to link many desirable areas in Rochester’s downtown and some of it’s surrounding areas.

3. admin says:

   March 3, 2009 at 10:56 pm

   Great comment and link Matt. The Norfolk light rail system is one we will be watching closely. The cost is estimated and will be interesting to see how those numbers pan out by the end of construction and what the long term cost/benefit will be. There are some 40 U.S. cities with new light rail systems or extensions on the drawing table. Cincinnati is another city we should be watching—similar to Rochester in size and social/economic conditions. They’ve got plans for a downtown streetcar system and a greater regional rail system. Check out http://www.pro-transit.com.

4. Jason - former Rochesterian says:

   March 9, 2009 at 4:49 pm

   The problem I believe is Monroe County sucking up all the economic base from the city of Rochester. If Rochester can manage to stop spreading its economy around the county and centralizing and densifying its economy and jobs back into the city transit will AGAIN have a landscape that can get people out of their cars, optimize transit use and halt the spread of people and jobs out into the greenfields of Monroe County. Maggie has no interest in this type of landscape what so ever. It would give the city too much power over the county and right now the power is in the county.

5. Mark says:

   September 2, 2009 at 7:32 pm

   The response is telling. I guarantee that if you were to poll blue collar workers and service industry employees you would find that their commute is a heck of a lot more than 20 minutes. This is a statistic generated and propagated to keep the Pittsford-Palmyra set happy with the status quo. I have been carless working in Bushnells Basin and living in Brockport. Public transportation here is a joke and severely limits economic realities for thousands of people. It’s rather disheartening that the city seems willing to spend millions to fill in the last of the subway tunnels just as we get a federal administration willing to spend on the infrastructure of cities.

6. admin says:

   September 2, 2009 at 8:14 pm

   Mark, thanks for your comment. There are many who agree with you. We posed these questions to Brooks in an effort to determine if county leaders had any long term vision or plan to improve our mass-transit situation. To be fair, the county did put us in contact with Richard Perrin, Executive Director of the Genesee Transportation Council, for a more detailed answer to this part of the question. You can read that interview here.

   We’re currently talking with other groups in an effort to understand the possibilities for light rail in our region. Please sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on what we find out.

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