Monday, January 23, 2012
Letters from Southeast Asia
Our good friend and sometimes guest blogger Ed recently came back from Southeast Asia. As they often do, our foreign correspondents take wonderful transit pictures abroad. Enjoy these beauties.
Friday, January 20, 2012
OT: I Am the Mile - All 1609 Meters
Who out there in transit land watches track and field on television? I'm guessing not many of you. But most of you know that there is a big football game this weekend I'm sure. Track and Field is waning to a certain extent but hopefully last month's struggle between the Athletes and USATF on sponsorship rules will turn the tide a little bit more.
What is not waning is the short sightedness of those inside of the sport. I was deeply disappointed to hear that after Pat Henry of Texas A&M (Yes an Aggie!) suggested that the NCAA change the 1500 meters to the Mile (1609 meters), it was rejected out of hand by distance coaches around the country. Not only are these coaches short sighted about how to gain interest in the sport, they are also spiking the dreams of all kids who have ever read Once a Runner (Only the best book about distance running of all time!) and searched for their own route to Sub 4, just like Quenton Cassidy. For runners, the mile is now the measuring stick of history. To not have more opportunities at running one of the most fabled races of the last century, is to me somewhat criminal.
This would also be a big opportunity to refresh the sport. As someone who has moved on from track into another world and another industry, it's harder and harder for me to come back and watch. Especially when watching with friends who weren't runners. But everyone knows what mile times are, everyone. And if you tell them someone is trying to break 4, they'll stop and watch.
Every time people learn that I was a runner and a miler they ask my time. It can get really annoying to go through the whole description of what a 1500 is and even I still don't quite understand why we ran it other than it's the official Olympic distance and that's what they run in Europe. Usually I rattle off three different answers to explain myself. 3:41 for 1500(3:58 converted), 3:56 in the Austin Congress Avenue Mile (downhill), and 4:03 indoors. So I never broke 4 minutes "officially" to get on the national sub four list. It's one of my biggest regrets but since one could only run the mile indoors and a few select outdoor meets, it was pretty hard to see how fast you could run when you were fit. I've always told myself that I could start training and just get out there and do it. But after 9 years of not training, it's getting harder and harder to believe.
I'm sure there are others like me that never quite made it except in theory, but could have if given a few more races to try. And perhaps there are a few kids out there that when they get into the perfect race they close out with enough speed to dip under. My buddy Darren broke 4, just like his pops, the first father/son sub 4 tandem ever. But he had to have the race, which happened to be the only one that spring. And without this mile, there isn't this powerful connection.
Watch more video of 2008 Texas Relays on flotrack.org
Watch more video of Darren Brown on flotrack.org
Everyone who runs the 1500 or 1600 should have more opportunities to instead run 1609, which in my opinion would certainly make track in this country more exciting and put everyone on the same list together against their peers. In order to support the movement to bring back the mile, folks have set up a website and twitter to push this over the top. I fully support the effort and perhaps those of you who are interested will support it as well. We shouldn't have to do conversions. I am the mile.
What is not waning is the short sightedness of those inside of the sport. I was deeply disappointed to hear that after Pat Henry of Texas A&M (Yes an Aggie!) suggested that the NCAA change the 1500 meters to the Mile (1609 meters), it was rejected out of hand by distance coaches around the country. Not only are these coaches short sighted about how to gain interest in the sport, they are also spiking the dreams of all kids who have ever read Once a Runner (Only the best book about distance running of all time!) and searched for their own route to Sub 4, just like Quenton Cassidy. For runners, the mile is now the measuring stick of history. To not have more opportunities at running one of the most fabled races of the last century, is to me somewhat criminal.
From Once a Runner: That quarter mile oval may be one of the few places in the world where the bastards can’t screw you over, Quenton. That’s because there’s no place to hide out there. No way to fake it or charm your way through, no deals to be made. You know all that stuff. You’ve talked about it. It’s why you became a miler. The question is whether you are prepared to live by it or whether it was just a bunch of words.
This would also be a big opportunity to refresh the sport. As someone who has moved on from track into another world and another industry, it's harder and harder for me to come back and watch. Especially when watching with friends who weren't runners. But everyone knows what mile times are, everyone. And if you tell them someone is trying to break 4, they'll stop and watch.
Every time people learn that I was a runner and a miler they ask my time. It can get really annoying to go through the whole description of what a 1500 is and even I still don't quite understand why we ran it other than it's the official Olympic distance and that's what they run in Europe. Usually I rattle off three different answers to explain myself. 3:41 for 1500(3:58 converted), 3:56 in the Austin Congress Avenue Mile (downhill), and 4:03 indoors. So I never broke 4 minutes "officially" to get on the national sub four list. It's one of my biggest regrets but since one could only run the mile indoors and a few select outdoor meets, it was pretty hard to see how fast you could run when you were fit. I've always told myself that I could start training and just get out there and do it. But after 9 years of not training, it's getting harder and harder to believe.
I'm sure there are others like me that never quite made it except in theory, but could have if given a few more races to try. And perhaps there are a few kids out there that when they get into the perfect race they close out with enough speed to dip under. My buddy Darren broke 4, just like his pops, the first father/son sub 4 tandem ever. But he had to have the race, which happened to be the only one that spring. And without this mile, there isn't this powerful connection.
Watch more video of 2008 Texas Relays on flotrack.org
Watch more video of Darren Brown on flotrack.org
Everyone who runs the 1500 or 1600 should have more opportunities to instead run 1609, which in my opinion would certainly make track in this country more exciting and put everyone on the same list together against their peers. In order to support the movement to bring back the mile, folks have set up a website and twitter to push this over the top. I fully support the effort and perhaps those of you who are interested will support it as well. We shouldn't have to do conversions. I am the mile.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
High Speed Rail, For THIS Generation
I recently read a Burlingame Patch article where a local officials said this:
After reading the Patch article and remembering the Epstein post I wrote the following tweet:
"Sorry, but defunding HSR won’t make local agencies $10b richer."
My thinking behind this was that while local folks and advocates might feel that killing HSR will benefit local transportation funding, the truth is that the money will just disappear. There won't be a $10B bond measure for local expansion and even if there were it wouldn't come back to the voters for at least another 5 years to a decade, or perhaps even a generation. At 31 I'm becoming acutely aware of the fact that if I live to be as old as my 99 year old Gramma, I'm a third done with my life and would like to spend the next third building things that I will use in my final third.
But in response to my tweet, blogger Market Urbanism tweeted "But it might start a long-overdo convo on costs" and wrote a post on Forbes about how my thinking was wrong because if we lower the costs and fix the construction we can actually build the line faster. In my opinion this ignores political realities about these types of large projects and a little how California is operating at this time. This probably gets us more into the technicals vs politicals discussion that Alon Levy brought up a few months ago, but I feel like we can still have the cost or design discussion without killing the project outright or thinking we can redistribute the funding to local projects. Stephen goes on to admit that the first segment is likely well designed but that folks are rightly spooked about the somewhat vague project funding realities and future possibilities of value engineering. I don't think we should be too worried since these projects have a way of moving along as they should and people like Stephen are always going to be pushing those buttons.
I feel that there are a lot of things that could be fixed or fleshed out about the project. People who know more about these types of issues than me (ie Clem). But also, if we kill the project now, it's dead for a generation. I'm a huge fan of fixing the issues of hand rather than putting them off for a later date.
Now full disclosure, I have a personal stake in this project. My sister and her family live in Bakersfield. I live in San Francisco. I also hate driving I-5. So this project would directly benefit me by getting me there faster and likely more often. Some people think this project is just about San Francisco and LA and that the Central Valley is nowhere. I beg to differ and this is why.
“What I would like to see…is for us to take a position saying not just that we think the current plan does not make sense…but to say what we do need for transportation,” said Councilmember Terry Nagel. “If we could start a plan to have the money reallocated…that would make more sense.”and
"However, Baylock countered that as long as high-speed rail exists, all transit money will go towards it, and a ballot measure would be necessary to unfund the project and redirect funds towards local transit."There have also been other places where really strong transit supporters such as Huffington Post writer Joel Epstein have suggested that the money be reallocated to local transit as well and that HSR should be killed on spot.
After reading the Patch article and remembering the Epstein post I wrote the following tweet:
"Sorry, but defunding HSR won’t make local agencies $10b richer."
My thinking behind this was that while local folks and advocates might feel that killing HSR will benefit local transportation funding, the truth is that the money will just disappear. There won't be a $10B bond measure for local expansion and even if there were it wouldn't come back to the voters for at least another 5 years to a decade, or perhaps even a generation. At 31 I'm becoming acutely aware of the fact that if I live to be as old as my 99 year old Gramma, I'm a third done with my life and would like to spend the next third building things that I will use in my final third.
But in response to my tweet, blogger Market Urbanism tweeted "But it might start a long-overdo convo on costs" and wrote a post on Forbes about how my thinking was wrong because if we lower the costs and fix the construction we can actually build the line faster. In my opinion this ignores political realities about these types of large projects and a little how California is operating at this time. This probably gets us more into the technicals vs politicals discussion that Alon Levy brought up a few months ago, but I feel like we can still have the cost or design discussion without killing the project outright or thinking we can redistribute the funding to local projects. Stephen goes on to admit that the first segment is likely well designed but that folks are rightly spooked about the somewhat vague project funding realities and future possibilities of value engineering. I don't think we should be too worried since these projects have a way of moving along as they should and people like Stephen are always going to be pushing those buttons.
