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Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,670,113 times
Reputation: 10256
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlotte485
What about all vehicles obliterated today? I seen a lane on 485 was shut down and one person airlifted to a hospital due to an accident. Amazingly, no one bats an eye nor seems to care.
I guess it has to be Transgendered people using a bathroom, confederate flags, black lives matter or Streetcar to get people talking because serious issues never do. Just like councilwoman Mayfield said when tons of crazies came packed city council for the issue of transgendered bathrooms but no one showed up for a discussion on tax increases.
The streetcar in actuality is very cheap for our city. It's a fraction of the taxes that went to panthers upgrades (12 million vs. 28 million) Its less than a high school is getting for renovations.
It's just so silly of all things to say about the streetcar.... Safety is brought up.... Vehicles are much much much more dangerous than streetcar can ever be. To other vehicles. To pedestrians. To bicyclists.
I've posted based on experience with sharing the road, in a large city, with cars, busses, trucks, & trolleys. Can you say the same? Feel free to look down on my opinion, but it is based on experience. Any of those vehicles can be involved in an accident, but when a trolley is involved that line is shut down & there's no rerouting. That's what's newsworthy. Get used to it.
I wasn't surprised the streetcar had an accident, but the cause did surprise me. With the myriad of drivers who have no regard for anyone else's welfare on the road, I expected someone to run a red and drive right into it.
I've posted based on experience with sharing the road, in a large city, with cars, busses, trucks, & trolleys. Can you say the same? Feel free to look down on my opinion, but it is based on experience. Any of those vehicles can be involved in an accident, but when a trolley is involved that line is shut down & there's no rerouting. That's what's newsworthy. Get used to it.
I have. New Orleans in Paticular.
There are many, exponentially more accidents that are actually deadly that shut down highways, clog interstates for hours, etc than streetcars ever will. A lane from 485 was shut down today and people were rerouted and probably added way more time on their commute. That will occur exponentially more frequently than streetcar issues.
And you're the same one advocating for commuter rail to Gastonia, correct? The ridership will be a fraction of the streetcar's ridership, it would cost more than streetcar, it will offer much much less frequency than streetcar.
There are currently two priority signals that streetcar has; the very first and last stops. When phase II opens up and they use the Siemens, the entire segment of the streetcar line will be equipped with lighting priority.
But to be specifically on point, people are being irrational about the safety of streetcar vs. safety of vehicle
All this hype about the streetcar. Protests and delays. And barely open a week and already in a wreck. A nice idea, but is it practical as a means of transportation, or more of a tourism type gimmick?
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,670,113 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlotte485
I have. New Orleans in Paticular.
There are many, exponentially more accidents that are actually deadly that shut down highways, clog interstates for hours, etc than streetcars ever will. A lane from 485 was shut down today and people were rerouted and probably added way more time on their commute. That will occur exponentially more frequently than streetcar issues.
And you're the same one advocating for commuter rail to Gastonia, correct? The ridership will be a fraction of the streetcar's ridership, it would cost more than streetcar, it will offer much much less frequency than streetcar.
There are currently two priority signals that streetcar has; the very first and last stops. When phase II opens up and they use the Siemens, the entire segment of the streetcar line will be equipped with lighting priority.
But to be specifically on point, people are being irrational about the safety of streetcar vs. safety of vehicle
The initial news was the accident. What keeps it in the news is that the operators were given inadequate training. People make mistakes. When someone is switched to a different but similar vehicle they have to be given adequate training to break habits. If you have never operated equipment for a living you won't understand.
I was surprised that there wasn't an accident earlier but, like an other poster, I expected the trolley to be hit.
Funny you never mentioned living in New Orleans before. I think that it was obvious that I was not speaking of a vacation trip. I'm talking about living with them, day to day for years. Being rerouted because there's been an accident & now there's gridlock around the accident & the backed up trolleys that can't proceed.
Yes I'm advocating for a line to Gastonia. They didn't want commuter rail because it's not very good service, but sometimes you take what you can get. A lot of nurses in Charlotte live in Gastonia & Kings Mountain. Commuter rail won't serve a lot of them.
All this hype about the streetcar. Protests and delays. And barely open a week and already in a wreck. A nice idea, but is it practical as a means of transportation, or more of a tourism type gimmick?
It has zero to do with tourism. It has everything to do with increased mobility on top of shaping development in the region, increasing density, luring millenials, creating jobs, expanding the tax base. It also increases mobility. There is a thread on here supportive of the red line through Lake Norman to Mooresville that people support. It will serve a fraction of passengers at a much pricier price tag. One even seems to support I believe a line through Gastonia out west which would really have a small fraction of ridership the streetcar will get and of course more expensive. The streetcar line would also serve more people than a commuter line to Rock Hill.
Meanwhile, I just got another vehicle accident alert on my WBTV app. A police officer crashed on Central Avenue with a portion of Central Avenue shut down for the day. Like the previous accident that shut down lanes on 485 and had a person airlifted to a hospital, I'm sure no one also cares or finds that nearly as dangerous as the big scary streetcar
Last edited by Charlotte485; 07-24-2015 at 04:22 PM..
The initial news was the accident. What keeps it in the news is that the operators were given inadequate training. People make mistakes. When someone is switched to a different but similar vehicle they have to be given adequate training to break habits. If you have never operated equipment for a living you won't understand.
I was surprised that there wasn't an accident earlier but, like an other poster, I expected the trolley to be hit.
Funny you never mentioned living in New Orleans before. I think that it was obvious that I was not speaking of a vacation trip. I'm talking about living with them, day to day for years. Being rerouted because there's been an accident & now there's gridlock around the accident & the backed up trolleys that can't proceed.
Yes I'm advocating for a line to Gastonia. They didn't want commuter rail because it's not very good service, but sometimes you take what you can get. A lot of nurses in Charlotte live in Gastonia & Kings Mountain. Commuter rail won't serve a lot of them.
I live in gridlock day to day from vehicle accidents. It takes me nearly 5 minutes alone to pull out of the parking lot to get on to the road because when 77 gets back up, they think it's a good idea to take the back roads like Statesville.
Also, someone was hit by a commuter train last night in the local area, correct? That's what... 3x this year someone has been in a fatal accident involving the NC Amtrak trains this year? I can recall several times a vehicles hit in Kings Mountain by a train. So it's not like they're really that much safer so far.
And how could you support a commuter line out west over the gold line if we're going based off demand? Ridership projections? It will literally be less than 1/2 the projection of the gold line if not more at a much higher cost.
If anyone's concern with the streetcar is safety.... It's simply too irrational to fathom (and take the side roads. Geez, you people do realize trade street was shut down for months and people lived fine. It's not even necessary to take trade other than for local trips)
This whole fear of safety of being hit by streetcars reads like the National Enquirer. I'm much more scared of other vehicles. And statistics will probably have my side that vehicles are much more dangerous. I feel like a comparable example is "I'm scared to fly so I'm just going to drive my car" .... It doesn't make sense
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,670,113 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlotte485
I live in gridlock day to day from vehicle accidents. It takes me nearly 5 minutes alone to pull out of the parking lot to get on to the road because when 77 gets back up, they think it's a good idea to take the back roads like Statesville.
Also, someone was hit by a commuter train last night in the local area, correct? That's what... 3x this year someone has been in a fatal accident involving the NC Amtrak trains this year? I can recall several times a vehicles hit in Kings Mountain by a train. So it's not like they're really that much safer so far.
And how could you support a commuter line out west over the gold line if we're going based off demand? Ridership projections? It will literally be less than 1/2 the projection of the gold line if not more at a much higher cost.
If anyone's concern with the streetcar is safety.... It's simply too irrational to fathom (and take the side roads. Geez, you people do realize trade street was shut down for months and people lived fine. It's not even necessary to take trade other than for local trips)
This whole fear of safety of being hit by streetcars reads like the National Enquirer. I'm much more scared of other vehicles. And statistics will probably have my side that vehicles are much more dangerous. I feel like a comparable example is "I'm scared to fly so I'm just going to drive my car" .... It doesn't make sense
Someone in Salisbury was hit by the Crescent. That is the Amtrak train that runs from NYC to New Orleans. That doesn't fit my personal definition of a commuter train. Trucks that got stuck on the tracks & were subsequently hit by trains were there in violation of signs that clearly said no trucks. The drivers were ticketed. The stories were run ad nauseam & the anchors all had a good laugh. What in the world is your point?
You have seen my posts in these threads & I have repeatedly said that in my opinion when federal support was cut for streetcars/trolleys they should have gotten the plan amended that light rail would go to the east & the west corridors. You however have continually argued for streetcars.
Here's the thing. I'd like to see Charlotte get a subway line. That ain't happening. Its cost prohibitive. I'd like to see heavy rail like the PATCO line run to the north & the west. That ain't happening either. Like I said, sometimes you have to take what you can get.
You are welcome to your opinion on this but I'll thank you to not twist my words around just to try to pick a fight with me.
Someone in Salisbury was hit by the Crescent. That is the Amtrak train that runs from NYC to New Orleans. That doesn't fit my personal definition of a commuter train. Trucks that got stuck on the tracks & were subsequently hit by trains were there in violation of signs that clearly said no trucks. The drivers were ticketed. The stories were run ad nauseam & the anchors all had a good laugh. What in the world is your point?
You have seen my posts in these threads & I have repeatedly said that in my opinion when federal support was cut for streetcars/trolleys they should have gotten the plan amended that light rail would go to the east & the west corridors. You however have continually argued for streetcars.
Here's the thing. I'd like to see Charlotte get a subway line. That ain't happening. Its cost prohibitive. I'd like to see heavy rail like the PATCO line run to the north & the west. That ain't happening either. Like I said, sometimes you have to take what you can get.
You are welcome to your opinion on this but I'll thank you to not twist my words around just to try to pick a fight with me.
Actually our streetcar is being built with dollar for dollar match of the next phase. The other phases, who knows. Maybe MTC will find money because they do support it. They just have no money left.
My point is the thought that streetcar is a big scary monster running over innocent children and creating havoc on the roads is beyond irrational and is nothing more than a tabloid akin to something you would find in the national enquirer. If safety and the fact that the line could temporarily close scares you, then vehicles should scare you 1000x the amount.
If people are against the streetcar line because safety or congestion.... Then you must apply the same standards to vehicles. Its irrational otherwise. Completelty irrational.
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