Re-reading, I suppose that sounds harsher than intended - so I do apologize for that.

I'd love to see VT dream bigger when it comes to transit, to be clear. I just think it's best bets on that are the incremental work to improve services/expand services on the best/most cost-effective corridors it has to work with.

There's a reason it's (for example) a pain in the ass to go East-West across VT even by car - it's hard to build through there even for a road, building a decent rail line would be exceptionally high $.

I also do think that the economics are immensely difficult even if you are fine with large subsidies for many of these proposals and the realistic ridership they could achieve.

Regarding plenty of these ideas: Do the cheap trial. Contract to run a bus under the Amtrak thruway bus program or something, and/or beef up the local public transit schedules linking parts of the state, too.

Yeah, a train is nicer than a bus and would get more people using it - but if the bus ridership is shit even with efforts to get people to use it/make it decent, the train's unlikely to be some big winner either.

To pluck an example, I'll pick that Route 9 corridor.

SEVT Transit/MOOver currently runs 2 buses a day each way on Route 9 Brattleboro-Bennington and it takes about 1:20, not much worse than driving yourself.

Looking at VT's AADT data, we can also see that there are a couple thousand people a day moving across that corridor, probably less than ~4k actually on the corridor for a decent length of time other than the brief overlap with Rt 100.

Even if you want to imagine the hypothetical train might achieve some unrealistically high mode-share....there are simply not a whole lot of people traveling this path to move today, and it's probably not because they just don't own cars.

In contrast, you can look at something like I-91, and you can see that up through WRJ/I-89 and you're pulling ~10-20k on the corridor.

But if you want to run a trial for a few years - go make that hourly or half-hourly service or something. If you're not getting some solid ridership, spending huge sums on a train isn't likely to fix it.

Hanover parking’s been much more manageable lately, FWIW. If someone’s reference point is Boston or Burlington, it’s a breeze. Don’t disagree with the rest, though.

Ban assault knives now

That’s a a great point, thanks!

Come on, really?

Every Dept, every official govt entity has some sort of a standard they follow for graphics, handouts, etc. I'm not saying call 911 to ask font styles.

I did this in Boston, by calling the Boston Fire Headquarters non emergency line and asking them what font they used on the trucks, because I was a Graphic Designer working on a pamphlet project for NARCAN.

Thanks, I think this will be perfect!!

Giving up that rail corridor between White River and Concord, et als in favor of a rail trail was so short-sighted. Anybody have any idea what the ownership of that looks like today? Is reinstalled rail even an option?

Wish the Coach had a North Station stop! (Or better yet, if the MBTA ever built that North-South rail link...)

Locally sourced cardigan here, but I like the parka variation. We must be in different parts of the state.

Agreed, so don’t order it on your pizza. Don’t play the victim, you are in control of what toppings are arranged on your pie.

This is a great trip! My daughter and I took Dartmouth Coach to Boston to catch Amtrak for a weekend in Portland. Two things would have made it even better: the ability to readily get from South Station bus terminal to North Station, where the northern Amtrak departs, and the train station in Portland proper, vs. outside the city. I believe it used to be? Otherwise, a fun trip that I’d do again.

You have google at your fingertips.

Folks who suggest the upper valley are spot on. Hanover is out of the way, though, and sort of impossible, parking-wise. West Lebanon has chain places (chili’s, Applebees), but also 110 Grill, which is pretty good, and Ziggy’s pizza (lots of different things there other than pizza). White River Jct has wicked awesome bbq right off 89/91, and further into downtown Tuckerbox is very good, as is Big Fatty’s bbq. These places are all pretty kid-friendly and easy to access from the interstate. Going further north there isn’t a lot that’s easy to access from 89.

Folks who suggest the upper valley are spot on. Hanover is out of the way, though, and sort of impossible, parking-wise. West Lebanon has chain places (chili’s, Applebees), but also 110 Grill, which is pretty good, and Ziggy’s pizza (lots of different things there other than pizza). White River Jct has wicked awesome bbq right off 89/91, and further into downtown Tuckerbox is very good, as is Big Fatty’s bbq. These places are all pretty kid-friendly and easy to access from the interstate. Going further north there isn’t a lot that’s easy to access from 89.

I'm really hopeful WRJ to Concord happens because it would both be the most direct route between Montreal/Burlington and Boston as well as hitting the most number of smaller cities along the way. Going through Maine or western Massachusetts would be slow and would also not serve communities which are presently poorly served by rail. Of all that this map proposes, I'm most hopeful that that line is built someday. Heck, build it in the I-89 median to avoid right-of-way problems - I know interstate median rail isn't ideal but if it gets it to happen, it's better than nothing.

Electric heaters will cost more than heating oil. Had to do it one winter and my electric bill was insane.

These will make great rail trails in 30 years.

It’s in Woodstock.

no worries, reddit formatting is kinda weird. for quoting, all you need to do is put a > and a space before the paragraph. so this:

> quote

turns into this:

> quote

> Because you don’t know who is actually in the “runoff” part how do you know how you want to vote

But it doesn't matter who's in the runoff. For example, if there's candidates A B C D E. You like A B C in that order (A the most, B 2nd, C 3rd), D and E suck. Let's say two candidates are run off. It doesn't matter which two are out, you still prefer A B C and hate D E. The remaining candidates don't effect how you feel about the other candidates. If A and B are run off, you still choose C. If A and C are run off, you still choose B. If D and E are run off, you still vote A. You already know who you want to vote for, you get to do it all at the beginning, that's the point of ranking your choices.

> To your response to my point 1. I understand the logic that’s it’s akin to not voting, but at the same time it’s not the same.

It is literally the exact same, and I will give a scenario to show you how it is the same.

> If I chose to only rank 3 candidates because I think the other two are crooks, and all my candidates get knocked out and my vote can no longer be distributed than I have voted, but my vote has effectively been tossed out. I didn’t CHOOSE not to vote, I went to the polls, took time out of my day, etc to go cast a ballot. I have the right for that ballot to be counted.

Your ballot WAS counted. What? Imagine if there were just runoffs every time until 50% was reached. You go to the polls, candidate A is out. You go again, candidate B is out. You go AGAIN, C is out. Now just D and E are left. Do you still go to the polls, or do you stay home? If you stay home, that's the same as leaving those two blank with ranked choice. If you go out to the poll, that's the same as actually ranking them, even though you despise them. Your ballot WAS counted. It was always counted, and your candidate lost. That doesn't mean it's thrown away. You still voted for them: they just didn't win, and you decided not to participate in the runoff vote of the last two candidates.

> But in a traditional runoff I have a choice to vote again or not, in IRV that choice is made for me based on how everything works out.

No, that's not correct. In IRV, you make the choice to vote again or not immediately. You make that decision once, at the polls, one time. It's literally the exact same result as having many runoff votes.

> we are discounting a lot of peoples votes

There are no votes being discounted. You can recite how it works, but you don't understand how it works. No votes are thrown away in your scenario.

"How to force people to change just because" was my favorite class in Environut University.

It is done (in my imaginary plan)!

While we’re dreaming, can we add a stop in Wallingford on the way down to Manchester?

If you want to stop halfway-ish, you’re looking at the upper valley. Besides the Hanover options mentioned by sibling, Three Tomatoes pizza in Lebanon and Tuckerbox (Turkish place) in WRJ are good toddler-friendly places that don’t take you as far off of I-89.

Montpelier has some decent options too, but by the time you’re there you might as well just drive through to Burlington.

Edit: oh, or New Thailand in Leb, just off exit 18. Good food, super convenient from the highway.

Worthy is great, but be aware that it takes you 15-20 minutes out of your way each direction.

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