I feel that there are a lot of things that could be fixed or fleshed out about the project. People who know more about these types of issues than me (ie Clem). But also, if we kill the project now, it's dead for a generation. I'm a huge fan of fixing the issues of hand rather than putting them off for a later date.
Now full disclosure, I have a personal stake in this project. My sister and her family live in Bakersfield. I live in San Francisco. I also hate driving I-5. So this project would directly benefit me by getting me there faster and likely more often. Some people think this project is just about San Francisco and LA and that the Central Valley is nowhere. I beg to differ and this is why.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The Two Sides of Punishment
There are two sides to the phrase "my sport is your sports punishment". On one hand the 80 - 90 miles a week I ran in college are enough to make people gasp when I tell them. "You ran more than I drove my car" is the response that I often got from folks. I guess you could say I had really high PMT (personal miles traveled).
But at the same time I cringe when sports coaches use running laps as a punishment. This does not teach the joys of running or the personal accomplishment and fulfillment that occurs when you finish a marathon or a long run. Rather it instills a hatred of running, often life long, that in my opinion steals away something that could be beneficial and dare I say, enjoyable if someone at least gave it an honest try.
So you can imagine how I feel when a humble mode of transportation is used as punishment. Had you heard this one? The one where the Virginia Tech football coach decided to send his kicker home on a Greyhound Bus from the Sugar Bowl because he had stayed out past curfew. I'm not against punishment for violating team rules, but does it have to be a mode of transportation? Does it have to further stigmatize the only option that some Americans have? This seems to me to be more windshield perspective from the wider world.
It was even the cover of the playbook. "The Greyhound Experience" and ESPN proudly showed it during one of its talk breaks during the game. Perhaps I have it wrong though. Is this the free market at work? Maybe it is proof of how bad our transportation system is that it takes a whole day of travel and three transfers to get between two US cities when according to Google Maps, which is generally extra time, the trip should only take 13 hours in a car, or half the time of the bus trip. In other words, we've handicapped trips on alternative modes so much that anyone going by bus would have to be crazy. Or poor. Or punished. And we wonder why we can't convince people that there's a better way.
But at the same time I cringe when sports coaches use running laps as a punishment. This does not teach the joys of running or the personal accomplishment and fulfillment that occurs when you finish a marathon or a long run. Rather it instills a hatred of running, often life long, that in my opinion steals away something that could be beneficial and dare I say, enjoyable if someone at least gave it an honest try.
So you can imagine how I feel when a humble mode of transportation is used as punishment. Had you heard this one? The one where the Virginia Tech football coach decided to send his kicker home on a Greyhound Bus from the Sugar Bowl because he had stayed out past curfew. I'm not against punishment for violating team rules, but does it have to be a mode of transportation? Does it have to further stigmatize the only option that some Americans have? This seems to me to be more windshield perspective from the wider world.
It was even the cover of the playbook. "The Greyhound Experience" and ESPN proudly showed it during one of its talk breaks during the game. Perhaps I have it wrong though. Is this the free market at work? Maybe it is proof of how bad our transportation system is that it takes a whole day of travel and three transfers to get between two US cities when according to Google Maps, which is generally extra time, the trip should only take 13 hours in a car, or half the time of the bus trip. In other words, we've handicapped trips on alternative modes so much that anyone going by bus would have to be crazy. Or poor. Or punished. And we wonder why we can't convince people that there's a better way.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Thin Slicing Major Transit Planning
While I haven't been posting much I still think about all of these issues every day. It doesn't matter whether it's a book I'm reading for fun or even for work when thoughts flood into my head that I would love to write about. I just wish I had more time, and was better at getting my points across.
This last weekend I went to Denver to hang out with some friends over the weekend and on the plane I decided that I would read a book that's been sitting on my shelf for a while. I should probably do that more often as the shelf is filling with books faster than I can read them. Sorry Peter Calthorpe, Ed Glaeser and Ryan Avent. I have the books, just not the time. This time it was a book that I had picked up cheap a few years ago. Many of you have likely read Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker or picked up one of his quick read books The Tipping Point or Blink. They drive me a little crazy with their internal repetition but ultimately it makes you think a bit more about certain subjects than you would without the 'priming'.
So I started reading Blink and read the chapter about John Gottman and his love lab. By looking sitting down a couple to have a conversation about something relatively important for two hours, he claims to predict with 90% confidence whether that marriage will last. What did it boil down to? In the end he felt that the most important predictor was contempt. Out of all those emotions and interactions and issues that couples go through, is it really just one or two that predict accurately whether they will stay together? If Gottman's theory is true then yes.
