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Old 06-01-2015, 01:14 PM
 
Location: West Florida
16,826 posts, read 15,014,548 times
Reputation: 23397

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I just don't understand who it caters to... There is a very small population that lives in close proximity to a Sunrail station. It's supposed to be a commuter rail, so it caters to folks commuting to and from work, right? But then to get to a station, you have to:

1:either drive your car, pay a cab, or ride a bus there,
2:hop out, bake in the hot sun with your suit and briefcase as you wait around,
3:hop on board, ride, disembark (the one comfortable portion of your journey)
4:repeat steps 2 and 1 to get to your workplace.

Or... you can just drive your car straight to work and save the hassle...
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Old 06-01-2015, 01:58 PM
 
995 posts, read 1,685,468 times
Reputation: 2030
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal352 View Post
I just don't understand who it caters to... There is a very small population that lives in close proximity to a Sunrail station. It's supposed to be a commuter rail, so it caters to folks commuting to and from work, right? But then to get to a station, you have to:

1:either drive your car, pay a cab, or ride a bus there,
2:hop out, bake in the hot sun with your suit and briefcase as you wait around,
3:hop on board, ride, disembark (the one comfortable portion of your journey)
4:repeat steps 2 and 1 to get to your workplace.

Or... you can just drive your car straight to work and save the hassle...
Completely agree with you. We live within walking (certainly biking) distance of a station and my wife works right near a station (Florida Hospital). It is still cheaper and faster to drive. I just don't understand the need at all.
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Old 06-01-2015, 03:47 PM
 
3,936 posts, read 5,038,915 times
Reputation: 4144
Quote:
Originally Posted by idr591 View Post
Completely agree with you. We live within walking (certainly biking) distance of a station and my wife works right near a station (Florida Hospital). It is still cheaper and faster to drive. I just don't understand the need at all.
Speed yes, but how can the train be more expensive?
While I have no need or use to ride SunRail for the few people it can/does serve the price is absolutely rock bottom.

$3.75 round trip is quite low to traverse all of Orange County.
If you buy a monthly or annual it gets even cheaper.
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Old 06-01-2015, 06:33 PM
 
Location: Las Vegas, NV
5,779 posts, read 14,518,063 times
Reputation: 4019
I travel to altamonte springs with some frequency and downtown as well.,,the sand lake road station is a 10 minute drive from my place in Southchase (near Hunter's Creek) and I always enjoy riding sun rail when I either don't have much gas or don't feel in the mood to drive
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Old 06-01-2015, 06:45 PM
 
77,755 posts, read 59,900,878 times
Reputation: 49153
As a long-time rider of Chicago Public Transit and then their suburban METRA rail system I have a great appreciation for the potential for transit.

Then I moved to Kansas City and the morons here wanted to run a 30 mile line under the guise of it being what world class cities need.

However, the numbers never worked. There weren't the high density corridors and centralized workplaces that you find in SOME other cities.

Heck, even Chicago closed some rail lines due to lack of ridership.

There is a real balancing act between having some foresight in planning and biting off wayyy more than you can chew and ending up with a boondoggle. Time will tell.

I would note that the relatively cheaper gas prices of recent years will have a cooling effect on any desire to ride transit instead of taking your own car.

P.S. For every "tea party type" another poster was whining about, there are several starry eyed people that feel that a rail system will save the environment or make their city "fabulous" because all great cities have rail transit. So far, based upon ridership the people worrying this could be a big boondoggle appear to have called it correctly.

That's especially sad because a botched rail plan too far before the need arises can poison public opinion as it drags on their budgets.
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Old 06-01-2015, 06:49 PM
 
77,755 posts, read 59,900,878 times
Reputation: 49153
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal352 View Post
I just don't understand who it caters to... There is a very small population that lives in close proximity to a Sunrail station. It's supposed to be a commuter rail, so it caters to folks commuting to and from work, right? But then to get to a station, you have to:

1:either drive your car, pay a cab, or ride a bus there,
2:hop out, bake in the hot sun with your suit and briefcase as you wait around,
3:hop on board, ride, disembark (the one comfortable portion of your journey)
4:repeat steps 2 and 1 to get to your workplace.

Or... you can just drive your car straight to work and save the hassle...
Yep.

A) Chicago? 60-90 minute driving commute $300/mo. parking (or more). Suburbs to downtown.

B) Kansas? 15-30 minute driving commute (free parking).

Any city closer to B) than to A) had better think long and hard before investing billions in fixed asset commuter rail.
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Old 06-02-2015, 02:24 AM
 
Location: Atlanta
9,818 posts, read 7,831,873 times
Reputation: 9980
Just wait until I-4 is under total demolition/reconstruction for the next six years. Ridership will skyrocket, and the core of the Metro will be transformed for the better.

For people that don't live/work directly adjacent to the line, you will still benefit.

SunRail isn't going anywhere but up, and the region will be better for it in the long run.
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Old 06-02-2015, 03:17 AM
 
35,309 posts, read 52,016,805 times
Reputation: 30998
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal352 View Post
I just don't understand who it caters to... There is a very small population that lives in close proximity to a Sunrail station. It's supposed to be a commuter rail, so it caters to folks commuting to and from work, right? But then to get to a station, you have to:

1:either drive your car, pay a cab, or ride a bus there,
2:hop out, bake in the hot sun with your suit and briefcase as you wait around,
3:hop on board, ride, disembark (the one comfortable portion of your journey)
4:repeat steps 2 and 1 to get to your workplace.

Or... you can just drive your car straight to work and save the hassle...
Thats about the size of it..
I personally would rather sit in my ACed car door to door than take a bus or taxi to a train station then wait for a train then another bus to get to work and then repeat at the end of the day.
This Sunrail boondoggle is great only for people who live next to a station and work next to another station.
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Old 06-02-2015, 06:17 AM
 
26,869 posts, read 43,348,703 times
Reputation: 31516
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal352 View Post
1:either drive your car, pay a cab, or ride a bus there,
2:hop out, bake in the hot sun with your suit and briefcase as you wait around,
3:hop on board, ride, disembark (the one comfortable portion of your journey)
4:repeat steps 2 and 1 to get to your workplace.

Or... you can just drive your car straight to work and save the hassle...
Quote:
Originally Posted by JMatl View Post
Just wait until I-4 is under total demolition/reconstruction for the next six years. Ridership will skyrocket, and the core of the Metro will be transformed for the better.
For the very reasons listed above, pretty much nope. People will largely either find alternative driving routes to/from work or work flex hours.
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Old 06-02-2015, 12:26 PM
 
77,755 posts, read 59,900,878 times
Reputation: 49153
Quote:
Originally Posted by JMatl View Post
Just wait until I-4 is under total demolition/reconstruction for the next six years. Ridership will skyrocket, and the core of the Metro will be transformed for the better.

For people that don't live/work directly adjacent to the line, you will still benefit.

SunRail isn't going anywhere but up, and the region will be better for it in the long run.
So, roughly how much does ridership have to increase for it to break even without subsidy?

I think someone said it's at 8k a day now? Does it need 20k? 10k? What?
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