Sick Transit Gloria Swanson

A little light-rail reading

Transit System Reviews

    I have not pursued "collecting" bus and rail public transit quite as actively as I would like, but have still "been around, know what I mean, nudge nudge wink wink" enough to fill this section with brief recollections of my North American transit adventures.  These are in order by state/province and city/metropolitan area.  At the end, will also include a selection of rail systems I stil need to check out, including commuter rail, streetcars and funicular/inclines.

    This article, a serious update and rewrite of what I put together on my former "GeoCities" Web-site in 1997, is still very much a work in progress.  Links are still being found and added, and will also have a tasteful few photos and logos scattered about eventually.  Please send along info you might have, especially rail transit I might have missed or is on its way in the US and Canada.

-- MarkTime, 9/3/01

ALASKA
    Juneau
Capital Transit Service was used by me on 9/2/97.  Few cities this size feel they have a need for any transit service.  Well, this being a state capital city, also with help from the city's unique physical layout, Juneau's service compares favorably to many big-city systems.  Two bus routes connect the small government and business district with the suburban, commercial and airport zone 15 miles to the northwest.  One route runs express, and the other is a local through the very narrow residential band squeezed in between the water and the mountains.  A third main route serves the small industrial and residential Douglas area just across the channel from downtown.  Buses run everyday and late into the evening, both prerequisites for a transit district to be considered no less than good by this reporter.

ALBERTA
    Calgary
Calgary Transit was still building the first part of its light-rail system during my one day in the city, late July of 1980, so all I got to try were a couple of buses, from downtown out to the local CBC offices.

BRITISH COLUMBIA
    Vancouver
Coast Mountain Bus Company sounds to me like a small-town operation, but in fact it covers Vancouver and many of its suburbs.  It was all called BC Transit when I have used it, on visits in 7/80, 11/81 and for Expo 86 during an entire week in July.  (Still seems to be the primary transit authority in the province, but Coast Mountain appears to be a separate arm now?)  Their SkyTrain runs in an old freight tunnel under downtown, and either at or above ground level to the east-southeast.  It ran only to New Westminster when I last used it, before they built the big bridge to Surrey.  Prior to SkyTrain, even the "express" bus service to New Westminster was an excruciatingly long ride.  The sweet hum of trolley buses can still be heard on some bus routes.  Also has "Seabus" service across to North Vancouver.

CALIFORNIA
    (eastern) Alameda county
Wheels, aka Livermore/Amador Valley Transit, is the local service for Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton, started up while I was working in the latter city.  Until BART's Pleasanton extension finally opened, their only Sunday service had been on grand opening day in what, 1986?

    (western) Alameda and Contra Costa counties
AC Transit covers most of the western halves of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, so I used it often when I lived in Berkeley and Oakland.  Also has some service to San Francisco, but that has been cut back as folks have learned to know and trust BART over the course of several generations.

    Cerritos (southeast Los Angeles county)
Typical of small-city LA county "muni" systems, Cerritos On Wheels (COW) goes up, down, and around its city with mini-buses.  Two "routes", just that one duplicates the other circle just in the opposite direction.  Rode a piece of route 2, the more direct way from City Hall to Los Cerritos Mall, and expect to do the rest when time permits.

    (central) Contra Costa County
County Connection bus service connects BART trains with several cities in Contra Costa County.  I found this handy for my many Saturday hikes in the hills and on the bike paths during my Oakland days (1981-88).  I see they took over some of the “express” bus routes formerly operated by BART, even connecting with the Dublin station.

    (western) Contra Costa county
WestCAT in western Contra Costa county, a connecting service from the Richmond and El Cerrito to Martinez, used one foggy New Year's Eve as a change-of-pace from simply taking BART from Oakland to Concord, and the opposite direction on a hot/sunny afternoon last June.

    Culver City (west Los Angeles county)
Culver City Bus Lines does not have much ground to cover in its home city, so also connects it to Venice, UCLA, LAX and other areas.  Got to use the entire route 6 on Sepulveda Ave. one quiet Sunday last July...large, clean, green buses.

