Discussing Potential Metro Rail Expansion

The main UB should be connected to the rail system. It should be a no brainer. The other plans even the airport link are questionable. Is there enough daily traffic to justify? Remember a massive amount of airport traffic is from the canadians and they are not going to take rail unless there is some deal struck with amtrak.

Connect to UB North.
In the meantime, please get rid of that tacky NFTA "wave" logo.

A light rail line down Sheridan has limited value. There are some shopping destinations, but not a dense enough neighborhood to make it truly valuable.

The line to the airport is important because of the low-income East Side and Cheektowaga neighborhoods it serves. The reason that the current light rail line has such high ridership per mile is because it is within walking distance of some of the most transit dependent neighborhoods in the city.

Not sure of that Ken-Ton to Buffalo route alignment either, hard to tell where those connections actually are.

I'd love to see an expansion of the Metro Rail, and a topside connection to UB North would go far in terms of bringing students and visitors downtown and making UB a more connected campus. Expanding the system to include links to the aiport should also be a no brainer, and should come at relatively low cost since Buffalo has an overabundance of its unused railroad right-of-ways.

Personally, I like the idea of the Buffalo Belt Railroad and would like to see something similar brought back to provide a crosstown option for travellers rather than simply in and out of downtown.

I'm so sick of hearing about one study on top of another. The initial study that brought the pedestrian mall and light rail to Main Street indicated it should have been a resounding success. Now we are reversing that.

How about saving a few hundred thousand dollars and simply ask what the public wants? My vote is to fast track the UB North to UB South connector. Parking is already horrible at both campuses, it connects a rather large islanded population to downtown, and serves a large group of people who don't own a vehicle to begin with. You don't need another expensive study to figure those points out.

I like the routes that tie the city together, contribute to urban density, and do not contribute to suburban sprawl. (We have had one of the highest sprawl to growth ratios in the country.)

4-5 years is optimistic.

2 lines. Current line extended on each end to UB and into South Buffalo.
A new line a bit 'v' shaped from Riverside> west side> elmwood> intersects current line downtown> out to airport.

Relatively simple. 1 transfer. Most areas covered.

Are you interested in a counter proposal?

An easy and simple extension to the Larkin area is a no brainer. This is a route that would have not even been on the radar back when the line was built now it makes tremendous sense.

Revisiting light rail system or some form of street car system and critically evaluating needs and areas of potential demand really makes sense given issues of global climate and the potential escalating cost of oil. The lines proposed in the article do make sense in terms of connecting destinations, especially UB and the airport. The line on the West Side makes sense given the density of the neighborhoods it would travel through. The airport connector going thru areas of low automobile ownership would serve a valuable need. But it is time to stop proposing and start doing.

When I was kid i dreamed of a subway line up Elmwood that turned down Hertel and connected at LaSalle. That line would get a lot of riders but it would be near impossible on many levels to get that jammed through there.

Connect both outlying UB campuses to the downtown spine and that is it.

Connect the UB campuses is the most logical and ultimately represents the largest group in the area where use would be assumed.

Niagara Falls cannot be ignored either...link up to a city that has a wonder of the world as a tourist attractions? Can you ignore 10 million people who are concentrated within 20 square miles a year here to see a waterfall? How easy it would be to head to the Erie Canal or the Anchor Bar while staying in NF ontario, walk across the bridge and hop on a train to downtown Buffalo? Or vice versa? Tourists do not want to drive..think big here. You could charge $10 per person round trip and after a while you'd see big returns..tourism is easy money.

When asking questions about connecting to the suburbs ya have to ask yourself who would use it more? Parts of Amherst? Tonawanda? Cheektowaga? How many of those people have a persisent need to go downtown? Not many I would imagine, I would say the vast majority of peole who would live within walking distance of rail extensions wouldn't use it aside from the occasional night at Shea's/Sabres Game/Festival etc. The people who live in the suburbs often work in the suburbs and shop in the suburbs..there really aren't a lot of reasons to come downtown.

Aside from Niagara and UB which is just plain logical I think we should stick to the original goal of mass transit..which is to provide transportation options for the lower middle class and working poor at an affordable level.

Make it a strong, basic collection of transit lines within the city limits only. Any holes between light rail lines should be eliminated with improved bus services. I don't think connecting with the suburbs is worth it nor is it worth it to connect with a big shiny line to the airport either.

Yes, a streetcar that connected LaSalle or Amherst St. station to Hertel and then went down Elmwood to meet Metro Rail again at some point is an idea I have thought about myself. It would be like Vancouver's Millennium Line on a smaller scale.

