Showing posts with label Cache Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cache Valley. Show all posts
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
UTA needs better trip planner...
Image via WikipediaJust a quick note, in the link section of the blog, I have put in the most relevant transit links in Utah. There you will find transit information for the Wasatch Front, Park City, Cache Valley, Cedar City, St. George, and Zion National Park.While working on that project I fiddled with UTA's Trip Planner. I have mentioned this before but I think it needs to be stated again that this is one area that UTA really needs to work on. The trip planner may be the first exposure that some people have to riding the transit system so it needs to be extremely accurate in giving the best directions. However, UTA's trip planner often is next to useless.
A few months ago when I was taking the westbound California Zephyr I decided to see how long it would take me to get to the Amtrak Station (this was before the opening of TRAX and Front Runner). The trip planner had me take the last 213 at 7:00pm then catch the 45, TRAX, 39, 209 and a couple of other buses before finally arriving at Central Station at 10:00pm. That's right a trip that should take less than an hour showed up as a 3+ hour trip.
I have used trip planners in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, and Miami and all of them work better than UTA's. As more new people discover riding the transit system it becomes even more critical to have a easy to use and useful trip planner.
What is really needed is a region wide trip planner that will not only cover the Wasatch Front but also all the transit systems in Utah and connecting services to show customers their best options. But for now it is important to improve the current trip planner from UTA.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Cache Valley Transit Celebrates 16 Years...
Cache transit system marks 16 years
The Cache Valley Transit System is celebrating 16 years of service, and provides good service throughout the Cache Valley. My wife's niece who is currently going to USU has made extensive use of the transit system despite being raised by a mother who thought transit was beneath her.
A couple of points about what is mentioned in the article.
First of all it talks about a connection to the UTA. With all the traffic currently traveling along US Highways 89/91, providing a connecting bus service over to Logan is becoming more critical every day. That connection will come even more critical once FrontRunner is extended all the way to Brigham City providing that area better transit service than it every has.
The article also mentions how the trolleys were eliminated. However, like most articles it doesn't go into the deeper problems that caused the original streetcars lines to be eliminated which included:
-Streetcar systems were highly taxed and those taxes subsidized roads while buses did not face these taxes.
-Planning policies that focused on auto centric developments
-Policies that said streets would not get funding for improvements if they had streetcars using them
-FDR loosing the mortgage requirements which basically subsidized suburban development and discouraged non suburban style development.
Congrats to Cache Valley on 16 years. The system does face some challenges but good transit service is needed in the area and becoming more important every day.
The Cache Valley Transit System is celebrating 16 years of service, and provides good service throughout the Cache Valley. My wife's niece who is currently going to USU has made extensive use of the transit system despite being raised by a mother who thought transit was beneath her.
A couple of points about what is mentioned in the article.
First of all it talks about a connection to the UTA. With all the traffic currently traveling along US Highways 89/91, providing a connecting bus service over to Logan is becoming more critical every day. That connection will come even more critical once FrontRunner is extended all the way to Brigham City providing that area better transit service than it every has.
The article also mentions how the trolleys were eliminated. However, like most articles it doesn't go into the deeper problems that caused the original streetcars lines to be eliminated which included:
-Streetcar systems were highly taxed and those taxes subsidized roads while buses did not face these taxes.
-Planning policies that focused on auto centric developments
-Policies that said streets would not get funding for improvements if they had streetcars using them
-FDR loosing the mortgage requirements which basically subsidized suburban development and discouraged non suburban style development.
Congrats to Cache Valley on 16 years. The system does face some challenges but good transit service is needed in the area and becoming more important every day.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
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