    Laguna Beach  (Orange county)
Laguna Beach Transit has 3 routes covering this small Orange coast city.  Up to now, have only used the "Top of the World" portion of one route, a loop up to crest of the hill between the coast and Laguna Hills.

    Long Beach  (Los Angeles county)
Long Beach Transit runs most of the bus service in this city, and up into Lakewood, Signal Hill and other nearby communities.  Have now been on maybe a third of the system.  The only big "muni" without service to downtown Los Angeles!?

    Los Angeles - city
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation ("LADOT") runs a number of "Dash" express and neighborhood shuttle lines in various parts of the city.  I need to set aside some time to check out a lot of these...up to now, have only used a weekend downtown shuttle, the San Pedro-Long Beach connector, and one of the Van Nuys shuttles.

"The World's Shortest Railroad" is the little Angel's Flight funicular, from the foot of Hill St. between 3rd and 4th, west side of downtown LA.  Also convenient to the SO.CA.TA meeting site, the old subway building, the Bradbury Building, and Grand Central Market.
[Closed indefinitely, after a bad accident, 2/1/01]

    Los Angeles - county
MTA, aka Metro, has the impossible job of trying to cover the city of Los Angeles and some of its suburbs.  Have been on maybe 30 MTA routes, and seems like I've barely covered just a small part of their system?  At least I have used the entire rail component...the Blue Line light-rail to Long Beach, the Green Line from Norwalk to the fringes of LAX, and Red Line subway from Downtown to North Hollywood.  Was "RTD" when I used this the first time, on a two-day visit in April, 1982.  Many of the suburbs formerly part of the RTD now run their own systems (see the individual cities).
    The MTA numbering system explained:

    (eastern) Los Angeles county
Foothill Transit runs most of the service in the San Gabriel Valley and Pomona areas.  Worked in their coverage area in the spring of 2000, but on such an odd work schedule I could not use this...took a special trip up there the following October to try out any.

    Los Angeles region
Metrolink is a separate agency, running the commuter rail system in Los Angeles and several other counties.  Still primarily operated as a work-day commuter feeder into downtown Los Angeles, so have still not gotten to ride the entire system.  While it is not exactly causing the old-timers to forget the old "Pacific Electric" and/or "Red Car" streetcar network (glorified in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), nor will its lack of evening or weekend service make this reporter forget Chicago's Metra commuter-rail network, it's a baby step in the right direction.

The Inland Empire Connection has three bus routes, operated as express connecting services between and by OCTA, RTA and Omnitrans.  Have been on the entire system:  Route #100 from Riverside to San Bernardino, #110 from San Bernardino to Montclair, and #149 from Riverside to Orange.  Has no Web-site of its own...above link is an unofficial "SoCalTip" information page, and the Riverside Transit Agency and Omnitrans also have useful info and schedules.
[Omnitrans since changed the #110 to its own #90, with fewer stops...such as now missing Ontrario airport!?!]

    Marin and Sonoma counties
Golden Gate Transit is part of the same outfit which administers the Golden Gate Bridge, and tolls from the bridge do help to fund the unusually comfortable buses that run across the bridge from San Francisco up to Marin county and to many parts of Sonoma, too.  Used this often on visits to San Rafael, Petaluma and Santa Rosa.  They also have ferry service from The City to Sausalito and Larkspur, and the former private bus line between Richmond and San Rafael (via the bridge using those same names) is now GGT's route #40.  Also operates the ferry service from San Francisco to Sausalito and Larkspur.

    Montebello (east Los Angeles county)
Montbello Municipal Bus Lines - Have been on this just once, by accidient when the MTA bus I was trying to catch in Whittier left its starting point a couple minutes early, grumble.  So, wound up on the Montebello 40 from Whittwood to Garfield Ave.  Loudest mutterings I hear about LA county municipal lines in general, and this one in particular, is how they seem to eagerly take over routes from MTA, but dumb down the hours and frequency of operation.

