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Old 12-29-2011, 10:38 AM
 
Location: Seattle
571 posts, read 1,166,117 times
Reputation: 834

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Yeah, the monorail is seen more as a tourist attraction at this point - and yeah, WAY past the planning stages, it is decades old and is not being expanded. LINK light rail and the Seattle streetcar lines is where its at. The system is mostly grade separated and a total subway downtown, so it had the advantage of not being stuck in traffic like at-grade systems. The Seattle streetcar is being expanded to service parts of First Hill and Capitol Hill that were not able to accommodate a light rail station.
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Old 12-29-2011, 01:21 PM
 
208 posts, read 405,469 times
Reputation: 74
Quote:
Originally Posted by blkgiraffe View Post
Houston is currently expanding its LRT system.


Houston Light Rail Transit - YouTube
Hi blkgiraffe,

Thank you for posting the lrt info for Houston.

Is the video a projection of the future or an accurate depiction of current status? How much of the metro area is this thing expected to cover? Could I, for example, live in Rosenberg and commute to Downtown Houston using lrt and would my cost be commensurate with the cost of commuting by car; gas, parking, etc.?
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Old 12-29-2011, 01:31 PM
 
Location: The City
22,379 posts, read 38,695,279 times
Reputation: 7975
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJKirkland View Post
Yeah, the monorail is seen more as a tourist attraction at this point - and yeah, WAY past the planning stages, it is decades old and is not being expanded. LINK light rail and the Seattle streetcar lines is where its at. The system is mostly grade separated and a total subway downtown, so it had the advantage of not being stuck in traffic like at-grade systems. The Seattle streetcar is being expanded to service parts of First Hill and Capitol Hill that were not able to accommodate a light rail station.

When will the Seattle system be complete. I am very curious to see how this works and appears like it will do a great job. I am very interested to see how a LR system works in the core (Really to me only the Green line in Boston is similar in this respect). Think the Seattle systme may be an example of what future systems will emulate
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Old 12-29-2011, 01:44 PM
 
7,743 posts, read 15,806,637 times
Reputation: 10451
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidphilly View Post
When will the Seattle system be complete. I am very curious to see how this works and appears like it will do a great job. I am very interested to see how a LR system works in the core (Really to me only the Green line in Boston is similar in this respect). Think the Seattle systme may be an example of what future systems will emulate
Well... the light rail's functioning right now. From the airport to Seattle DT, called the Central Link. They're building more so that it connects up to the University of WA area. The Eastside is getting ready to build, so Seattle DT will be connected to Bellevue/Redmond up close to where MS offices are located.

Tacoma has their LR link going on right now. It was planned that they start building a connection between Tacoma and the airport in 2015, but unfortunately the transit agency said that will be on hold.
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Old 12-29-2011, 01:50 PM
 
Location: The City
22,379 posts, read 38,695,279 times
Reputation: 7975
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inkpoe View Post
Well... the light rail's functioning right now. From the airport to Seattle DT, called the Central Link. They're building more so that it connects up to the University of WA area. The Eastside is getting ready to build, so Seattle DT will be connected to Bellevue/Redmond up close to where MS offices are located.

Tacoma has their LR link going on right now. It was planned that they start building a connection between Tacoma and the airport in 2015, but unfortunately the transit agency said that will be on hold.

Sounds like good stuff; hopefully the other section will get funded as well. Am curious to visit again after the Eastside is up an running. I am curious what ridership will be achieved and think LR can compete at some level with HR in a system such as the one in Seattle
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Old 12-29-2011, 01:56 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,706,777 times
Reputation: 6417
Baltimore and suburban DC both have large light rail lines that are pretty far along in the planning stages and could be open by 2018.

Baltimore will add the red line and a new Purple line will connect two suburban Maryland counties in DC.



Home - Baltimore Red Line


The Purple Line

DC is also expanding metro deeper into Virginia (silver line), but that's heavy rail
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Old 12-29-2011, 02:01 PM
 
9,961 posts, read 17,438,977 times
Reputation: 9193
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJKirkland View Post
Yeah, the monorail is seen more as a tourist attraction at this point - and yeah, WAY past the planning stages, it is decades old and is not being expanded. LINK light rail and the Seattle streetcar lines is where its at. The system is mostly grade separated and a total subway downtown, so it had the advantage of not being stuck in traffic like at-grade systems. The Seattle streetcar is being expanded to service parts of First Hill and Capitol Hill that were not able to accommodate a light rail station.
So far I'm impressed with LINK--and it will be great when they build it farther north. Are they going to build it all the way towards Ballard eventually?

I'll give Seattle credit for actually building a subway for the light rail downtown--something that Portland should've done back in the day which would have increased the efficiency of the whole system. Portland's MAX rail basically becomes a street car in the downtown area with too many stops--although it's great if you're going from the Lloyd Center area to the Airport.
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Old 12-29-2011, 02:06 PM
 
7,743 posts, read 15,806,637 times
Reputation: 10451
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deezus View Post
So far I'm impressed with LINK--and it will be great when they build it farther north. Are they going to build it all the way towards Ballard eventually?
Nope. Ballard isn't covered at all. Right now the mayor is trying to propose a new line going from West Seattle to Ballard. Which sounds like a great idea actually... but it's not going to pass anytime soon. There are grass-root effort, trying to get something started.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Deezus View Post
I'll give Seattle credit for actually building a subway for the light rail downtown--something that Portland should've done back in the day which would have increased the efficiency of the whole system. Portland's MAX rail basically becomes a street car in the downtown area with too many stops--although it's great if you're going from the Lloyd Center area to the Airport.
The subway been there long before and been used by the buses, now shared by both.
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Old 12-29-2011, 02:18 PM
 
Location: Pasadena, CA
10,084 posts, read 15,769,367 times
Reputation: 4049
LA has got the Expo Line Phase 1 which is about to open in a few months (It keeps getting delayed, was supposed to have opened already.) Phase 2 will open in 2015 and go all the way to Santa Monica via West LA.

File:Expo line (Los Angeles) route map.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gold Line Foothill Extension (under construction) brings the line further into the mostly suburban San Gabriel Valley, and eventually will go all the way to the Ontario Airport :

File:Gold Line Map (Future) of the Los Angeles County Metro System.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Crenshaw Line is in the planning and routing stages, it will connect the Green Line and Expo Line and LAX and hopefully, someday the Westside Subway Extension when it is built.

File:Crenshaw corridor jerjoz.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old 12-29-2011, 02:26 PM
 
Location: LBC
4,156 posts, read 5,529,251 times
Reputation: 3593
Quote:
Originally Posted by munchitup View Post
LA has got the Expo Line Phase 1 which is about to open in a few months (It keeps getting delayed, was supposed to have opened already.) Phase 2 will open in 2015 and go all the way to Santa Monica via West LA.

File:Expo line (Los Angeles) route map.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gold Line Foothill Extension (under construction) brings the line further into the mostly suburban San Gabriel Valley, and eventually will go all the way to the Ontario Airport :

File:Gold Line Map (Future) of the Los Angeles County Metro System.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Crenshaw Line is in the planning and routing stages, it will connect the Green Line and Expo Line and LAX and hopefully, someday the Westside Subway Extension when it is built.

File:Crenshaw corridor jerjoz.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm not sure any metro has a more ambitious near-term plan than LA.

I know.

http://www.metro.net/projects_studie...o_30-10_mm.pdf
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