Austin the largest city with no light rail/rapid transit system (Round Rock: apartment, condo)
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And it's not their track. Can't stop freight..they OWN the line.
Just like Amtrak..they are at the mercy of the freight lines.
So? My state doesn't own most of its network and yet the trains run smoothly. A Few lines mix with Freight , and have over 200 trains per day operate with up to 15 Freight trains. So theres no reason that Cap Metro can't do the same and with less.
You can go to the portland city data forum and read about their light rail there. Just because they have it doesnt mean that it is working well.
The system here is better than nothing and it is extensive, but it is having serious problems. Financially it is doing very poorly and will need added revenue I assume thru taxes. A number of bus routes have been cut, and the train now comes twice an hour early mornings and evenings. Fares have been raised again. I don't know if the next extension will be built unless as usual it is forced down our throats. There is less interest in Light Rail than there use to be. It never did anything to alleviate the horrible traffic problems in the Portland area. Our commuter rail line to Wilsonville is a complete flop bascially. Not enough ridership and it has a very limited schedule.
The company has had to fire several drivers recently because of National attention on our transit company called Trimet. One bus driver ran over 5 people and killed two. Another bus driver was let go last week for reading a book while driving down the fwy. Passengers were taking pics and sending them to the news channels. Another bus driver ran over a woman in a wheel chair and killed her. That was all over the world news and is on youtube. We had another train driver let go for not answering the intercom when a father called the driver. The train had left the station and the fathers kid had his arm caught in the door. Then another recent episode the train ran over a girl on the tracks who had head phones on. She was killed. That was only a few days after a homeless couple jumped in front of the train and were killed. All these drivers have been fired so Trimet has some serious publicity issues to deal with. Let alone its serious money issues.
The system here is better than nothing and it is extensive, but it is having serious problems. Financially it is doing very poorly and will need added revenue I assume thru taxes. A number of bus routes have been cut, and the train now comes twice an hour early mornings and evenings. Fares have been raised again. I don't know if the next extension will be built unless as usual it is forced down our throats. There is less interest in Light Rail than there use to be. It never did anything to alleviate the horrible traffic problems in the Portland area. Our commuter rail line to Wilsonville is a complete flop bascially. Not enough ridership and it has a very limited schedule.
The company has had to fire several drivers recently because of National attention on our transit company called Trimet. One bus driver ran over 5 people and killed two. Another bus driver was let go last week for reading a book while driving down the fwy. Passengers were taking pics and sending them to the news channels. Another bus driver ran over a woman in a wheel chair and killed her. That was all over the world news and is on youtube. We had another train driver let go for not answering the intercom when a father called the driver. The train had left the station and the fathers kid had his arm caught in the door. Then another recent episode the train ran over a girl on the tracks who had head phones on. She was killed. That was only a few days after a homeless couple jumped in front of the train and were killed. All these drivers have been fired so Trimet has some serious publicity issues to deal with. Let alone its serious money issues.
No one uses the Portland Model anymore. Denver replaced you guys and no amount of Transit will reduce all traffic. Tokyo , London , NYC all have traffic and the best of the best systems and are still bogged down. Its sad that cities half Austin's size are building extensive transit systems. People doing stupid things on your transit system doesn't make the system bad.
The system here is better than nothing and it is extensive, but it is having serious problems. Financially it is doing very poorly and will need added revenue I assume thru taxes. A number of bus routes have been cut, and the train now comes twice an hour early mornings and evenings. Fares have been raised again. I don't know if the next extension will be built unless as usual it is forced down our throats. There is less interest in Light Rail than there use to be. It never did anything to alleviate the horrible traffic problems in the Portland area. Our commuter rail line to Wilsonville is a complete flop bascially. Not enough ridership and it has a very limited schedule.
The company has had to fire several drivers recently because of National attention on our transit company called Trimet. One bus driver ran over 5 people and killed two. Another bus driver was let go last week for reading a book while driving down the fwy. Passengers were taking pics and sending them to the news channels. Another bus driver ran over a woman in a wheel chair and killed her. That was all over the world news and is on youtube. We had another train driver let go for not answering the intercom when a father called the driver. The train had left the station and the fathers kid had his arm caught in the door. Then another recent episode the train ran over a girl on the tracks who had head phones on. She was killed. That was only a few days after a homeless couple jumped in front of the train and were killed. All these drivers have been fired so Trimet has some serious publicity issues to deal with. Let alone its serious money issues.