Connect to UB North!

I'd like to see the airport extension. As a regular business traveler, I really appreciate cities who've made that same move, which saves me from doing the rent-a-car shuffle. San Francisco did that a few years back by running BART to SFO.

Airport, UB North, and Southtowns are all great ideas. I am interested in seeing the final price tag for such expansions.

UB North, it builds off the existing infrastructure, is a short 3 or 4 miles, will connect to one of the largest employment, commercial, student, population base and institutional functions of the region. It is the obvious first choice.

Our existing line exists for the whole purpose of connection downtown with UB north, it is just a segment of an unfinished route. With UB starting to build it's downtown campus the necessity of this one seat, sustainable and FAST connection between all of UB's campuses is huge. It would be an easy win for the region, UB and NFTA.

I mean if you like the traffic on millersport, sheridan and niagara falls blvd the way it is.. then sure you can fight it but much of that traffic at peak times are UB people.

The Buffalonews article makes brief note about the Lasalle St station already having an underground connector built for a then-planned line along the former Erie-Lackawanna RR right of way which runs NorthWest-SouthEast from Tonawanda to the CSX Frontier Yard.

With that entire ROW already owned by NFTA, its possible to make an above ground route all the way to Tonawanda Gateway Park before you run into occupied freight rails.

To the south, the ELRR ROW used to have a flyover of the former NYC yard which is long since gone, but new trackage could be routed to the former ROW which runs NorthEast along the past the Walden Galleria to the Airport.

I sincerely hope this happens. I hate driving with a passion (I'm just not good at it and, yes, I'm one of those people who drive 4 miles an hour when it snows even though I've lived in Buffalo my entire life - this is my public apology to all of you for getting in your way) and this is also why I wish desperately for better public transportation. I love taking the metro downtown, but have to drive my car from over from Elmwood area to get there, and now they've stopped taking debit/credit cards at the ticket machines in the rails stops which means I have to also stop at the bank on my way over there since I, like many people, rarely have cash on me anymore. When choosing between this option or the option to just drive downtown and park at one of the lots (many of which I can use my card at), it just makes more sense/quicker for me to drive down there. I would love for this scenario to change and clearly with the amount of enthusiasm met every time the prospect of extending the light rail comes up, I'm not the only one. I'm glad there's some new blood in the NFTA, because there's a lot of changes that should be made, and so much potential all around.

Stations are currently being eliminated. The Theatre Station will be removed with the Cars on Main Street project with proposed construction with a start-date of October 2011.

http://tinyurl.com/5uwyc4w

At the end of the day this region, particularly the suburban populations, just don't have the desire for public transit. Change peoples mentality and expansion will be successful.

The cheapest line with the most immediate impact is the Lasalle turnout. Tonawanda area has a population of approx. 90,000, the ROW exists, and they even went as far as buying cars for this line in 1990. I've read this line would cost about 50-70 million (not much) to complete in the GBNRTC 2035 long term plan.

I'd have to say the next crucial expansion should be to UB North( especially with the predicted passing of the UB2020 Bill today). This will be the most expensive line to complete and although makes the most sense, will be the toughest to accomplish.

Next, I think metro rail should be extend to the Larkin area and then down into south blo. Its passage into south blo warrants the extension due to population.

Finally a line to the Airport and NF. These lines make a tone sense but will be difficult to complete since you are essentially starting from scratch. Hopefully action will be taken.

THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO BECOME A REAL CITY!!

If our leadership is worth a quarter of their weight and truly care about Buffalo and not about how rich some bridge development project is going to get them, than this is going to be great

A subway plan that actually takes you somewhere? They should call this plan "A Streetcar Named Desire."

I know this comment won't be popular but I'd love to see the airport line extend out to suburban Lancaster via Genessee Street. There are a handfull of fairly large companies along Genessee that would benefit from the line as well as the potential for new companies to expand into the town. There are a lot of commericial/manufacturing parcels for sale there. I know it's not bringing businesses into the city but the bottom line in WNY is that people need jobs no matter what town/city they are in.

Cheapest and most effective thing to do would be to utilize existing ROWs for commuter lines that extend out to the burbs. A large portion of the downtown workforce lives in the burbs and giving them a clear and less stressful way of getting to/from work would be the first step toward building a REGIONAL transit culture.

