Скачать или смотреть Problems with Niagara Frontier Transit Authority: What can be done?

As a Western New York native who has spent time abroad and stateside, in other metropolises within the country, I have noticed differences in the quality of public transport and the socioeconomics and demographics of the people who utilize public transit over private means such as automobile, motorcycle, and bicycle.

In most European countries, public transport is more of a necessity due to higher gasoline prices and the close proximity, on average, between point A and point B. Utilized by a wider demographic, public transport is often a favorable choice for people of all walks of life - the rich, the poor, the young, the old the educated, the uneducated, and the people in between. However, in most American municipalities, use of public transportation remains a last-resort option often limited to the community's marginalized, destitute, and socio-economically disadvantaged.

Unlike most European countries, under the Eisenhauer administration, the US government invested in an expansive interstate roadway system that was unparalleled, constructed with the foresight the automobile would forever be America's main mode of transportation.

During the energy crisis of the late 1970s, Americans began to reconsider the widespread use of the automobile, and city and state governments began to allocate funds for the development of more efficient means of mass transit powered by alternatives fuels such as natural gas and hydroelectricity.

In the mid-1980s construction was underway for Buffalo's first subway system. modeled after Baltimore's transit line, the project was an ambitious - not to mention expensive - undertaking that combined state and local funds in its completion, but was it worth it? While under construction, Main Street businesses suffered as traffic came to a screeching halt for not days, weeks, or months, but years, turning what once was a thriving prime commercial spot into a virtual ghost town.

I will discuss current issues related to the NFTA and Western New York. Feel free to join me .