I would say that there are still far more people dying in traffic accidents as well, per drunk drivers, errant seniors that plow through groups of pedestrains, people talking on cell phones, just plain bad drivers, etc...
Sounds like the drivers are non-union as well as underpaid, if they are getting nincompoops like that...there is a solution for everything...surely there must be something better..alternative to paving and maintaining more white lines, or perhaps even more tracks..maybe cars AND trains are not the answer..I would actually have to think thats the case...its just a total lack of imagination is all..
No one uses the Portland Model anymore. Denver replaced you guys and no amount of Transit will reduce all traffic. Tokyo , London , NYC all have traffic and the best of the best systems and are still bogged down. Its sad that cities half Austin's size are building extensive transit systems. People doing stupid things on your transit system doesn't make the system bad.
It all comes back to simple terms....again..if we can afford to maintain it, and it works, it isn't stupid....are cities that rely largely on interstates/roads SMART just because it truly is the best option, or just less STUPID than the mass transit option?
It is absolutely true that mass transit, all thing considered, puts about 3% of the cost/carbon footprint that individual car transport does. Same with commercial transport..items carried piggyback on intermodal trains carry about 3% of the costs that that same cargo would entail pulled down an interstate via a truck belching black diesel....most of the energy spent just so folks can have the "freedom" to go where they please, when they please, solo(about 80% of all cars on the road have one passenger in the average US city, prob even higher in the sunbelt), is a waste..you have a 2 ton vehicle, which burns off 85% of its energy source, in friction, wind dreag, heat, and exhaust, pulling people solo all over the city, on an infrastructure that takes massive amounts of tax dollars just to maintain, not to mention build...
Obviously some form of mass transit is the answer, and the auto paradigm, in light of the insolvent nature of all of our nations metros, some of which cannot even fund their first responders right now, let along float major new bond issues for maintainance/build up of new interstates...and if the auto paradigm maintains its dominance, in Austin as well, we could face huge bottlenecks and safety issues even if the price of gas stays on an even keel. And even THAT can shoot up at any time..If that happened, all cities that entirely bypassed mass transit in a concerted way will only rue the ones that did..
Austin needs a small system and Smart Highways , that should help cut down on traffic.
The future of mass transit is not rail. It will be smart cars that drive themselves so that high speeds can be maintained on highways. The cars will literally drive connected to each other (like a train).
The future of mass transit is not rail. It will be smart cars that drive themselves so that high speeds can be maintained on highways. The cars will literally drive connected to each other (like a train).
LMAO , people have said that about monorails and Maglevs too. Too expensive to build or not researched enough. Is that why my region is currently spending 45 billion $$ on New Rail Transit and Restoration projects. The Future is Rail and Dense Developments there are cities around the country that have examples of that. Your at least 30 years out on Smart cars driving themselves but for smart highways we have that technology now and have had for 20 years. There on most European and Asian Highways. Some Washington state and Minnesota highways too.
LMAO , people have said that about monorails and Maglevs too. Too expensive to build or not researched enough. Is that why my region is currently spending 45 billion $$ on New Rail Transit and Restoration projects. The Future is Rail and Dense Developments there are cities around the country that have examples of that. Your at least 30 years out on Smart cars driving themselves but for smart highways we have that technology now and have had for 20 years. There on most European and Asian Highways. Some Washington state and Minnesota highways too.
Smart cars run on tracks too...prob maglev orientated...otherwise, you are wedding an 1800's power source(Internal Combustion) to a 21st century green technology(smart transport)....to me, the concept of "smart cars" is a unworkable compromise for those who can't give up the idea of the freedom of solo driving, yet want something sustainable and future orientated....sort of like George Jetson dropping Judy off at the shopping mall....two paradigms mixed up like peanut butter and chocolate, but with not even the benefit of reeses!
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