    Newport Beach (Orange county)
The private Balboa Island Ferry connects Balboa Island with the long, thin Balboa Peninsula.  It takes 3 cars and about 40 passengers per boat.  Took this on a weekday in late December '00, but being a warm day they had 3 boats crossing constantly.  No Web-site found, but this one has a couple good photos.

    Norwalk (Los Angeles county)
Have been on two of the 4 Norwalk Transit System routes, which cover Norwalk and also connect it to Cerritos, LaHabra and Santa Fe Springs.

    Orange county
OCTA (aka Orange County Transportation Authority) operates nearly all of the bus service within Orange County.  This agency is also responsible for the county's street and highway network, so the public transit often gets neglected.  This is currently my "home" system, and I've been on maybe 60% of its routes, many of those from one end to the other at least once...see my own version of OCTA's route list. (being reconstructed soon to reflect 9/01 changes).  A light-rail line (the CenterLine) is in the early planning stages, and there's at least one group hoping to help it succeed, the Rail Advocates of Orange County.
    OCTA route number set-up, more or less:

    Petaluma (Sonoma County)
Petaluma Transit and its minibuses cover the parts of the city not already served by Golden Gate or Sonoma County Transit.  Got to use this a couple times when staying there during the June '01 trip.  Alas, tyupical winding, slow muni routes, and a challenge to get current route and schedule info, even at the point where all routes converge downtown.

    (central) Riverside county
SunLine runs buses in Palm Springs, Indio, and points in between.  They also have a "Sunlink" commuter connection to the Metrolink in Riverside.  Got to try the "SunLink" and 3 of the local routes on a couple off weekdays in Feb. '00, though schedule changes now make it harder to use for a day-trip from Riverside.

    (western) Riverside county
Got to use much of the Riverside Transit Agency bus network during the time I lived over there 11/99 to 5/00.  They cover the cities or Riverside and Moreno Valley, and to a lesser extent Corona, Lake Elsinore, Hemet and other cities and towns south and west of Riverside.

    Sacramento
Sacramento Regional Transit has been used on each of my 3 visits to California's capital city.  The last time there, 4/87, part of their light-rail was up and running.  I liked, though as with many newer light-rail systems, the available right-of-way they built it on is too often far from populated zones.

    (southwestern) San Bernardino county
Omnitrans fans out from San Bernardino, running from Yucaipa and Redlands west to Montclair and Pomona.  Only on a few of their lines so far, during my Riverside days in 1999-2000 and on the SO.CA.TA "Route 66" study tour one summer Saturday in 2001.

    San Diego region
Most public transit in San Diego County appears to be under, over, up down or around the “Metropolitan Transit System”.  There are some MTS bus routes, but looks like these are routes that other systems in the county did not want to operate?  Realignments may be coming soon, but for now the agencies and route-number ranges are:

    On my first real visit to San Diego, 9/93, I rode the “Orange Line” from El Cajon to downtown, and the “Blue Line” down to the border at San Ysidro and back.  Both lines were extended later, and in 6/00 I got out to the ball park via the Mission Valley extension of the "Blue Line".

    San Francisco - city and county
MUNI, its full name the San Francisco Municipal Railway, has mostly bus routes covering what seems like every square inch of the small, densely-populated city.  However, they still do have rail action in the form of the 3 famous cable car lines and 6 regular streetcar routes, including a permanent rolling "Historic Trolley Festival" also known as the "F" line.  MUNI also has a number of electric trolley buses...I especially enjoyed the ride on the #1-California route when I lived out in the Richmond district (1982-85).

    San Francisco Bay Area - region-wide
BART, the Bay Area Rapid Transit, is a hybrid between standard city heavy-rail rapid transit and a commuter rail system.  Like rapid transit, it has frequent service, and several stops in downtown Oakland and San Francisco, but then like commuter rail, it covers long distances and fares vary by distance.  Have used this frequently when I lived in the area (1981-88), and during all by visits before and since.  They also used to operate some connecting bus service in parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, but most of this has been taken over by local districts.
CalTrain, a traditional commuter rail line running from just south of downtown San Francisco to Gilroy (southern Santa Clara county).  Back when I got to use this occasionally in the 80s, the southern terminous was just west of downtown San Jose.

