Maine Long Term Rail / Transit plans and Proposals (Portland, Bangor: neighborhood, construction)

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

I actually beg to differ and i took those proposals form the state plans. I ran them by a bunch of engineers in New England and they said its doable. They just need to use Smaller DMU trains so it will become a profitable line. Keep in mind we are planning several longer rural / suburban lines down here that will connect other states .....The facts are the Bos-Wash has started to grow outside its current limits and is spreading up towards Portland is predicted to go all the way up to Bangor by 2050 , so while current those lines aren't needed in the future they will be. My plans or the states plans tend to be long term not this decade.......The only thing that should be built this decade is the Brunswick line. The state should build anything after that intill its confident it had a population to support it. You may have a masters in Urban Planning but seem to know little about trains and the systems / costs.....

Were these the same planners that predicted the visitor count for the Calais museum? Be careful of the wild predictions, because reality bites.

[reloop]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

I actually beg to differ and i took those proposals form the state plans. I ran them by a bunch of engineers in New England and they said its doable. They just need to use Smaller DMU trains so it will become a profitable line. Keep in mind we are planning several longer rural / suburban lines down here that will connect other states .....The facts are the Bos-Wash has started to grow outside its current limits and is spreading up towards Portland is predicted to go all the way up to Bangor by 2050 , so while current those lines aren't needed in the future they will be. My plans or the states plans tend to be long term not this decade.......The only thing that should be built this decade is the Brunswick line. The state should build anything after that intill its confident it had a population to support it. You may have a masters in Urban Planning but seem to know little about trains and the systems / costs.....

Say if it was built this decade, how would it be paid for by the state?

We already owe the hospitals and medical practices an ungodly amount of money (some of which dates back several years).

Note I used "we" because really, "we" are the ones who pay into state coffers for the most part.

This we can't afford to pay any more than we already pay.

In fact, I work at a medical facility and thanks (in a large part) to the fact that the state simply can't pay their bills, I haven't received even a COLA raise for going on three years now. My cost of living has gone up since then.

My employer has had to do an incredible amount of shuffling to cover those costs that the state isn't paying - including doing away with even merit raises (which we haven't had for even longer than we haven't had COLA raises). Bob's right. Reality does indeed bite.

[Clarissa2010]

Rapid Transit between Portland and Brunswick with a stop in Yarmouth is being considered.
This article was in the Times Record: The Times Record > Archives > News > Commuter bus service proposed (http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2010/12/09/news/doc4d00f9f77f564284105420.txt - broken link)

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by AustinB

Were these the same planners that predicted the visitor count for the Calais museum? Be careful of the wild predictions, because reality bites.

Good point, Mr Austin.

"I need a study done."

"sure. What do you want for an outcome?"

[Clarissa2010]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

Why is someone from Jersey and has visited only twice interested in changing Maine?

I hope you mean that you appreciate someone who takes an interest.

[reloop]

Originally Posted by Clarissa2010

I hope you mean that you appreciate someone who takes an interest.

I won't speak for MW, but I will say that many times, when someone who has only visited a couple of times and proposes something that costs a lot of money, it makes us itch.

We have history with those who come in like a hurricane and go out with a poof. Therein lies the bailiwick with appearing unfriendly.

I honestly would be all for this if:

A. The state wasn't broke already.

B. The state hadn't been broke for a very long time already

C. If it meant that my children would have the opportunity to stay in Maine and make a comfortable living by providing decent jobs.

D. If the state didn't already owe a boatload of money trying to cover health care costs because we've lost so many jobs which offered coverage in the first place.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Clarissa2010

Rapid Transit between Portland and Brunswick with a stop in Yarmouth is being considered.
This article was in the Times Record: The Times Record > Archives > News > Commuter bus service proposed (http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2010/12/09/news/doc4d00f9f77f564284105420.txt - broken link)

Sure I can see all of the Yuppies in Yarmouth leaving their BMW's, Lexus' and, Mercedes parked in the garage and riding a bus or a train to work in Portland......next stupid project??

[Clarissa2010]

Bill Nemitz: They're stopped in their tracks | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

This is truly about a model

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by Clarissa2010

Bill Nemitz: They're stopped in their tracks | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

This is truly about a model

I can see us building one of these.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Maineah

Sure I can see all of the Yuppies in Yarmouth leaving their BMW's, Lexus' and, Mercedes parked in the garage and riding a bus or a train to work in Portland......next stupid project??

It has nothing to do with wealth (even the wealthiest communities in metro Portland just aren't all that wealthy), but you've pretty much pinpointed the biggest problem.

It's just too easy (and affordable) to drive to downtown Portland and park. Traffic is never bad (at least not even close to prohibitive levels), parking is cheap (free in many cases) and even the semi-rural suburban neighborhoods are really close to the city center. Combine that with a low, spread out population and you don't have a market for commuter rail network.

Trains work (in even the wealthiest communities) in big cities like Boston or New York because traffic is a nightmare in those cities, parking is prohibitively expensive, and the distance from semi-rural suburbs to the city centers are far more distant than they are in Portland (where 10 miles from downtown can be close to rural). It's for these reasons, the Downeaster (and coach buses) work for getting from Portland to Boston. Many people don't want to drive and pay to park. In that sense, it works. Commuter rail in Portland would never work. It would be a complete and utter waste of money.