Local: Candidates pander to train enthusiasts
Posted in Local with tags Amtrak, buses, CityLink, mass transit on August 17, 2008 by Billy DennisWell, that’s ONE way to look at it. Today’s Word on the Street compares Aaron Schock and Colleen Callahan in regards to their position on bringing Amtrak service back to Peoria. Turns out both of them are in favor. Current 18th District Congressman Ray LaHood says it’s probably not going to happen because there’s no money.
My position? Feh.
It’s not that I’m opposed to rail. But I can think of better ways to spend scare transportation dollars: Expand bus service in Peoria. Honestly, what’s going to benefit the city more: An alternative way to get to Chicago, more buses and routes that reduce the amount of traffic on street, and letting people lower the cost of their daily commute.
There’s a demonstrated need. CityLink ridership is up. The only thing that kept me from using it to get and forth to work at my previous job is that I’d half to walk about too far to and from the bus stop out on Pioneer Parkway. Also, there’s that fear that I’d miss the bus and have to wait 30 minutes for the next one.
Here’s an idea that I’ve discussed before: Community circulators. We’ve got about 20 routes that are, for lack of a better term, linear. They are designed to get people from one end of the city to another. Circulators concentrate on moving people around one area. These routes would be, well, circular. From what I can see, circulators would benefit employers in the Pioneer Park area, as well as residents of the West Bluff.
Whether we’re talking about more routes or more buses on existing routes, I think Peoria would be better off if these theoretical transportation dollars would go to bus service to help Peoria in the Greater Peoria Mass Transit District commute to work every day, and not to giving people a new way to get to Chicago or St. Louis to attend an occasional business meeting or attend baseball games.
