Buffalo Rising Online

And yet we cannot get a light rail extension to the airport!

And yet we cannot get a light rail extension to Niagara Falls!

And yet we cannot get an extension to Amherst and Lockport!

And yet we cannot get an extension to at the very least the Lackawanna border.

This was a very inviting article and yet you made no mention of ECC, Buffalo State, Medaille and UB....students who love the MetroRail and only wish it could go more places.

This was a very inviting article and yet it made no mention of all the developments on Main Street that are happening because of the light rail or that operating light rail is cheaper than running buses or that the federal government pays for over 80% of the construction costs. Thats alotta federal money that could be pumped into our local economy!

Yet...why is there such a hurdle with the public and the NFTA extending it. It could revitalize the eastside with millions of dollars! Yet Franczyk and Brown are silent!

ummm...how bout the fact that local, state and fed govs are broke and the last place they'll give $$ to is Buffalo-especially for the light rail system that wouldn't have even been built in the 1st place if they knew our population would drop to this level that its at today. but yeah in a perfect world we would have all those rail extentions. but in a perfect world the NFTA wouldn't be what it is in general ;)

Interesting read! Until downtown retail and services are created to meet the demands of new residents, a $3 train ride isn't a bad deal and is cheaper than cab fare. I completely forgot that Aldi is right next to the LaSalle station. Who said suburban development next to mass transit doesn't attract riders? OK- good use, bad design!

It's interesting to see one's own life discussed like it was sort of a tourist attraction. Joan isn't the only person who needed to have the Metro (and the buses) 'demystified' and it's something I can't figure out. People, it requires a little bit of planning (if you're taking anything but the train) but I promise it is not that hard!!

Also, I don't know why you would take the Niagara bus to go to the Talking Leaves on Elmwood -- after the 20, the closest routes are the 11 and the 25 or you could go up to Delavan station then take the 26 across. But I don't reccomend that because the 26 doesn't run that often. You really need to know when it's coming.

See how easy this is? The train is great gateway public transit because you don't need a schedule, but it's not that hard to get around the city by bus. As often noted on this site, there are a lot of places the train doesn't go!!

Downtowners: If you want to go to Elmwood, you can pick up Route 20 by the Greyhound station or at the northwest corner of Niagara Square and Court Street. Also I think it stops near the Rath building but don't quote me on that.

And Joan, if you want to know how the transfers and fare zones work, just send me an email. It's not as complicated as it sounds.

Great article Joan. As we all know, our subway is usually the butt of a lot of jokes, but I always found it very useful too. I've been taking it for the past four years to get to Canisius High School, and over the summer my friend and I have often brought our bikes on the train and rode to the grain elevators and the outer harbor. I say that for a one-line subway "system," it does a great job.

Light Rail offers security at their stations and trains Light Rail offers shelter (heating in winter and air conditioning in summer) Light Rail offers park & Ride

If you think for a minute I would let my wife or kids or a member of my family wait at a bus stop in inclement weather or after dark then your nuts.

For so many reasons, light rail is cheaper and safer than buses and attracts riders who would never consider riding a bus!

Never thought about it this way! Now I will head up the Univ. District and enjoy all it has to offer w/o having to drive - god I feel like an idiot for not thinking of it first!

And Lou, "Home Rule", wherein each town can decide whether or not they want to have the subway (or anything else that dares to cross into multiple towns) is a big reason why the subway isn't extended. When I was at the UB Planning School, one of our professors let it be known that he was trying very hard to have the rail extended to the Amherst Campus, but that the general consensus was that it would bring minorities, crime, gang activity and other urban ills that might harm "Amherst's quality of life". Sad, I know, but that was and probable is the reaction and until NY gets rid of home rule - which is outdated anyways, rail progress will keep getting obstructed.

Years ago, I used to take the train every day to and from highschool (hutch tech). I cearly remember the daily brisk morning walk down Chippewa. Freshman year is was still all bums, porn stores, and urine-soaked stoops. It was neat seeing the very quick evolution of the street. By the end of sophomore year spot coffee moved in and suddenly the street really started to change.

As I look back, I was offered a wonderful schooling experience by being able to asborb the urban envinonment each day. My parents refused to flee to the burbs like cowards and wanted me to take in the diverse realities of everyday life.

As a highschooler, the idea of taking the train everyday would probably scare the living crap out of most suburban parents who think, from watching the 11 oclock news, the city is a gang-infested warzone.

