tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post1478555923352016210..comments2024-01-12T00:32:20.149-08:00Comments on The Overhead Wire: Just Like Light Rail, Only Cheaper?Pantograph Trolleypolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17833159138533550544noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-30204431702029818782008-12-23T06:46:00.000-08:002008-12-23T06:46:00.000-08:00I'm known for commenting here about how BRT is not...I'm known for commenting here about how BRT is not truly "train like", especially in where I live - Ottawa. To tell you what, the "Orange Line" is one of the worst BRT examples ever, as is Boston's "Silver Line".<BR/><BR/>Does it really make sense to use colours for names of BRT routes as much as for trains? I say no, because it can lead to confusion into making people think these bus routes are "rapid transit" just as much as RAIL transit is.<BR/><BR/>As to where paving over rail lines for busways has been done - and it's been done in Ottawa - I know it's also been done in Pittsburgh and Miami, and these are also stupid. Also, in England, in Cambridge, they're "paving over" a freight line to nearby St. Ives for a "guided busway" and this is actually under some opposition.<BR/><BR/>BRT is not "the bus that looks like a train" or "the bus unlike any other bus" or "just like rail, but cheaper". BRT is just a glorified bus, no matter what colour it's painted in. It's rather like putting <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick_on_a_pig" REL="nofollow">lipstick on a pig</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-85498043569612775372008-12-07T12:06:00.000-08:002008-12-07T12:06:00.000-08:00I hope the Orange Line fiasco in the SFV gets fixe...I hope the Orange Line fiasco in the SFV gets fixed eventually. All they need to do is<BR/><BR/>(1) find a location for an LRT vehicle base and light maintenance facility<BR/><BR/>(2) Repeal the special local laws which prevent light rail.<BR/><BR/>Even Zev Yaroslavsky (sp?), the original political busway advocate of the region, seems to be willing to consider it if he gets pushed hard enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-24966292589607733572008-12-06T10:49:00.000-08:002008-12-06T10:49:00.000-08:00The anti-SMART folks in Marin suggested that a sup...The anti-SMART folks in Marin suggested that a superior alternative to DMUs would be to pave a 70 mile ROW for buses. Good thing that "plan" got stopped in its, er, tracks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-35499397474150990682008-12-06T05:09:00.000-08:002008-12-06T05:09:00.000-08:00For 50 years, North America had ripped up rail and...For 50 years, North America had ripped up rail and replaced it with "efficient" buses. Transit use then plummeted with each route that was replaced with buses.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-74201334445130082442008-12-05T22:18:00.000-08:002008-12-05T22:18:00.000-08:00Here in So. Calif. we had an abandoned rail right ...Here in So. Calif. we had an abandoned rail right of way in the San Fernando Valley that would have been great for light rail. Unfortunately, politics intervened and it became a busway. Now the buses are stuffed and people are saying, "Gee, we could have had a real rail line." Our local transit discussion board has kicked this around at length, but I think the SFV folks are stuck with buses for a long time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com