Intermodal station

[Bears]

Any info on the relocation of the Greyhound terminal being moving near the airport? I think it's gonna be a transportation hub located on Brooks and Airways and includes terminals for city busses and light rail.

[sleepy]

Yes, I know it's supposed to be relocated. Don't know when, though. One problem I've heard with that LRT line is that it doesn't go to the FedEx hub, just the airport terminal. But, I've been against that route all along, at least as the initial route.

[Bears]

Heres a picture of the Nils Ericson Terminal in Gothenborg Sweden. It was something that caught my eye as something of what should be done for our intermodal terminal...

http://www.ahnberg.pp.se/~stoffe/photojour...lstationen2.jpg

On the right are the gates people step out into to board their bus and on the left, there is an arcade, cafe, rest rooms, internet shop, and a small store that sells books, postcards, magazines, fruits, cookies, etc. At the end of the terminal, there is a place to purchase tickets. There were also a couple of kiosks for vendors and advertisers.

Since the greyhound bus station is downtown now, there is plenty to do while waiting for your bus to arrive, but if they move it out to the airport, you'd have nothing to do but sit there and wait. I heard the intermodal terminal their planning is similar to the one on American Way

I think the light rail line to the airport is a good idea because it connects to the Amtrak station downtown. When discount carriers come to Memphis and if Amtrak stays around, people from the Purchase area of Kentucky and NE Tennessee could take the train to Memphis and light rail to catch their flight. If Amtrak would be flexible, and more frequent, more people would take it. You can take the train from Fulton KY to Memphis for only $60 if you buy round trip in advance. Add on an extra $1.50 each for riding the light rail and you save plenty on gas and parking. You will also be able to transfer from Amtrak to Greyhound. It won't be long before you start seeing some discount carrier come to Memphis. 20% of the cars in Little Rock are from Memphis and you see quite a few Desoto and Shelby licence plates at BNA as well.

[hgupta]

When discount carriers come to Memphis and if Amtrak stays around, people from the Purchase area of Kentucky and NE Tennessee could take the train to Memphis and light rail to catch their flight. If Amtrak would be flexible, and more frequent, more people would take it. ...It won't be long before you start seeing some discount carrier come to Memphis. 20% of the cars in Little Rock are from Memphis and you see quite a few Desoto and Shelby licence plates at BNA as well.

We'll only see discount carriers here if Northwest Airlines closes their hub...so basically.... pick your poison!

[Bears]

We'll only see discount carriers here if Northwest Airlines closes their hub...so basically.... pick your poison!

I think NWA is planning to split into different divisions. I can't remember the name, but one division will be a discount carrier. I think it starts service in 2008 or 2009. So we get a discount carrier and keep our international flights.

I'm kinda confused on how NWA is bankrupt anyway. Salut Ste. Marie gets NWA flights to Detroit and its always packed and those people pay like $400 each! Are the planes full elsewhere too?

[TennBear]

I think NWA is planning to split into different divisions. I can't remember the name, but one division will be a discount carrier. I think it starts service in 2008 or 2009. So we get a discount carrier and keep our international flights.

I'm kinda confused on how NWA is bankrupt anyway. Salut Ste. Marie gets NWA flights to Detroit and its always packed and those people pay like $400 each! Are the planes full elsewhere too?

Bears, I think that it is like the auto industry and some other US industries where they tied themselves into so much money in health and retiree benefits that when there was the rise in fuel costs and the crash due to 9/11 along the competition from startups that did not have those high benefit costs, they just couldn't balance the books. There were a couple of generations that had it very good with benefits. Retirements from now on are going to be slim to none. Except from those that have the benefits already garranteed, everyone else is going to have to pay for their own retirements. Many of those with guarranteed retirements are going to see the companies renege on them. There is going to be a major shift in terms of what can be paid for by retirement and governmental benefits. Social Security is in for a shock too. It has long been a Ponzie Scheme and there are just not going to be enough people paying into it.

[Bears]

Here's the info I recently recieved from MATA:

The architects have just started their work, so there are no site plans or renderings available yet but the entire building will be 30,000-35,000 sqare feet which will be on a 9 acre site. The new facility will accommodate Greyhound, MATA buses, parking, taxis, and future light rail. Only the MATA portion will be about the same size as the American Way Transit Center and this will be an attractive facility that will have as many state-of-the-art customer service features as the budget will allow.