Next thing you know, so many more special events (Sabres games, big concerts, ect.) patrons could have a car-free, parking hassle-less means of attending these events. Downtown would become a truly car-optional place. More employers could see downtown a a viable economical relocation option. Perhaps a trick of retail would start to filter in. Then maybe more people would consider living downtown.

Remember, we should take a holistic system-approach to issues like regional transit.

Expanding to UB North is beyond obvious. In fact, it seems rahter pathetic that it hasn't been completed yet. As most have stated, tapping into the popualtion of students would be key for the city.

Steel made a great point, that I support fully. Expanding to the Larkin District by going through Cobblestone would be a brilliant plan. You could connect downtown, the arena district and Larkin with two additional stops.

The Tonawanda Turnout and further expansion to NF seems like a no brainer to me as well. I had never thought of it until I read a few comments. But, it is the same argument that supports the UB North expansion. You can tap into a huge number of people with an easy way to get downtown.

Those three options would make a useless train extremely viable to downtown growth. I would also support expanding to the airport. Vancouver's SkyTrain allows you to travel anywhere in the metro area upon arrival at the airport. To say it is handy is a vast understatement. Lets hope this doesn't get held up in red tape like everything else.

I would love to see the metro rail connect downtown Buffalo to the UB North Campus and the Airport/Galleria Mall. I feel that these are two important steps the city needs to take in pulling more people into the the city. UB's North Campus has tons of students who just stay on campus the whole time they are at school, instead of ever venturing downtown. Buffalo needs these students to go to the local bars and make the city a little more vibrant.

Once that is complete, I would love to see a rail connection to down town Niagara Falls, right by the state park (or at least to the Falls Airport.) There is a huge amount of potential with the tourists that's being lost. The tourists who fly over from the other side of the world, DO have an interest in seeing the city of Buffalo. For a lot of them, it's not just about seeing the Falls, it's about seeing the American culture. After living in Niagara Falls my whole life and encountering tourists all the time, you would be surprised at how often I'm asked about how to get to Buffalo, the Walden Galleria, Albright Knox or whatever else. A good friend of mine works down at the Cave of the Winds, he say's that the number one question tourists have asked is how to get to Buffalo or around Western New York (especially the ones who have problems crossing into Canada). It's really only the American's who see the park in a day and leave.

Also, from my experiences, the bus system in Western New York royally sucks. Buses are always late, too early or don't show up period. Seriously it's the most inefficient public transit system I've ever rode on.

Connect the metro to the Galleria and to the Niagara Falls Casino. This will boost ridership something fierce because this is where most people go to shop and have fun.

I've always wondered why there wasn't a train going under the peace bridge. How about putting one in instead of the ridiculous plaza plan that they want to do.

But I guess one step at a time! Expand to the Airport!

Oh, and man the cars with police officers! The thugs in Buffalo are running out of homes to burn to the ground, this would help expand their horizons into the 'burbs.

The metro should be expanded to the poorest sections of the city. This will reverse the trend of poverty and bring opportunity to the less advantaged. We need to make jobs more accessible for the least advantaged among us.

Heres my problem. I don't care if I get around using light rail, streetcars, commuter trains, or just buses. I don't care if its green. Public transit is useless to me unless I can figure out how to get from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time.

If I want to get from the Hamburg Village to UB's North Campus, by using the NFTA, it would take 1 1/2 to 2 hours. By car, it would only take 1/2 hour. These times come from Google Maps. A student commuting to UB from the Hamburg Village using public transportation would loose 3 hours of their time every day compared to what they would loose by driving. Taking public transit shouldn't turn "Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest" into "Eight hours labour, Eight hours commuting, Eight hours rest."

If the existing Metro Rail line was extended to the north campus, the trip I detailed would be faster. However, there are more places where people come from and go to. The Tonawandas, Kenmore, Niagara Falls, Lockport, Cheektowaga, Lancaster, West Seneca included. It doesn't matter if buses, rail, or airships are used. We need a complete system designed to take people from anywhere to anywhere, not from anywhere to downtown.

Connection to UB is the single best thing the city could do. College kids like the train. American's just don't like buses for the most part.

The Airport makes sense only if your also doing a falls route. I would say the best bet is to get UB North on the line and hopefully show the ridership for a Falls/Airport connection.

Also I question how good for the city the Galleria really would be. Wouldn't more people from the city go shopping out there and keep the drain going?

the galleria is a great idea. I mean why not bring the busiest christmas lot into the heart of downtown?

UB would also give city developers a lot of options. Do we have any economic projections out there for either project?

