From: heller@deepsoft.com   
      
   At Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:00:24 -0500 Stephen Sprunk  wrote:   
      
   >   
   > On 22-Apr-14 08:58, conklin wrote:   
   > > "John Levine"  wrote in message   
   > > news:lj47qj$top$1@miucha.iecc.com...   
   > >>   
   > >>> What about telling the truth for a change?  City buses stop all   
   > >>> over the place and having ridden them many years, I never saw   
   > >>> even a shelter in NYC.   
   > >>   
   > >> You must not have been looking very hard.  There are subway   
   > >> stations with attached bus stations, like this one:   
   > >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Avenue_/_74th_Stree   
   _(New_York_City_Subway)#Victor_A._Moore_Bus_Terminal   
   > >>   
   > >> It really exists.  I've used it on the way to and from LGA.   
   > >>   
   > >> Or here's a bus shelter in the Bronx, with ticket machines:   
   > >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Select_Bus_Service_bus_shelter.jpg   
   > >>   
   > >> Here's one in midtown:   
   > >> http://publictransport.about.com/od/Pictures_Of_Transit/ig/   
   ransit-Pictures-From-New-York/New-York-Bus-Shelter.htm   
   > >>   
   > >> And here's one in Brooklyn:   
   > >> http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/09/blog-tells-the   
   tale-of-a-bus-shelter-destroyed/   
   > >   
   > > How nice 2% of stops might have something near them.  Now they need,   
   > > like the RRs, a $60 million station like Raleigh is planning at   
   > > public expense for a couple hundred passengers a day.   
   >   
   > A rail stop doesn't need anything more than a platform, which is all   
   > that Amtrak provides in most places; that is cheap.  A bus shelter and   
   > TVM are customer-friendly, cost-effective additions but hardly universal.   
   >   
   > If the local taxpayers want to build some extravagant monument to   
   > wasteful spending, as in Raleigh, that is their choice, but it's not   
   > _necessary_, nor should Amtrak be saddled with the cost of such   
   > wastefulness.   
      
   There is a big difference between a corner stop for a local transit bus, 99%   
   of whose riders are only going a few blocks and are carrying little more than   
   a briefcase or a bookbag, and rarely have to wait more than 10-20 minutes for   
   the bus.  Compare that to 100+ riders, who expect to spend several *hours* on   
   a train (or bus) traveling 100+ miles, carrying substansial luggage.  Yes, a   
   platform and a simple shelter is fine for a commuter rail stop (again for   
   passengers traveling for only a short time carrying little luggage).   
      
   Intercity bus (long distance, read: Greyhound or Trailways) and long distant   
   train (read: Amtrak) travelers generally need more than a platform and a   
   shelter.  Also, Intercity bus stations and LD rail stations generally offer a   
   lot more than just a place to wait for the bus or train.  Often this is the   
   place to buy tickets, grab a bite to eat, something to read on the bus or   
   train.   
      
   >   
   > S   
   >   
      
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