Light rail and transportation alternatives for Albuquerque (apartments, tax)

[aries63]

Have you ever used the San Jose trains, Zoidberg? You write from the point of view of someone who has never had to rely on public transit, someone who is annoyed because public transit made it harder for you to get around in your car, LOL. I wonder if the folks who actually depend on the system think it's "awful"?

[JBM]

I haven't used the system in San Jose, but I can comment on systems I've used in Canada. In Québec and Ontario, these systems have treated me great. They're faster and more reliable, and the bus lanes make the schedule mean something. A good analog for Albuquerque might be Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is similarly densely populated and has similar "sprawl-y" land usage. They've started building BRT there to great success, and their bus system sometimes exceeds 7-10% usage everyday(of total trips in the city, Portland, OR reaches that level(~12%), but Winnipeg does as does Québec City without trains) something even we should be envious of. They have plans to expand their BRT system, and though it is controversial just like ours, it has been popular and there are now segments of the population clamoring for more BRT lines and later hours. The best part, though, is that our BRT will far exceed the standards they used in Winnipeg and has the potential to be even more transformative.

It might be that Canadians are more receptive to government spending or simply more receptive to public transit, but I don't think that's the entire response. If you build a good transit system, and buses/trains come frequently, people will use it. Even in spread out cities like Albuquerque, Winnipeg, Québec City, etc. I think perhaps this is where some (but not all) American cities have failed in their light-rail systems. They build one or two transit lines, and then let the rest of their bus system atrophy. As we embark on our own rapid transit scheme, we should keep those lessons in mind. And I agree with Zoidberg to an extent, but it will certainly be easier to electrify a bus system once it has its own transit lane and the right-of-way is secured. I believe Toronto is doing this, as are some cities in Australia. The jury is still out on driverless cars, and the jury is still out about whether they'll be legalized, which is becoming a debate. It also opens up the question as to whether driverless cars will really fix many of our transit issues, including congestion and parking. But i don't think these issues should be exclusive of one another. Adopting solar and closing coal should also be a goal, and we should talk about funding those types of goals. But for now it is ART, and we've been lucky to win grants for it. If there are grants for starting community composting and solar investment, I'd urge our city officials to apply for them as well. But ART is a starting point for change and that's largely how i see it. Curitiba started with around 900,000 people when they built the first BRT, and it turned into a backbone that spread throughout the city, which now houses millions of people. We may be at a similar point where we decide what type of future we want. In any case, we will see.

[the topper]

Look what happened to Downtown SJ, it totally destroyed the downtown and turned it into a ghost town, a no man land! The transit system is a complete failure with the fewest return on its farebox. It has the lowest ridership in the U.S. for such a system. It's a complete failure and a disaster! Don't do, you'll be sorry!

[Zoidberg]

Originally Posted by aries63

Have you ever used the San Jose trains, Zoidberg?

I've used the following modes of transit in the bay area, all dozens of times:

*Caltrain
*BART (nearly every station)
*SF Muni (trains, streetcar, and buses)
*AC transit (buses)
*Samtrans (buses)

I haven't used the VTA trains because they:
a) were laid out in a way that walking is almost faster
b) are the slowest in the nation

You write from the point of view of someone who has never had to rely on public transit, someone who is annoyed because public transit made it harder for you to get around in your car, LOL.

What a vivid imagination.

I wonder if the folks who actually depend on the system think it's "awful"?

I'm sure once someone actually rides it they'll let you know. No one depends on it- they depend on buses or caltrain.

[aries63]

Then it sounds like the San Jose light rail is not a valid comparison to ART when there are multiple options that are better in San Jose. I'm sure ART will be faster than walking. People will come to rely on it. I know several folks who live and work on the Central corridor (I was one of them when I first moved here in 1990) who would use it. There is a lot more housing along Central now than there was 10 years ago, and more is being built now. People who move here or even just visiting from other cities expect a reliable transit system and will recognize ART when they see it.

[NMHacker]

Dangerous Nuclear? Jajajajajajajajajajaja.

