I want to tell anyone who hasn’t ridden a streetcar that there’s a BIG difference between riding a streetcar and a bus. Streetcars are silent and sophisticated, they sail along the rails like a ship at sea. Busses, by contrast, bounce and jar, smell bad, feel insecure as they weave along the road — there’s no comparison. And I firmly believe, after living in Toronto, Canada, where people have a choice of subway, steetcar, or bus, that there is a huge difference in ridership depending on quality of transit. In Toronto, neighborhoods are valued in three tiers — subway, streetcar, bus access.

Go Streetcars!

Sonja

Even though I know what “choice riders” means (after clarification in a previous thread), it still sounds like a term brimming with elitism.

Perhaps we could be called “option riders” instead.

The system can’t please everybody, but the planned routes are hardly about just moving “yuppies and tourists.” The network will also be extended down East Rosedale – there’s hardly any aspect of “yuppies or tourists” there.

These routes, as they are, are already really useful.

“Choice riders” is just a term for those who don’t have to use transit, but choose to anyway. Attracting them is very important – not just serving the transit dependent. We have to see this as a system to serve anybody, not just those who have to use it.

(And the existence of the streetcar doesn’t negate The T’s bus routes.)

(And incidentally, dismissing people who are moving back into the central city in new developments as “yuppies” is, honestly, getting a little worn out. There’s a lot more to the renewal of urban Fort Worth than just “yuppies.”)

Viva Plaza Major!

Seriously, I wish I could have attended the Cultural District meeting. Thanks for the detailed report, Kevin!