- I just rode my bike all the way out here and found this train, which proves just how much better folks had it in the past when it comes to train travel.

They had real luxury.

So much so that the phrase, "Rolling out the red carpet," comes from this train, the 20th Century Limited.

When passengers arrived, out on the platform, they would literally roll out a red carpet.

It was an ultra luxury train.

So on this episode of "Rolling Thru," find out just what other luxuries you're missing out on.

Stick around to see our journey to the Flower City.

We'll also show you what kind of looks like a tropical rainforest in the middle of a city.

We'll see if a highway can be racist, how unsafe road designs really are, and what happens when you run behind schedule.

That's all coming up.

This is "Rolling Thru," a bicycle travel show.

(dynamic music) (upbeat music) It's a glorious morning in Medina, New York.

After the heat of the day yesterday, a cool morning is the best way to ease back into the ride for Greg and I. Medina is a small canal town in between Buffalo and Rochester.

These days, it's a celebrated heritage destination in Western New York.

The town is known for its preserved Victorian era architecture, and his quaint main street with shops and restaurants, and a growing food scene because of them.

But back in the day, Medina served as a large industry hub.

With the completion of the Erie Canal, it transformed the town into a key trade hub.

The canal bends as it passes through the village, creating a basin that served as a natural stopover point.

And when rail came along, it only further helped to build up Medina, allowing for easier access to raw materials.

In fact, Medina sandstone, a standout export, built some of the most iconic structures in New York State, like the Richardson Complex in Buffalo and the million-dollar staircase at the Albany Capitol.

Railroads once built Medina's future, today, not so much.

Now, it serves as nostalgia fuel for its past.

But those remnants gave it one of its most popular tourist attractions, the Medina Railroad Museum.

And while we're here, I want to explore some of the things we're missing in this country with this often sidelined form of transportation.

I'm joined for a conversation with Brody George, a rail enthusiast and spokesperson for the museum.

- So the 20th Century Limited was New York Central's flagship train.

It was considered the most luxurious you could get in travel.

When the New York Central formed the 20th Century Limited in the early 1900s, it was going from New York City all the way to Chicago.

And the goal was to get you there as quickly as they could and as luxurious as they could.

It was recorded to take anywhere between 14 to 16 hours altogether.

- Which I think actually was faster than what you can do it now.

I've taken a train from Upstate New York to Chicago, and it took 12 hours.

And they were also dining with caviar (laughing) and champagne.

- Oh, they had lobster, caviar, champagne.

Anything you could get cooked on a grill or on a stove, they could make it.

- Yeah, real linen napkins- - Real linen.

- [Pat] and silverware.

(laughing) - [Brody] Actual China.

- Wow.

- Some of these trains even had barber shops on board.

You could get your hair cut on your way.

They had libraries, observation cars, bars, anything you could need on a train, they had it on the Century.

- [Pat] So it was kind of like a flex, right?

It was, it really was.

- Like a status thing.

(both laughing) - It was a flex.

- So what happened?

(laughing) - Going into the 1950s, into the 1960s, railroads start declining.

Air travel was really becoming a big thing.

And so the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad then merged to help to try to save money into Penn Central, which was a freight and passenger operation.

It didn't do good.

Penn Central then got bought up by other railroads, and then other railroads.

And you get into the big railroads, such as CSX, BNSF, Union Pacific.

Today's railroads are about getting you from point A to point B, and that is it.

So a lot of that is the high-speed rail that we see in countries such as Japan, Spain, China.

The US never quite got on board with that.

To be able to get from Buffalo to New York City in three hours, if you have to get to a meeting, it's easier than going through TSA and airlines and all that.

- Weather events have been getting worse and grounding more flights, and they're only predicting weather events to be more unpredictable, ground more flights in the future.

So could train travel be our alternative to getting to cities on time and in style?

- Trains will run through almost anything.

For the most part, the trains will keep moving regardless of what the weather's doing, which could very well help transportation in the United States, again, while also offering people a way to travel comfortably, with amenities, such as food and places to sleep.

- And the energy demands with rail compared to air travel, just moving people in general, you can move more people more efficiently with less energy?

- Yes, as rail transportation's getting more involved in modern day, they're moving away from diesel, they're going into electric and even hydrogen.

So rail travel can also be one of the cleanest options going forward.

(upbeat music) - You think 1940s train travel was the height of luxury?

Imagine cruising across the state at over 200 miles an hour.

The ride is smooth as the butter on your baked potato, high-speed Wi-Fi at your fingertips, or better yet, you put the phone down and you watch the countryside zip by.

