Thursday, March 19, 2009
Central Subway Further
Eric talks up the next phases of the Central Subway project. This got me thinking about the process the CS went through to get where it is today and all the dumb federal mandates that require Muni not to talk about anything outside of the scope of the project they are applying federal funding to. It's ridiculous really. I understand why they do it, so that the process is fair and all modes get a fair shake, but I wish they wouldn't pretend like one project is what a region needs. Extended network planning is important and waiting to talk about this expansion until a paper is signed is just silly.
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The FTA policy of not allowing systemwide planning is astoundingly stupid, but the competent transit authorities are doing it anyway. It's too bad Muni doesn't have any real ambition to expand the rail network aside from this misguided monstrosity. And by the way, this is a perfect example of how a subway doesn't necessarily save time. Most of the passengers on this corridor are going between Market St and Chinatown. With a surface line, in Chinatown, they just get on and go right from the sidewalk, and at Market they can get off and go down the nearest stairway into the subway. A Central Subway, on the other hand, would require going down three sets of escalators from street level in Chinatown, and at the other end, there will probably be a bit of a walk from the Union Square station to Market Street, and it would likely require ascending from a level below the BART to the mezzanine before going back down to the Muni Metro or BART level. Even if the subway train is two or three minutes faster, the overall trip is likely to be slower.
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