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[Easley] Easley Mass Transit


GSP Tiger

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This is good for Easley, but I've always thought the Upstate, at least Greenville and it's immediate burbs (no matter what county) should have one mass transit system. A system that links Greenville / Greer / Simpsonville / Mauldin / Easley / Powdersville / Travelers Rest, etc, etc.

With the news of possible VW/Audi in the Powdersville area, I would say such a multi county transit system would take on new importance.

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This is good for Easley, but I've always thought the Upstate, at least Greenville and it's immediate burbs (no matter what county) should have one mass transit system. A system that links Greenville / Greer / Simpsonville / Mauldin / Easley / Powdersville / Travelers Rest, etc, etc.

With the news of possible VW/Audi in the Powdersville area, I would say such a multi county transit system would take on new importance.

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I agree with your thought, gsupstate.

The end result will be a regional area transit authority (RATA), responsible for transportation to highly concentrated areas using rail and buses. For minicupalities like Easley, the Golden Strip, Greer, and Travelers Rest, buses would be effective for short distances. To connect with Greenville, and to reach other areas, you would transist to rail.

Greer would serve as a transistion hub, if they deal with independent Greenville and Spartanburg RATAs.

Back to Easley, any ideas for possible routes? I see Downtown/East Easley, South Pendleton Street, US-123, and Downtown/Palmetto Baptist Easley.

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I suppose it would be good for easley, but I do not really think there is a big need for mass transit in Easley. The town is not very big, traffic is not a problem (except perhaps for 123 during rush), it takes no more than about 15 minutes to get anywhere in Easley, and there really aren't that many places to go to in Easley. I would much rather Easley people work together with Gville people, and Mauldin and Simpsonville and Greer and TR and Moonville, and Powdersville people to help Gville develop a centralized metro mass transit that could connect all these places to all the others, instead of each little town trying to develop their own to fill their own little niche.

But hey, maybe it would work, Easley is growing. It did recently get it's first skyscraper!

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I agree with y'all about not needing a transit system in Easley. I think it's good that the city is showing some sort of interest in some progressive matters, but I don't think they'd succeed with this one. Maybe they'll find that they should work with Greater Greenville communities to develop a regional system with GTA.

Is Easley's first skyscraper their new water tower?

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I agree with y'all about not needing a transit system in Easley. I think it's good that the city is showing some sort of interest in some progressive matters, but I don't think they'd succeed with this one. Maybe they'll find that they should work with Greater Greenville communities to develop a regional system with GTA.
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Do you think the 14% of the people in Easley without a car or the elderly and others who don't want do drive, might disagree with you on this? I think it's great the smaller towns of SC might develop a transit system and I am not so sure that combining with Greenville would be a good idea given that it hasn't exactly been a stellar success on it's own. It might be better if Easley does what it needs to do for Easley instead of jumping into a much larger regional system.
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I know that Easley, as a whole, seems to think of itself as a small town rather than a suburb of Greenville (and thus a part of the Greenville metro area). I think that is a shame. In fact, that mindset is perhaps a reason why Easley has fallen behind in growth and development in comparison to other Greenville suburbs.
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Easley IS a separate town. I see nothing wrong with them maintaining their own identity. Easley's growth may not have been as impressive as Mauldin's or Greer's, but I don't think the "mindset" you describe has anything to do with it. After all, Greer is the fastest growing municipality in the upstate and they very much consider Greer as it's own city. I suspect any falling "behind" you notice is due more to their distance from an Interstate than from their independence.
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I don't understand your logic.

Mauldin understands what it IS. A suburb of Greenville. Just like Simpsonville, Powdersville, Fountain Inn, TR, Easley, and yes, even Greer. Don Godbey, who is running for Mayor of Mauldin and is a current City Council member, is running on a platform, among other things, of working WITH Greenville because he understands the possibilities and positive results of such a partnership and the obvious connections that exist.

If Greer had a bus system, where would it go? Driving around in vast parking lots of strip centers and to downtown Greer? Ridership would be zero to none. A sustainable system needs commuters riding it. That's two fares per day, at least, by each commuter. Where are Greer's commuters going? More than likely, they're going to Greenville, or one of its other suburbs. As a result, would such a system confined to Greer work? I think not. A comparison can easily be drawn to Easley or any other suburb of Greenville. This is why I think a regional system is needed.

And yea, I understand that GTA has a terrible track record, but I'm not suggesting just expanding Greenville's current system. A COMPLETE overhaul is needed with proper funding and sustainable routes.

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.....

Mauldin understands what it IS. A suburb of Greenville. Just like Simpsonville, Powdersville, Fountain Inn, TR, Easley, and yes, even Greer. Don Godbey, who is running for Mayor of Mauldin and is a current City Council member, is running on a platform, among other things, of working WITH Greenville because he understands the possibilities and positive results of such a partnership and the obvious connections that exist.

If Greer had a bus system, where would it go? Driving around in vast parking lots of strip centers and to downtown Greer? Ridership would be zero to none. A sustainable system needs commuters riding it. That's two fares per day, at least, by each commuter. Where are Greer's commuters going? More than likely, they're going to Greenville, or one of its other suburbs. As a result, would such a system confined to Greer work? I think not. A comparison can easily be drawn to Easley or any other suburb of Greenville. This is why I think a regional system is needed. .......

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There is nothing wrong with working with Greenville but that doesn't mean these places give up their identity to Greenville. They might as well just un-incorporate. From the description above, Easley is talking about building a bus system for intra-city transit that would serve the needs of people who don't care to commute to Greenville. I think that is a good plan and they should pursue it. Concord/Kannapolis near Charlotte did exactly the same thing and their city bus service is more than doubling ridership every year. It's primary purpose is to give carless people options for getting around the town and not serving commuters who need to go to Charlotte.
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The Greenville News: Targeted routes for the proposed Easley bus system were recently announced. The first two routes will initially serve northwest (hospital area) and southwest (South Pendleton Street) areas, and likely to occur sooner. The other two routes would serve Easley's northern and eastern areas (US 123 toward Greenville). and likely to occur within five to seven years.
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