I bet more have died in the US due to Mas Transit than anything Nuclear.

[Cactus Hibs]

Originally Posted by the topper

Look what happened to Downtown SJ, it totally destroyed the downtown and turned it into a ghost town, a no man land! The transit system is a complete failure with the fewest return on its farebox. It has the lowest ridership in the U.S. for such a system. It's a complete failure and a disaster! Don't do, you'll be sorry!

For the record, no new commuter, light rail, or modern streetcar systems are currently proposed anywhere in New Mexico. But thanks for joining the thread.

[elkotronics]

For the record, no new commuter, light rail, or modern streetcar systems are currently proposed anywhere in New Mexico. But thanks for joining the thread.

This sounds simple, but it's good ta know for all of those of us who don't know it. Funny how so much information is like that...someone will say "pardon me for saying something you might find redundant, but, no aliens creatures have ever become NFL football players in the U.S." Ya know, someone might think Mike Ditka is from Mars or something, ya never know. Point is, you can't assume that people know the same information coming to a worldwide website. Obviously they don't, right?


You're going - wait a minute!

[Cactus Hibs]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

For the record, no new commuter, light rail, or modern streetcar systems are currently proposed anywhere in New Mexico. But thanks for joining the thread.

This sounds simple, but it's good ta know for all of those of us who don't know it. Funny how so much information is like that...someone will say "pardon me for saying something you might find redundant, but, no aliens creatures have ever become NFL football players in the U.S." Ya know, someone might think Mike Ditka is from Mars or something, ya never know. Point is, you can't assume that people know the same information coming to a worldwide website. Obviously they don't, right?


You're going - wait a minute!

Thanks, Elko. This is an old thread and poll - dating back to when a modern streetcar system had in fact been recently proposed - and since the newly-approved ART rapid bus system has been in the news a lot lately I wanted to make sure no one was confused. There's no rail on the table at the moment, and NM's only commuter rail system, the Rail Runner, runs along the existing ATSF tracks.

[MartinNix]

Back in 1975, I did research on this at UNM. Few know this, but Albuquerque's streets were designed for a dedicated bus express system back in 1950 when Albuquerque was built. Very visionary by the engineers. If you note, there are three lanes one way, three lanes the other, with a center left turn lane. The idea is to eventually convert the two interior lanes to dedicated bus lanes, with pedestrian platforms. And this is 1950. The engineers knew the next generation would want a transit system. I invented A.R.T. and proposed a citywide system, on streets like Menaul, Montgomery, Indian School, Coors, RioGrande, Juan Tabo etc. One bus lane can carry as many people as the rest of the road, just that you need to get the cars out of the way. While my research was rejected back in 1975, it was used to build the express bus system in Seattle. And it works very well. The fact is we can put in a bus express system within two years or so. In Seattle, it bought time to build the rail system. Rail systems take longer to build, several years. However, it has been proposed numerous times to build a rail system from uptown to downtown, via UNM. So I ask the question, what would this look like. Let me propose a loop around Winrock and Coronado, a subway under Indian School, then a station at Lomas and University elevated, then a subway under Grand Avenue, and then loop around Downtown, and then return elevated up Lomas and then elevated up Lousiana. Kind of like a figure 8. I calculate that a city wide A.R.T. would need about 1,000 buses, but adding a rail (or monorail) between uptown to downtown, would increase the capacity, and make trips faster. Unlike the bus express system, which can be built quickly, rail systems will take a few years. Of interest, I knew Matt Gerney, who is the inventor of the Simpson, and that is where inspiration for a solar powered monorail came from. We talked a lot about Albuquerque ie Isotopes, and yes, nuclear power plants. The idea of building a express rail system from uptown to downtown is not outlandish, but needs to be combined with a bus express system. Albuquerque can afford this, the cost of automobiles is very expensive. For every dollar on transit, it pumps 5 dollars back into the economy...and creates jobs. The problem isn't so much whether it should be rail or monorail, the real issue is right a way, and where to put it. The corridor between uptown to downtown, via UNM is ideal.