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Re: (erielack) EXTENDED COMMUTER SERVICE



>
> I'm wondering how many passengers Martz actually serves?  I suspect it may 
> be fewer than 500.

I should think that 57 buses would not represent a good investment for only 
500 passengers -- it's way more than that. As I rote earlier, some of the 
schedules run multiple sections to Water Gap, Stroudsburg and Mt Pocono. But 
there are some studies around (though I'm not sure of any current ones) that 
give the actual numbers.

But one should also note the number of Pennsylvania plates in the parking 
lot at Port Jervis and Middletown; Short Line also offers busy commuter 
service to Milford, Hawley and Honesdale. There are, aparently, lots of 
people willing to endure the commute for the quality of life and the 
relative low ost of living  in Pike and Wayne Counties.

The additional service over the years has made this more practical for 
people with today's unpredictable work schedules which was not so practical 
back in Erie or EL days. I believe the MTA actually has rights to run to 
Lackawaxen or the first staion in NY beyond there. AFAIK, the only use of 
those rights was a fan trip from Hoboken to Lackawaxen to ride the LASB 
15-20 years ago.

[BTW -- not to get too far OT, but there are lots of Masachusetts plates in 
the MN lot at Wassaic, too]

What's amazing is that to get from Hawley or Honesdale to Scranton by public 
transit requires a detour through New York City! The Port-Jervis-Scranton 
bus disappeared after a Greyhound strike a few years ago.

The Erie, of course, offered a train, though in the last few years it was a 
railfan's delight -- running Lackawaxen-Hawley-Honesdale-Hawley-Scranton . . 
.

And speaking of all that -- let me put a plug in for the LASB operation. We 
covered this on an ELHS convention train some years ago; but if you have 
never ridden it, arrange to do so.

Question: between the LASB and the Electric City Trolley, is there any 
ex-Erie line (outside the NJ Commuter Zone) that has a many 
passenger-carrying trains each year?

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie
ELHS #1296 


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