Gladwell goes on to discuss the idea of Thin Slicing, or taking pieces of experience to develop a quick hunch or theory. The first example given in the book is museum curators who spotted a fake statue right away by just looking at it even though all the testing would seem to say that it was an actual antique. And when people have gut reactions to things and end up being correct, making them explain why if they are untrained to do so often muddles the initial right answer. Perhaps a common case of over-thinking.
But going back to transit and transportation as I do, a thought immediately shot into my head. Let's call it my gut reaction. Transportation planners are looking for infinite ways to gain higher ridership and fill seats. Transportation modeling in the United States is a huge industry with tons of engineers working to figure out how to predict travel behavior. So much so that they are always trying out new inputs that might account for every single situation that could possibly happen. I know some are probably thinking about how the brick paving affects walkability to the station. Now as a disclaimer I'm not super knowledgeable in travel demand modeling, and only have cursory knowledge about how the tables work and issues with origins and destinations, but I feel as many people do that its mostly a black box.
But as much as people around the country are often outside of the wonks when it comes to transit planning and designs, it seems to me that they are often right on the money when it comes to thinking about transit and transportation policy. The phrase "it doesn't go anywhere" is probably the most overused in the lexicon of citizens thinking about transit planning. But we do know from research that when a line does go somewhere it actually has riders, lots of them.
My main motivation moving along this train of thought (i see what you did there) is to think about how we can open up those black boxes that are travel demand models such that people who's first thought is "where does it go" understand why they should or shouldn't support a line. Perhaps it would make the FTA's life easier as well when they have some city thinking about spending money on a line that, well, doesn't go anywhere.
And this is where my thinking might be starting to change on this subject. Perhaps instead of a million different factors like connections to households, zoning changes, whether there is a station canopy, brick sidewalks or small block sizes, we ask where does the line go. My metric of choice would probably be jobs or even intensity (workers+residents). If you connect places with high intensity, you can't lose. Connecting places with low intensity, you do lose. No one rides.
Ultimately what this comes to is a thin slicing of transit planning. Everyone knows what the answer should be yet many times 1+1 is not 2. We often get sidetracked by politics, or the idea of creating new development, a million different factors in the model, or even lack of enthusiasm because the last line failed. But if we just focused on getting a large portion of people where they wanted to go, then perhaps we wouldn't always be fighting about funding or political will or even citizen support. Because no one can dispute the facts if a line gets riders. If people are using the system, everyone knows and don't need to have someone tell them if its a failure or not.
I know this is a bit of an oversimplification. But we focus so much on the smaller details that we end up not coming out ahead in the end. So many places want transit so bad but they think the only way to do it is to build a super cheap line on an existing freight corridor and call it a day. Deep down people know that's wrong, and many places will end up paying because they didn't do what first came to mind.
Go where the people go.
This last weekend I went to Denver to hang out with some friends over the weekend and on the plane I decided that I would read a book that's been sitting on my shelf for a while. I should probably do that more often as the shelf is filling with books faster than I can read them. Sorry Peter Calthorpe, Ed Glaeser and Ryan Avent. I have the books, just not the time. This time it was a book that I had picked up cheap a few years ago. Many of you have likely read Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker or picked up one of his quick read books The Tipping Point or Blink. They drive me a little crazy with their internal repetition but ultimately it makes you think a bit more about certain subjects than you would without the 'priming'.
So I started reading Blink and read the chapter about John Gottman and his love lab. By looking sitting down a couple to have a conversation about something relatively important for two hours, he claims to predict with 90% confidence whether that marriage will last. What did it boil down to? In the end he felt that the most important predictor was contempt. Out of all those emotions and interactions and issues that couples go through, is it really just one or two that predict accurately whether they will stay together? If Gottman's theory is true then yes.
Gladwell goes on to discuss the idea of Thin Slicing, or taking pieces of experience to develop a quick hunch or theory. The first example given in the book is museum curators who spotted a fake statue right away by just looking at it even though all the testing would seem to say that it was an actual antique. And when people have gut reactions to things and end up being correct, making them explain why if they are untrained to do so often muddles the initial right answer. Perhaps a common case of over-thinking.
But going back to transit and transportation as I do, a thought immediately shot into my head. Let's call it my gut reaction. Transportation planners are looking for infinite ways to gain higher ridership and fill seats. Transportation modeling in the United States is a huge industry with tons of engineers working to figure out how to predict travel behavior. So much so that they are always trying out new inputs that might account for every single situation that could possibly happen. I know some are probably thinking about how the brick paving affects walkability to the station. Now as a disclaimer I'm not super knowledgeable in travel demand modeling, and only have cursory knowledge about how the tables work and issues with origins and destinations, but I feel as many people do that its mostly a black box.
