Slateport Transit Authority

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The Slateport Transit Authority is the public transport agency that operates transit bus, streetcar, paratransit, and rapid transit services in Slateport, Hoenn. Established in Yr12, the STA currently consists of four subway lines across 72 separate stations, as well as over 100 bus routes. The STA has also provided streetcar service to customers in the past. The STA is the fourth most heavily used urban mass transit system in North America, behind those used in New York City, Mexico City, and Toronto.

History

Early History

Current system map of the STA including the subway lines and the former streetcar routes.

The STA was founded in Yr28, when the streetcar lines on Melbourne Street, Alexandria Avenue, and Jarvis Street were completed. The corporation that helped operate the streetcars was fully owned and ran by the Government. It was founded by the Minister of Infrastructure William Thomas, who created the streetcar line as a "make-work" project to stimulate the economy and to create jobs for the city which had taken a recent downturn due to the closure of the pulp plant a couple of years before. The streetcar lines were an early success, though there were already crowding problems due to the lack of streetcars being built before the opening of the streetcars. The Vincent Mark I, while able to carry as much as 120 people, was very bulky and difficult to navigate through the twisty Jarvis Street, and was very hard to turn as a result. The Mark I was replaced five years later in Yr33 with the Vincent Mark II, which was designed to hold only 90 people, but was far more nimble and more easier to manufacture. It also had the signature rear bumper, which allowed people to jump on the back of the streetcar and ride on it illegally without paying any fare.

In Yr34, after numerous delays, the Main Street Streetcar line was finally opened, and with it caused numerous accounts of overcrowding, even with the bigger Mark I. By Yr36, the Mark I streetcars designed to hold 120 people were now carrying as much as 200 people at a time, causing crush load conditions. This was causing the streetcars to buckle due to the weight of the passengers, causing more delays and crowding. A decision was made by the Slateport City council to build an "underground streetcar" under Main Street by a narrow vote of 14-13. Although the busiest sections of the streetcar line was from Swansea to Adelaide, it was decided to extend westward to Lisgar to house the new cars, and eastward to Mortimer to be able to transport customers to the end of the Jarvis streetcar line. The new subway cars, called the Robinson R1, were built in time for Yr37 and the line opened in Yr38. The streetcar line remained open to be able to split traffic, and to be able to continue pre-existing commutes for customers.

At the same time the Main Street subway line opened, more streetcar lines were opened. There were strreetcar lines built on Church Street from Edwards Street to Main Street, on Parkdale Avenue from Winslow to Jarvis, and on Adelaide from Winslow to Jarvis. Crowding was still an issue but as more and more streetcars were being built more and more people could take transit, crowding was reduced as a result.

Exhibition Yr42

In Yr39, after Moscow was dropped as host due to security issues, Slateport was named the host of the Yr42 World's Exhibition. To accomodate for the Exhibition, a new subway line was proposed to link the south end of the city to the Exhibition Grounds. When the proposal was edited to include the new southern suburb of Durham, the new line was accepted and was planned to run on Berkeley Street. The Berkeley Station was even designed to house a line transfer from Main Street to the second line. However, after initial diggin was done it was discovered that the sewer lines which were built nearly 100 years prior to the subway opening was right underneath the subway line, causing the line to be moved to Alexandria Avenue instead.

After the new proposal on Alexandria went ahead, the construction was rushed over and done so with no regard for safety of the workers in order to complete the subway in time for the Exhibition. According to historian Mark Reynolds, "the conditions were so bad, there were about 2 or 3 deaths from the workers a week, and sometimes that number went as high as 10 a week. The long working hours and the lack of ventilation caused many injuries and fatigue, which didn't help as anyone who took a day off to rest was quickly replaced by somebody else, regardless of how long you worked on there."

The construction took nearly two and a half years to build the line from the Exhibiton Grounds to Durham, at a high cost to Slateport City Council. In total, nearly 350 people died during the construction, though the exact figure was never released as the government destroyed any documents related to worker safety during the construction of the line. This prompted the Teamsters' Union 437 to form, representing the workers who built the subway and streetcar tracks as well as operating the cars as well. After the Yr42 Exhibition, another subway was to be built on Jarvis Street, winding through Lisgar and Sheridan Stations. However, the 437 Union prevented construction from happening by going on strike. The drivers still operated the cars on the subway and the streetcar though they would often go on strike themselves from time to time in support of the track workers.