by PullmanCo
Erie-Lackawanna wrote:Orange County NY and Burlington County NJ currently have similar population densities. Yet the latter has a rail service operating every 15 minutes that travels through the population centers, while the Metro-North service operates on the peripheries and far less frequently. Sounds like an argument to reopen the Old Main, especially when you take into account average population densities of towns (e.g. Goshen at 1,695 people per square mile, Chester at 1,628 people per square mile). Also, Rockland County has an average population density of 1,646 people per square mile.PullmanCo wrote:It can be argued that "ridership" back then was directly related to service levels.It could be, but that would be a grossly incomplete argument. The population of Orange County has grown explosively in the past 15-20 years, and it is that growth that is largely responsible for the level of service that is operated on the Port Jervis Line.
Obviously, service levels and ridership are the chicken and the egg of commuter rail service planning. Without one, you don't get the other. But you need both - preferably each growing alongside the other - in order for the service to sustain itself.
Jim