Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Transportation topics in KC
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warwickland
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by warwickland »

nilsson1941 wrote: Really great new for St. Louis residents. I have friends who live there that are ecstatic. I am happy for STL, but I can't help but be frustrated by the fact that KC has not been able to get a simple starter system in place.
The transit advocacy groups in St. Louis like Citizens for Modern Transit have been important - Metro itself of course having to take a somewhat neutral stance - they have helped bring interests together. Obviously, a huge chunk of a similar voting population that made the difference for this in St. Louis County - a politically moderate upper middle class - lives in Kansas in the KC area, a huge problem. I admittedly don't have a feel for the northland and eastjack like I do parts of JoCo.
Last edited by warwickland on Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by DaveKCMO »

does anyone think voters would commit this level of funding to a bus-only system?
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by KCMax »

Great news for the Lou!
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by nilsson1941 »

DaveKCMO wrote: does anyone think voters would commit this level of funding to a bus-only system?
I think we all know the answer to this...
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by kman »

the positive vote also opens up federal matching dollars which can equate into millions more $ for their system - WOW!
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

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Denver: No tax vote this year, RTD decides
The Regional Transportation District now is building the first FasTracks line ? the 12-mile West Corridor light-rail route from Denver to Lakewood and Golden.

RTD officials say they also have enough money to build the 24-mile commuter train from Union Station to Denver International Airport.

If the agency gets $1 billion from the Federal Transit Administration, as it expects, the Gold Line train from Union Station to Arvada and Wheat Ridge can be built as well, they add.

Yet without a doubling of current FasTracks sales tax, it might take until 2042 to complete other FasTracks elements, including the Northwest train to Boulder/Longmont, the North Metro commuter-rail line to Thornton and Northglenn, and the Interstate 225 light-rail line in Aurora.
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by warwickland »

I always thought it was strange that some type of dedicated ROW fixed rail from downtown Denver to Boulder wasn't an original priority.
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by KCMax »

Arizona planners envision new role, routes for light rail

Image

I wish we were as dense as Phoenix so we could support light rail!
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by LenexatoKCMO »

Do foreclosed homes count as density? 
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

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KCMax wrote: Arizona planners envision new role, routes for light rail

Image

I wish we were as dense as Phoenix so we could support light rail!
From out of your link:
Long-range studies, drafted in anticipation of projected growth, have found transit systems would workand have spurred new studies looking into previously ignored rail possibilities.

Previous MAG and ADOT studies found that a 105-mile system of commuter trains plying existing freight tracks would rival any in the Western United States. Planners identified several potentially successful light-rail routes, including Bell Road from Scottsdale Airpark to Peoria, the Valley's most heavily-traveled street.

This is  their 135th street.
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by NDTeve »

Bellevue Commits $150 Million for Downtown Light Rail Tunnel

http://blog.seattlepi.com/transportatio ... 202681.asp
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by DaveKCMO »

Light-rail passengers still get a kick out of the ride, a year later
An estimated 6 million trips have been taken to date. Ridership has grown to an average 23,400 boardings per weekday in June, compared with 14,850 in September. Trains are noticeably more full.

At first it seemed Sound Transit would miss its 26,600 target by the end of this year, but that's now within reach.
Sound Transit designed a consistent layout for crosswalks and left-turn signals to avoid a debacle that happened in Houston, where there were more than 100 wrecks in the opening year.
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by bbqboy »

bye bye, transbay terminal.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1EM16L.DTL

    ....To bus riders who trek daily through the dingy, dusty and drafty Transbay Terminal, the place is something to be hurried through or, at best, endured. But it wasn't always that way, and today, a week before demolition of the old terminal begins, the public will get a last chance to peek at the past.

They'll see a sampling of the places that have been covered by plywood, hidden behind painted-over windows or walled off over the decades as the terminal declined from a bustling commuter hub to a mostly neglected bus station.

The terminal, built as part of the bridge project, opened in 1939 as the western terminus for the East Bay's Key System trains, and a place to connect to Muni lines. At its peak, near the end of World War II, 26 million passengers a year passed through the terminal. But after the war ended, train ridership declined. The Key System stopped running across the Bay Bridge in 1958, and a year later the terminal was converted to bus-use only.
cont....
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

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oh god, that place is disgusting. good riddance!
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by grovester »

Good article in Time about Obama's rail push

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 23,00.html
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by FangKC »

This is socialism. Jerry Moran will never vote for this.  :P
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by LenexatoKCMO »

FangKC wrote: This is socialism. Jerry Moran will never vote for this.   :P
Maybe Obama can make the trains run on heavily subsidized grain-ethanol.  :lol:  Jerry would put on a train conductor's uniform and lead the march for that version. 
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by FangKC »

Mass transit doesn't reflect Kansas values.  :lol:
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Re: Light Rail Systems And Routes In Other Cities

Post by mlind »

bbqboy wrote: bye bye, transbay terminal.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1EM16L.DTL

    ....To bus riders who trek daily through the dingy, dusty and drafty Transbay Terminal, the place is something to be hurried through or, at best, endured. But it wasn't always that way, and today, a week before demolition of the old terminal begins, the public will get a last chance to peek at the past.

They'll see a sampling of the places that have been covered by plywood, hidden behind painted-over windows or walled off over the decades as the terminal declined from a bustling commuter hub to a mostly neglected bus station.

The terminal, built as part of the bridge project, opened in 1939 as the western terminus for the East Bay's Key System trains, and a place to connect to Muni lines. At its peak, near the end of World War II, 26 million passengers a year passed through the terminal. But after the war ended, train ridership declined. The Key System stopped running across the Bay Bridge in 1958, and a year later the terminal was converted to bus-use only.
cont....
I used to go there around 45 years ago and it was creepy then (I was 19-20).  And, coming from KC, it was confusing to me.

My kids' favorite thing was the ramp where all the commuter buses parked.  They always looked for their favorite - Fairfield Area Rapid Transit.  It had it's acronym painted on the side - FART.
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