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View Poll Results: Seattle's urban form is closer to?
Los Angeles 16 29.09%
San Diego 39 70.91%
Voters: 55. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 07-07-2017, 03:06 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
216 posts, read 199,247 times
Reputation: 218

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluefox View Post
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. .
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Old 07-07-2017, 07:07 PM
 
429 posts, read 474,950 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sav858 View Post
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)
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Old 07-07-2017, 09:14 PM
 
Location: WA Desert, Seattle native
9,398 posts, read 8,735,962 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward234 View Post
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.
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Old 07-09-2017, 04:10 PM
 
429 posts, read 474,950 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy in L.A. View Post
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.
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Old 07-09-2017, 04:36 PM
 
8,745 posts, read 6,664,611 times
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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.
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Old 07-09-2017, 07:09 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
216 posts, read 199,247 times
Reputation: 218
Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward234 View Post
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.
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Old 07-10-2017, 01:39 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
216 posts, read 199,247 times
Reputation: 218
Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy in L.A. View Post
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:

Weekday ridership: 1,300,000
Saturday ridership: 820,000
Sunday ridership: 622,000
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Old 07-10-2017, 03:32 AM
 
429 posts, read 474,950 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy in L.A. View Post
The most recent stats from LA Metro Transit Authority:

Weekday ridership: 1,300,000
Saturday ridership: 820,000
Sunday ridership: 622,000
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.
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Old 07-10-2017, 11:34 AM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
18,957 posts, read 32,418,045 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward234 View Post
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.
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Old 07-10-2017, 02:58 PM
 
1,581 posts, read 2,810,052 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sav858 View Post
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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