    San Mateo county
SamTrans is San Mateo County's bus system, also with routes up to downtown San Francisco. Good connections to SF's Muni and San Jose's Valley Transit, and is (for now) the only public transit to SFO.

    San Jose region
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), what I knew as Santa Clara County Transit during my many uses before and while I lived up the Bay from San Jose.  Was the first dya-pass I encountered, when they dropped transfers in the early 1980s.  Especially convenient was the bus connection to the BART at Fremont.  They opened their first bit of light-rail just in time for me to use it a couple times in 1987-88, including a free ride on its Opening Day.  Got to use the entire current light-rail system on a visit in June '01.

    Santa Monica  (Los Angeles county)
My first use of Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines, aka Big Blue Bus was by accident, in April of 1982.  I got off an RTD bus in Beverly Hills, to transfer to something going to Century City.  Turned out to be the wrong street for the route I planned to take, but a "Blue Bus" happened by, heading that way even.  Have been on most of the routes at one time or another since moving back west, and there have been days when I've used nothing but Big Blue between downtown LA and UCLA without ever entering Santa Monica itself.  An old “Big Blue Bus” was the star of the movie “Speed”.

    Santa Rosa  (Sonoma county)
CityBus is, well, the bus system for the city of Santa Rosa.  The city also gets service from Golden Gate Transit (above) and from Sonoma County Transit (ees next).

    Sonoma county
Sonoma County Transit connects Santa Rosa with the other various towns and cities within Sonoma county.  Have taken to/from Petaluma, Rohnert Park, and the city of Sonoma.

    Union City (Alameda county)
Union City Transit had its own bus system connecting the residential areas with the Union City BART station.

COLORADO
    Denver
Oops...my timing was off a bit, as I was last in the coverage area of RTD-Denver in July of 1994, or just a few weeks before public test runs began on the new light rail line of theirs.  Only got to use the Federal Ave. bus line, a convenient enough run to/from my motel and Mile High Stadium.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
    Washington region
I have been on all but the National Airport leg of Washington Metro's rail system.  Is used and feels a lot like BART in the SF Bay Area.
There is also commuter rail, no yet tried, to Baltimore via MTA's Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) service, and to Fredericksburg and Manassas on the Virginia Railway Express.

FLORIDA
    Miami-Dade county
Miami-Dade Transit Agency takes care of most of the transit in Dade county, FL.  Used the buses plenty when I lived down there in 1976-77 and again in 1980, though the service was only really good in Miami, Miami Beach and Coral Gables.  They have since built a useful elevated rail line from Kendall to downtown Miami to Hialeah...I took the first half on a January, 1990 visit...and a people-mover line downtown (they now have 3 routes).
There is also a separate commuter rail route, Tri-Rail, up to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, not yet used.

GEORGIA
    Atlanta area
I have only used the rail part of the MARTA system in Atlanta...took all but the western arm of what was functional during my visit in January of 1992.  Amazingly fast service for all the distance covered.

IDAHO
    Boise
I made use of the Boise Urban Stages (the BUS) during a visit in July of 1981.  I was staying somewhere west of downtown, and none of the current routes (once I found the secret passage to the maps & schedules) look familiar now.

ILLINOIS
    Chicago region
All transit in the Illinois portion of the Chicago metropolitan area is under the "Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Authority", or RTA.  It takes regional sales taxes and some state money and divvies it up between three different, uncoordinated transit agencies:

    East Saint Louis ("Metroeast") region (also in Missouri)
Bi-State covers both sides of metro Saint Louis.  Metrolink light-rail runs from Belleville, IL to Lambert airport, by way of an old freight tunnel under downtown Saint Louis.  Have been on the stretch that was open by 1997 (STL to East Saint Louis) at least twice each direction.  The crosstown bus is slow, the train usually quick (and even popular with the urban professionals).