Its too bad about the seneca casino. I would have really enjoyed to see the cobble stone district develop. That would have bought the inner harbor more time.

Why would people who are fighting crowds and driving there car then get on the train, go down town and come back? And how is the mall going to like all those extra cars hanging around? I just think it would be allot more money out then in and hurt downtown rather then help. Those city folks who were shopping in the city would be encourage to go out to the Galleria and spend rather then in the city. I could be completely wrong, that's just my gut thought.

Where as UB North is just going to drive kids into the city to spend and support arts, and the airport will even encourage younger people to come to buffalo. Isn't it 26 and up to rent a car?

Love to see so much passion out of the normal toxic pessimism, can't do attitude that so many have...

Same goes with the Light Rail delay and incompetence but now gas prices are rising and they are likely to stay high which is puttin pressure for light rail.

I seriously doubt there will be middle of the road light rail when the NFTA owns the ROW's from the old Beltway that will take it to Tonawanda, the Airport, ECMC, Buffalo State/Delaware Park and the Larkin District.

This is big money (federal and state for Buffalo) and could attract big employers to downtown!!!!

I think all this talk reinforces the idea of the NFTA gaining more control over transportation. Transportation has become two sided in many cities. There is a highway dept and a transit authority. Why aren't they one? Perhaps it's harking back to the old days where mass transit consisted of private companies.

If the NFTA had control of the highway department or municipal parking, they'd be able to set a positive environment for transportation. This would involve High Occupancy Toll lanes on areas such as the 190 and 33. This would ensure the use of Mass Transit, so long as the Buffalo CBD is competitive, and perhaps builds on its parking lots.

Considering out state bailed out the MTA, it's the least they could to give us control of our own transportation.

I could not be anymore in support for light rail in Buffalo! I wish I could walk from my house to South Park or Abbott Rd to go see a Bisons game in the summer or go to dinner with the family.

UB North makes too much sense not to happen.

If a rail ran south to the Stadium it would get used nearly all year around by ECC South campus students. It would have helped me out a lot when I went there. Plus it would make it easier for ECC students to attend classes at more than 1 campus. Also a run to the Galleria and Airport would help locals get in and out and help people on airport layovers see (and spend money in) our city.

While I certainly agree that a UB North extension would be helpful, it is an incredibly expensive option. The geology makes tunneling difficult, and cut-and-cover through a residential neighborhood has not been a popular option. Past Boulevard mall, at-grade is impossible, so the line would need to be elevated (and NFTA does not own the land). Basically, there is a reason why funds ran out before the line was completed.

The Galleria/Airport line would be a much better bang for the buck, as much of the land and rail rights are already in possession of the NFTA. The biggest obstacle to construction of that line would be the section nearest downtown, which would need to run on city streets.

The Kenmore and Tonawanda lines are similarly construction-ready. Although it would no longer be possible to complete it as a true turn-out at LaSalle. The land above the existing spur has been build upon since the original tunnels were built, so a new line would need to be constructed and passengers would have to change trains at LaSalle. Past North Tonawanda, it would be possible to extend the line into Niagara Falls, but the land has not been fully acquired.

A southtowns line from the Central Terminal to the stadium is feasible, but again, NFTA does not fully own the land to do so.

I'm not sure of the status of the land on the old belt-line, but several viaducts have been removed and would need to be reconstructed. Again, connection of the belt-line would be a problem at the LaSalle transfer point.

Possibly the most expensive line would be a tunnel on the west side. The only economically feasible way to add train service to Elmwood or Niagara Street would be a streetcar. It would be great, but I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

I remember reading some time ago that the NFTA was eager to implement the Airport and Kenmore/Tonawanda lines, since they would be the cheapest and easiest to build. But some stipulation in Albany had basically forbidden any monies to go toward those projects until the UB North line had been completed.

As much as I prefer trains to buses, Pittsburgh came up with a strangely elegant solution. The East Busway (EBA) is a simple two-lane road that was built over former rail lines. While the stations along the EBA are somewhat sparse and difficult to get to, the busway serves as an express corridor that funnels high volumes of bus traffic to the outer suburbs. Routes that would otherwise spend 45 minutes traveling on city streets to get to the edge of the city, are whisked through in 15 minutes. The high volume of routes that use the busway mean that there is rarely more than a few minutes wait between buses. The routes that use this express road then fan out to various suburban destinations.

