Thursday Night Notes

Here's some news I wanted to share:

I did a report on aerial ropeways once. The City Fix shows they are used for transport around the world and even in their favorite place, South America.
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The Cotton Belt rail line in Dallas might have an interesting funding mechanism.

The plan would most likely include much steeper fares for the Cotton Belt, paid parking, and the creation of special tax districts that would capture property tax increases associated with private development along the rail line.

I'm always dubious of using value capture to pay for infrastructure. There's just not that much of an increment on commuter rail I think.
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DFLers are going to start playing hardball with U of Minn. I don't really see how a mitigated train is any different than a few thousand cars and huge buses on the same road.
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Are we really going to be spending $3.7 billion or more for a subway stop in Livermore and (an overestimated) 34,300 riders? Have we learned nothing from any of the other transit lines we've built (or didn't build) in this region? If Pleasanton has 7,400 exits (14,800) on a weekday, how is Livermore going to add 30K more riders???

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Baseball and Streetcars were bff back in the late 1800s.
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One of my favorite things about the internet is all that it can do to break down international barriers. For example, this hungarian transport blog translated discusses the Salt Lake BRT line.

Worried About Aesthetics?

Now this is a doozy. The University of Minnesota continued its obstructionism today by being the lone no vote on the alignment decision. After being given an extra week and much deference, they continued to play the opposition. However it seems that its possible that it could be something other than the well being of students or worries about damaging medical equipment.

Hausman described the U's continued opposition as the "ultimate in carelessness and possibly arrogance." She went on to say the U might face ramifications at the Capitol when seeking funding from lawmakers in the future. "The sense of many is the U is simply accustomed to getting their own way," she said.

She related a conversation with University President Robert Bruininks in which he expressed concerns about the "aesthetics" of the light rail line through campus.

"It's an insult to Minneapolis and St. Paul to assume only the university cares about aesthetics," Hausman said.

Wow. After all that and even now hiring a $500,000 a year lobbyist I hope they come up with a better reason than aesthetics to oppose it. I can kind of understand the sensitive equipment argument, but I think its grasping at straws since they haven't really given anything specific. The Portland Aerial Tram had to be cantilevered off of the cliff side because of the sensitive microsurgeries that take place at OHSU.

But then again, Houston's light rail runs straight through the largest medical center in the world. And I'm sure subways in Boston and New York as well as transit around the world runs by similarly sensitive equipment. In Oakland people and heavy buses drive about 40 feet away from the MRI machine located in a trailer. In any event, it seems like blatant obstructionism. But it also seems like its about to come to an end.

Portland Blogging

Hey all. Sorry it's been a few days since my last post but I've been in Portland Oregon for a streetcar workshop. Below are some of the highlights. The best is what happens when you tear down a freeway, create a park, and then throw a huge brewfest party in the post below this one...







Here is a picture of a firetruck and a streetcar. It was pretty cool and they stayed there for a sec while I took a picture. I'm not sure if it was for me, but if it was, thanks!



As with the F-Line, it was a crush load on a lot of the cars I saw. In fact it's so full during the afternoon that it's hard for some folks to get on. They need more operating funding so cars can run more often, because every 12 minutes doesn't quite cut it.



We went on the tram and got a testimonial from a doctor that was a skeptic before she started riding it. She said she wondered why they were spending so much money on it, but now she gets it. Instead of 30 minutes during rush hour to get between patient visits in the South Waterfront and OHSU campus, it now takes her 7. It's no surprise that its won her over. It's apparently won over folks who wanted to bike, but didn't like the hill.





Here is traffic to Lake Oswego, better get that rapid streetcar sooner than later.



And here is a streetcar in the park for good measure. I'll update later as I upload more photos. Enjoy!!!