But as much as people around the country are often outside of the wonks when it comes to transit planning and designs, it seems to me that they are often right on the money when it comes to thinking about transit and transportation policy. The phrase "it doesn't go anywhere" is probably the most overused in the lexicon of citizens thinking about transit planning. But we do know from research that when a line does go somewhere it actually has riders, lots of them.
My main motivation moving along this train of thought (i see what you did there) is to think about how we can open up those black boxes that are travel demand models such that people who's first thought is "where does it go" understand why they should or shouldn't support a line. Perhaps it would make the FTA's life easier as well when they have some city thinking about spending money on a line that, well, doesn't go anywhere.
And this is where my thinking might be starting to change on this subject. Perhaps instead of a million different factors like connections to households, zoning changes, whether there is a station canopy, brick sidewalks or small block sizes, we ask where does the line go. My metric of choice would probably be jobs or even intensity (workers+residents). If you connect places with high intensity, you can't lose. Connecting places with low intensity, you do lose. No one rides.
Ultimately what this comes to is a thin slicing of transit planning. Everyone knows what the answer should be yet many times 1+1 is not 2. We often get sidetracked by politics, or the idea of creating new development, a million different factors in the model, or even lack of enthusiasm because the last line failed. But if we just focused on getting a large portion of people where they wanted to go, then perhaps we wouldn't always be fighting about funding or political will or even citizen support. Because no one can dispute the facts if a line gets riders. If people are using the system, everyone knows and don't need to have someone tell them if its a failure or not.
I know this is a bit of an oversimplification. But we focus so much on the smaller details that we end up not coming out ahead in the end. So many places want transit so bad but they think the only way to do it is to build a super cheap line on an existing freight corridor and call it a day. Deep down people know that's wrong, and many places will end up paying because they didn't do what first came to mind.
Go where the people go.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
On to Vik
I don't really want this blog to turn into my travel log and I promise that I'll write some things soon over Christmas break when I get a bit of time but I did want to share some videos that I took on my trip to Scandinavia. The clip below is North of Bergen on Highway 13 on the way to the Stave Church in Vik (See images in posts below). This was the only day we rented a car but it was a pretty amazing drive and well worth it for the waterfalls alone.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
2011 Transportation Election Results
It's that time of year again!! I know I haven't been blogging lately but this is one of my favorite things win or lose. Here is 2008 and 2010 in case you want to hit the wayback machine. So let's get to it!
There are a number of interesting ones out there tonight. Because we're on the West Coast some of them might be over. But we'll follow anyways. As usual you can find the total transportation election contests at CFTE.
~~~
Cincinnati Charter Amendment: - WIN
No Rail Planning for 10 Years Issue 48 A No Vote Means Streetcar a Go
99% Votes In:
No 51.47%
Yes 48.53%
~~~
Durham County North Carolina Sales Tax for Transit - WIN
97% Votes In:
60% For
40% Against
~~~
Lorain County Ohio General Sales Tax. - LOSS
Bus service will be cut in half if No vote on Issue 22
100% Votes in:
67% No
33% Yes
~~~
Trumbull County Ohio Transit Sales Tax - LOSS
Transit system will cease to exist as of January 1st with No vote
100% Votes in:
35% Yes
65% No
~~
Clark County Washington - WIN
.2% Sales Tax for Transit - Proposition 1
100% Votes in:
54% Approved
46% Rejected
~~~
Seattle Vehicle License Fee - LOSS
100% Votes in:
60% Against
40% For
~~~
Washington Tolling Initiative 1125
No Vote Would be Win
Washington State Results
9:50pm PT 49% Yes 51% No
9:55pm PT 49.07% Yes 50.93% No
5:39pm PT 11.9.2011 - 48.56% No 51.44%
There are a number of interesting ones out there tonight. Because we're on the West Coast some of them might be over. But we'll follow anyways. As usual you can find the total transportation election contests at CFTE.
~~~
Cincinnati Charter Amendment: - WIN
No Rail Planning for 10 Years Issue 48 A No Vote Means Streetcar a Go
99% Votes In:
No 51.47%
Yes 48.53%
~~~
Durham County North Carolina Sales Tax for Transit - WIN
97% Votes In:
60% For
40% Against
~~~
Lorain County Ohio General Sales Tax. - LOSS
Bus service will be cut in half if No vote on Issue 22
100% Votes in:
67% No
33% Yes
~~~
Trumbull County Ohio Transit Sales Tax - LOSS
Transit system will cease to exist as of January 1st with No vote
100% Votes in:
35% Yes
65% No
~~
Clark County Washington - WIN
.2% Sales Tax for Transit - Proposition 1
100% Votes in:
54% Approved
46% Rejected
~~~
Seattle Vehicle License Fee - LOSS
100% Votes in:
60% Against
40% For
~~~
Washington Tolling Initiative 1125
No Vote Would be Win
Washington State Results
9:50pm PT 49% Yes 51% No
9:55pm PT 49.07% Yes 50.93% No
5:39pm PT 11.9.2011 - 48.56% No 51.44%
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Go Underground Young Man!