The train was fast and convenient, and ALWAYS PACKED WITH PEOPLE AT PEAK TIMES--many of these people being suburban commuters who parked at the university station. For such a short line, it is very well utilized. I can assure you if more lines were built they would be well used. I we had a line going out in each direction to different parts of the city and burbs, parking requirements downtown would become a thing of the past.

ddoer, perhaps what people should be informed of is that the light rail stations and trains have cameras.

Its like going to a bank.....if someone takes the subway to the suburbs....its going to be easy to catch them....because they will have a picture and evidence of the travel times. They would have to be idiots to use the subway for crime.

and could you imagine someone carrying a TV or such....on the subway ... its just begging for the police or security guard to question them.

besides crime hasnt gone up at the UB South Campus...if anything its gotten redeveloped

and lastly, Amherst might take convincing but the Airport wouldnt and neither would South Buffalo and neither would the westside and Black Rock....going up to Niagara Falls...

Im of the opinion that wounds do not heal if left unclean...so lets shine a light on the prejudices and get them out in the open so we can move on. This in not 1970 or 1980 and we shouldnt expect the citizens of Erie County to have the same mindset and prejudices that they had 20 or 30 years ago.

As far as Amherst...ask any college student if they like riding those buses between campus....or if UB would like to give up the expense of paying for those buses....your going to find a much different conversation than you had 20 or 30 years ago, especially if the airport corridor is done first.

and I would expect the Senecas to be big proponents of light rail to Niagara Falls since it would connect both their casinos! (there was no casinos 20 or 30 years ago either)

and let me remind you that the airport is handling 5 million passengers a year and growing....thats 5 million passengers that could be visiting and patronizing downtown businesses or be removed from roads by using the local park and ride features at light rail stations.

Imagine if 3-5 million people patronizing the Seneca Casino in Niagara Falls, 3+ million at the Buffalo Creek Casino, 3+ million at the Bass Pro and 5+ million at the airport would do if integrated seemlessly by light rail for downtown Buffalo, its businesses and

I grew up in Buffalo and rode Metro Bus / Rail for everything. I did NOT have a driver's license until well into my 20's!

Lou -

I totally agree with you on your points - I would hope that attitudes have changed, but I know some people in the suburbs who feel that way, and am actually suprised at the number of people who I once thought were intelligent think that way. I agree we should all get over it and try to extend the rail - I just know what the thinking is out there - to use your word, it is "ignorant" or should I say "ignorance".

Just to offer a bit of historical perspective, learned courtesy of a "Transportation Planning" elective course I took at UB a long long time ago (hey had to pad that GPA with something cool!)

1) The 6.5 miles LRRT line you see today was initially proposed as an 11 mile "heavy" rail line, which would have continued up Bailey to Sheridan, across to Millersport, through UB North and ending at Audubon. Because of cost overruns, the "Amherst Extension" was postponed with promises for a later date and the system was changed to a light rail concept with overhead powering. The subway also was moved to at grade downtown to pare costs. And that is why we have that *ugh* pedestrian mall.

2) This 6.5 mile section was the trunk line of what was supposed to become a five spur extension: the Amherst extension as described; the Tonawandas extension using existing rail right of way proceeding northwest from the Lasalle station; the West Side extension heading west from Lafayette Sq out Niagara St and into Blackrock; the Airport line, heading east from Lafayette Sq out towards Central terminal, through Walden/Harlem, hugging what is now Galleria Dr and then to the Airport, ending at Transit Rd; and the Southtowns line, essentially continuing the route at its current southern terminus down to Lackawanna and to Orchard Park.

Why didn't this happen? Because UMTA (Urban Mass Transportation Administration) went defunct, the will to build mass transit in this country went by the wayside when the oil shocks of the 70s gave way to the oil glut of the 80s and cheap gas and big cars, and today the layout I just described sits and gathers dust. When our leaders in Washington, Albany and the NFTA gather the will to restart the talk, then maybe something will get done.

But this is Buffalo... I am not hopeful... *sigh*

Well, I remain hopeful because the forces are convening on a New Buffalo.

The generation that dug its heals in and stayed in Buffalo during the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s is passing....now a new crop of Buffalonians who have no memory of oil refineries, steel mills, father baker orphanages, civil rights riots, busing, the rot & decay, etc and they dont understand why people were so eager to leave the city. They dont have the memories to discourage them and they are finding as I call it a "city without a stigma"

of course things like the implosion of the public schools system doesnt help but this generation is moving back forming one community group after another.....one business group after another.

there is the potential to reweeve the fabric of our community and god bless them and its only a matter of time before we get elected officials like HIGGINS who have a new Buffalo mindset that will not use our tax monies for patronage, unions and buracracy but for MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS that attract businesses and people back to our city

When a politician says: -lets extend our light rail -lets redig and rewater more of our old canals -lets replace our water and sewer lines -lets embrace distributed power downtown to use high density residential and commercial development to lower utilitiy costs -let dig out those plans for a new convention center -lets put a high density business park in every common council district to anchor every neighborhood Well....you list your big ticket Buffalo Projects.....

Im tired of government employees and unions suckling the taxpayer for patronage, healthcare and retirement while kids remain uneducated, water and sewer lines leak and roads are filled with potholes.

Someday a politician is going to pass a city or county amendment that payroll (employed and retired) cannot exceed a percentage of the budget)

Someday a politician is going to take captial investment projects off budget so union arbitration and polticians cant touch them.

Right now, if Buffalo got any money it wouldnt be invested in quality of life or job creation but in removing the pay freeze and benefit freeze repeating the same extortion tactics that got Buffalo in trouble to begin with but someday we will get someone who is willing to invest in our city and in our citizens future.

Amherst isn't the only place to believe light rail extension will "worsen" their neighborhoods. Clarence is definitely on that list too.

I cant see light rail even going to clarence unless there is some demand for a light rail connection all the way to Batavia!

So....thats a non-issue.

And I think its time the debate in Amherst was discussed in the public forum again! UB and Lockport should be asked what they think. You know Delphi's future is questionable....they need to think about a major infrastructure project and business parks to diversity. It would be interesting to hear the discussion at Lockport.

And as for Amherst, Amherst can very easily support light rail and supervise crime by controlling the bus routes leaving the station so that the suburbanites focus on park and ride while those coming from the city might be limited to the shopping districts and business parks insulating all the neighborhoods. Between the security guards and cameras...it should be a non-issue.

Do I need to remind everyone that 20-30 years ago they used to watch people by those 2way mirrors. Now with cameras and infra-red and metal detectors...they know how much change you have in your pockets. Welcome to the 21st century!

Its really a non-issue and extending the light rail and security should really be two separate issues for public discussion and we should stop with-holding investment from our community because of the assumption of ignorance!

I am sure that there are many communities like Amherst that would be against it - I just used it as an example because I had some background on it. Incidentally - I took that transportation class too!

ddoerr, Im not disagreeing with you. Im just saying that its time to re-open the discussion! Its time to enlist allies! Its time to publicly air concerns. Its time to start questioning the accepted prejudices.

Most of all its time to question whether our prejudices are worth obstructing millions upon millions of federal dollars from being pumped into our local economy or the potential for matching state from being pumped into our local economy.

Buffalo is still poor and struggling. Can we really afford to neglect that much money coming to our city! I think not but its time to pose that in a public forum.

Joan: I just wanted you to know how much I loved this story. It seems obvius after playing your game that there are spots in Amherst as easily reached as those downtown when the train is used. In the near future, it would be great to put together a guide to services which would work much like on-line travel spots. If you access a hotel in NYC on the net they tell you how many 10ths of a mile it is to the Met and 5th ave and the Empire State building etc. I think that a measure of time may work better for us, or a combo of both time and mileage sothat newcomers would really know how accessible everything is in this city. Creative thinkiing and great photos...it looked like a fun research project!

The light rail subway is the fastest and most efficient way to get around however, its 6.4 mile length gives it a limited value to the rest of the region. It is time to stop wasting tax money on new roads and infrastructure in outlaying exurban areas and start allocating tax money to extend this light rail system to the Buffalo Airport in Cheektowaga. Using old but still existing railroad right of way is the most feasible option and there are still abandoned but available railroad corridors that extend from downtown all the way out to both Cheektowaga and Lancaster. In a region with cold, snowy winters, light rail transit makes perfectly good sense especially when driving conditions on the roads become hazardous. Light rail extensions to Lockport, Niagara Falls, and the southtowns should also be given serious consideration. It is time to finish a transit project that was started back in 1980 and make it more useful for the Buffalo Area as a whole.