Monday, October 16, 2017

Candidates debate transportation issues on CATV

Erie's cable access channel CATV  is now airing the candidates debate hosted by All Aboard Erie and BikeErie.
The first airing was Saturday, but here are future dates.
They are  now on Spectrum Cable channel 1021.
They also stream the show from their website as it airs. http://catverie.org/watch-us/

The forum also includes All Aboard Erie's membership meeting. I don't know which comes first.

This information copied and pasted from CATV website:

Show Detail: 2017 All Aboard Erie and Bike Erie sponsored Candidates' Forum

ShowID
6808
Event Date:
10/12/2017
Length:
01:12:30
Category:
Educational
Producer
West, William
First Run Date:
10/13/17
Disposition:
MP
Schedule Information:
10/17/2017 at 9:00 AM
10/20/2017 at 7:00 PM
10/24/2017 at 9:00 AM
10/27/2017 at 7:00 PM


Click to enlarge
 

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

A ride on the Route 14 - Edinboro

I had some things to do in Edinboro on Tuesday  so I took the Route 14.
I hadn't taken the Edinboro bus since the early 1980s, and found that the route was pretty much the same. 
I thought I would share a little of my trip, especially for those who are thinking about using that route.

It arrived on time at 10th & French. They used the smaller, newer CNG bus.
~~~
I was hoping to see some foliage on the way down but oh my gosh, thick fog most of the way! The fog lifted about 10:30am and I was able to enjoy some great small town fall color.
~~~
SHELTERS/BENCHES To the best of my knowledge, in Edinboro there is only one bus shelter for Route14 and that is in front of the student center (on campus). I didnt see any EMTA benches... if anyone knows of something I missed, put it in comments below. People who have some trouble standing would appreciate knowing where they might be able to wait while seated, and everyone likes to know how to get out of the bad weather.
~~~
TIMING On the way back, I learned how tight the schedule was from Mall to downtown. The one I took leaves Mall at 2:03, get to downtown at 2:15... seems a little unrealistic. You have your Peach Street traffic, plus people who are waiting for the inbound Route 3 know they can catch the 14 into town... both of these will slow down the 14.
~~~
THERE ARE TWO EDINBORO ROUTES. Route 14 is the Erie-Edinboro route that serves all. The Edinboro Express, however, is a campus shuttle sponsored by Edinboro's student government.
~~~
MORE DETAILS PLEASE The service schedule could benefit from a little more detail. Although I'm very familiar with Edinboro, I was a little confused about where to wait for the trip back, and where the bus went. There are a few signs here and there, and I didnt realize it, but you can catch the Route 14 on any corner, just like in the Erie. You just have to figure out which way the bus is coming from.
Presently the Route 14 schedule features a route map that shows the span of the route, which is roughly 20 miles. If you want to see what the bus does once it gets to Edinboro, you just see a little bean-sized thing at the bottom of the map, with a big old number 7 plopped on top of it. This lack of detail appears to be an issue on all the county maps, and the odd thing is, all county maps have all kinds of unused space where you could fit a detailed map and a description of what the bus does, where it turns, etc. written in Basic English. I'm not suggesting getting rid of the long map, just include a detailed one too, please.
~~~
Also I took some photos. Click if you want to enlarge.

UPDATE: This post was updated and edited on October 12, 2017. 

Ken got on in McKean. I recognized  him from the EMTA Riders Discussion group, so I introduced myself, and we chatted. He was going shopping in Edinboro.
The shelter in front of the student center
Mallory Lake
Some residents of Mallory Lake
Mallory Lake
Mike Onda Beach at Edinboro Lake
Entrance to Edinboro Cemetary
Edinboro Cemetery
Edinboro Lake
There's a bench at Flip, and the place comes recommended for tasty cheap eats.








Thursday, October 5, 2017

Opaque window ads: proceed carefully

Opaque ad at 11th & Liberty
Oh please let's not do this.
I do understand about the need for advertising ... it can be an important source of revenue for a transit company. And may be even more important if the state legislature decides to cut funding for mass transit.
And EMTA certainly has acres and acres of unused bus and shelter surface that can be used for revenue-generating ads.
But please let's not put it in places where riders need to see out.
People making decisions about where to put signage need to gain some understanding of what passengers do with their eyes. For instance, everyone waiting for a bus watches to see if it's coming. Even the guy who is too cool to look like a bus person sneaks a few peaks in that direction.
If you need me to explain why it's good that they do this, let me know.
Apparently though, somebody does not understand why it's a problem if you can't see in that direction.
I get that you want the ad to be close to traffic, so more people see it, but then you need to use see-through vinyl, not opaque. If the advertising customer insists on opaque, it should either be toward the back of or on top of the window.
And as for opaque ads on bus windows...A few years ago, the bus company tried opaque signage on some bus windows. That was a total disaster, and it didn't last long. It made the bus dark, people couldn't see where they were, and some were getting queasy. It was removed, and I am guessing that it ended up actually costing them money to have it removed and then re-done. Hope they don't try this.
Seriously, there are a couple reasons this opaque thing could end up costing money. First, if it bugs riders enough that the company ends up removing and/or redoing them. And second, one can easily imagine the ads blocking vision becoming targets of vandalism... which again, would cut into the revenue aspect of it.