tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post6808628501069666767..comments2024-01-12T00:32:20.149-08:00Comments on The Overhead Wire: Austin DreamingPantograph Trolleypolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17833159138533550544noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-3633372188502030082007-06-02T13:33:00.000-07:002007-06-02T13:33:00.000-07:001. Commuter rail kept the corridor single-tracked....1. Commuter rail kept the corridor single-tracked. Very hard to go back and retrofit as double-tracked while running existing service. Nigh-impossible. But true LRT would require double-tracking almost everywhere in order to get service frequencies high enough.<BR/><BR/>2. Their DMU vehicles can't make corners downtown or near UT.<BR/><BR/>3. If we assume commuter rail service continues, new LRT service up Lamar would require that the intersection at Lamar/Airport be closed an astoundingly high percentage of the time during rush hours. IE, when crossing, LRT trains would require no turns from Lamar onto Airport; DMU trains would require no through traffic on Lamar. Note that the original LRT plan would have required that southbound Lamar through traffic (and turns to same) be halted, but nothing else - northbound could have kept going, as well as Lamar-to-Airport.<BR/><BR/>Some of those objections are primarily technical, and some are primarily political, but all are going to be impossible to overcome. Doesn't matter anyways - the market for LRT continuing north up Lamar isn't an attractive one - you just enter the Rundberg ghetto - where people are largely already taking the bus.M1EKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12041791804881707751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-11729361298227686062007-06-01T19:27:00.000-07:002007-06-01T19:27:00.000-07:00k, please explain why we can't string wire on the ...k, please explain why we can't string wire on the commuter line and run LRT on that corridor? And why wasn't Light Rail precluded before with the freight issue? I went back and read your posts on it and you say its an intersection issue, could you explain further.Pantograph Trolleypolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17833159138533550544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-23012866828019603652007-06-01T12:48:00.000-07:002007-06-01T12:48:00.000-07:00Here comes grumpy M1EK, back from Hawaii just this...Here comes grumpy M1EK, back from Hawaii just this morning:<BR/><BR/>1. <A HREF="http://mdahmus.monkeysystems.com/blog/archives/000379.html" REL="nofollow">Plugin hybrid not gonna happen</A>. Not now, probably not ever. Really being sold as a money-maker for Austin Energy (and hence, indirectly, the city). Toyota just reported in the last couple of days that Li-ion batteries aren't going to be ready for the next-gen Prius.<BR/><BR/>B. Commuter rail precludes light rail. Even in dreamland. Unless you can somehow dream up a world where we can basically shut down the Lamar/Airport intersection to everything but trains. Also, the route staying purely on Lamar without going into the ANWRR ROW (where commuter rail runs to the northwest) is not feasible - the population in north-central Austin is largely poor and transit-dependent, i.e., already riding the bus; and the speeds would be very low to boot (entirely street-running with way too many cross streets). No link here; I've covered those objections so many times I can't pick just one.M1EKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12041791804881707751noreply@blogger.com