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sebileis t1_iy3wfyq wrote

Reply to comment by sebileis in Brilliant Line will provide a car-free route across Allegheny River by hydrateandchill

Glad to see r/pittsburgh revealing their true colors once again. You can claim you care about the environment and reducing car dependency all you want, but the downvotes my comments receive and the opposition to expanding rail and improving public transit that plagues this sub shows that when push comes to shove, you all don’t really care about the environment that you claim to at a time when we are entering a climate emergency. Enjoy your precious little bike route, I hope killing off another potential corridor for freight/passenger rail and the added traffic this line’s abandonment will add to local roads is worth it to you. Once this stuff is abandoned it’ll be very hard to get back if and when the need arises.

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hydrateandchill OP t1_iy3y6v1 wrote

I mean I think the big thing you're overlooking is that by providing more pedestrian/bike access you are reducing overall car dependency particularly by providing a new connection point over the rivers. Use of this trail doesn't have to be strictly to recreation / leisure. The neighborhoods adjacent, I would anticipate, will benefit in increased mobility and a reduction in car dependency.

Can you link to the study you mentioned? Ultimately, in my opinion, this rail route would not really be viable or useful for commuter or freight corridors, and that is demonstrated in the fact that they had dwindling traffic to the point of only servicing a freight yard and were willing to sell.

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PigDog4 t1_iy40cpt wrote

>Can you link to the study you mentioned?

I'm going to guess they either cannot, will not, or it's a "study" from someone who looked at it and said "it's a rail and trains run on rails so therefore it's passenger viable," despite being an unused, almost abandoned freight rail line with no passenger connections and no plan to ever build passenger connections.

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[deleted] t1_iy3yn9j wrote

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hydrateandchill OP t1_iy3zr32 wrote

It's not hard to find anecdotal evidence of people using the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, or other bike routes, to ride into town from the neighborhoods connected and adjacent, which would of course be a reduction in car dependency. The cool thing about trails is that they still exist and can be used in bad weather and there will of course be people that do use them, just like they do now.

And market forces are an indication of viability. As to whether the market forces should be the end all determination is a different discussion all together.

And do you have a link to the study you were talking about? Because it sounds like that should have a lot of input on the viability

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[deleted] t1_iy41ctk wrote

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mmphoto412 t1_iy41p5w wrote

It hasn’t been used in 7 years. AVRR clearly has no plans for it, since they are selling it.

Since your so passionate about it, perhaps you can buy it and start your own lil’ railroad. That would be pretty cute.

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sebileis t1_iy41smq wrote

It would be a better use of the space than your “cute” little bike trail to nowhere.

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hydrateandchill OP t1_iy42hgw wrote

Rail runs on tight schedules and run from single point to single point, which leaves it un-utilized for long stretches between the train schedule. Trail is open full time for people looking to use it.

It's the same issue with the light rail over dedicated bus lanes or Bus Rapid Transit systems. Light rail is great until something disrupts the path from point to point. The buses allow for flexibility caused by disruptions.

I'm not sure why you're so dead caught on rail. It's pretty great for a lot of things, but there are plenty of other options and solutions that provide more flexibility and are less costly to achieve the ends. For a small spur like this I'd argue that it makes a lot more sense for it to be a pedestrian right-of-way rather than a rail.

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GargantuanWitch t1_iy40ki8 wrote

It sure seems like you're angry at everyone.

The rail companies, for "doing anything to save money and cut costs" - which is, ironically, what companies are supposed to do.

People who drive cars, for not instead riding buses that don't service them or trains that don't exist.

Bikes, because you're too fat to ride one, I guess, or maybe one kicked your puppy when you were a kid.

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sebileis t1_iy412in wrote

The very people who are pushing for these glorified vanity bike trails are the reason those trains don’t exist. But you’re too busy fat-shaming people to actually use your brain. Keep it up, your parents must be really proud.

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GargantuanWitch t1_iy424c6 wrote

So the reason that trains stopped running on most rail lines by the late 80s is because people wanted bike trails in 2022?

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sebileis t1_iy42f7c wrote

People wanted bike trails back then too. Look at what happened to most of the routes abandoned in the 80’s. Deregulation of railroads, blatantly oil/automobile-oriented politics and legislation, and short sightedness has also played a part.

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Piplup_parade t1_iy4g1k0 wrote

Passenger rail? That bridge was never going to be used for passenger rail lines. It doesn’t even make sense to use it for that purpose

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