Other countries are already enjoying the civilized way to travel.

And here's the kicker, it's cheaper, more efficient, and rail travel emits up to 97% fewer CO2 emissions per passenger than air travel.

We once built something extraordinary in this country, maybe it's time we do it again.

After doing a terrible job of memorizing my lines.

Um.

And it emits.

Wi-Fi is, or, oh, that's right.

We're finally on our way to Rochester.

(dynamic music) But now we have to hurry if we want to make our schedule.

It's nice to trail the ebike 'cause I can draft So we can push about 20 miles an hour.

So that is beneficial.

We can make up for lost time.

However, I really have to push those pedals.

And that does come with the territory.

But this section of the Erie Canal Trailway, it's a scenic corridor along the canal that passes by expansive country views and through little picturesque canal towns.

We catch glimpses as we continue to push the tempo.

(wheels clacking) - Ah, that's cool.

- Yeah.

♪ Set it overload ♪ - But eventually the rolling countryside yields to views that tell me we're getting close.

(bright music) In Rochester's Northwest Quadrant, Foodlink operates an urban farm and community garden, in a neighborhood that unfortunately hasn't seen much investment.

But in early 2025, they doubled down by adding 160 raised beds, a state-of-the-art greenhouse and a new Edible Education Center.

They're going all-in on food.

And after cycling all day, I'm pretty hungry and food's on my mind.

But right now, it's more along the lines of where does it come from, how do you get it, and why is it scarce for so many people?

To answer some of these questions, I'm at the Foodlink Community Farm.

- The way the structure of the farm kind of works is there is a huge portion of community beds.

So we rent out a bed to a community member.

Still a lot of the refugees and new Americans that have had beds, but with the expansion, we've doubled in gardening space.

So we've been able to allow more families just in the neighborhood to get beds.

But it's a $30 fee.

We provide starter plants, compost, all the watering.

We just ask that family to come in and maintain their beds and grow and harvest when they want.

So you can see some corn growing inside, some different types of beans.

I've seen all different types of variations of beans grow in all the beds.

And then if you look closely, I think some of the beds have squash growing this side.

- Yeah, I see a little guy down there.

- And then, like, you can see some different types of peppers growing throughout the beds.

- Actually, I might take a bite of a pepper.

(both laughing) Is that cool?

- Yeah.

- Right on.

This isn't like a super hot pepper.

- It probably is super hot.

(both laughing) - Yeah, it's incredibly hot.

- It's hot.

(laughing) - Okay.

So... (throat clearing) Yeah, that's pretty, that's high on the Scoville list.

(throat clearing) So you're saying all the boxes over here are leased out for people in the community?

- Yep, exactly, yep.

- And they all live in the houses like in this neighborhood?

- A lot of them live in the neighborhood, integrating the community here.

So we'll have neighbors from across the street growing that are meeting some of the neighbors that they never knew for the last 10 years.

But they're neighbors, so they have a reason to interact and look out for one another.

So it's really building community here.

- And it's a variety of cultures too.

- Variety of cultures, yeah.

- And they're coming, growing all different types of food, sharing.

And I think this here is, I think, the start of that.

(bright music) - We can kind of do a full cycle farm to table, like do some workshops on growing the food, do some workshops on how to cook the food, eating healthy.

Then on top of that, we'll be able to partner with some of our local schools and community organizations to give 'em a space that they can do those workshops or do a full cycle lesson on growing food and preserving food with students.

So it's really exciting.

- I love the wallpaper too.

It looks like the chili pepper I just ate.

(both laughing) I do like the earthy feel to it.

It feels very fitting for the space.

- Well, the mission of food like is to use food and hunger, and to build healthier communities.

And we're going to be able to really do some lessons on sustainability that'll impact just beyond giving the food out, and like tangible food, while teaching people how to grow, teaching people how to eat healthy and cook is going to be really exciting.

One of the really cool things about the greenhouse is that it's fully automated.

The windows open and close, and the shade can fully retract and detract as the temperature goes.

So the fans will cut on if it's getting too hot, or cut off when it's getting too cold and the heat will cut on.

We're hoping to grow somewhere between 10,000 to 20,000 starter plants in coordination with some of our other community gardens.

So hopefully anybody that doesn't have the capacity or space to grow in the winter, we'll be able to give them a headstart and help them, and then maybe be able to sell some of our own starter plants in the future.

- And you'll be able to really like increase output and feed more people.

- Oh yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

We've done surveys with our gardeners, and they've told us that growing here for a summer has like reduced their spending for produce by like 1/2.

