The Modern Peril of Pauline

A silent movie classic, The Perils of Pauline, was filmed near New Hope. The heroine was tied to railroad tracks with a locomotive in sight. Perhaps, that marked the beginning of Bucks County's general disinterest in rail transit!

There are two words for those who do not appreciate rail transit's importance – "LONG" & "ISLAND." The Power Broker related how highway expansion bulldozed thoughts of rail transit, during the New York City suburb's post World War II housing boom. Fear of urban encroachment made many susceptible to the snake oil pitch that more and improved highways would speed commutes between their jobs and bedroom communities. In reality, more & improved highways led to more & more cars! With resources directed to automobile transportation, there was a concomitant neglect of rail transit.

Though they are comparable distances, the driving time from Manhattan to Bucks County's Southampton is shorter than from Manhattan to Long Island's Southampton! If I were to take Amtrak & a cab today, I could get from Manhattan to Bucks County's Southampton in 80 minutes. If I were to take the Long Island Railroad, I would get from Manhattan to Long Island's Southampton in 141 minutes. So much for expanding highways & neglecting rails!

Many persist in the claim that there are too many people, instead of acknowledging that there are too many cars!

• "The Global Population and Environment Program's mission is to protect the global environment and preserve natural resources for future generations by advancing global reproductive health and sustainable development initiatives" (The Sierra Club).


• [In the United States,] "any increase in our population can have adverse affects around the world. Our efforts to recycle, conserve energy and water, or protect land and wildlife habitat from development will be thwarted, if not totally undermined, if we do not also work to curb population growth here and abroad" (Planned Parenthood).


• "Reducing the rate of population growth eases the many pressures people place on natural resources, wildlife habitats, and the atmosphere" (Population Connection (nee Zero Population Growth)).

While speaking so forcefully on population, these supposed think tanks have little if nothing to say about improving global food distribution, public transportation, or "population ageing" (i.e., The "Who the heck will pay for our social security retirement benefits?" issue.). Seeing people as the enemy, they are ill informed by demographics. For example, the United Nations acknowledges that

• "42 per cent of the world’s population lives in low-fertility countries, that is, countries where women are not having enough children to ensure that, on average, each woman is replaced by a daughter who survives to the age of procreation. Another 40 per cent lives in intermediate-fertility countries where each woman is having, on average, between 1 and 1.5 daughters....


• "Because declining fertility and increasing longevity lead to population ageing, population ageing is fastest in the low-fertility countries....


• "Population ageing is slowest among the high-fertility countries, which have still a very young population" (See 5/3/11 press release.).

If Pauline were to return to New Hope today, she would realize that her true peril was from cars - not rails! At this time, there are rail transportation projects at different stages of the thought process (including "just about forgotten"), which have potential for wonderful, local benefits:

Bucks County

• Cross County Metro: Capitalizing on existing freight lines, the Cross County Metro would connect Trenton/Morrisville to Thorndale in Chester County, allowing connections with other SEPTA lines along the way (eg., Doylestown, Norristown) - without going into Center City (i.e., It would largely parallel the Pennsylvania Turnpike.). Intermodal connections would allow for easy commutes to such 21st century employment centers as Fort Washington, Valley Forge/King of Prussia, and Malvern.


• Newtown Line service restoration to Center City


• Quakertown service restoration to Center City

Lehigh County, Northampton County, & the Poconos

• Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton: There is a proposal to extend New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line, which would allow service between Allentown/Bethlem/Easton & NYC


• The "Lackawana Cutoff" would restore service between NYC & Scranton

With service restored to Quakertown, further extension to Allentown and Scranton would allow direct service to NYC & the Poconos.

New Jersey

• West Trenton service restoration to NYC: This would allow for greater direct service options to NYC.