Each time I go to a Rail~Volution conference I feel a bit revitalized. For some reason just seeing people doing all the great work that they do really gets me excited about the future, even though it's always hard when recent politics dictates one step forward and two steps back. I personally want to take 5 steps forward but we know that isn't how it works.
Some of the best parts of the conference come from the stats and stories that people tell in the sessions and in the hallways. Today I learned what "Festival Parking" in development projects was from Art Lomenick and yesterday learned about a CDC program that invests in communities looking to improve health outcomes.
But one of my favorite comments came from one of my favorite public officials. Harriet Tregoning mentioned in her session (and it was repeated in Streetsblog and STB posts) that subway tracking heavy rail is the best way to go when it comes to surface development. While there are a few examples of it working around the country, I think the clean slate it affords developers and pedestrians is a huge bonus over the long term.
This also brings up another thing I would like to see in regions around the country. Usually we get into the chicken and egg question whether the transit or density needs to come first but ultimately I think transportation investment drives development investment and putting these lines underground allows us to think about these as a long term investment, even though people these days don't think that way.
What I would like to see is a program for building at least three line subway lines in each major city in the United States. Now I'm not talking about these hybrid systems we get in the United States like BART but true central city Metros with transfer centers at the end that might stretch 3 miles from the center. What this would do is push cities to make urban development legal. The demand for development along major corridors stretches from the market generated around the gravity of central employment district. The benefit is that if you can get further from the center in ten minutes by putting the line underground, you will be able to build higher and create more walkable, sustainable development than you would have with just the bus. We see what a ten minute trip from downtown on a streetcar can do, we just need to get multiple modes going and augment with the subway.
I know its dreaming because it can't really happen given the current environment, but its really what I believe should happen. This model is there with the DC Metro, we just need to make it happen somehow.
Some of the best parts of the conference come from the stats and stories that people tell in the sessions and in the hallways. Today I learned what "Festival Parking" in development projects was from Art Lomenick and yesterday learned about a CDC program that invests in communities looking to improve health outcomes.
But one of my favorite comments came from one of my favorite public officials. Harriet Tregoning mentioned in her session (and it was repeated in Streetsblog and STB posts) that subway tracking heavy rail is the best way to go when it comes to surface development. While there are a few examples of it working around the country, I think the clean slate it affords developers and pedestrians is a huge bonus over the long term.
“In the short term, under-grounding can be very expensive, but in the long term it saves a lot of money,” Zimmerman said. The development that occurs above the station easily pays for the tunnel, and there’s significant savings on maintenance when rails are protected from the elements. But perhaps more important, there’s little difference between a transit line and an Interstate when it comes to fracturing the fabric of the urban environment. “A railroad takes up a lot of space and creates a barrier — something you can’t get across, like a highway,” he said.
This also brings up another thing I would like to see in regions around the country. Usually we get into the chicken and egg question whether the transit or density needs to come first but ultimately I think transportation investment drives development investment and putting these lines underground allows us to think about these as a long term investment, even though people these days don't think that way.
What I would like to see is a program for building at least three line subway lines in each major city in the United States. Now I'm not talking about these hybrid systems we get in the United States like BART but true central city Metros with transfer centers at the end that might stretch 3 miles from the center. What this would do is push cities to make urban development legal. The demand for development along major corridors stretches from the market generated around the gravity of central employment district. The benefit is that if you can get further from the center in ten minutes by putting the line underground, you will be able to build higher and create more walkable, sustainable development than you would have with just the bus. We see what a ten minute trip from downtown on a streetcar can do, we just need to get multiple modes going and augment with the subway.
I know its dreaming because it can't really happen given the current environment, but its really what I believe should happen. This model is there with the DC Metro, we just need to make it happen somehow.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Norway in a Nutshell
That's the title of the great suggested tour that leads from Oslo to Bergen. I discussed Copenhagen and Stockholm in my earlier post, and now its time to cover Norway. Such an amazingly beautiful place and unfortunately the camera really can't do it any justice. But it'll have to do for now.
Our adventure starts with water and lots of it. It's definitely not something they'll have to worry about anytime soon. At least it seems that way. If you like waterfalls, you'll love Norway.
Also, the train ride between Oslo and Bergen is beautiful, but if you must get off the train, I recommend highway 13. It's got more tunnels than I knew existed in the world and some beautiful bus shelters.
