Cities with the best mass transit expansion plans (state, compared, population)

[caphillsea77]

Exlcluding cities with long established mass transit (NYC, Boston, DC, and recently Portland) in the future what city do you think is ahead of the curve with Mass transit expansion on the drawing board and future proposals that are likely to manifest.

My vote go's to Denver. New Light Rail lines in every direction and commuter rail to the airport and Boulder. (FasTracks Home)

[just4ivaylo]

That looks pretty good. Seattle is up there as well.

Let's see if these get built out that far in the time frame that was planned.

[caphillsea77]

Originally Posted by just4ivaylo

That looks pretty good. Seattle is up there as well.

Let's see if these get built out that far in the time frame that was planned.

Yeah Seattle is actually building extensive subway lines (albeit light rail). I like that, most other cities are doing it on the cheap having surface lines downtown.

[kidphilly]

I have seen some pretty impressive things for Atlanta with Marta and their beltline project

Not sure where to find the link

[kirbysam]

Now way Minneapoils was rated number 1# a cuple years ago.

[Lifeshadower]

Finally, something my home city can win at!

http://www.metro.net/projects_studie...iative_map.pdf

How Feasible is Antonio Villaraigosa’s 30/10 Gambit for Los Angeles Transit? « The Transport Politic


We'll see how much of it actually gets built by 2020, but the Expo line has already started construction and should be slated to open by either the end of this year or the beginning of next year

To think, 20 years ago, we had NOTHING. But I'm sure they were thinking 30 years before that, LA had a lot of Red Car lines.

[caphillsea77]

Originally Posted by Lifeshadower

Finally, something my home city can win at!

http://www.metro.net/projects_studie...iative_map.pdf

How Feasible is Antonio Villaraigosa’s 30/10 Gambit for Los Angeles Transit? « The Transport Politic


We'll see how much of it actually gets built by 2020, but the Expo line has already started construction and should be slated to open by either the end of this year or the beginning of next year

To think, 20 years ago, we had NOTHING. But I'm sure they were thinking 30 years before that, LA had a lot of Red Car lines.

That would be fantastic for LA. The only big missing link I see would be extending the 405 corridor line down through Santa Monica, LAX, all the way to Long Beach. West LA really needs a north/south rail corridor line. That would be a heavily used line.

[kidphilly]

^^^ Will any of the this connect with Ft Worth?

[JohnDBaumgardner]

There's finally some good news concerning mass transit for Columbus ...
and for the rest of Ohio.

The long awaited "3-C Quick Start" commuter trains will soon ( hopefully ) connect Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Dayton.

There's still some level of dispute regarding these planned commuter
trains, primarily with the actual speed that is slated for these routes ...
a mere 75 M.P.H.

Many argue that you might as well just stick with traveling the interstates that already connect all of Ohio's large cities.

I believe though, the final speed of these trains may be updated closer
to 100 M.P.H., an advantageous move that would shave off a considerable
amount of travel time.

The funds have already been granted for construction, so pending further studies, it is hopeful that these routes will be up and operational in the next few years.
There's also a very strong assumption that the creation of these "inter - city" trains would be the catalyst needed to "finally" spur the construction
of "city passenger trains" in Columbus.

[caphillsea77]

Wow, you worked really hard at putting this all together. I wonder when this would all manifest though, seems like it would take 40-50 years to fund an expansion that large in the whole Northeast. Right now sunbelt cities are just catching up to where the Northeastern cities are already at. It would be hard for me to fathom expanding rail service from Boston up to Bangor Maine and Sain John, NB Canada, or up to Burlingtoin, VT. Just doesn't seem like it would happen. I think for starters it would be in the Northeasts best interest to UPGRADE existing rail corridors already in use and make them faster. Acela trains are still very subpar compared to the TGV in France or the bullet trains in Japan.

Northeast may be dominant, but Seattle, Denver, and Dallas mass transit expansion plans pretty much already have the green light. There are other high population areas in Florida, California, Texas and the Southwest where rail corridors need to be developed and may have more political clout in the future.