Pittsburgh's layout makes this a bit more practical for their needs than ours. And their lack of highway infrastructure makes this express system more attractive. But I could definitely see the advantage of a similar system to connect outlying areas such as Niagara Falls, Lockport and the southtowns to a scaled back rail system. By reducing travel time and linking a central core of quality rail service to outlying park-and-ride lots, public transportation becomes a more attractive option for suburbanites.

Having an airport route would be every beneficial, personally. I could take the right rail from my home to the airport when I have to go out of town and save money from not having to pay for parking. It would be a more green option and it would eliminate more cars of the streets. Buffalo should seriously consider some of the POSITIVES when expanding the light rail when it also comes to tourism. People could use the light rail from the airport to travel directly into downtown without having to use a car at all! Let's try to connect the major points of interest with the LRRT!

Buffalo Metro Rail 1973 - take a look at a 70s era brochure on "A Transit Development Program for the Niagara Frontier Region" on Forgotten Buffalo. Maps, photos, etc.

http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/forgottenbflofeatures/metrorail1973.html

This is a great video produced by Wisc. PBS about lightrail/streetcars returning to Milwaukee.

http://video.wpt2.org/video/1769753998/

I would love to see the metro expanded, but where on earth do they think the money would come from? The State is broke and thinking of taxing bikes with licence plates [lame]and 95% of our property taxes go to Welfare and Medicaid. I see this as nothing more than a pipe dream and wasting yet more money on yet "another" study. Would the NFTA pay for this? Do they have the money?

If we are truly "city centric" then let's connect Buff State and the west side to the metro. Create a perpendicular line that connects in near Canisius.

These are the most positive comments i've ever seen on BRO!

The money is an issue. On of the options would be to try and get Buffalo a 'special economic zone' status or some such and drastically cut medicaid and welfare by justifying that the rail line would allow for those same people to have the opportunity to work.

The other thing is if we could get our congressional delegates to start trying and pitch the idea of focused projects rather then this, a little everywhere stuff we could get some things done. Sure I was happy to get the $600 tax credit, but was it really better for me to get $600 or if all 125,000 households, lost that $600 or $1200 and have $100 million as a down payment on the rail lines, if we had done that for the last 3 years were looking at $300 million. I think someone said its 20 million per mile, so 15 miles?

Controlling the Fed is almost impossible, but here at home we have options but it would require an austerity budget for a couple of years to get the down payment done. I’m thinking 3 years is the possible timeline, since in the 4th you would need to spend it and then not get re-elected since everyone would be very angry at you for cutting there budgets and spending on a ‘silver bullet’. Things like the arts, would need to be cut off, citing the line will bring economic vitality and therefore support the arts that way. We saw how many people were upset when the county did that. Likewise if you go over the city budget its not welfare its spent on, its mostly retirements (kind of welfare) and the school, 23% goes to the schools and 26% to retirements.

So unless someone really thinks that somehow Buffalo could massively curb public unions when Wisconsin can’t with a whooping 8% unionized workforce, I just don’t know how Buffalo can really move forward with its own funds. The other thing I guess would be to cut as much of the city school budgets as you can. The more money route hasn’t worked so maybe the best thing is to spend money somewhere else? I just don’t see what we have to draw on. So were back to the Feds.

Extending Light Rail is worth it on so many levels

-it brings federal and state monies to invest in our region matching local dollars in some cases 10:1 or more.

-it also puts the stabilizing effect on local property values since there are many many people that choose to rent or own near mass transit (particularly light rail over bus routes)

-it also facilitates the re-commercialization and re-industrialization of districts allowing places like the Larkin to be copied on the Westside/BlackRock, Eastside/ECMC and Eastside/Central Terminal

When considering the positive potential one has to wonder why the reluctance lasted for a generation or more!

This whole conversation is a no-brainer. I don't know why the NFTA cannot just go back to the "drawing board" and look at the old IRC master track plan. For those who don't know, Buffalo DID have a world class streetcar system up until 1950. However, in the 1900's to 1920's was the peak of the system. Streetcar lines on every major street in the city, with "high speed" trains from Buffalo to Niagara Falls with connectors to Toronto. Niagara Falls even had it's own streetcar spur lines.
Here's what you do.

Build a catenary system along the Amtrak line next to the I-190. This line could be your "high speed" line to Niagara Falls. That line in turn connects directly to VIA Rail/GO for direct access to the Golden Horseshoe (ie Hamilton/Toronto).

Next,re lay track along the old Erie Lackawanna ROW from LaSalle Station to the City of North Tonawanda. The catenary system used to be in place here when the IRC ran it's high speed trains from the Belt Line to Niagara Falls. There are roughly only 6 at grade crossings as well as a populace that would use it.

