Comments on: Essential Air Service is Bad http://www.adirondackbasecamp.com/2007/12/eas-bad/ Travel, Tourism, Outdoors, News and Information for the Adirondack Region of New York Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:39:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: englishlci http://www.adirondackbasecamp.com/2007/12/eas-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-14987 englishlci Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:42:05 +0000 http://www.adirondackbasecamp.com/2007/12/eas-bad/#comment-14987 Public subsidies are never a good idea, take a look at Latin America. Public subsidies are never a good idea, take a look at Latin America.

]]> By: TourPro http://www.adirondackbasecamp.com/2007/12/eas-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-9638 TourPro Sat, 29 Dec 2007 00:29:36 +0000 http://www.adirondackbasecamp.com/2007/12/eas-bad/#comment-9638 I like the bold thinking. Here's my take on the rail thing: Turn the current Amtrak link into a world-class Rail Trail. Build High-speed rail from Montreal to NYC, right down the middle of I-87. Plattsburgh would benefit of course, all the rail cars would be made here. Not sure about the air connections, but for sure our current arrangement is not viable. Probably air service would naturally develop if real demand was present. As it is, Plattsburgh's flight capacity issue is not just a matter of leakage. Locals and visitors simply do not consider arriving/departing by air a realistic option - both for price and schedule. Subsidies would be better spent creating demand than creating supply. I like the bold thinking. Here’s my take on the rail thing:

Turn the current Amtrak link into a world-class Rail Trail. Build High-speed rail from Montreal to NYC, right down the middle of I-87. Plattsburgh would benefit of course, all the rail cars would be made here.

Not sure about the air connections, but for sure our current arrangement is not viable. Probably air service would naturally develop if real demand was present. As it is, Plattsburgh’s flight capacity issue is not just a matter of leakage. Locals and visitors simply do not consider arriving/departing by air a realistic option – both for price and schedule. Subsidies would be better spent creating demand than creating supply.

]]> By: Nunoco http://www.adirondackbasecamp.com/2007/12/eas-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-9637 Nunoco Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:41:05 +0000 http://www.adirondackbasecamp.com/2007/12/eas-bad/#comment-9637 To govern is to choose, and you've hit it on the head here that the current EAS is a bad choice. Big Sky seemed to actively avoid selling seats. I travel by air, a lot, and would love an alternative to Burlington, but the "Delta" "Connection" to Plattsburgh never showed up on my company travel agent's booking screen. Also, why Boston and not NYC, or Albany? And, no I'm not comfortable in the tin cans. What's needed is more creative ways to link the Adirondacks to Vermont to Montreal to Albany to create a more contiguous, prosperous region. I would support federal funding to subsidize them (some are poorly subsidized already). After all, we already pump huge tax dollars into roads and the auto industry. To wit: --A no-car, pedestrian- and- bikes-only high-speed ferry from the downtown Plattsburgh marina three or four times a day when the lake's not frozen, a la the Hudson River commuter ferries in NYC. A 45-minute, car-free ride to Burlington and then a shuttle beats driving to the airport, IMO, and it would entice more Vermonters to the New York side. --High-speed Amtrak (or at least moderate-speed Amtrak). If the train from Plattsburgh to Albany were as fast as the ride from Albany to NYC (same distance, but takes twice as long in the North Country), and ran twice a day rather than once, tourism would boom. I'd prefer a 5.5-hour, one-seat train ride to a 2.5 hour drive to Albany and the 2.5-hour train ride. And figure out a way to make the Plattsburgh-Montreal train take 1.5 hours instedda 3, and run it twice a day. A 10-minute shuttle bus to the airport for the Florida flights, and you've got a lotta happy Quebecers. Another boon to the region, and to downtown specifically. Currently, though, Plattsburgh is left off Joe Bruno's high-speed rail plans, and the Amtrak station doesn't even spell the city's name right. --A Clinton County bus system that makes sense and does more than serve Seton Academy students and drunk drivers who've lost their licenses. Please make the city/town system consist of three or four logical North-South Routes, and three logical East-West routes, which run on a schedule and connect. Not that hard. --Zip cars, or city car-shar cars, in the current non-hotel hotel parking lot. PSU students, non-driving locals and train riders should be able to rent cars for hourly errands and day trips, and not have to worry about parking. OK, long-winded there. Sorry. To govern is to choose, and you’ve hit it on the head here that the current EAS is a bad choice. Big Sky seemed to actively avoid selling seats. I travel by air, a lot, and would love an alternative to Burlington, but the “Delta” “Connection” to Plattsburgh never showed up on my company travel agent’s booking screen. Also, why Boston and not NYC, or Albany? And, no I’m not comfortable in the tin cans.
What’s needed is more creative ways to link the Adirondacks to Vermont to Montreal to Albany to create a more contiguous, prosperous region. I would support federal funding to subsidize them (some are poorly subsidized already). After all, we already pump huge tax dollars into roads and the auto industry.
To wit:
–A no-car, pedestrian- and- bikes-only high-speed ferry from the downtown Plattsburgh marina three or four times a day when the lake’s not frozen, a la the Hudson River commuter ferries in NYC. A 45-minute, car-free ride to Burlington and then a shuttle beats driving to the airport, IMO, and it would entice more Vermonters to the New York side.
–High-speed Amtrak (or at least moderate-speed Amtrak). If the train from Plattsburgh to Albany were as fast as the ride from Albany to NYC (same distance, but takes twice as long in the North Country), and ran twice a day rather than once, tourism would boom. I’d prefer a 5.5-hour, one-seat train ride to a 2.5 hour drive to Albany and the 2.5-hour train ride.
And figure out a way to make the Plattsburgh-Montreal train take 1.5 hours instedda 3, and run it twice a day. A 10-minute shuttle bus to the airport for the Florida flights, and you’ve got a lotta happy Quebecers. Another boon to the region, and to downtown specifically.
Currently, though, Plattsburgh is left off Joe Bruno’s high-speed rail plans, and the Amtrak station doesn’t even spell the city’s name right.
–A Clinton County bus system that makes sense and does more than serve Seton Academy students and drunk drivers who’ve lost their licenses. Please make the city/town system consist of three or four logical North-South Routes, and three logical East-West routes, which run on a schedule and connect. Not that hard.
–Zip cars, or city car-shar cars, in the current non-hotel hotel parking lot. PSU students, non-driving locals and train riders should be able to rent cars for hourly errands and day trips, and not have to worry about parking.
OK, long-winded there. Sorry.

]]> By: Mrs. Mecomber http://www.adirondackbasecamp.com/2007/12/eas-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-9616 Mrs. Mecomber Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:17:05 +0000 http://www.adirondackbasecamp.com/2007/12/eas-bad/#comment-9616 Proof that we can never allow the government the freedom to "create jobs." Proof that we can never allow the government the freedom to “create jobs.”

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