Promoting The WRTA

[Towntalk]

There is a grocery store on Elm Street near Madison. If I'm not mistaken it's the R&S United Family Store at 823 Elm Street - 330-744-4793.

There is also a Red & White grocery Store at Elm and Thornton with a bus stop right in front of the store.

[jay]

There is a Red & White store on Market Street on the south side.
The Cornersburg area of the west side has both a Giant Eagle and a Sparkle Market within the city.

[kenneyjoe330]

OPS

Just got a phone call and was told, very nicely you might say, that there IS a grocery store ALMOST in my own neighborhood and in the Seventh Ward.  That would be SAVE A LOT on South Avenue near Indianola ! ! !  I certainly apologize to everyone and certainly to the people of SAVE A LOT ! ! !

[kenneyjoe330]

It is very interesting when you go to one thing you find people and information for other things.  At Saturday's Clean Up I met a WRTA Board Member who encouraged me to write a letter requesting to address the WRTA Board of Directors concerning my problem.
I called WRTA and my call was given to Mr. Jim Ferraro who was very kind and receptive to my plight.  I have sent a letter and Mr. Ferraro will be looking for it to arrive.  We talked for a short period of time but covered a lot of territory concerning the wheres and whys of some of the routes.  One PROBLEM is that there are not that many grocery stores IN Youngstown - NONE on all of the South side.  How many can you think of   I can think of FOUR: 1: Lincoln Knolls  2: Mahoning Ave at Belle Vesta  3:  up Mahoning Ave at Schenly (?) and Union Square Plaza.  A lot of people think they can get better deals at Wal Mart and Marks in Boardman and soon Liberty (which isn't even in Mahoning County ! ! ! ) - some people may even be employed by business in Boardman and Liberty and NEED the bus to go to work.

The next meeting of the WRTA Board of Directors will be at 3 PM on Thursday (always the last Thursday of the month) 26 June 2008 at the Administrative Offices 604 Mahoning Avenue.  Your attendance would be most appreciated - not only by me but, from what I can tell, also from the WRTA Board itself.

[Towntalk]

I couldn't agree with you more Mary.

Fortunately there will soon be a WalMart and Home Depot in Liberty, and with these new adds, hopefully more stores will locate along the Belmont Avenue strip, and we won't have to depend on Boardman.

Hopefully with WalMart locating in the Liberty Plaza it will encourage a fresh look at what space is still available.

Also, there is a new plaza being build around the Belmont Giant Eagle, so obviously there are businesses looking at this area.

Add to this, the little plaza where the Giant Eagle use to be at is full again and I understand that there is a large discount store there.

[Mary_Krupa]

Is the 7th Ward the most populated in the city? If so, then it should have the same or better bus service as before. I know that there are a lot of voters in that ward. It's hard to believe that the route kind of skirts the ward and then goes to Matthews Road which is in Boardman. Youngstowners are the ones who pay for this service, not those in Boardman.

At the risk of sounding hateful, I'm sick and tired of everything being centered around Boardman, an area with little appeal other than some nice neighborhoods. I resent having to drive all the way out there just to go to a hardware store.

[kenneyjoe330]

jay - YOU are such a GREAT PERSON ! ! !   I wonder if you would do me a favor   While you are on your excursions on The WRTA perhaps you could stop at the MAIN TERMINAL in downtown Youngstown and ask the extremely nice lady at the far West side of the interior of the building - the WRTA window - for a schedule of EACH route that the WRTA has.  It's free INFORMATION and even after a proliferous LOOK I would be most curious to see if we share the same sense of Justice    This invitation obviously extends to anyone who has the interest in my problem and the ins and outs of someone at WRTA who seems to have an agenda at my expense and others living in the SEVENTH WARD.

The people that are spoken of loosing service from elimination of the Austintown route - from what I can determine by the current route in the area must live in Austintown.  Is the property they live on taxed for WRTA ?   Probably NOT.  I know I repeat myself but I feel it needs repeating.  The greater majority of the SEVENTH WARD does NOT receive WRTA Bus Service ! ! !  Wards ONE though SIX are serviced even though the routes travel by some very sparsely populated areas. 

SORRY - that was a lot of words on my part - pick up the schedules and look at them for yourself.  THEN lets talk

[Towntalk]

Right on Westsider.

Schools do it ... the city does it when Police and Fire levys are up for renewal ... so why not WRTA? You'd think that  WRTA  would be using the high cost of gas to promote new riders and not cut back on service. It doesn't make sense.

[northside lurker]

Within the last two days, I've heard about two bus riders who lost service when the 40 Austintown bus route was eliminated. 

I'm fairly sure there are more than just 2 people affected.  One of the people I've mentioned previously, who works downtown, now has to walk down Mahoning Ave. to Meridian Rd to catch the Steel route.

I don't know, but I think the WRTA eliminated these routes to somehow prove to the public that their service is really needed, and they should pass the sales tax next time.

[Towntalk]

I guess that I should count my blessings that I have YSU, St. Elisabeth Hospital, North Side Hospital, Union Square Plaza and the Belmont Strip to keep the bus service I have.

By the way, besides Wal Mart, Home Depot is locating in the building that K-Mart and Stambaugh Thompson use to occupy on Belmont Avenue. If more retail stores open on Belmont Avenue, I will be able to totally ignore Boardman and Austintown. Oh yea, also there's the Eastwood Mall, and all the stores around it.

If you have to shop at stores outsid the city limits, why would you support an area that shoves Youngstown's nose in every cow pie it drops? At least Liberty and Niles make you feel welcome.

[jay]

Within the last two days, I've heard about two bus riders who lost service when the 40 Austintown bus route was eliminated. 

The dropping of the 33 Buckeye has obviously affected residents of the Lansingville area.  Maybe it's time to start attending some the the meetings of the WRTA Board.  Does anyone know when the WRTA Board holds its meetings?

[kenneyjoe330]

Well if you live IN the 7 TH Ward you can just forget about riding the WRTA at all.

WRTA only SKIMS the boarders.   The 7 TH Ward for some reason just does not receive the service that ALL the other wards do.  PLUS the new South goes from Midlothian to Youngstown-Poland Road to Matthews and on into Boardman and one of THREE Routes that go to the Southern Park Mall.  Why?  I don't support that - do YOU?

Ya know it is ADMIRABLE to support WRTA by walking a few blocks to catch a buss.  HOWEVER when ya HAFTA WALK lets say almost a MILE to catch a bus for WORK - I SURE CAN NOT SUPPORT THAT! ! !  I live in Lansgingville and have three places I can catch a bus.  I can go to Indianola and South,  Shady Run and Midlothian and learned the other day I can cross Center Street Bridge and catch a buss at Wilson and Center Street before it goes up Center Street Hill - I think THAT is would be the closest at almost a mile.   

PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT SUPPORT - I am all ears 

[jay]

I have now invested in the WRTA.  I own a bus coupon book.
When could we have our ride the bus day?

[Towntalk]

We the tax payers do "own" WRTA in theory at least. Blame Columbus in part to WRTA's woes.

Hopefully if you get to Columbus, you can send back some much needed $$$$ so that WRTA can improve its service. It would be a perfect fit to your agenda.

[irishbobcat]

It's sad to believe that my mother and her family grew up in Lansingville and there is no bus service that way at this time.

Maybe we need to take over the WRTA??


Dennis Spisak