Sometimes they go months without even needing to buy a tomato again- - Wow, yeah.

- for the year until the next year, so if we can do that for a lot more families around here, I think it'll just really make an impact.

(upbeat music) - [Pat] In the face of the climate crisis, food security matters more than ever.

Droughts, floods and unpredictable growing seasons are putting our food systems at risk.

Building the infrastructure to make that happen is key.

And speaking of infrastructure, that brings us to our next stop.

Rochester, New York.

The young lion of the west, the Flour City, the Flower City.

Built on industry, imaging and an inner beltway that ended up scarring the city.

In its boom years, companies like Kodak, Xerox and Bausch + Lomb anchored downtown.

Factories and machine shops made it a mini motor city.

But in the 1950s, the castle thought it needed a moat.

They built the Inner Loop, a sunken highway meant to speed commuters from the suburbs and redirect traffic away from the city core.

But when the industry left and drivers thinned out, the moat ended up cutting off the city.

Now, Rochester's rethinking what urban renewal actually means, and it's betting big on a new kind of comeback.

In the 2010s, the city removed the sunken eastern section of the Inner Loop, rebuilt it as a street-level boulevard and opened up about six acres for housing, shops and restaurants.

They also included bike lanes and walkable connections between downtown and its neighborhoods.

But does progress of the present absolve sins of the past?

It's something I want to discuss with Erica Bryant, a journalist and advocate for equity in public spaces.

- You would always be getting on the Inner Loop and shooting off to one place or another.

I never experienced life before the Inner Loop, but I knew of like the spirit of what was in the Third Ward, which got, you know, plowed through to create the Inner Loop and to create the highway.

The spirit of the people that had businesses there and that had, you know, thriving neighborhoods, doctors' offices, everybody knows the Pythodd Room, which was a jazz club, where, you know, international artists would come and play.

And just the liveliness and the life that was in that neighborhood, which is now like the Corn Hill area, it still kind of lives on for the people that lived there.

So like my parents' friends and people would remember what it used to be like.

- Yeah.

- Which is cool.

I think it's like, I don't want to say the ghost of the neighborhood is still around, but it's the spirit of it is still there.

And that was always special to know, to think about that there was a really thriving Black community and a lot of Black businesses, and it was just a wonderful place where people built a lot of good memories and they built their lives there.

It was tragic what happened.

You know, city planners just came and did these renewal projects that were actually destruction, and a lot of what was lost can't be regained.

- [Pat] This idea of bulldozing disenfranchised neighborhoods was quite common in the 20th century.

Robert Moses, the master planner behind New York's highways, he was the godfather of this move.

He destroyed numerous Black and brown neighborhoods to make way for the American car.

(light music) Bridges over his parkway to Jones Beach were built too low for buses, and his highways were built without any say from the people who were being displaced.

Having a say in what happens where you live is essential for equity.

If we really want progress, those conversations should happen while policies are being made, not after the fact.

- It's great that we're at least trying to make it more like of a people-centered architecture rather than just for cars or to be driving through.

- It seems like a good first step.

- Everything is very nice what's been done, but it doesn't replace what was taken away, which is more of an organic and grassroots sort of a community.

And buildings don't make a community and architecture doesn't make a community.

People make a community.

So hopefully there will be an opportunity for like regular people to build something where, or build something and have an opportunity to, not replace what was taken away 'cause it's not possible to do that, but to build something that is in the same spirit.

It would be great to see smaller businesses really get an opportunity.

I'd like to see affordable artist studios.

I'd like to see affordable housing.

I'd like to see like a walkable neighborhood.

I'd like to see a school.

Like, I'd like to see some place that people could live, and then they would know each other.

You know, and people would walk around and they would recognize their neighbors and be able to really, really build their own community.

I think it's great that the city does reach out and hold lots of sessions and offer people lots of opportunities to give community input, but gathering community input is different from using community input.

So I hope that they will come up with a solution for the Inner Loop North that really does try to repair the harm that was done to the communities that were severed by the Inner Loop so many years ago.

- [Pat] While the transformation of this neighborhood is impressive, there's a major valid criticism.

The people who live there didn't get a say.

In a sense, the city handed the keys to developers who promised to build.

So as Rochester moves forward with filling in the Inner Loop North, it could do things differently.

Listen to the community, make sure people can afford to stay, and give them real agency over what gets built around them.

After all, it's their neighborhood, they live there.

If the city does have these conversations, it would be timely, because Rochester has a lot to look forward to.

First plans were announced for a dramatic transformation of High Falls and a brand-new state park, with hundreds of millions of dollars coming in.

