Light Rail in Albuquerque! (Los Lunas, Bernalillo: home, maintenance, live)
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They are smellier because they don't have decent pollution
controls. As I mentioned in the previous post, you could make
a bus that runs as clean as a Prius for far less money than
a custom-made train.
> ... and take up much more space on the roads and also all
> the stopping and dropping off does affect the flow of traffic.
> ... trains are usually more centralized, and often utilize
> common tracks or something adacent to existing things too.
If you don't want the bus to run on the street, then you could
build separate paths where the busses could run above/below/along
existing roads -- just like a lightrail track.
In my limited travels to Europe, I've seen that this is actually
done. The busses also trigger special traffic lights that allow
them to pass by auto traffic where interaction is necessary.
> As to only a few riders being on a train ... well that happens
> on plenty of buslines too. It's all about the time of day ...
I was making a comparison as to how flexible the bus system is
in accommodating lower loads. Where demand needed three busses
or lightrail cars, you could run that way, but when demand
dropped off, you could switch to one bus. One bus carrying one
passenger is less inefficient than three rail cars doing same.
> Bus systems are generally much more spread out and cover a
> bigger area so covering more miles etc etc...
Right, so you have one common rolling stock to cover both the
express lines where you might otherwise stick a lightrail system
and the feeder lines. An all-bus system is cheaper to build and
maintain.
> I'm generally in favor of public transport and think all kinds
> of systems are needed to work together. We need buses and
> commuter trains and light rail etc. It's really about getting a
> well planned and efficient public transport system that is easy
> for people to navigate and use.
From what I read we are in total agreement there. Note that I like
to refer to commuter trains as high-speed since the idea is to
entice people out of their cars by saving them time. High-speed
could possibly mean 40 mph where the nearby freeway is going 5-10.
As an aside; I have noticed that most people in any city I have
lived have never ridden a bus and never will (and don't know how).
Also, most people who think lightrail is good would never climb
on one and just like the idea that someone is spending money
and someone else is riding the cool little amusement park thingie.
At least the people posting here have given thought to the issue.
> ... trying to figure out some of the ridiculous schedules and
> procedures and payment options etc etc in several different
> cities tells me the proper planning was not done with the
> consumer or rider in mind.
<Jeeze!> What are you trying to do? Make me crazy? Don't get
me started on that. I'm already a big enough pain regarding
the lightrail thing without getting into bus schedules/routing.
Interesting study on the economic impact of light rail in Dallas. Most surprising to me was the INCREASE in real estate values in residential and commercial property convenient to rail usage.
WELL PLANNED mass transit does work. I sincerely hope ABQ continues in it's quest to implement better transit - your light rail efforts are one of the reasons I have ABQ on my (very short) list of cities for relocation.
> [from the link] One research from the University of North Texas
> shows that between 1997 and 2001 residential property near by
> DART Light Rail stations increased by 32.1%, while the property
> lacking close proximity increased by 11.5%
That's pretty interesting and encouraging. The study is dated
Dec 22, 2005, so I wonder what the recent numbers would show(?)
> ... your light rail efforts are one of the reasons I have ABQ ...
I don't think there is any real effort to develop lightrail in ABQ.
I think it was just a wish by a poster earlier.
Sorry, I tend to use the term "light" rail for any type of commuter rail (and of all people, I should know the difference! geez!). I meant to say your transit plan and Rail Runner routes are why I'm considering ABQ for relocation. You have to start somewhere, and DART was routinely bashed and threatened with loss of funding during the beginning stages of their rail plan. Now, they're light years ahead of many other southwestern cities. Who'da thunk it?
> "light" rail for any type of commuter rail (and of all people,
> I should know the difference! geez!). ....
I wasn't going to say anything ... Besides, I don't think
most people know the difference.
> I meant to say your transit plan and Rail Runner routes ...
What other transit plan is in the works that you know of?
(other than Rail Runner)
> You have to start somewhere, and DART was routinely
> bashed and threatened with loss of funding during the
> beginning stages of their rail plan.
Also, building some sort of public transit infrastructure is
just a good hedge. Suppose oil goes to $100 or $150 per
barrel because some group figures out how to obtain and
detonate a nuke somewhere in a major oil shipping area
and simulataneously destroys a bunch of other stuff.
Then we might be looking at $10-15 a gallon gasoline
*and* lines and shortages. Having a fallback such as
DART will keep some places from grinding to a halt.
I think lightrail is better than doing nothing, I just think
that automatically assuming that the things that make
lightrail seem superior are that way because we *choose*
not to plan well when it comes to bus transit and we
*choose* to let busses be dirty and we *choose* to
let miscreants ruin the riding experience.
I've ridden the railrunner twice now, primarily for the novelty factor for the kiddo. Its got quite a nice view of the Sandias at sunset on the ABQ to Bernalillo leg, by the way.
The first time I rode was right when it opened, nice new passenger cars, almost upscale for NM. The second time I noted that the rail cars have already been extensively tagged and vandalized, despite efforts to police each car with an employee on board.
This seems to be the default position for Albuquerques next generation: they aspire to vandalize whatever they can touch just as soon as humanly possible. Add this to the extensive list of nice things that the illiterate ingrates have attempted to destroy (the aquarium comes immediately to mind)and it makes you wonder why the city even tries.
It's too bad the Railrunner will be bankrupt and abandoned before it ever reaches Santa Fe, that route might just actually break even at times. I'm going with the well-proven premise that Americans will never, ever, willingly be pried loose from their cars, whatever the cost.
ABQ Ride is replacing some old busses with new ones:
Built by New Flyer, the vehicles are diesel-electric hybrids,
with engines similar to those on the Rapid Ride buses.
"We're hoping to gain at least three to four miles to the gallon out of these buses being hybrid, and much, much lower emissions," said James Bird, assistant maintenance manager with ABQ Ride.
I read recently in USA Today that while the rail runner's expansion to Santa Fe is moving as scheduled, they're short tens of millions of dollars to repair New Mexico's highways. Any thoughts on this?
I haven't ridden the RailRunner because it doesn't match my schedule. They just didn't think this out correctly by having a "rush hour" schedule like every other city with rail has. (my big personal gripe!)
I don't think the RailRunner is going to be shut down because of lack of funds. The money will be found somehow -- there are all kinds of discussions and proposals going on to fund it.
I don't know about road repair money -- but I do know that someone needs a brain in the transportation department -- they should be repairing the roads at midnight (when it's not hot and when there is the least amount of traffic) like most other major places do instead of impeding traffic during the day and too often creating massive traffic jams.
I could be wrong on this, but the funding for rail/mass transit comes from different sources than highway funding. Interstates, US highways and mass transit receive federal funding (much from the fuel tax you pay every time you fill up the car) and are paid for with a mix of federal & state funding (but bulk is fed). Other roads in the state are at the mercy of city, county and state funding. That might explain why there's money for one and not for the other. Or that's how it is where I live now, anyway.
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vandals, et al.