INDIANA
    Chicago region (also in Illinois)
The "last of the interurbans", the South Shore, connects Chicago with the old mill cities of northeastern Indiana, from Hammond to Gary, Michigan City and South Bend.   Its full name is "Chicago, South Bend and South Shore".  The electric trains run from downtown Chicago to the Michiana Regional Airport just outside South Bend.

    Hammond
A few times in 1980-81, I visited a friend in Hammond, IN with some help from the city's bus company, what is now called Hammond Transit System.

    South Bend
To get to downtown South Bend on Monday thru Saturday, and from there to other parts of the city, Mishawaka and Notre Dame, one takes Transpo.  Sundays and holidays, one walks or takes an expensive cab ride.  Almost all the routes converge in downtown South Bend.  Still no Website!?!

MARYLAND
    Baltimore
There was only one light-rail line in Baltimore the two times I got to use the MTA, in November of 1993 and again the following April.  Also got to use the separate subway line on the first trip...you think they would have built them to meet, but it required a short but scary walk between the two lines downtown!
Did not get to use any buses, or the "MARC" commuter rail lines.

MASSACHUSETTS
    Boston region
The Boston area has the Massachusetts Bay Transit authority, aka MBTA, though known to the locals as simply the "T".  Intense coverage of Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and a few other inner suburbs, including 3 subway lines and the multi-armed light-rail "Green Line", but the bus system gets weak on the fringes, where one has to make do with the commuter rail network (the latter so far used only from North Station to Beverly).  Has a few electric trolley buses, but I’d only seen them around Cambridge.

MICHIGAN
    Detroit
When visiting Detroit, I have so far only been brave enough to use the downtown people-mover, during a radio get-together over in Windsor in 1991.  Missed out on the trolley, as it was off that day.

MISSOURI
    Kansas City
Took one ride on the KCATA (Kansas City Area Transit?), in November 1988...well, maybe two, if they also operated the bus for the loooooong ride from MCI airport to downtown?

    Saint Louis region (also in Illinois)
Bi-State covers both sides of metro Saint Louis.  Metrolink light-rail runs from Belleville, IL to Lambert airport, by way of an old freight tunnel under downtown Saint Louis.  The crosstown bus is slow, the train usually quick (and even popular with the urban professionals).

NEBRASKA
    Omaha
I used Omaha's Metro Area Transit once...had a long Greyhound "rest stop" there once, so walked to a few nearby radio stations, only to be delayed by an overly-talkative employee at my last stop.  Fortunately, a bus happened along which would stop right by the Greydog station.  [Above link is "unofficial" but of some use]

NEVADA
    Las Vegas
Citizen's Area Transit, or "CAT", runs the bus system in the Las Vegas area.  Used this several times one 107-degree day in September '93, and see that the coverage area has expanded along with the city in the few years since.  As you'd guess, the Strip routes are the busiest, and operate all night....plus they charge higher fares than on the rest of the system.
A privately-funded monorail network is slowly taking shape along the "Strip" south of town, with two pieces already running (got to use the one from Bally's to MGM Grand in October '00).  Also got to try an odd but popular little cable car between the Mirage and Treasure Island.

NEW JERSEY
    New York/Newark region
Most transit in New Jersey is handled by a single state entity, NJ Transit.  Have so far taken buses from the NY Port Authority out to Passaic, the commuter rail from NY Penn Station to/from Monmouth county, and the neat old PCC streetcars of the Newark City Subway.  Since last on any of it in 1994, they opened a new street-level light-rail line in Jersey City, the "Hudson-Bergen" line.

One can, as I have a few times, avoid Manhattan traffic and parking costs by dumping the car in Hoboken or Jersey City and taking the PATH way.  On the New York side, the subway lines run to either Penn Station or World Trade Center.  From Jersey City to Newark, the route is almost all at ground level.  Took pretty much the whole thing over a week's stay in New Jersey back in 1991.

NEW YORK
    Buffalo region
Niagara Frontier Transit Authority ("NFTA") bus service is wimpy, especially nights and weekends, but I do like the one light-rail line from downtown up to Amherst.

