Seattle on a Space Race Rocket

Seattle is set to vote for 50 miles in extensions to their light rail line already under construction. All while trying to add more commuter rail lines, streetcar lines in adjacent cities, and an in town streetcar network. Soon they will be up with Portland, and sky's to the limit as to whether these systems can match Chicago or DC.

The Buses Role and Roll

While staying in the valley of the sun for a wedding, I needed to get a haircut before the ceremony. Of course where we were staying was not very walkable. The city is sprawl with the exception of the north south light rail corridor that is under construction and even that is a stretch. I looked up a haircut place on Yelp and CitySearch and then decided that I would walk. It was on a main corridor road and it was 101 degrees outside. When I got to the haircut place I was red and needed to cool down a bit. I saw a number of bus stops on my way there but figured it wasn’t really far enough. Well, it was far enough and I decided to take the bus back to the hotel. There were no schedules on the post. There were no route maps and a next bus indicator would have been helpful to know that I would have had to wait 40 minutes for it.

Overall it was a disappointing look into why people don’t take transit. This isn’t a bus versus rail thing but rather a convenience thing. I’m sure that this corridor I was on will be turned into Light Rail when they extend the initial line to the Metro Center, and that will allow a service improvement, but what about all of those other places that aren’t going to get light rail. What are cities going to do about bus service? Are they going to be like Portland and use all the money they saved from operating costs to increase bus service? That should be the main goal of cities building new rail starts, improve the bus system as well, which seems to be the goal of transit agencies who are doing this, specifically in Houston and Seattle. Without it, the only people riding the bus will continue to be the poor and the advocates.

**** The Tram

The Urban Planning Overlord has some info on free speech and transit at its best.

On An Airplane

Going to a wedding in Phoenix this weekend i think i'll ask the nice taxi driver to take me by the new light rail line. If it was built i would be taking it, however this wedding is a year too early. Did anyone think 2008 would be here this fast? I certainly didn't.

People on BART

I love riding transit. It's at its most interesting when people are cramped into the crush load at rush hour. A 10 car train comes every 4-6 minutes and people of all sorts rush on. There are people with crazy hair, nervous nellies that can't stop tapping their feet and little artists going to the city for inspiration yet live in the suburbs. It's a humanizing experience. Everyone has to compromise about where to stand and where to move and to let someone a little more fragile sit down. It's something everyone should experience.

When Is a Streetcar a Streetcar?

It's a good question. Streetcars are a subset of light rail and can have a number of characteristics of larger light rail. They can be grade separated such as they are in Tampa, they cost less to construct because they are lighter and don't need as deep of excavation, and yet some light rail such as in Portland or Dallas run in the street. In designing these systems, perhaps we should start looking at designing for streetcars instead of semi-metro LRT. Rapid Streetcar anyone? We don't need the heaviest vehicles if we can couple lighter ones do we? Can't we have diamond lanes? or perhaps a streetcar toll lane. If you want to drive on the lane, you're gonna have to pay a price, and that could possibly pay for the line. Of course the price would have to be high to allow cars and streetcars to run with optimal efficiency. Hmmm...

Anachronism...

I have a book from 1917 named Design of Railway Location. The following quote is of some interest...

In future years, as the public highways become more and more improved, the automobile is destined to compete seriously for much of the short haul traffic that is being taken care of at present by the interurban. The greater comfort and convenience of the automobile make it a very attractive mode of transportation. However, for the longer rides, the automobile can scarcely compete on a strictly economic basis with the electric interurban railway. The initial investment is high and the rate of depreciation rapid, and the mileage covered per day is not large...automobiles that do a regular transportation business should be taxed additionally to defray the expense incurred in the extra maintenance of the highways used, and such taxation would add to the cost of this mode of transportation.

A user fee??? Never!

Air Rights and Development

Transit agencies are seeing the benefits of TOD so why don't they allow their air rights to be developed over the stations? Here in the Bay Area BART stations that are above ground would be helped by an air rights scheme. If each station was an office complex (on the station, not around it) it would signal that these areas were hubs for other development to follow. It's beginning to and some of the parking lots have started to be redeveloped but if the air rights above stations and perhaps even a station makeover was made it might make a bigger impact. They sold the air rights above Penn Station.

Another idea I had to fund streetcar or light rail lines was for a private company to buy underutilized large parcels along a corridor they want to develop and redevelop them to create a fund for building transit. If this corporation or development partnership were to fund most of the line, perhaps it would be much more transit oriented and built right given they have a higher stake in its success.

Salt Lake City and The Space Race

Salt Lake City development and the Trax system got some attention for the New York Times this weekend.

Murray City and Hamlet Homes are taking advantage of growing buyer interest in living and working near the regional TRAX light rail system, which has operated in the Salt Lake Valley since 1999. The Murray North station, one of three TRAX stops in Murray City — population 50,000 — serves as the centerpiece of Birkhill at Fireclay.

St. Louis and The Space Race

I decided it might be time for a space race update so lets take a look at St. Louis. Often this Midwestern city is overlooked but it has frequently showed its thriftiness and ability to attract riders. The most recent success is that of the newest metro link line, the Cross County or Shrewsbury Line which opened in 2006. Ridership along the new line rocketed the total system ridership up to 63,000 and plans are for further expansion.

The first light rail line opened up in 1993 and fortunately was able to take advantage of an abandoned freight subway. An expansion opened up in 2001 into Illinois. In 2003 the Illinois line was expanded further and surpassed 2015 ridership projections upon opening.

An interesting thing about the Metro-Link is that it is a true light metro. It operates with very few grade crossings and has a subway segment through the city.

Now expansion plans are slated for a north south line that would bisect the existing east west axis. Studied in 2006 this line is supposed to receive funding for further study. Officials are also considering a tax hike in order to pay for expansion to the system.

The timing of any tax proposal will depend on whether Metro gets $20 million this year from the state. When the time comes to go before voters, officials believe more MetroLink — not just maintaining current operations — needs to be included. "We don't think you can talk in the county about support without talking about expansion," said Jones. "The opportunity to expand is critical to the support of the existing system."

While not as high profile as some of the other Transit Space Race entrants, St. Louis has quietly and methodically expanded its transit network. Some might have the glory, but this system has guts, pulling the system ridership out from the gutter and bringing new people to transit. If you get a chance, check out the expansion advocacy page of Citizens for Modern Transit.