Purchase from the Buffalo & Pittsburgh railroad the ROW from Buffalo to Orchard Park Station. It'd be nice if they could purchase the remainder of the ROW which goes to KB, even though the railroad pulled up the track a few years ago. Even utilizing the spur to East Aurora (Roycroft Inn) would help the local economy.

Make a Larkin District turnaround, not difficult at all. Making a spur down Exchange St, loop around the Larkin Building. Their is an old ROW which ends right before Smith Street.

The possibilities are endless.

@ Those who have brought up the issue of funding:

Couldn't a LR expansion be paid for in a way similar to how roads and highways are financed? You could dedicate train related revenues (fares, ads, fuel taxes etc) and use surcharges on other services to make up for any shortfall.

Since this system has been successful in creating a far reaching regional road network, I'd think this would be the model to use for a larger mass transit system.

As a returning ex-pat I have had the horrendous experience of having to use the NFTA daily. On top of the OLD stations which as you've noted were completed in 1985 AND HAVE NOT BEEN UPGRADED SINCE, the buses are a disaster! Filthy, broken down and OLD. I'm used to living in cities or towns where there is adequate public transit: NYC, San Francisco, DC, Chicago, Toronto which serve a mixed population and class.

It's basically serving an underclass population regardless of race. The NFTA has GUTTED service, it goes NOWHERE convenient to get people to the suburbs who might be trying to FIND A JOB! It also doesn't have a system that operates between suburbs! This is ridiculous. ON top of that all I've heard is how "ridership is down" and "they have to employ cost-saving measures". Well, it DOES NOT GO ANYWHERE so WHY WOULD PEOPLE RIDE IT?

On top of that, the service slows to a crawl post 6pm with up to a ONE HOUR wait inbetween buses. Bad enough, but let's count the number of times a bus is LATE or EARLY by a few minutes, leaving one unlucky passenger virtually stranded!

Which is NOT COOL when it's FREEZING OUTSIDE.

I can also tell you, I was left stranded in East Amherst because there was ONE BUS, yes ONE BUS that came SEVEN MINUTES EARLY. I called the NFTA and even though their website has a listing for an courtesy/emergency ride they told me that was disbanded!

The ONLY reason I ever made it back that day was because a supervisor was leaving work and decided to pick me up.

As far as I can tell NONE OF THE NFTA EMPLOYEES actually USE THE SERVICE or RIDE THE BUS!!!

Yes, this was a rant, but everything I've written is TRUE.

The NFTA has the NERVE to charge $64 for a monthly pass on top of that! You can't even buy one on the bus!

It would be so nice if they joined the rest of the world in 2011.

I heard a driver complaining that they wanted to cut their medical yesterday so the apathy is only going to INCREASE in my opinion.

Let us reflect on City's who have suspenseful, establish, utilized public rail, and let us model from them.

Portland, OR YEP!!
Salt Lake City - They have it
New York - Duh oh chores they have it
Boston - Love this city and public trans!
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN - One more WINNER!
San Francisco - Look a city with people who use rail system
Los Angeles - Great another City I can go to and not have to worry about maps ans such, Just ride the Rail!
Denver - I haven't been west yet but they say the rail is great
Austin - Everything is big down here! bring on the Rail!

Come on Buffalo lets lead! Mass transit includes Rail! High Speed or not its a mass people mover!

When the Buffalo LLRT (I could never understand that name when it's a subway, little or not) was first constructed there was a leader in the community of a group called "NOT" (No Overhead Transit) who feared that Buffalo would begin to look like, gasp!, Chicago with all of those overhead tracks. Now I admit that the LOOP in Chi-Town is a bit oppressive looking especially on a bleak, grey frigid winter's day but it has its purpose. It was the voice of one short-sighted person who allowed the 600 million dollars in 1984 to be used as a primarily underground initiative rather than an above ground plan or Buffalo would have been a leader and probably, by this time, had a link to Ft. Erie! Let's not let that happen again. And, by the way, all of those cities mentioned in the post by "UrbanBuffalonian" are growing. Buffalo has been shrinking and therefore extending a mass transit system is not a high priority for the region or the federal government. The numbers simply have not been there. But Buffalo is on the verge of populaton growth and should at least connect the North Campus with the downtown medical campus via the South Campus. Isn't the newly announced residential tract of land near Colvin and Taunton Place the once proposed "Tonawanda Turnout" property?

Let's do it