Subway Only in the Suburbs? Why This US City Built a Backwards Metro

[@LNahid2000]

A couple of more things to mention now that I've watched the video. Regarding accessibility, there is signage in all the elevators indicating what car you need to be in to get off on the accessible part of the downtown stations. And a small southern extension of the system is happening early next year with DL&W Station being added, south of Special Events Station.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Ah yes, New York's OTHER subway! You didn't show it, but the guy who worked on the neon at University station was Stephen Antonakos. He's done neon work for stations in Los Angeles (Pershing Square), Detroit (Greektown), Athens (Ambelokipi), Exchange Place in Jersey City, Boston (the neon at Back Bay's Orange Line platform), and Charles Center in Baltimore. He's also done work for Hartsfield Jackson Airport and for a power station in Tel Aviv. He was a WWII veteran, serving in the Philippines. He died at age 86 back in 2013. Besides the North Campus, they've been working on a new southern terminus, repurposing the DL&W Terminal with plans for a new indoor Metro Rail DL&W Station on the lower level of the terminal, with direct Buffalo Bricks Walkway access to Canalside and KeyBank Center, and the elimination of the Special Events station. With capacity for two four-car trains to serve the station simultaneously. How Buffalo got its name is a mystery, but there are a few theories. All the theories agree that Buffalo, the city, took its name from Buffalo Creek, now called the Buffalo River. The name of Buffalo Creek first appeared on a map drawn ca. 1762 by Lt. George Demler, who was stationed at Fort Niagara at the time. The debate then revolves around how Buffalo Creek got its name. One of them is it's a corruption of "beau fleuve". Rev. Samuel T. Clarke proposed that unnamed French explorers bestowed the beau fleuve ("beautiful creek") name, which was mangled by subsequent English settlers. Another is stolen horsemeat! Sheldon Ball recounted it in his self-published pamphlet, Buffalo in 1825. French explorers or missionaries in need of provisions found a horse presumably belonging to Native Americans, stole it, and served it to their party claiming it was bison meat. Ball admitted he had no proof. There's also the theory that it's a mistranslation of Beaver Creek. Millard Fillmore championed this theory in 1862 during his inaugural speech as the first president of the newly formed Buffalo Historical Society. Claiming there was a miscommunication between the Iroquois and American negotiators during the writing of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784, and that the Treaty’s use of “Buffaloe Creek” was a mistranslation of Beaver Creek

[@Northern_Idaho]

Rochester used to be the third

[@S-CB-SL-Animations]

1:35 WMATA called. They said they want their hexagon tiles back! 🤣🤣🤣

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Upstate New York used to have another subway....Rochester! Which was basically light-rail too. Planning for the subway's construction began around 1910 as the Erie Canal was re-routed from downtown Rochester to pass south of the city. This new canal route was completed in 1918 and the year after, the city bought the abandoned portion of the canal to serve as the route of the subway. The Rochester Subway was designed to reduce interurban traffic on city streets, and to facilitate freight interchange between the railroads. Construction began in 1922 and began operations in 1927. As it was constructed in the old canal's bed, this allowed the route to be grade-separated for its entire length. Two miles/3.2 kilometers of the route through downtown were constructed in a cut-and-cover tunnel that became Broad Street, and the only underground portion of the subway. The line was operated on a contract basis by New York State Railways until Rochester Transit Corporation took over in 1938. There was a plan to extend the line but as ridership was declining after WWII, the city council made plans to abandon the subway and use its route for a connecting highway to the New York State Thruway instead. All service ended in 1956. Buffalo facts: Buffalo was the first city in the United States to have widespread electric lighting, earning it the nickname "City of Light". This was due to its proximity to Niagara Falls, which provided the city with a cheap source of hydroelectric power. Electricity was used to dramatic effect at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901. The Ellicott Square Building, built in 1896, was the largest office building in the world by floor area until 1908, with the opening of the Hudson Terminal buildings in NYC (Hudson Terminal was demolished in 1972 to make way for WTC). The building was named after Joseph Ellicott, the planner and surveyor who laid out Buffalo. Buffalo's Turkey Trot also started in 1896, and it is the oldest continually running public footrace in the US. The Dart grain elevator was invented by Joseph Dart in Buffalo in 1842. Their invention of a steam-powered grain elevator helped establish the Queen City as an ideal location for grain transportation. Dart's elevators were equipped with buckets on conveyor belts that could transfer grain directly from a ship to an elevator for storage or a canal boat. Buffalo wings were first prepared in 1964 at the Anchor Bar. On March 4, 1964, Dominic Bellissimo was tending bar. Late that evening, a group of Bellissimo's friends arrived at the bar. He asked his mother, Teressa, to prepare something for his friends to eat. With little food left, Teressa took some chicken wings, which were normally used for soups or thrown out, deep-fried them and flavored them using a mixture of butter, cayenne pepper and other ingredients on them. She brought out some cut celery and blue cheese for dipping as hors d'oeuvres. The wings were initially offered free of charge.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

👹C A U T I O N Vehicle Enters Tunnel DO NOT FOLLOW 👹 Of course the operator got Tim Hortons....Upstate New York moment. Bless the Canadians for their US expansion, especially encroaching on the heart of Dunkin' territory in Downstate NY! This is truly the Reverse Stadtbahn of all time....what if you wanted to build a Stadtbahn, but God said *"Reverse, Reverse!"*

[@Token_Nerd]

Genuinely believe that the Buffalo Metro Rail system is the most underrated in the US

[@sammymarrco47]

Why would you say that? Just curious, because 20 minute frequencies is pretty terrible.

