Thursday, July 30, 2009

More Notes

Not sure if you all enjoy the shorter link posts but they can be easier when I'm short on time.

A really cool look at how the Bell Red corridor could develop over time with LRT.
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An off topic but related issue, how Berkeley is paying for the city's solar panels is pretty innovative.
the city itself just issues a bond to pay for the upfront costs of installing the panels, and the homeowner then repays the government over the course of 20 years via a small line item on the property-tax bill. (This way, if the home is sold, the costs of the panels get passed on to the new owner getting the benefits.)
Not sure how this relates to transit but there must be something we can learn from this, especially since better access increases property taxes.
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Germany is looking at speed limits on the autobahn. It's good for the environment, even if it is fun to drive so fast.
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El Paso is looking to redevelop a strip mall infested street with BRT. No definition of BRT included.

5 comments:

Jon said...

el paso needs to get the border jumper streetcar operating again, the tracks are even still in place.

Matt Fisher said...

There was a "border jumper" streetcar once between St. Stephen, New Brunswick and Calais, Maine. However, it closed like almost all others on the continent. ;(

But let me say another thing: Wasn't the Autobahn a creation supported by Adolf Hitler? I read this in my history textbook in Grade 10. Sorry to say this, ha ha.

Jon said...

but el paso's ran until 1974

Matt Fisher said...

I know already. Thank you. :)

Anonymous said...

The Autobahn had it's start before Hitler, though he really pushed them when he came to power.