Plans are also underway to pedestrianize areas like the Broad Street Bridge, and Rochester was just named a Vision Zero city, a global road safety strategy aiming for zero traffic deaths and serious injuries.

But public spaces are only useful if people can get to them safely.

So another conversation that matters is simple, moving people to and from these spaces without getting them maimed by a car.

Sounds like a no-brainer, but it's trickier than it seems.

This is Cody Donahue from Reconnect Rochester.

He's got big dreams for the city when it comes to transit.

- We have a vision of Monroe County being a place where you could get around by whatever mode you would like to choose.

- Because safety and calming traffic needs to be a priority.

He is going to burn through the intersection.

(motorcycle engines roaring) Oh, no, he's jumping the red.

- Oh yeah, okay.

- He did it.

- All right.

(motorcycle engines roaring) Solid.

- [Pat] So, as Cody was saying.

- Yesterday, we had a rally right here on Parcel 5 where we invited leaders to come speak about the progress that they've committed to, the county's first active transportation plan, envisioning a network of interconnected bike lanes and pedestrian improvements throughout the county.

- And Rochester was just announced as the next Vision Zero city?

- Rochester and Mayor Malik Evans specifically made the commitment to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries in the city of Rochester.

The mayor committed to lowering our speed limit to 25 miles an hour.

There's really a bigger picture about safety, and it's safety for all users, it's safety for drivers too.

And over the last couple of years, the city has decided to invest in the streetscape.

So they redid from a four-lane road with a center turn lane, they did a road diet, they installed pedestrian islands, they installed crosswalks at some of the key amenities, some of the key businesses, and they installed the concrete protected barriers.

The second thing that Vision Zero is looking at is how do we use technology to enforce traffic law?

- I guess for the infrastructure that goes in, and do you think we're going to get what is needed?

- Infrastructure, you know, changes can have a really huge impact, and they last for like 20 years or 30 years.

So it's really super important to be on the ball for every single design.

We want the highest level of safe, accessible bike infrastructure that caters to all ages.

I want my kids to feel safe and comfortable riding on those streets.

- [Pat] And it's not just safer roads and streets that matter, some of the most impactful changes are the ones you don't even think about.

But they can, sorry for the pun, drive behavior.

- It's a huge financial burden on a family to own vehicles.

Making transportation less of a burden financially on families is a really important part of why we promote alternatives.

Like taking the bus, or walking, or biking, if that's available to you.

So one of the great examples in downtown Rochester is the city has offered its employees a universal bus pass as part of, you know, HR perks.

That's the kind of advocacy we want to do to employers in the region to say, you know, "If you offer your employee a free parking spot, then, you know, why wouldn't you offer to subsidize a bus pass, or subsidize the cost of an e-bike, or a subscription to Veo, the e-scooter share here.

- Yeah, I do think this plan that's coming will benefit everybody because I do think there is a connection to getting people out on bikes, to getting people out of cars just in general.

Whether it's, you know, on the bus or on a bike, there's something about interfacing with your neighbor.

(bright music) I put word out that I'd be rolling through the area.

So I was pleased to be joined by a crew of transit fans who honored me in leading a group ride to celebrate this town.

Rochester is a scrappy city.

I should know, I was born here.

Watching a change for the better has been genuinely heartwarming.

The cultural scene punches above its weight, great music, international cuisine, and Michelin-starred chefs, it has craft breweries, great cinema, vibrant art, and yet artists who can still afford to live here.

Also important, it has plenty of freshwater.

It has all the building blocks for a climate-resilient city.

It's starting to undo past mistakes and rethink what it means to move forward safely and equitably, with investment in housing, people-first infrastructure and transportation, Rochester's becoming the kind of place you want to be on a hotter planet.

It's all these things that make it cool.

On the next episode of "Rolling Thru," we're briefly leaving the Empire State Trail, for a side quest down to the Finger Lakes.

♪ In a bind, you got your tongue twisted ♪ ♪ In your teeth ♪ ♪ Yes, I see you ♪ ♪ I'd offer you a hand ♪ ♪ But I don't know if you're a chief ♪ ♪ And oh, dear Father ♪ ♪ Messy in your ways ♪ ♪ You are a sick man who knows it's on display ♪ ♪ The world is not civil ♪ ♪ It's naked in your mind ♪ ♪ So please, come over to the light ♪ ♪ But I don't know ♪ - I feel like (coughing) I'm on "Hot Ones" now.

(Franks laughing) (Pat coughing) So (throat clearing) that leads me, (throat clearing) that leads me to my next question.

(laughing) It's got, no, it's got a good.