[@Token_Nerd]

@@sammymarrco47 Consider the population of Buffalo, for a population of 200K, that's a very good service standard by every respective measure. Even big cities like Chicago have 15 minute standards on many lines

[@LNahid2000]

@@sammymarrco47 Should be back to every 10-12 mins on weekdays, 15 minutes on Saturdays, and 20 minutes on Sundays starting Dec 1. It's every 20 minutes at all times right now because of single tracking.

[@mmrw]

Such a strange little system, but I think it does its job well. Definitely hope it gets expanded one day

[@soupnumber5196]

the fare gates are actually a pretty recent addition, only being activated last year. before then it was an honor system or a conductor would go between cars and check tickets.

[@GobbiExists]

BUFFALO, NY MENTIONED?!?!?!

[@LNahid2000]

I use the NFTA quite often but barely end up using the Metro Rail because it doesn't go anywhere useful. I do most of my shopping in the Amherst area so it'll be way more useful if it gets extended there.

[@chromebomb]

i love buffalo so much

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

Good video as usual, but at the end I would have said ‘it WILL be a great asset WHEN Buffalo starts to reverse its recent population trajectory’. It wasn’t “TOO strong” for the city and economy it’s in. Americans will eventually realize one way or another they shouldn’t have abandoned the Rust Belt and start moving back in a denser way.

[@Alcofoamer]

I ride at least three times a week. I would love nothing more than for the Amherst completion. Driving through Amherst is the worst part of my commute to class.

[@Mars-ev7qg]

Hey, I rode this system in April when I was in Buffalo to see the solar eclipse.

[@rmdvto]

I hope one day that the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority system will connect to the GO transit system!

[@716Tree]

They should at least extend the rail line to Orchard Park, Niagara Falls and the airport.

[@ZorenManray]

gee what a weird metro system that I didn't know existed.. *looks at the map* wait.. the NFTA maintenance yard is located in a former train terminal on the riverfront.. which is apparently being refurbished to replace special events station.. But long distance trains will still only go to nearby Buffalo-Exchange Street station.. But wait how to get from Amtrak to the metro? ohh they barely thought of that too! the only connection to NFTA Canalside station is "a lit pathway (partially) beneath Interstate 190 with decorative cement and signage." Because what better way to transfer between trains than a multi block walk exposed to the elements to then wait at another station that isn't under the shelter the raised highway could have partially provided but oh yet another half block away.. I'm sure that really works out nice in the winter snow. but yeah what an odd system indeed.

[@TechPhilosophy]

Many of us are working to get the NFTA to expand the network.

[@yaush_]

That LaSalle station definitely looks too much like the RATP

[@SamSitar]

they should extend that line.

[@IVR02]

I think it's interesting that you compared the deep underground platform layout to what one would find in London, because if anything, what comes to mind for me is Exhange Place station on the PATH in Jersey City. Granted, that's purely out of familiarity, but nonetheless.

[@ClassyWhale]

Well I can't film on PATH unless I want to end up in a Siberian gulag

[@officialmcdeath]

What a gem! BTW recent instances of The Map appear to have lost their ™ - are we getting off-brand cheaper Maps or am I hallucinating? \m/

[@jacktattersall9457]

Did you know that the Mayor of Niagara Falls (NY edition) pushed for the Government of Ontario (in the neighbouring country of Canada) to extend GO Transit service across the Niagara River/Whirlpool Bridge from Niagara Falls ON (GO/VIA) Station to his town's NIagara Falls NY Station, but Metrolinx and the Province of Ontario flatly refused and ignored him.

[@irtbmtind89]

It would be a huge regulatory nightmare to run GO trains into the US. It would almost make more sense to build a pedestrian walkway on the Whirlpool Bridge.

[@Urban_Man]

Interesting. I am going to be studying in Buffalo next year, can’t wait to check it out! And I can live car free if it extends to UB!

[@mikeythesoulace]

I believe there are campus shuttles between the south campus (Metro Rail's northern terminus) and the north campus so you should be able to live in Buffalo car-free

[@maxjohkna]

jumpscare at 2:28

[@randomtransitadventures]

_howd i miss it_

[@fredstrainandbusvids.]

Are you going to release the video from the UK at some point or do we have to go onto Patreon to watch it

[@ClassyWhale]

It will be up at some point, but not for a good while

[@AMPProf]

That always made more sense.. Farther out you go the more land being protected so... Underground. Boy if only chicagoland Metra was a subway

[@deadchannelxd4910]

There opening a new station next at there former Lackawanna maintenance center(won't connect to amtrak tho)

[@georgesotiroff5080]

Dear Dead Channel, I suspect you mean “They’re opening a new station next at their former Lackawanna maintenance center.”

[@gdkid]

same fare gates as the ones used in Toronto and Ottawa, wow

[@ClassyWhale]

@@gdkid it's not far away!

[@citizensforregionaltransit2681]

It's no coincidence Buffalo's new fare system is called MetGO, with the GO part being the Government of Ontario. Some thought was given to having a universal cross-border fare system.

[@TheEpicDiamondMiner]

Isn’t there something similar on the Portland max?

[@johnchambers8528]

Yes there is one of the deepest subway tunnels on one of the lines that run under a park area in the suburbs.

[@NorthernTransit-t2e]

They can’t remind me of a mix of the SLRV and the K cars

[@Molejules]

I mean, is it fair to call the Main corridor "suburban?" 🤔

[@richardavsmith]

Ah yes, a New York subway video.

[@transitcaptain]

I tried joining your Patreon, but it wouldn’t accept my credit card transaction

[@jonathanstensberg]

YIMBYism gone weird.

[@randomtransitadventures]

most metros also dont have low level platforms

[@akhilkarandikar99]

some vierwship competition for sure

[@ClassyWhale]

@@akhilkarandikar99 oh?

[@qjtvaddict]

Just automate this line