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Are you joking? I lived in San Diego for four years. Light rail goes to where? Tijuana and La Mesa. It's awful. Why doesn't light rail go to any of the desirable neighborhoods like Hillcrest, North Park, or any of the beaches?
As an urban city, San Diego just doesn't compete with Seattle. Those who disagree have not been to both cities. I guarantee it. SD = total car culture
It's been 12 years since I was last in Seattle and the only rail I recall is the downtown monorail to the space needle. Portland has several light rail lines, so to San Francisco. LA, with 4 light rail lines and two subway lines, has more miles or rail transit than any west coast city. In 2019 an additional light rail line, the Crenshaw line begins operation, connecting downtown to LAX and the westside via the Expo line. .
The 2050 Regional Transportation Plan proposes an additional 156 miles of light rail in San Diego.
There's a big difference between what's proposed and what's actually funded - not to mention you can't compare at geafe rail (San Diego) and grade separated (Seattle)
There's a big difference between what's proposed and what's actually funded - not to mention you can't compare at geafe rail (San Diego) and grade separated (Seattle)
Most of the future Seattle area light rail will be either in tunnels or grade separated, as you say. The Sea-Tac to downtown route does follow a street route for some miles, but I don't think it hinders the corridor, as it serves areas south of Seattle to downtown. Perhaps someday there will be an express from the airport with no stops.
The link system is "full-on build to completion" at this point, thanks to a vote among Puget Sound counties. These counties will pay for it, and that is the way it should be. Eastern Washington should not have to pay for Puget Sound transit projects, and this time it worked.
I expect a fully functional light rail transit system by 2030. I know that seems a long way away, but, seriously it is only 13 years away.
It's been 12 years since I was last in Seattle and the only rail I recall is the downtown monorail to the space needle. Portland has several light rail lines, so to San Francisco. LA, with 4 light rail lines and two subway lines, has more miles or rail transit than any west coast city. In 2019 an additional light rail line, the Crenshaw line begins operation, connecting downtown to LAX and the westside via the Expo line. .
12 years was a long time ago. Seattle is currently in the process of building out an almost entirely grade-separated regional light rail system. Right now a small portion of the full system has opened and is at about 70K daily riders. By 2023, after two new lines have opened, that number is expected to jump to 200K+. And over the long term construction is funded for a massive system that will carry over 600K riders in total.
Also, even now Seattle destroys SD and LA in terms of transit commute mode share.
We've had two massive booms in that time. Greater Downtown has added, or is underway on, 33,000 housing units and nearly 20,000,000 sf of offices (basically a 1.3-mile radius plus a little gerrymandering) in those 12 years.
12 years was a long time ago. Seattle is currently in the process of building out an almost entirely grade-separated regional light rail system. Right now a small portion of the full system has opened and is at about 70K daily riders. By 2023, after two new lines have opened, that number is expected to jump to 200K+. And over the long term construction is funded for a massive system that will carry over 600K riders in total.
Also, even now Seattle destroys SD and LA in terms of transit commute mode share.
Seattle is medium size city, while LA is one of the largest cites in the world with a greater metro population of over 16 million. At present LA has 4 light rail lines and 2 subway lines, and starting in early 2019 the new Crenshaw line begins operation. Having said that, we'll need at least two more subway line and additional 4 or 5 light rail lines to have better coverage. And the MTA is working on that.
I'm sure Seattle has a very good system, but it's much easier to cover an area the size of Seattle than LA.
Seattle is medium size city, while LA is one of the largest cites in the world with a greater metro population of over 16 million. At present LA has 4 light rail lines and 2 subway lines, and starting in early 2019 the new Crenshaw line begins operation. Having said that, we'll need at least two more subway line and additional 4 or 5 light rail lines to have better coverage. And the MTA is working on that.
I'm sure Seattle has a very good system, but it's much easier to cover an area the size of Seattle than LA.
The most recent stats from LA Metro Transit Authority:
Well, Seattle's MSA (includes King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties) has just under 4 million people and the combined daily weekday transit ridership for the four largest transit agencies in the MSA is 615,000 riders per day riding either bus or rail. And that's excluding the 60,000 that commute by ferry or water taxi. Pound for pound Seattle beats both San Diego and LA handily in terms of transit mode share.
There's a big difference between what's proposed and what's actually funded - not to mention you can't compare at geafe rail (San Diego) and grade separated (Seattle)
San Diego has had a dedicated transit funding source, Transnet, since the late 80's so much of it is funded through that. Also Seattle's light rail extensions are not completely grade-separated, many segments are at-grade.
San Diego has had a dedicated transit funding source, Transnet, since the late 80's so much of it is funded through that. Also Seattle's light rail extensions are not completely grade-separated, many segments are at-grade.
The streetcar lines in seattle are at grade but the future extensions of light rail are underground or elevated. The first line was partially at grade and has had several problems.
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