Should We Kill SunRail? Your Votes & Your Opinions Please. (Miami: price, lawsuit)

[OrlFlaUsa]

Originally Posted by EndersDrift

The reality of public transit is that the more people who ride it the cheaper the fare will be, unfortunately in the beginning fare must be just right which is a very very difficult thing to do. But I do believe people will ride it. Especially the 436/University Blvd area, the Avalon Park area, Metrowest, and Fern Park areas. People are always waiting for the current buses in these places. Likewise OBT and Sandlake will get a lot of use for it.

You're right about the cost eventually coming down but SunRail is not going to most of the places you mentioned. If plans are to build light rail out that way then grab a Snickers...

Originally Posted by EndersDrift

Will your average suburban upper-middle class person be reluctant to use it? Yes. And that is the general demographic of City-Data so the results you are going to get is completely flawed on here.

Actually the results on here are pretty much in favor of SunRail no matter the cost & constitutionality of it.

Originally Posted by EndersDrift

You're right that the rail in itself will leave you in destinations that might then require a car or other service. So you transfer to a bus or you walk. The bus system has been improved and will continue to improve.

Yes I agree and commuter rail is not meant to be door to door service. If I lived in Deland and worked in DT Orlando, then I could see it as a huge advantage and worth the commute to the station itself.

Originally Posted by EndersDrift

As for the 3 miles from your door to the Altamonte station, you can ride a bus or take a bike. A 3 mile bike ride takes about 21 minute.

True, I could walk 10 minutes up to 436 which is just over .5 miles from my place. Then I could hop on Link 41 (if I didn't have to wait for it) and take the 10 minute ride to the intersection of 427 & 436 where the nearest SunRail will be. So now 20 minutes into my morning, I am just arriving at the station where I must now wait 5-10 minutes for the next train. The train will then take me another 15-20 minutes to get downtown with stops in Maitland & Winter Park. After arriving in downtown lets assume I work another .5 miles away from the Church Street station, there's 10 more minutes. Let's add it up:10(walk)+10(bus ride)+5(assuming short wait 4 train)+15(short ride)+10=50minutes best case scenario.

Originally Posted by EndersDrift

The biggest hurdles will be:
1. Community Awareness and Incentives
2. Increased bus and bike support
3. Increased services for taxi cabs
4. And this is a big and often overlooked one is that the bus stops need to have coverage here. All along Semoran people wait for the bus just standing out by the median on the side of the road. It needs more than that. It should have a covered area every 150 ft or so and certainly by the entrances to residential areas.

^true.

[GLS2010]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

"A 3 mile bike ride takes about 21 minute."

Yes I can see many people riding bikes here in 95 degree weather. And they will smell great on the train to....LOL.

3 mile bike ride in 21 minutes? I ride my bike to the gym sometimes.. Its about a 4 mile bike ride and takes me about 15 mins. I do it during the summer too. I've done it with other people before and if you shower before and wear deoderant (like people should, every day) you don't smell. We sweat but no one smelled. And during the other half of the year when its really nice outside, you don't even sweat bad. Id like to see you try to go on a bike ride up north during winter, the cold wind will make your face numb and good luck riding on wet, icy, snowy, paths.

[GLS2010]

Originally Posted by OrlFlaUsa

The train will then take me another 15-20 minutes to get downtown with stops in Maitland & Winter Park.

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I didn't think you would have to stop at every station to get to downtown. Its not like there is only going to be one train. I thought there was going to be multiple trains. Trains that go from one station directly to your destination. Like say your in Altamonte and want to go downtown. I'm sure there is a train that takes you directly to downtown. There will be other trains in winter park and maitland. Thats why train stations are off the main track, so passing trains can go by and not have to stop at every stop. Am I wrong?

[EndersDrift]

Originally Posted by GLS2010

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I didn't think you would have to stop at every station to get to downtown. Its not like there is only going to be one train. I thought there was going to be multiple trains. Trains that go from one station directly to your destination. Like say your in Altamonte and want to go downtown. I'm sure there is a train that takes you directly to downtown. There will be other trains in winter park and maitland. Thats why train stations are off the main track, so passing trains can go by and not have to stop at every stop. Am I wrong?

Yes usually they stop at every station the passing lane is only in the event the station is full, which if planned correctly should never happen. No two trains should ever be at the same stop at the same time.

[DarkWolf]

I wonder what the interiors will look like and what will they do to attract riders? We have Bathrooms , outlets , wifi , and high capacity seating.

[EndersDrift]

Originally Posted by OrlFlaUsa

You're right about the cost eventually coming down but SunRail is not going to most of the places you mentioned. If plans are to build light rail out that way then grab a Snickers...

Actually the results on here are pretty much in favor of SunRail no matter the cost & constitutionality of it.

Yes I agree and commuter rail is not meant to be door to door service. If I lived in Deland and worked in DT Orlando, then I could see it as a huge advantage and worth the commute to the station itself.

True, I could walk 10 minutes up to 436 which is just over .5 miles from my place. Then I could hop on Link 41 (if I didn't have to wait for it) and take the 10 minute ride to the intersection of 427 & 436 where the nearest SunRail will be. So now 20 minutes into my morning, I am just arriving at the station where I must now wait 5-10 minutes for the next train. The train will then take me another 15-20 minutes to get downtown with stops in Maitland & Winter Park. After arriving in downtown lets assume I work another .5 miles away from the Church Street station, there's 10 more minutes. Let's add it up:10(walk)+10(bus ride)+5(assuming short wait 4 train)+15(short ride)+10=50minutes best case scenario.

^true.

50 minutes -vs- 30 minutes in traffic
But then look at the cost difference: No gas, no added miles to your car, and very beneficial for people that don't own a car. Or at the very least families could go back to being single family cars because people would still have a car for family outings and trips but don't need to be rushing all over town and trying to figure out schedules to get mom to work, dad to work, and the 3 kids to wherever it is they need to be.
Thats where the real savings come in not just looking at gas to fare.
It also greatly lowers traffic which in turn reduces the risk of an accident which saves the government and the citizens involved a lot of money. And being involved isn't only the two accidents and 5 people that were say in the crash. Its the 30 cars behind in both directions causing a 2 hr delay on Colonial to get to work.

And lets not forget that 30 minute drive you could make in your own private car you have to be alert and paying attention. That 50 minute ride on the bus and rail you can be reading a book, the newspaper, your kindle or ipad, telecommuting, or just drinking a coffee and having a minute to yourself.

[LittleEagleServer77]

As much as the idea of a high-speed train appeals to me...I honestly don't think it will have the intended impact on the community because it really doesn't shave that much time off the commute and once people get connected from one location to the other there isn't any inner city train to take passengers to other areas like downtown, UCF, the malls, International Drive, Lake Nona Medical Center, Dr. Phillips, Winter Park, etc...but am willing to change my vote if there is plans for this. Also, if we do go ahead with it and there is a phase II...it should run along the Space Coast and hit the beach towns.

[OrlFlaUsa]

Originally Posted by EndersDrift

50 minutes -vs- 30 minutes in traffic
But then look at the cost difference: No gas, no added miles to your car, and very beneficial for people that don't own a car. Or at the very least families could go back to being single family cars because people would still have a car for family outings and trips but don't need to be rushing all over town and trying to figure out schedules to get mom to work, dad to work, and the 3 kids to wherever it is they need to be.
Thats where the real savings come in not just looking at gas to fare.
It also greatly lowers traffic which in turn reduces the risk of an accident which saves the government and the citizens involved a lot of money. And being involved isn't only the two accidents and 5 people that were say in the crash. Its the 30 cars behind in both directions causing a 2 hr delay on Colonial to get to work.

And lets not forget that 30 minute drive you could make in your own private car you have to be alert and paying attention. That 50 minute ride on the bus and rail you can be reading a book, the newspaper, your kindle or ipad, telecommuting, or just drinking a coffee and having a minute to yourself.

The last part Enders is exactly why I started longboarding to the Lynx stop by my place and brought along my favorite new book, so I'm with you 100% there. To take the bus it increased my commute from 20 minutes to 50, but they were a fun 50 that I got to enjoy by reading a good article or striking up a conversation with a former stranger lol. I think you made some other really valid points but only time will tell if people will do it.

[OrlFlaUsa]

Originally Posted by GLS2010

3 mile bike ride in 21 minutes? I ride my bike to the gym sometimes.. Its about a 4 mile bike ride and takes me about 15 mins. I do it during the summer too. I've done it with other people before and if you shower before and wear deoderant (like people should, every day) you don't smell. We sweat but no one smelled. And during the other half of the year when its really nice outside, you don't even sweat bad. Id like to see you try to go on a bike ride up north during winter, the cold wind will make your face numb and good luck riding on wet, icy, snowy, paths.

I wear dress attire to work which includes a jacket, you really think I won't be feeling the heat if I rode my bike 3 miles to the station. However, I couldn't agree more that I'd rather do it here than up north.

Originally Posted by GLS2010

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I didn't think you would have to stop at every station to get to downtown. Its not like there is only going to be one train. I thought there was going to be multiple trains. Trains that go from one station directly to your destination. Like say your in Altamonte and want to go downtown. I'm sure there is a train that takes you directly to downtown. There will be other trains in winter park and maitland. Thats why train stations are off the main track, so passing trains can go by and not have to stop at every stop. Am I wrong?

Since the system is planned to run on existing tracks, the only way to do that would be to have an Altamonte to Downtown Express which, no offense, makes little sense. The reason I said 15-20 minutes is that when I came back on Amtrak from Raleigh to DT Orlando, it took about that long to get from Altamonte to Church Street. Amtrak only stops once during that stretch but I took the 8 minutes at the WPK station out of my estimation.

[OrlFlaUsa]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

I wonder what the interiors will look like and what will they do to attract riders? We have Bathrooms , outlets , wifi , and high capacity seating.

I'm sure it will be totally tricked out at the expense of the tax payers. I can see it now, chrome platted spinners grindin' on the rails and 12 inch plasmas in the back of each seat. Nothing like a "green" alternative to waste some green on.