The water is pretty still as well.
And the ski resorts have grass roofs
At the end of highway 13 is the town of Vik.
And in Vik is Hopperstad Stave Church, built in the 1100s, this church has been renovated to a certain extent but the inside is still in tact and an amazing specimen. It is said to be the oldest surviving church of its kind.
On the train from Oslo to Bergen, the train ride is full of farmhouses and deep canyons. And we rode in the car that allows pets.
At the Finse Glacier is the highest train station in Northern Europe. Only at about 4,000 feet the tree line doesn't go as high as it does in California or the Rockies because it gets so much colder. We found out later as well that this was where they filmed the Hoth scenes for Empire Strikes Back.
On the other side of the Train ride is the beautiful Fjords with more waterfalls. This one was from a train that has some serious elevation changes.
On the way back, we were in a commuter type bus going down this switchback, which was quite amazing that the driver could pull it off
And Bergen is a beautiful city
The Hanseatic quarter burnt down in the 1700s and the debris was pushed into the bay and built upon. But that was a bad idea as the buildings are shifting so much that some of them don't match up.
Back in Oslo, Frogner Park is a must see and here's the obligatory tram shot. The photo below is a really cool water feature that the trams run directly over.
And the urbanism is pretty great as well
Finally though, I thought I would share our prison abroad, the US Embassy in Norway. That's what I thought it was at least the first time I saw it. It's too bad we create so many enemies and have folks that don't like us that we need to even do this. At least there is a tram line.
Our adventure starts with water and lots of it. It's definitely not something they'll have to worry about anytime soon. At least it seems that way. If you like waterfalls, you'll love Norway.
Also, the train ride between Oslo and Bergen is beautiful, but if you must get off the train, I recommend highway 13. It's got more tunnels than I knew existed in the world and some beautiful bus shelters.
The water is pretty still as well.
And the ski resorts have grass roofs
At the end of highway 13 is the town of Vik.
And in Vik is Hopperstad Stave Church, built in the 1100s, this church has been renovated to a certain extent but the inside is still in tact and an amazing specimen. It is said to be the oldest surviving church of its kind.
On the train from Oslo to Bergen, the train ride is full of farmhouses and deep canyons. And we rode in the car that allows pets.
At the Finse Glacier is the highest train station in Northern Europe. Only at about 4,000 feet the tree line doesn't go as high as it does in California or the Rockies because it gets so much colder. We found out later as well that this was where they filmed the Hoth scenes for Empire Strikes Back.
On the other side of the Train ride is the beautiful Fjords with more waterfalls. This one was from a train that has some serious elevation changes.
On the way back, we were in a commuter type bus going down this switchback, which was quite amazing that the driver could pull it off
And Bergen is a beautiful city
The Hanseatic quarter burnt down in the 1700s and the debris was pushed into the bay and built upon. But that was a bad idea as the buildings are shifting so much that some of them don't match up.
Back in Oslo, Frogner Park is a must see and here's the obligatory tram shot. The photo below is a really cool water feature that the trams run directly over.
And the urbanism is pretty great as well
Finally though, I thought I would share our prison abroad, the US Embassy in Norway. That's what I thought it was at least the first time I saw it. It's too bad we create so many enemies and have folks that don't like us that we need to even do this. At least there is a tram line.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Seafarers of Scandinavia
Well maybe not, but we got rained on. Every two years I try to go somewhere interesting for a vacation. Over the last few years I've been to Eastern Europe and Italy with my parents and sister and decided to go a bit further north in Europe to Scandinavia this time. I try to share some photos and stories so here is my latest adventure!
First we flew into Stockholm, some of the highlights included the awesome train from the airport that took 20 minutes to downtown at 205 km/hr. That's one fast ride. Over the course of two weeks, we flew, took intercity rail, tram, bus, commuter bus, metro, ferry, large ferry, taxi, and yes rental car. It rained a lot so no bikes. But its not all about transportation. Here are some shots from Sweden and Denmark. I'll get to Norway in another post.
Scandinavia is famous for bikes, but I was impressed also with the subways and trams. I would be remiss if I didn't start with the Trams. This lane is shared by Trams and buses and the vehicle is a Bombardier Flexity.
Here's Rush hour in Stockholm:
And one of the worst traffic nightmares in the city (Slussen Locks) protects cyclists with some colorful barriers
But even more fun in these cities is the old central city. In Stockholm, this area is known as Gamla Stan. The Central Square known as the Stortorget has a fountain that is the center of the country. Distances in different parts of the country are measured to it and it has been the location for some famous historical events. It is said that the white stones on the red building in the photo represent each of the Swedish nobles that were beheaded in the square by the King of Denmark.
