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I'll believe it when I see it. Lol. Florida will NEVER embrace any idea in regards to public transit. Too many old people dominating the polls for it to happen.
They've already approved on everything I posted. Orlando's own Commuter line(Sunrail), HSR from Orlando to Miami(All-Aboard), eastern Expansion of Tri-Rail through urban centers of South Florida cities. I think some of them even broke ground. I understand Public transit in some of these cities suck, but I think some folks are in denial.
So are the existing tunnels rendered useless or could they potentially be retrofitted into new functioning ones?
Probably can be used...there are still streetcar tunnels and subways in Jacksonville that are still usable, although all track has been removed or paved over...
Quote:
Originally Posted by annie_himself
I don't think they are anywhere near completion. I would probably take billions of dollars and pretty much be starting from scratch.
...ah, unless they were never built in the first place. LOL, nevermind!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanox
IIRC, Kansas City is getting ready to build a 2-mile streetcar starter line down Main st. to help jumpstart getting a light-rail system built. They recently were given a TIGER grant and put in an order for their streetcars...KC is actually ordering from the same company as Cincinnati, so once Cincy gets their streetcars, they will begin production on KC's. I don't believe their too focused on the Kansas side yet, as much as wanting to get a light-rail system started in the urban core of the city first.
Wow, this is fantastic news! I can't believe I've been out of the loop on this (although being out of the country for a couple months might have done the trick) The Cincinnati plans are fantastic but I never realized they'd secured federal funding. And I don't know much about the KC starter system but knowing the city layout I'd expect the two miles to be enough to be successful. Jealous that they won the TIGER grant! There was a great transit project in Jax that applied unsuccessfully...hopefully we can find an alternative funding source but I'm not holding my breath.
That city seems to have a historical and present trend of half a** projects. They have begun construction on a street car line from downtown to the Over the Rhine neighborhood, and now the city has a mayor elect that wants to kill the project.
Meanwhile, Tucson has been seeing more downtown investment and development with the arrival of its new four mile long street car line connecting to the U of A campus in 2014.
^^^Trust me, our mayor elect is going to have to put up a big fight if he wants to cancel the streetcar construction. The rails are already in the ground and it would cost far more to cancel the contracts than to finish the project. Just ignore him...it's not even his call. City Council is on the fence and they're starting to see that the mayor is being reckless.
The subway was not finished for a number of reasons. There's a whole book about it called Cincinnati's Incomplete Subway: The Complete History by Jake Mecklenborg. Essentially the subway was built under Boss Cox's mob rule and it was seen as a sign of "good government" when Murray Seasongood was elected mayor and started the Charter committee. The tunnels were completed from downtown to the Mill Creek Valley (about 2.2 miles) and they are still standing today. A water pipe was run through the tunnels in the 1950s and the platforms need to be extended, but the tunnels can absolutely be used today. They show up in every single rail plan that the city makes.
The problem with building rail in Cincinnati is that there are huge political divides within the region. The city is all for building rail, but the County doesn't want to have anything to do with it. That's why the city jumped on the opportunity to build a streetcar route. They didn't need to get the County involved. The reason we've got this debacle with the current mayor is because our media is controlled by the suburban counterparts and they actively dish out misinformation.
This is nothing new. The city seems to have an unwritten system of checks and balances (probably because the city is at a crossroads of very different regions in the US) but it creates a stable economy and very passionate and outspoken people. We'll keep fighting for rail here, but in the meantime we have a great bus system in the city. I've lived car-free in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Cincinnati. I definitely find this city the easiest to live in without a car.
That city seems to have a historical and present trend of half a** projects. They have begun construction on a street car line from downtown to the Over the Rhine neighborhood, and now the city has a mayor elect that wants to kill the project.
Meanwhile, Tucson has been seeing more downtown investment and development with the arrival of its new four mile long street car line connecting to the U of A campus in 2014.
Seeing the street car line in construction outside my window gives me more hope for Tucson. It'll provide a lot more housing for us students and eventually help us get around the sprawl of Tucson.
I remember the idea of a bullet train from Tucson to Phoenix... I would also like to see this happen.
IIRC, Kansas City is getting ready to build a 2-mile streetcar starter line down Main st. to help jumpstart getting a light-rail system built. They recently were given a TIGER grant and put in an order for their streetcars...KC is actually ordering from the same company as Cincinnati, so once Cincy gets their streetcars, they will begin production on KC's. I don't believe their too focused on the Kansas side yet, as much as wanting to get a light-rail system started in the urban core of the city first.
Yes, the streetcar starter line in KC is starting construction soon and expansions are already being planned which hopefully will be soon to follow.
The Kansas side is not involved. No surprise there as they always refuse to contribute tax funds for any of the amenities in the city/metro.
KC also has a two lines of what they consider Bus Rapid Transit, but it may be a stretch to call them true BRT lines.
Jackson County also has plans in the works for commuter rail, but who knows if that will ever get off the ground.
Kansas City
San Antonio
Orlando
Tampa Bay
Indianapolis
Cincinnati
Detroit
Milwaukee
are all among major cities that haven't developed any light rail or rapid rail transit. Why are cities and metros this large going without mass transit and what is holding them back from developing it? Do any of them (or any I had not listed) have any real proposals that might start construction before the end of the decade? Considering a medium sized metro and fairly small city such as Salt Lake City can develop and extensive light rail system, perhaps these metros could as well?
I see you don't have Las Vegas on the list since they have the monorail. If you count the Las Vegas Monorail which serves mostly tourists traveling between resorts, then you would also have to count the Disney Monorail and take Orlando off this list.
And Detroit does have a train in the downtown area, they even showed it in the Alex Cross movie.
I see you don't have Las Vegas on the list since they have the monorail. If you count the Las Vegas Monorail which serves mostly tourists traveling between resorts, then you would also have to count the Disney Monorail and take Orlando off this list.
Las Vegas will be the Last of the Mohicans to get light rail. And even if they did build a much-needed line from downtown Las Vegas, down the Las Vegas Strip, to the Airport I'd be too scared to ride it, given the hostility to light rail from the taxi unions here.
Just my luck, the day I decided to ride it, and there's a bomb onboard!
For tourists who are curious as to why the monorail comes to a dead stop on Tropicana, at the MGM, and why it doesn't go the extra mile to the Airport, to seek answers to that question, just ask an owner of a taxi cab company in town!
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