Always Someone Cooler Than You

Supervisor Chiu and others have called for a second Freeway revolt. This time its a bit more passive, but its good to have people start speaking out in favor of even more spending on transit. What is also shows is how clueless MTC is when it comes to the United States as a whole.

In response, Randy Rentschler, a spokesperson for the MTC, called the RTP "the most transit-friendly plan of any metro area in the entire country."

I'm sure it's not as friendly as New York City. As Ben Folds says, always someone cooler than you.



But the bigger point that even if you were the most transit friendly plan in the United States, that isn't really saying much, considering how regions in the United States treat transit.

So Much to Read!

I've been away for a couple of days in LA and haven't been able to keep up with the feeds. It gets a little disconcerting when you take a day off and your feed reader shows 600 articles to dash through. Here are a few gems from those days. I can't comment in depth on all of them but hopefully I'll be back to full speed tomorrow. Also, if anyone is in Minneapolis for APA next weekend, let me know as I'll be there too!

Wall Street Journal - Spain has a rockin HSR system. I had heard before that the Basque separatists (ETA) aren't happy about a possible extension to their neck of the woods. Very interesting article.
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I guess history doesn't matter as much as making money. Give them some time to get some samples out of the ground. I don't see why the dig can't be a part of the development plan. Themes!
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Trees vs. Sidewalks!
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What Pedestrianist said... and Mayor Tom Bates is beating the Emerald Aristocracy at the green game. Now if we could only get his wife to find this thing called the Capital Corridor.
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MTC pushing back hard because well, they like bad plans.
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Suburban demographics are changing. Any surprise there is a market for not suburbia?
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Relating transit to your road network.

Within two to three decades, 90 percent of Wasatch Front homes should be within a mile of a major rail or express bus stop, said Mike Allegra, UTA's assistant general manager.

He describes the end result the same way one would Utah's network of roads and highways. The streetcars will act like neighborhood collector roads that move traffic to TRAX or rapid buses, which run in their own lanes, whisking people the way a major highway does. From there, passengers can transfer to FrontRunner, the rail system's limited-access freeway. "Each mode feeds the other," Allegra said.

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NIMBYs!

Opponents of a proposed commuter rail line from southwest Fort Worth to Grapevine say they will file a petition today in Colleyville saying increased train traffic would clog intersections and lower property values.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Don't move near a rail line if you don't want to hear trains. Is that really so hard to get? This is pretty comical though. I hardly think a train every 15 minutes is going to jam up intersections. Perhaps they are thinking freight trains? Who knows.