Public Transit Discussion: Involved in other business areas?

[StorkNest]

So I am doing research about public transit agencies. I know two that are also involved in other areas of business, so far I have not found any other transit agency that gets involved in anything other than trains and buses.

Does anyone know of any transit agency that has dipped its interest in something non-transit related such as real estate, airports, ports, bridges and tunnels?

 

[RRSignal]

Look up "Port Authority." The Delaware River Port Authority, here in the Philly area, oversees port and bridge operations, as well as a ferry and the PATCO heavy rail line between Philly and South Jersey. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has jurisdiction over a number of bridges, tunnels, airports, etc. between those two states.

 

[opus722]

The Northern Virginia Transit Authority has control over highways, tunnels, bike trails, and bridges in addition to the DC metro lines that extend into VA and the Virginia Railway Express amongst other things. However it is a kind of overseeing agency rather than a direct owner of the actual right of ways. I'm not sure if that is what you would be looking at.

 

[slabay]

So I am doing research about public transit agencies. I know two that are also involved in other areas of business, so far I have not found any other transit agency that gets involved in anything other than trains and buses.

Does anyone know of any transit agency that has dipped its interest in something non-transit related such as real estate, airports, ports, bridges and tunnels?

Ports, bridges, and tunnels are transit related- just because they cannot be driven does not mean they are not part of the transportation infrastructure.



Make sure you keep the idea of "public" and "private" separate, too. A "public" transit agency is a governmental entity. There are many circumstances where a private company (whether publicly traded or not) will provide public transportation services to a governmental agency. Typically, the examples above with a port authority involve government owned properties.

As far as real estate, again, this would most likely concern publicly owned buildings, but one avenue for you to consider would be this: Here, for example, the Lee County Port Authority owns and operates SW Florida International Airport. All of the shops and restaurants must lease their space from the airport, and likewise, the airlines (private businesses) must establish leases to operate in the airports as well.

Hope this helps... good luck with the research.

 

[magickmaker]

In other countries, a couple of transit have dipped into cargo. There's actually a specialized tram for this. It's called the CarGoTram.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CarGoTram

That's the inside. It's a curtain side tram.

Fyi: I want this in Trainz!!!!!

From what I know, these were built to specifically serve a VW plant in Dresden. Though privately owned by VW, they operated over the public Dresden system. They carry auto parts.

 

[NIARTcar]

Real Estate is a common one for many transit agencies. Not just owning their own land, but many now begin to seek historic transportation buildings to restore and use as transit hubs. Here in central california a few projects come to mind. ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) bought and restored a former SP station in stockton and is now seeking to do the same to an adjacent WP station in joint union with Amtrak California for extended platform coverage.

http://www.google.com/search?q=stoc...g&biw=1603&bih=771&sei=85AdUfa_GoTziQKoz4HICQ

http://www.google.com/search?q=stoc...38,d.cGE&fp=66beed203e0af2d5&biw=1603&bih=771