The Colonie Times Union goes on an adventure


By albany layman, Section Diaries
Posted on Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 06:23:20 AM EST

The TU published a feature about ... riding the bus.  Their sub-headline for the article: Times Union staffers discover mass transit has a learning curve.

My sub-headline for the article would be: Some of our staffers are not very bright.

The CDTA web site is here.  Their phone number, as the CDTA people pointed out to the TU, is 482-8822.

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The Colonie Times Union goes on an adventure | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 hidden)
TOD (none / 0) (#1)
by Corruptany on Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 09:55:28 AM EST
Lets be honest with ourselves for a second, the people that should be taking public transit are suburban commuters from Colonie. I say this because they are the ones who are driving the most, causing gridlock, causing sprawl, and wasting gas. Problem is, CDTA is a horrible experience. Its slow, overcrowed and doesn't go to allot of places. If this article makes the case for light rail, or commuter rail transit I am all for it. I personally feel that making public transit up and coming and comfortable will solve allot of the problems the Capital district faces. Take for instance sprawl, imagine having a light rail train going down Central Ave and one down the Hudson to Vliet, Troy and Cohoes. People would most likely move to areas near transit (its called transit oriented development) and more and more people will move back to cities. As of now, I can't stand riding the bus because its always late and I am always cramped.

That's kind of unfair (none / 0) (#2)
by AlfredMoisiu on Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 03:56:18 PM EST
In the last few years, CDTA has improved itself substantially. I'm not downtown every day anymore, but I take the 13 at least 2-3 times a month, and find it to be a much, much better experience than a few years ago.

The hybrid busses are comfortable and quiet, and the service is more reliable than it once was -- although that may be a function of the time of day that I ride the bus.

The problem with CDTA is if you have to transfer. I challenge any of the posters here, who all claim to be urban stalwarts, to try to get from the train station to the airport -- it's a major, major pain in the ass and nearly impossible.

The issue re mass transit today is that the traffic flows aren't the same as NYC or Boston. Everyone doesn't work in downtown Albany -- thousands of jobs are located in Colonie, Latham, etc. It's a small area, and the way to promote higher density zoning in the suburbs, and bulldoze shitty rentals in the city to build better housing. (ie, raze parts of the "student ghetto" and a few strategic areas)

[ Parent ]

Sprawl (none / 0) (#3)
by Corruptany on Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 04:19:28 PM EST
I agree with you on the fact that the CD is suburban oriented. As a Planner though, my concern is fighting sprawl and to work to revitalize urban centers. Transit Oriented Development which is part of Smart Growth aims to stop this. There are many problems with sprawl and in my opinion, Albany is a classic example of what happens from it. With the gas crunch and the fact that people from other areas are moving to smaller cities due to the cost of living, Albany is in a great place. That is if the state takes steps to focus on some of Albany problems.

[ Parent ]
Totally disagree (none / 0) (#5)
by AlfredMoisiu on Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 07:42:27 PM EST
If anything, the Capital Region is an example of a region where sprawl has worked ok. The average commute time for someone living in Albany is only marginally shorter than the average Latham or Clifton Park resident.

The relatively congested Northway commute in the burbs is offset by the very significant business presence in the Albany suburbs. The people being hurt in this area are the "extreme" commuters, who are coming in from places like Glens Falls and even Utica.

I agree that transit oriented development makes a hell of alot of sense -- that is, after all why Albany suburbs like Delmar and Slingerlands were created in the first place. But I also think that unlike Boston or Downstate, there are plenty of opportunities for developers to make easy money on sprawl development. Those opportunities will make it challenging for town boards to make the zoning changes needed for transit oriented development.

[ Parent ]

If I worked in downtown Albany, (none / 0) (#4)
by devtob 53 on Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 05:22:22 PM EST
taking the bus would make sense.

But I do not, so taking the bus is out of the question.

My commute costs less in gas than I would pay in bus fare, and it would take at least three times as long by bus.

More people than ever work in suburban office parks, and CDTA does little to accommodate them.
 
The Democrats are the party of the people.

You can't blame CDTA for that! (none / 0) (#6)
by AlfredMoisiu on Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 07:46:10 PM EST
Mass transit requires a critical mass of riders, and decentralized development doesn't support that.

The shuttle services try to service these places, but like you said, the shuttles turn a 15 minute drive into a 45+ minute bus transfer and shuttle.

[ Parent ]

The Colonie Times Union goes on an adventure | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 hidden)
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