Back in the narrow passageways behind the Stortorget you can see small Phoenix's over windows representing who had paid their fees for the fire department to save the house.
Across the lake from Gamla Stan is the 1700s Warship Vasa that sunk only a few minutes after launch and was only found again at the bottom of the lake in the 1950s. It is probably one of the most amazing things you'll see in the city.
On to Copenhagen, home of the bikes! It's a great city but I thought it felt a little less clean than Oslo, Bergen, or Stockholm.
In the Assistens Kirkegaard, half park/half cemetary, noted Danes including Hans Christian Anderson and Neils Bohr are buried. It's a beautiful place.
Off the main shopping street, a small back ally called the Pistolstrade will bring you to some Half Timbered buildings that are fun and brightly colored.
Back into the City, the City Hall is defended by a pair of fearsome looking Walruses (Walri?)
Across town at the Rosenborg Slot (Castle), the crown has been showing off the Jewels and living quarters of Danish Kings since the end of the 19th Century. These are some of the toy soldiers kept in the basement vault.
Christian IV was the major part of the progress of the Danes and there are a number of monuments to his movement to Lutheranism around the city including this history statue. The guy was pretty hardcore. At his castle Rosenborg, there is a room with his shirt bloodied after a battle and the shrapnel pulled from his eye that he made into ear rigns and gave to his mistress. That's love right there. Or something...
The first day we also took a train to Roskilde, home to a major music festival and the Viking Ship museum. I highly recommend it if you have kids, or even if you don't. The cool thing is that they show how the ships are built and how they used the wood to build them. This photo shows what parts of the tree they used for certain parts of the boat. Also, they've uncovered a number of viking ships including merchant vessels and warboats. Very cool.
I've got a lot from Norway as well. I'll post those later this week. Until then you can see them all on my Flickr page.
First we flew into Stockholm, some of the highlights included the awesome train from the airport that took 20 minutes to downtown at 205 km/hr. That's one fast ride. Over the course of two weeks, we flew, took intercity rail, tram, bus, commuter bus, metro, ferry, large ferry, taxi, and yes rental car. It rained a lot so no bikes. But its not all about transportation. Here are some shots from Sweden and Denmark. I'll get to Norway in another post.
Scandinavia is famous for bikes, but I was impressed also with the subways and trams. I would be remiss if I didn't start with the Trams. This lane is shared by Trams and buses and the vehicle is a Bombardier Flexity.
Here's Rush hour in Stockholm:
And one of the worst traffic nightmares in the city (Slussen Locks) protects cyclists with some colorful barriers
But even more fun in these cities is the old central city. In Stockholm, this area is known as Gamla Stan. The Central Square known as the Stortorget has a fountain that is the center of the country. Distances in different parts of the country are measured to it and it has been the location for some famous historical events. It is said that the white stones on the red building in the photo represent each of the Swedish nobles that were beheaded in the square by the King of Denmark.
Back in the narrow passageways behind the Stortorget you can see small Phoenix's over windows representing who had paid their fees for the fire department to save the house.
Across the lake from Gamla Stan is the 1700s Warship Vasa that sunk only a few minutes after launch and was only found again at the bottom of the lake in the 1950s. It is probably one of the most amazing things you'll see in the city.
On to Copenhagen, home of the bikes! It's a great city but I thought it felt a little less clean than Oslo, Bergen, or Stockholm.
In the Assistens Kirkegaard, half park/half cemetary, noted Danes including Hans Christian Anderson and Neils Bohr are buried. It's a beautiful place.
Off the main shopping street, a small back ally called the Pistolstrade will bring you to some Half Timbered buildings that are fun and brightly colored.
Back into the City, the City Hall is defended by a pair of fearsome looking Walruses (Walri?)
Across town at the Rosenborg Slot (Castle), the crown has been showing off the Jewels and living quarters of Danish Kings since the end of the 19th Century. These are some of the toy soldiers kept in the basement vault.
Christian IV was the major part of the progress of the Danes and there are a number of monuments to his movement to Lutheranism around the city including this history statue. The guy was pretty hardcore. At his castle Rosenborg, there is a room with his shirt bloodied after a battle and the shrapnel pulled from his eye that he made into ear rigns and gave to his mistress. That's love right there. Or something...
The first day we also took a train to Roskilde, home to a major music festival and the Viking Ship museum. I highly recommend it if you have kids, or even if you don't. The cool thing is that they show how the ships are built and how they used the wood to build them. This photo shows what parts of the tree they used for certain parts of the boat. Also, they've uncovered a number of viking ships including merchant vessels and warboats. Very cool.
I've got a lot from Norway as well. I'll post those later this week. Until then you can see them all on my Flickr page.
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