"Toy Train" on the Travel chanel now (Houston: school, closing)

[jfre81]

I don't know what makes those "no left turn" signs so hard to see. If you can't see that, maybe you shouldn't be driving.

As for subways...sure, they could be done, but if you're concerned about the cost of LRT you ain't seen nothing yet until we start digging around. I'm just not seeing where the density is there for such an investment - for now. And yes, LRT isn't cheap, but neither are building and maintaining hundreds of miles of freeways and roads. No, your contribution to the gas tax doesn't pay for it any more than your METRORail fare pays for the rail. If it did, we'd be paying something like $5/gallon right now and we'd all be calling for better public transit. Our whole transportation infrastructure bleeds red, but somehow TXDOT gets a pass since we're Houstonians and we love concrete. All these so-called fiscal conservatives wring their hands over subsidizing rail when they've been subsidizing pavement out the wazoo for a long time.

The monorail on OST from the 50s was mentioned. That was sort of a demonstration thing. Since, 50 years later we were driving everywhere, there had to be something done just to demonstrate that people would actually use rail transport. The Red Line is flawed, it was rushed for the Super Bowl and it could've been a lot better. But one thing it has done is proven that people are willing to ride. Enter "well, it just replaced bus routes." The bus routes going down Main did not have anywhere near that kind of ridership. Could it have been designed better? Sure. And so could much of our freeway system, but people use it anyway. There are probably more collisions per year at that fustercluck of an interchange at 45 and the South Loop than there are on along the rail line, car-train and car-car combined. I've got no statistics to cite but I'd bet money on it.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by texas7

My comments were that the rail is insufficiently marked for new drivers in Houston, visitors, etc. And what marking we have really blends in with all the other signage .... and missing crossing arms at some intersections.

Yes, but like the article states--other cities have similar signage...actually less signage, but Houston has more problems. (Seriously, you guys need to visit Baltimore, or Boston.) Why, why, why is that? The fact that the article makes is that Houstonians know very little about rail-transit, have little experience with it and as a result are dumb to it. And this is a lot more plausible considering other cities precedents. Houstonians just need to admit they don't know how to drive near rail lines.

[Thaskateguy]

When one starts off with a bad plan, they should not be surprised when the out come is less than optimal.

---Plus if you get rid of the buses, then people have little choice, other than to ride the train. The bus was $.50, up from $.23 when I first had to pay adult fare. Which was up from $.07 as a Child. I know something about buses in Houston. Oh, and don't pumps need power??. And didn't we lose power for a couple of weeks during Ike. Maybe that don't count.

[texas7]

Originally Posted by theSUBlime

Yes, but like the article states--other cities have similar signage...actually less signage, but Houston has more problems. (Seriously, you guys need to visit Baltimore, or Boston.) Why, why, why is that? The fact that the article makes is that Houstonians know very little about rail-transit, have little experience with it and as a result are dumb to it. And this is a lot more plausible considering other cities precedents. Houstonians just need to admit they don't know how to drive near rail lines.

I think it is more where the signage they have is posted - it just blends with all of our other unzoned signage that people have been sort of programmed to ignore because there is so much visual garbage in our eyesight when driving.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Thaskateguy

---Plus if you get rid of the buses, then people have little choice, other than to ride the train.

Well, yes, what sense does it make to have redundant service along the rail line when those buses can be used to expand service elsewhere? Haven't we gone over this before?

The bus was $.50, up from $.23 when I first had to pay adult fare. Which was up from $.07 as a Child. I know something about buses in Houston.

Did you walk uphill both ways in the snow to the bus stop? Tell us more. I was born yesterday so I don't know anything about buses.

Except for the ones I ride every now and then, I guess. Why, I even ride a bus to get on the rail if I'm going downtown. Imagine that, different modes of public transit working together. Whodathunkit.

[Thaskateguy]

I think there are some who probably rode the "little Bus" more than they care to admit.

[Thaskateguy]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Well, yes, what sense does it make to have redundant service along the rail line when those buses can be used to expand service elsewhere? Haven't we gone over this before?



Did you walk uphill both ways in the snow to the bus stop? Tell us more. I was born yesterday so I don't know anything about buses.

Except for the ones I ride every now and then, I guess. Why, I even ride a bus to get on the rail if I'm going downtown. Imagine that, different modes of public transit working together. Whodathunkit.

so, if the bus is already there, why build a train, and spend all that money, to cover an even smaller route??---Yes we have been over this before. but you know what they say about that horse, and gettin him to drink.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Thaskateguy

I think there are some who probably rode the "little Bus" more than they care to admit.

Indubitably.

But one was always free, right? Did you lick the window?

so, if the bus is already there, why build a train, and spend all that money, to cover an even smaller route??

Well, first of all, because that won't be the only line. It wasn't intended to be the beginning and end of the rail system. It was just the beginning. The freeways weren't built all at once either. The first one was what we now call Interstate 45. Did it do much for the west part of town? No, not unless they were going to Galveston. But then the system got built out.

Second, this may sound kind of stupid but it's true - people in this part of the country tend to associate public transportation with poor people, but especially so with the bus. Then there is the comfort factor. You see, you don't get it because, by your own admission, you don't ride the rail. But the rail is a quieter, smoother ride than a bus running on streets full of dips and potholes, banging, making a lot of noise inside. Maybe that's another reason why people prefer it.

Third (we'll stop here for the sake of brevity), since it is a higher-capacity corridor, rail makes more economic sense in the long run, believe it or not. If one bus gets overloaded, how do you increase capacity? By adding another bus, which is burning its own fuel and has a different driver who is not working for free. But with rail you can add another car to the same train, serve more people faster (e.g. not having overflow sitting and waiting for the next bus - this happens on some bus lines at times like the 82 Westheimer) and you only need one driver.

Fourth (har, I lied!) - once again, the existing bus fleet can again be better allocated to serving new routes as well as existing routes that have high ridership but maybe not enough to merit a rail line, or in places where rail simply isn't feasible for lack of space.

Yes we have been over this before. but you know what they say about that horse, and gettin him to drink.

For once I agree with you. Sort of. I'm sure somebody knows what I mean.

[Thaskateguy]

So if you do something, and it works out poorly, does doing more of the same change the outcome?---need a hint?

[Thaskateguy]

Speaking of Fuel consumption---does anyone know how much Fuel must be burned to produce 100 kilowatts of power for the electric motors? Burning fuel in an engine is more efficient, than burning it to produce electricity, and then transfering the electricity to an electic motor. Each step uses energy.