Transporting people to work

[SnoKing]

There is a letter to the editor in the Seattle Times this morning where the author says they 54 billion is being spent to take 1 to 2% of the cars off the road, while ignoring bridge and highway repairs. Along came the pandemic and a very large percentage of people are working from home. And now there is talk that it may continue that way after the pandemic. Anyone want to buy a almost new lightly used light rail system?

I worked my last three years from 2003-2006 from home and worked harder, longer hours and got more done during the period. I did miss the social part of the office and going to lunch with friends.

 

[Jim W]

I have a couple of engineers that I have stayed in touch with since my retirement from Cat. I never thought it would be possible to work from home due to the interactions of the engineers and the requirement to inter face with the shop for shop support that is required. Well, this pandemic proved that theory all wrong. My friends have stated that Cat has provided work stations for home use with two monitors and a secured VPN network to allow them to work from home. The work stations will support three-dimensional design software such as PRO-E.

I have read that there is a lot of empty office buildings in downtown Chicago now. The building owners and the city of Chicago are worried the employees will not be coming back into the city. The companies have found out that the employees are more productive than the companies thought possible from working from home. So, the individual companies are now exploring allowing the employees to continue to work from home after this pandemic is over. Why, then the companies do not need to pay for office leases or the employee tax that the city charges to work in the city.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Seattle Light Rail has ALWAYS been a JOKE.

 

[Wayne M.]

I’m here to tell you that the NYC commuter base has been destroyed. I frequent a few “bedroom neighborhoods” and my gauge is the fullness of the park n ride lots. Pre covid, you’d be hard pressed to find a spot at any of these lots after 6AM on a weekday. My shift let’s me see these lots at capacity mid afternoon, and I’m telling you that any random lot holds 25-40% of what they once did. I see empty buses all over. Nobody is commuting into Manhattan anymore BUT the transit system still runs as it had. It’s bleeding cash.
The solution? tax folks who aren’t involved!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...rge-for-package-deliveries-under-new-bill.amp

 

[endoscott]

And not a very funny joke either-average cost of the section from Seattle to Everett, $330,000 per weekday rider. $2.6 B for the line from downtown to airport, and it's slower than the bus it replaced and does not even take you to the terminal. Tacoma route more cost effective at only $55,000 per weekday rider. These stats from Seattle Business magazine.

 

[jgillott]

As another example, the city of Pittsburgh spent over $500 + million to extend the light rail system to the North Shore area of the city. The North Shore houses PNC Park (Pirates) Heinz Field (Steelers) , the Carnegie Science Center, Rivers Casino, Community College of Allegheny County, and several large companies housed in that area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_Connector

I have to admit, that the "T" as it was called really enhanced the North Shore as a tourist destination. Anyone who has ever been to Pittsburgh knows that travel through town for anything is next to impossible. My wife and I had Pirate season tickets for many years and used the light rail for almost every game to get to PNC Park. Park outside of town, ride the T in, and reverse the process after the game.

With that all said, with the current COVID situation having the entertainment section of town all but closed, the T ridership is down dramatically. I don't have exact numbers but from what I understand, Pittsburgh Port Authority is really facing some hard times financially.

 

[crispyboy]

I currently work partially at home, in the office 1 or 2 days/week and sometimes in the field. I do miss the interaction with folks at the office. In my world this has slowed much of the daily productivity down. I have heard that cities are wanting to tax people the same as if they were still in the office. Luckily I am only being taxed in the area where I work and for the past few months it is a rural area of the county. It has made a difference in my paychecks.