KCRag Forum

brewcrew1000 wrote:Couldn't the Freeway issues in Atlanta be a blessing in disguise for some people? Its possible that some people never rode MARTA or used the Bus system to commute might just stick to commuting that way and not have to deal with the huge traffic issues in ATL

^And maybe it will prompt more businesses to provide reduced fare passes.

Loop Trolley won’t start without more money or so they claim

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... f80ff.html

They hired staff too early it looks like but local government isn’t convinced the money is needed

Meanwhile operating may be pushed back again

Planning started in detail in 2005, they were fully funded in 2010, took 5 years to begin construction and looks like it will be three years to operations

So an 13 year process from end to end.

Galveston Island Heritage streetcar vehicles are near the end being repaired after 2008 hurricane damage. Track repair work looks to be finished and vehicles are expected to be delivered March and back in operation mid 2018. Same company doing work for St. Louis
http://www.gomacotrolley.com/index.html
map: http://www.jtbell.net/transit/images/Galveston/Map.gif

Going to be there in late July, hopefully back up before then. Probably aiming to be open by tourism season

https://www.galveston.com/blog/549/galv ... n-by-2018/

The Loop Trolley got their additional startup funding in December. Didn't see this news then.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... ee8d4.html

A local company, Clayco donated the money + volunteered a project manager to make sure it opens.

Aiming for a spring opening. So somewhere March through June. Almost an 8 year process from FTA funding to opening. Good example not to look down on delays with the KC system expansion.

Old article but well worth the read.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... wth-213905

The result was a great pact organized by the metropolitan chamber of commerce. All the cities and towns in the nine-county region agreed not to poach jobs and businesses from one another, but rather to work together within Clark’s economic development corporation to attract opportunities to the region or push for major collective investments like a proper transit system or a new airport to replace the aging Stapleton Airport. “The idea was that as we work together, everyone will get their fair share in the long run and collectively we’ll all gain by making the pie bigger,” Schroeppel notes.

“No more moving around the chairs in the Titanic,” Clark recalls. “And the ethics were: If you steal from someone else, you’re out of the family forever.”

Wish we had some grown ups in this metro who could make this happen, but what is the "metro" family that we could kick someone out of?

grovester wrote:Old article but well worth the read.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... wth-213905

The result was a great pact organized by the metropolitan chamber of commerce. All the cities and towns in the nine-county region agreed not to poach jobs and businesses from one another, but rather to work together within Clark’s economic development corporation to attract opportunities to the region or push for major collective investments like a proper transit system or a new airport to replace the aging Stapleton Airport. “The idea was that as we work together, everyone will get their fair share in the long run and collectively we’ll all gain by making the pie bigger,” Schroeppel notes.

“No more moving around the chairs in the Titanic,” Clark recalls. “And the ethics were: If you steal from someone else, you’re out of the family forever.”

Wish we had some grown ups in this metro who could make this happen, but what is the "metro" family that we could kick someone out of?

The City of Kansas City Missouri has tried negotiating multiple times with Kansas. Kansas refuses to negotiate. There are grown ups on one side. Just not the other.

I would hope there were entities beyond the cities and states that could broker this, business interests, societal movers and the like.

Kansas always points to some aspect of Missouri's programs that violate something.

The loop trolley doesn’t have their third vehicle and they still have not started operations.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/al ... 6aba6.html

I've been in Norfolk for a few days. Their system is basically a streetcar -- it has lots of street-running sections and doesn't really go fast outside of the urban core (may 35mph on the east end). They run single car consists. Most of these shots are showing the track placement, because I'm trying to rally people around center running streetcar.

flyingember wrote: ↑Sun May 06, 2018 9:29 am The loop trolley doesn’t have their third vehicle and they still have not started operations.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/al ... 6aba6.html

Still not operating. Could be October or November.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/met ... d0398.html

The federal grant was approved in July 2010
The original goal to open was mid 2014
when construction began in March 2015, late 2016
In March 2017, opening summer 2017
Then in December 2017, sometime in spring 2018
Then in early July 2018, August of September 2018
Then in August, September or October or November?

Their project manager has no idea how to run a schedule.

There’s a quote in this article that only works in context, so go read it.

They built the loop trolley without knowing how big the trains would be. So there’s parking that may be too skinny to fit.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.riverf ... AMP%2bHTML

The author is not pro streetcar but if that’s how they’re managing the project I can see why.

Incidentally, it’s two months later without an opening date scheduled.

Milwaukee streetcar opens next weekend. Will be free to ride for the first year, then $1 per trip after that. I'll be visiting Nov. 10-12 and will share pics.

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Sat Oct 27, 2018 3:46 pm Milwaukee streetcar opens next weekend. Will be free to ride for the first year, then $1 per trip after that. I'll be visiting Nov. 10-12 and will share pics.

There seems to be a lot of negativity with this project. I dont expect this streetcar to get any kind of expansion.

Pretty ambitious for the starter line, think they added to it in progress. Hope they figure out a way to keep it fare free.

Loop Trolley ribbon cutting without an opening date. Still don’t have approval to operate.

They still don’t have their third vehicle too so will be running half a day, 4 days a week initially.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/met ... 5a7eb.html

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Sat Oct 27, 2018 3:46 pm Milwaukee streetcar opens next weekend. Will be free to ride for the first year, then $1 per trip after that. I'll be visiting Nov. 10-12 and will share pics.

I'm hopefully going there for a trip in the spring. Can't wait to check it out. Milwaukee is a really underrated midwest city, IMO.

I will be in Milwaukee this week and plan on riding the street car. One thing I am disappointed is that it does not run by any of the 2 sports arenas. Its about 5/6 blocks away. Seems like a huge opportunity missed not putting it by arenas. It would be nice to park a mile away and take the streetcar into the game

We need Dave to give us a summary of his thoughts on The Hop. I'm mildly skeptical because its a couplet with a directional change (N/S to E/W) but I also don't really know the layout of Milwaukee. It just causes me to think of Cincy which has struggled.

We need Dave to give us a summary of his thoughts on The Hop. I'm mildly skeptical because its a couplet with a directional change (N/S to E/W) but I also don't really know the layout of Milwaukee. It just causes me to think of Cincy which has struggled.

Agree on all points. Visited (and fell for) Milwaukee in September, and the route didn't initially seem intuitive to me.

KC did modern streetcar right, especially the bold move to make it fareless. Also helps tremendously that our urban core (post urban renewal destruction that wiped the east side) is so north-south linear, with all major centers of investment/density along a straight line from river to plaza.

smh wrote: ↑Fri Nov 16, 2018 11:22 am We need Dave to give us a summary of his thoughts on The Hop. I'm mildly skeptical because its a couplet with a directional change (N/S to E/W) but I also don't really know the layout of Milwaukee. It just causes me to think of Cincy which has struggled.

Yes, being semi-familiar with their downtown area, the route seemed odd to me. Think it will be fine though if they can figure out a way to stay fare-free after the first year.