    New York City region (see also New Jersey)
I have used only the New York City bus and subway components of the MTA.  Have taken the rail transit in all 5 boroughs, though maybe only a mile each in the Bronx or Queens so far?  Have even taken almost the entire length of the separate, mostly ground-level Staten Island line.  Wonder if they will ever connect it to the rest of the system, with something other than the venerable old Staten Island Ferry that is?
Silly me forgot to try the Roosevelt Island Tram when I had a chance...well, there's always another time!  Have also so far missed out on both the Long Island and the Metro-North commuter rail systems.

OHIO
    Akron
I made use of Akron's METRO Regional Transit Authority on a visit in June of 1994.

    Cleveland area
Cleveland RTA has several rail lines...the subway-type Red Line takes a wavy ene-wsw course across Cleveland, and was one of the first lines to connect a city's downtown with its airport. Two light-rail lines run east from downtown to Shaker Heights or so, the downtown end of which seems to have been extended out to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (added since my last real visit, in 1994).

ONTARIO
    metro Toronto
Toronto Transit Commission, or "TTC", is responsible for the bus, streetcar and subway action in metro Toronto.  A favourite system of mine, especially thanks to the direct connections between buses and subways, the downtown streetcars, and the odd little light-rail line out in Scarborough.
Toronto also has a commuter rail system, the green and white "GO".  Have not been on this yet, though the Metrolink uses the same type of cars.

OREGON
    Eugene area
Lane County MTD handles the bus action in Eugene and Springfield, OR.  Used this a number of times when I spent a couple weeks in Eugene, spring of 1980.

    Portland region
Tri-Met has buses, and now the "Max" light rail, in the Portland area.  Got some use out of this at the start and at the end of my most recent Pacific Northwest tour, September '97, but only got to take the rail from downtown to the ballpark.  The "Max" has since expanded westward, and the extension to the airport is nearing completion.

PENNSYLVANIA
    Philadelphia region
SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit) has buses and a variety of rail action. Only used some of it, mostly the Broad St. subway from downtown to/from Veterans Stadium, and just once, Memorial Day of 1991.  Not sure if theirs is the most expensive transit map out there, but it is certainly the largest.
Connecting Philadelphia with Camden, NJ is the PATCO, or Port Authority Transit Corporation of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, train, another must-do-yet.

    Pittsburgh
Port Authority Transit, or PAT...have tried only their rail lines, which only run to the south of downtown.  Light-rail runs as a subway under downtown.  Also includes two incline railways, what some might know as "funiculars" or "elevators", from the south shore of the Monongahela river up to the top of the Mount Washington cliff...great downtown scenic looks there!

QUÉBEC
    Montréal
OK, let's see if I can remember the transit system name in Montréal...Société de transport de Communauté Urbaine de Montréal (STCUM)?  Fortunately, some of their information is also in English.  Have been on most of the subway system, but only on a few buses and not (yet) on either of the two commuter rail lines.

    Québec
Also when I again have time, I will try to track down a web-site and/or some web-pix regarding the Quebec City funicular, which I am told has been renovated since my June '94 visit.

TENNESSEE
    Chattanooga
Lookout Mountain has been my longest and wildest inclined railway ride to date (3/96), not to be confused with the very stationery Chattanooga Choo Choo ("Track 29!").

WASHINGTON
    King county
Seattle (Metro-King County?)...My pick for best non-rail transit system in North America.  However, with the population explosion in King County, they really do need a rail component, and soon!!  More than just the little tourist streetcar line on the waterfront, authentic though the line may be.

    Seattle
Not part of the official transit, but there is of course the famous '62 World's Fair, now Seattle Center Monorail.  Not quite a mile from downtown (6th and Westlake, if my memory's not too faulty?) up to Seattle Center, what was the fairgrounds.  A short ride, but I did take it a few times during the summer of 1980.

    Seattle region
One can not drive (very easily) to San Juan county, WA, but the Washington State Ferries took me there in Sept. '97, and in 1983 across Puget Sound to Bremerton.

