Light Rail System in Huntsville? (Arab: university, tax, living in)

[mm42]

That's exactly what people tell me when I bring up my idea of a Mag-Lev train that runs from Hazel Green to Ardmore: "It makes too much sense, it'll never happen."

[skinem]

There's going to take a massive change in thinking for something like this to make sense in Huntsville. Until really recently, Huntsville was the largest city in the US with NO bus system at all. And all it really has now is a Bus Lite system. Very lite. There's no history or tradition of public transportation.
As far as a light rail system, can anyone name a municipal system any where in the nation that ridership has met expectations or is breaking even, much less making money?

Now, the change in thinking here just might come along with $5 a gallon gas...

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by skinem

There's going to take a massive change in thinking for something like this to make sense in Huntsville. Until really recently, Huntsville was the largest city in the US with NO bus system at all. And all it really has now is a Bus Lite system. Very lite. There's no history or tradition of public transportation.
As far as a light rail system, can anyone name a municipal system any where in the nation that ridership has met expectations or is breaking even, much less making money?

Now, the change in thinking here just might come along with $5 a gallon gas...

I'm fairly certain Charlotte's light rail has exceeded predictions. BTW no transportation system in the history of the world has ever paid for itself. Certainly America's road network doesn't; the gas tax doesn't come close to coveing all road construction and maintenance work.

Thatbeing said, light rail in Huntsville would be crazy without massive changes in development patterns. The smart thing to do would be for the city to acquire right of ways for the future then encourage high density development along them. Once that happens (10 years, 20 years, never?) then bus or rail may make sense.

[Reactionary]

HB2HSV - Monte Sano had a 'light rail' line running from the mountaintop hotel to around Fagan Springs - you can see the rail bed at the Land Trust Trail on Bankhead.

skinem - HSV also used to have a horse-drawn streetcar system running from Five Points to Downtown to Triana / Governors.

mm42 - bah, the most sensible MagLev route runs from Downtown HSV non-stop to the T at Gulf Shores - beach in less than 2 hours. Let's see 360 miles at about $35 million per mile (*) is only a little over $12 billion - think of all that stimulus! And it's sand shovel ready!

(*) national average light rail cost per mile - actual costs may be higher; note that maglev estimates range from $20 million per mile (maglev proponent's BS) to $200 million per mile (urban heavy rail construction per mile).

[Huntsville]

It would be very pro-active of Huntsville and even Alabama as a whole to build light-rail to connect our largest metros. This is something that would help Alabama in terms of Nationwide visibility and even tourism. I think it would increase outside traffic in all of the cities involved. If we wait until there is an immediate need, that will be too late.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by Huntsville

It would be very pro-active of Huntsville and even Alabama as a whole to build light-rail to connect our largest metros. This is something that would help Alabama in terms of Nationwide visibility and even tourism. I think it would increase outside traffic in all of the cities involved. If we wait until there is an immediate need, that will be too late.

Yes I agree. We need a high speed train system to connect Huntsville to Orange Beach, get the commute time down to 2 hours so we can hit the beach in the morning and back by dinner time.

[clamoore]

Reactionary, there were also electric street cars that ran from the mill villages to downtown shops. Not just horse-drawn trolleys. That would establish a history of mass transit. These street cars were heavily used during the Mill Era of Huntsville.

What will the cost be to build exit ramps on I-565 for every little country road between Huntsville and Florence? This will continue to be a "must-have" as BRAC and other alphabet projects bring more folks to North Alabama. I can't remember what the County Line road exit is projected to cost. Double that value and that will be the actual cost. Once it is complete, the suburbanites that live farther west will shriek for another exit ramp. Repeat, ad naseum.

Oh, don't forget the new roads to Owen's Crossroads, new bridges to Morgan County and new terminals for the airport.

Death from a thousand little papercuts.

[A&M Bulldawg]

If Huntsville happens to get the light rail system, what will its design and setup probably be for a city its size?

[Huntsville]

It will be designed like a space craft (when the craft takes off it will feel like the G force of a space launch), I think it should glow in the dark so that you can only see it at night, and it will be about the size of a 700,000 person metro so that by 2030 we will have grown into it.

[Reactionary]

Brian at Flashpoint got a copy of the light rail proposal - you can download the pdf and read it for yourself:

Light Rail Proposal for Huntsville | flashpoint

The proposal is even better than anything people have come up with here - the trains will be solar-powered!

clamoore - thanks for the info about electric street cars.