A Bus To The Gardens
As Garden Walk Buffalo becomes more and more successful, it was only a matter of time before a shuttle was added. If this bus looks familiar, it might be because you have seen it touring around the city during the warmer months. We also featured the open-air-bus a couple of times on BRO as Tim Tielman and Chris Brown prepared for historic downtown tours. Now, thanks in part to Arbordale Nurseries, the bus will be used during the Garden Walk weekend so that walkers can spend more time walking and less time trying to find parking spots.
The half hour route is yet to be determined, but if the shuttle visits all of the neighborhoods, then I would imagine people would have a better opportunity to branch out from one neighborhood to another. I would also guess that the bus driver would be able to answer questions along the way. This will be a great marketing tool for the organizers as well. Hopefully the bus will make additional appearances at more events this summer. It would make a fantastic shuttle for the Elmwood Village... or visits to the Erie Basin Marina. It is already in use for historic and architectural tours.
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sbrof
I dunno, there are already the Elmwood and Delaware bus routes that would shuttle people up and down from Allentown through the Elmwood Village to North Buffalo, why about we not spend extra resources and perhaps come up with a deal with NFTA where people with garden walk tickets can take the NFTA that day for free. The NFTA already offers weekend and all day passes for pretty cheap.
Doesn't it seem redundant to have a transportation authority and then constantly create new transportation services on top of it and wonder why no one takes the NFTA buses. It is akin to UB's new shuttle that travels from South Campus to The BNMC down main.... waste of money on a route that you already have a faster more efficient train for.
Nothing says enjoying urban nature and gardens like riding a hollowed out cheese bus. At least with the NFTA you might get on a quiet Hybrid or newer bus. Sure there are some limitations, needing to know when to get off, which route to take but that can be solved by a small information box on the maps which GW already provides.
I don't know I could be off base but it just seems like this could be accomplished without the need for another bus driving around.
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Jim
Please sbrof, please, join the Garden Walk Committee. We need people with ideas and the coordination abilities to carry them off. We meet on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Richmond Summer Senior Center.
We've had plenty of people offer up ideas over the years about shuttling guests around during the Walk - great ideas, from hybrid vehicles, to electric carts to even rickshaws. This shuttle bus was put together by two committed members of the Walk committee. There are no lack of better ideas, it's the people to see them through that are in shorter supply.
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Martin
Nicely put Jim
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tonyarmani
That bus should take all the unemployed out to Wyoming county every morning to help WNY's agriculture system.
lol even looks like it
http://www.snydercorporation.com/newsroom_SC110507.html
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cyndrome
The shuttle bus is a great idea. The NFTA routes don't really coordinate very well with the 200 plus garden locations so it seems quite logical to get a specific bus for the two day event. I like to go by bike, but that doesn't work for everyone.
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Jim
Your bike may work better for you this year. One of the founders/organizers of the Ride for Roswell (whose garden is on the Walk) has approached us to see what we can do to coordinate a bike tour/ride from garden to garden. You'll have to stay tuned to our website and watch for the Garden Walk Map/Guide to find out more.
This particular person is one that came up with an idea, approached us and is helping to make it happen. A great example of how groups grow and become stronger, by people having an idea, getting involved and making it happen.
That's how, partly through their energy, enthusiasm, coordination abilities and action, the Ride for Roswell has raised millions of dollars in funds for cancer research.
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fredrico
I think the bus is a fabulous idea. It's hard to bring a bike because it gets pretty tight in some of the gardens that are packed with people and the regular bus routes don't make sense for use with the garden walk.
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Jas
Tim did an excellent job in offering a tour of the city with the open bus. I would like to see him invest in one of those duck boats the other cities use that allows them to drive into the water. Buffalo needs those tours!
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chris69
I dont know why anyone else hasnt thought of this but why cant the garden walks be coordinated with the Buffalo Botanical Gardens in South Park?
People can make a real day of if visiting say gardens starting in say Allentown, then LaSalle heading north to Front then to Riverside then to say Delaware, Humboldt, Cazenovia and ending in South Park.
The nice thing is that there are enough garden walks to basically hit one or two or three sites (spring, summer and fall) and either start or finish at the Botanical Gardens.
In this way we can assure the health of our neighborhoods and the health of our botanical gardens and even possibly get some donations for Retree Buffalo.
Plus it will provide an incentive for other sections of the city to participate with their own garden walks for different seasons.
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Jim
It's thought about every year, and slowly we'll get to it. We start off every year talking about enlarging the area of the Walk, and we do, in very little bits each year.
Taking on another whole area of the city is a large undertaking. Quite honestly, there are just enough volunteers to keep what we have going. A coordinated effort, in timing and geography, between the different garden tours is a long-term goal and something that has been discussed frequently with the Convention Visitors Bureau. Each of the city's different tours are run by volunteers and no money other than donations and sponsorship. There is no paid coordinator that can make these things happen. No fundraising positions to raise money.
Coordinating a larger regional effort is a great goal, but, and I can only speak for Garden Walk Buffalo, many of our committee members put as much into the Walk as they would a part-time job (on top of their full-time jobs). And there's no pay. The prospect of spending MORE time & energy is not something to which anyone looks forward.
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MRodgers
You do a great job, Jim! Here's a spin off thought on sbrof's suggestion. Can the NFTA drivers announce the different sections of the Garden Walk like they used to announce streets back in the day? Sort of like (and, yes, I'm tooting our neoghborhood's horn here) "Johnson Park, Whitney Place, Rabin Terrace, Prospect Avenue - The Historic West Village Section"
My mom and I used to laugh when the bus driver would call out her name "Virginia" and right after mine would follow "Maryland." A bit of nostalgia in today's events mixed with Garden Walk Neighborliness partnering with the NFTA.
Also, it would be a HUGE undertaking mixing the South Park Conservatory in with the Garden Walk all in one weekend, as well. I like the fact that GWB is on one weekend so I can attend the many others throughout the season. Always something for an avid gardener to do.
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leadi
Wondering why the bus is an open top? Seems like people would want a little shade if it is really hot during the garden walk or some shelter if it is raining? Not criticizing, just wondering why an open top? Regardless - it is a good idea to get people around.
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