Light Rail

[ElFenix]

can someone tell me exactly what advantages light rail has over, say, bus service?

 

[Aharami]

i would tell you...but...i dunno what light rail is

maybe im just clueless 😱

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Aharami
i would tell you...but...i dunno what light rail is

maybe im just clueless 😱

its like a train that goes in the streets. i think. not a subway.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Aharami
i would tell you...but...i dunno what light rail is

maybe im just clueless 😱

Light Rail

Used to ride them all around Amsterdam & Utrecht last fall.... They rock! Cept, when there about to run ya over 😀

 

[Viper GTS]

Faster, quieter, less pollution, not subject to traffic conditions, holds more people than a bus, I'm sure I could come up with more.

[EDIT]Or you could just read the list linked to above.[/EDIT]

Viper GTS

 

[Eli]

We have pretty extensive light rail serivce here called MAX(Metropolitain Area eXpress). I don't really know much of the advantages though.

Faster? Less pollution?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Faster, quieter, less pollution, not subject to traffic conditions, holds more people than a bus, I'm sure I could come up with more.

Viper GTS

ok faster? not subject to traffic conditions? all the ones i've seen have gone in the streets and still had to wait at lights

 

[CanOWorms]

I'm not well versed in public transportation, but I think Boston kind of has something like this? But sometimes it's underground and then sometimes it pops above ground. Would that be a light rail or a subway or a lightway or a subrail or something else? Crazy I tell you, just plain crazy.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Faster, quieter, less pollution, not subject to traffic conditions, holds more people than a bus, I'm sure I could come up with more.

Viper GTS

ok faster? not subject to traffic conditions? all the ones i've seen have gone in the streets and still had to wait at lights

Doesn't have to. Around here the light rail system does not run on the roadway, & the places where it crosses roadways MAX has priority.

Viper GTS

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Faster, quieter, less pollution, not subject to traffic conditions, holds more people than a bus, I'm sure I could come up with more.

Viper GTS

ok faster? not subject to traffic conditions? all the ones i've seen have gone in the streets and still had to wait at lights

You shoulda seen the ones in Utrecht, NL. All the traffic lights would change for us as the train approached...

Then again, in the Netherlands even bikes have their own traffic lights....

 

[Demon-Xanth]

As some people have stated:

Faster
Quieter
More comfortable
Not subject to traffic conditions
Because of that, it's easier to keep on schedule.
Can seat about 10x as many people
Electric powered instead of gas/diesel/LPG/CNG

 

[Demon-Xanth]

As far as not subject to traffic conditions, the ones around here tend to run alongside railroad tracks and go over/around high traffic locations. Also, they're not stuck on the highway.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: aphex


You shoulda seen the ones in Utrecht, NL. All the traffic lights would change for us as the train approached...

Then again, in the Netherlands even bikes have their own traffic lights....

the way they signal the lights is with transponders on the cars. you can put those on a bus just as easily as you could on a rail car.

 

[lilFajita]

are you complainin about the construction in Houston, ElFenix??

 

[Eli]

Yep.. the way it works around here, the long stripped bars come down and the cars have to wait when the max goes by. 😉

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: lilFajita
are you complainin about the construction in Houston, ElFenix??

i'd like to know what advantage light rail is supposed to offer, since there wasn't any mention of that at all in this campaign. the proponents were basically telling people that light rail is the future of mankind and we better hop on board if we want to be cosmopolitan, and the detractors were basically saying it costs 8 billion and won't go anywhere. no one said why it would be better or worse than regular bus services. i know how it is worse (completely inflexible and perhaps really expensive per passenger), i'd like to know how it is better

 

[lilFajita]

yea, its tough to distinguish the true benefits from propaganda. But Houston is the only major city without a truly functional mass transit system. This may be a small (albiet expensive) step, but at least we are moving towards a solution....

 

[gistech1978]

the big texas cities need light rail
they also need high speed rail (bullet trains) linking houston, austin, san antonio and DFW.
have a transfer site between the high speed and the intra-city rail systems on the edge of the city limits.
that would be sweet & would make too much sense.

 

[burnedout]

Are the proverbial war drums for light rail beating here in Austin again? I haven't been keeping up with it.

 

[BaboonGuy]

Originally posted by: lilFajita
yea, its tough to distinguish the true benefits from propaganda. But Houston is the only major city without a truly functional mass transit system. This may be a small (albiet expensive) step, but at least we are moving towards a solution....

that's not true. seattle has quite possibly some of the worst traffic in the nation, because of a lack of a mass transit system.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: lilFajita
yea, its tough to distinguish the true benefits from propaganda. But Houston is the only major city without a truly functional mass transit system. This may be a small (albiet expensive) step, but at least we are moving towards a solution....

we actually have one of the best bus systems in the world, so i wouldn't say that we lack a truly functional mass transit system. a light rail system that doesn't really go anywhere isn't going to help. not until the whole area is filled out. of course, you have to start somewhere.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I took a trip upto Seattle and was suprized at how easily I was able to get around without a car. Around my place unless you're in a car, you're nuts.

 

[Eli]

Portland also has one of the best public transit systems in the US. You can get virtually anywhere on the bus/MAX here.

 

[hdeck]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: lilFajita
yea, its tough to distinguish the true benefits from propaganda. But Houston is the only major city without a truly functional mass transit system. This may be a small (albiet expensive) step, but at least we are moving towards a solution....

we actually have one of the best bus systems in the world, so i wouldn't say that we lack a truly functional mass transit system. a light rail system that doesn't really go anywhere isn't going to help. not until the whole area is filled out. of course, you have to start somewhere.

the "lack of truly functional mass transit system" was the argument they first used to start building the rails so they had a better chance at getting the olympics. since they didn't get the olympics, there is another vote.

 

[Fausto]

They've been trying to get a light rail system going in my neck of the woods for quite a while. The area around Emory U/Emory Hospital/CDC/etc is extremely congested during rush hour. Unfortunately, this area is also pretty affluent for the most part so the proposals have be blocked as the residents feel it would be "detrimental to their quality of life" (read: they're afraid black people will take the light rail cars to their homes and rob them

)

This has been the case for most of the proposals to address Atlanta's traffic problem: everyone thinks they're great as long as they don't have to pay for it and it's not in their neighborhood. :frown: