Sofia's New Trams

Inekon made these for the Bulgarian capitol. Here they are in testing.

The Usual Conversation

Sigh. Can we get past this type of discussion about light rail and BRT already?

Subway to SoMa

We've been telling you for years! My favorite comment:

And after we ritually sacrifice whoever decided to dig up the Muni B Geary line back in the 50's.

Bringing Customers to the Bar

I rode BART to Lafayette tonight to eat dinner with my family and noticed how easy it was to get off at the station and just walk across the street to the restaurant. Lafayette downtown is actually easy to access from BART.

If only it was always so easy. Well if you have transit close to places you go it makes things easy. This is the case in Arizona as well, where patrons are hopping off light rail to get a drink.

Kelly said light rail's impact on the tavern's crowds has been incredible. Out of nowhere, a crowd will pour into the bar after hopping off the train for a night on Mill. It makes for a nice jolt.

"It's still the fun and exciting thing for us now," Kelly said of light rail. "It's been great for us. I hope it continues." It never hurts to have a university nearby, either.

Sean Donovan, communications director for the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, said Mill's nightlife has been supported during the current economic downturn by light rail, cross promotion among bars, and Arizona State University.

Transit in Trouble - Bay Area Profile

PBS has this video. I don't quite like the focus on subsidy, especially since they don't point out how much all other modes are subsidized as well, but I like that they are shining a light on the issue of operating rather than capital.

H/T Robert

Can You Copyright Facts?

This from reader Nick C:

After launching the Transit Sydney iPhone application with Sydney train timetables, its developer received a cease and desist letter saying that the use of the timetables is a breach of copyright. In Australia, this may technically be true, but the developer is considering disputing the claim.

Do people really have rights to a schedule? It's a timetable not a copyrighted creative work. And why do you want such bad publicity? They seem to do it a little differently down under:

Anyone who's familiar with US copyright law will think "wait, you can't copyright facts," which is where the twist comes in. Australia has something called "Crown copyright" that essentially says that certain materials published by the government are copyrighted by the government. The CityRail timetables come from Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp), which is owned by the government.

Reports now say that the rail system has been ordered to work with the developer. But this should have never been a problem in the first place.

Not Quite Dead Yet

The VMT tax isn't quite dead and probably won't die. Something that got shot down so quickly by the president has actually gotten some legs of late thanks to government reports and legislators like Mr. Oberstar. While it probably won't be a key part of the next transportation bill, I expect to see some money going into studying the idea and perhaps pushing more pilot programs.

So any chance I get, I'll play this...

The Gift of Rails

How awesome. When you register for a wedding, it's usually at Bed Bath and Beyond or somewhere you can find nice china. How about registering to give to the streetcar movement? Cincinnati residents are rather ingenious.

As they planned their Saturday wedding, Kristen Myers and Chris Heckman knew they didn't need a toaster or blender. So, true to their urban lifestyles and love for downtown Cincinnati, they suggested their guests give to what they think is a great cause: the streetcar project.

Don't Let High Speed Rail Get BRTized

You know that definition problem that BRT has. No one knows what it is so they just call everything BRT that doesn't stop every block like a city bus. Well something like this for HSR has got Yonah visibly angry. So what is the high speed threshold? Is it over 150? How do we make sure that HSR doesn't get BRTized?

Houston's Rail Cars Overworked

This was the same story I heard with the first Portland Streetcars. They were overworked but luckily the Skoda models were hardy and didn't break down much. But deferred maintenance to keep people from overcrowding the trains will strain the vehicles eventually. Though the Siemens cars will have to continue to work hard until the new CAF cars get there.