    Skagit county
Skagit Transit serves towns like Anacortes, Burlington and Mount Vernon.  They solved the problem involved with handling change, issuing transfers and prosecuting turnstile-jumpers by being a fare-free system!  Tried it on 9/3/97, as I used the Park n Ride lot outside Anacortes and rode to and from the San Juan Islands ferry dock.  They WILL begin requiring fares again in May 2001, according to their Web-site, but buses themselves would remain cash-less...would require a pre-purchase of a pass.

WEST VIRGINIA
    Morgantown
Morgantown, WV has a great little people-mover, running from downtown out to all the spread-out pieces of the West Virginia U. campus.  I tried it out on a visit in April of 1994.  Talked about on no less than 3 different web sites (well, 4 if you count mine, ha)!
WISCONSIN
    Madison
Madison Metro seems to do a good job covering Wisconsin's capital city...not sure about the "metro" though?  Only tried once, a long long ago (1972??).  Only changed from route letters to route numbers in 1997.

    Milwaukee county
Milwaukee County Transit just got its own web site.  Decent enough bus system, with plenty of cross-town and express service.  They were considering a light-rail line from downtown west, but perhaps the money is instead being sunk into the new ballpark?


RAIL TO-DOs

(See also Baltimore, Calgary, Denver, Miami, Newark, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, Washington)

Have still been no where near Edmonton Transit, let alone its light rail.  Have heard it is fairly popular, despite their making the mistake of using cheap, but out-of-the-way, right-of-way.

Fort Collins, CO has a trolley they run weekends, but it's more for recreation, being part of the park district. Alas, it started too late in the day on the Saturday I was in town (July '94)

Separate from the Metro North, there is the Shore Line East commuter rail line from New Haven out to New London.

JTA...have never been anywhere near a bus in Jacksonville, FL, but I see they have some sort of people-mover system.

The Streetcar Named Desire was closed down years ago, but New Orleans still has its old Saint Charles line, and a newer riverfront streetcar.  Also in the works is a 3rd line, for Canal Street.  Until a couple years ago, New Orleans RTA had no Website of its own, but the police had the streetcar skeds on their site as a public safety service.

Metro Transit runs buses in and around Minneapolis and Saint Paul.  The long-discussed "Hiawatha Line" light rail will finally be under construction soon, and they're also considering a regional commuter rail network.

Miami Valley RTA, serving metro Dayton, still has electric trolley buses (some new ones even).  Chicago had lost theirs back in 1973, aargh!

I was not aware that Niagara Falls, Ontario had an incline railway!?

The Johnstown "Inclined Plane" looked impressive, even at night from a distance.  Now to get close and try it out!  [Closed for renovation until spring 2001.]

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) opened its first light-rail line soon after I was last down there, November '95.  There was some talk of running a line out to DFW airport, which has 3 people-mover routes of its own.

To think, there was a time in my lifetime when Salt lake City had no public transit at all...now Utah Transit Authority has the "Trax" light-rail and everything!

Kenosha's new old-fashioned streetcar line started up just too late for me to try before I moved west, so will definitely go up there next visit back to Chicago.  Some of their PCC cars used to run in Toronto.


ALSO OF INTEREST TO TRANSIT FANS

General transit museum information.

D'oh!  Should've got to the Orange Empire Railway Museum when I lived nearer to Perris, CA.  Still near enough, but would have to drive from here.

Illinois Railway Museum, which includes several CTA trains and buses, and from the much-missed North Shore Inter-urban, in its rolling stock. You got to see the museum's platform, and one of its prized Burlington “Zephyr” trains, in the movie "A League Of Their Own"!

Bob "Rac Cooney" Nelson recommends the trolley museum in Kennebunkport, ME

North of downtown, within sight of the light rail but not exactly convenient, there is what looked like an excellent Baltimore Streetcar Museum.

The very same day I first visited Brooklyn (in 1991), I also took in the NYC Transit Museum in downtown Brooklyn.  Built in an abandoned subway station, it has a number of old subway cars and historical exhibits.

American Public Transit Association have some information and lots of links.

U-Bahn or S-Bahn?

Transfer to my main Transit Page

Ask for information, including site map and schedules :)