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As long as NC keeps bribing companies move to already saturated areas and fools believe the media calling this area Heaven, we need to get rail in place or totally gridlock twice daily.
Perhaps the best answer to this is to discourage further movement into Wake County and RTP. Will save a lot of money on infrastructure.
We do not need these transplants and can't afford to accommodate them.
As long as NC keeps bribing companies move to already saturated areas and fools believe the media calling this area Heaven, we need to get rail in place or totally gridlock twice daily.
Perhaps the best answer to this is to discourage further movement into Wake County and RTP. Will save a lot of money on infrastructure.
We do not need these transplants and can't afford to accommodate them.
Were you born and raised in NC?
Also, do you realize that all states give tax breaks to some companies, in order for them to set up shop in their state rather than another state?
There was an article a few days back that mentioned the best-case scenario for Wake County would have light rail running 8 years after a sales tax is passed. I can't find that article now, I hope I didn't just make it up or something...
As for why Wake might be able to get light rail going sooner than Durham/Orange: My guess is that Durham/Orange (400,000 people) will take longer to build up enough money from their sales tax compared to Wake (1,000,000 people.)
Looking around, there is not a single metro area as small as Durham/Chapel Hill that has electric light rail at all. Oceanside/Escondido CA (which is an outer suburban area of San Diego) has a similar population, and they have a diesel light rail line built for about $475 million in 2008, or roughly $500 million in 2012 dollars. The Durham-Chapel Hill line is $1.34 billion in 2012 dollars, over 2.5 times as expensive.
Let's just say that Durham and Chapel Hill are being very ambitious in their pursuit of light rail. Depending on your perspective this could be considered either visionary or overreaching. Durham and especially Chapel Hill are highly committed to transit (and have the current ridership to show for it), so it might work. In any case I wish them the best of luck.
The more I think about it, you may be right about the timeframe. Charlotte built their first light rail line nine years after the referendum passed, so eight years might be realistic. Durham/Orange are allowing additional years for engineering work and construction, which I assumed was due to the complexity of the project, but perhaps they are padding the schedule to allow more time to collect sales tax. Wake County may still be in a position to catch up.
The funding is also a challenge with the state reneging on more than $300 million promised by the previous administration. I think that the current plan is for the local government to make some sort of real estate deal for land near the stations, which probably isn't the best solution.
My hunch is that Roy Cooper would find a way to make it happen as governor. I normally don't give to political campaigns, but I'm going to make a pretty sizable donation (for my budget) this time around, based mostly on this issue.
As long as NC keeps bribing companies move to already saturated areas and fools believe the media calling this area Heaven, we need to get rail in place or totally gridlock twice daily.
Perhaps the best answer to this is to discourage further movement into Wake County and RTP. Will save a lot of money on infrastructure.
We do not need these transplants and can't afford to accommodate them.
There was an article a few days back that mentioned the best-case scenario for Wake County would have light rail running 8 years after a sales tax is passed. I can't find that article now, I hope I didn't just make it up or something...
As for why Wake might be able to get light rail going sooner than Durham/Orange: My guess is that Durham/Orange (400,000 people) will take longer to build up enough money from their sales tax compared to Wake (1,000,000 people.)
Are you sure that wasn't the time frame for having Commuter Rail post-referendum? I can't remember either, but it does seem like a very short time, however you've got a good point with the funding being quicker because of the larger tax base.
Yeah, I read that the other day. Pretty weak piece. "North Carolina has transit needs. Raleigh’s bus system is, at best, mediocre and in need of an upgrade." OK, what does that mean? More frequent service? Greater geographic coverage? Larger capacity buses? Bus priority lanes? Bus only transitways? Enhanced arrival/departure tracking data?
Nowhere in the OpEd did the author offer any suggestions as to WHAT needs to happen to provide robust and well supported mass transit in the community. (Well, 'cept 'me no likey rail'...)
Thanks for the insight Rob . Frankly the good people of City-Data forums have offered more thoughtful examinations of the issues (both for and against) than this hack.
Yeah, I read that the other day. Pretty weak piece. "North Carolina has transit needs. Raleigh’s bus system is, at best, mediocre and in need of an upgrade." OK, what does that mean? More frequent service? Greater geographic coverage? Larger capacity buses? Bus priority lanes? Bus only transitways? Enhanced arrival/departure tracking data?
Nowhere in the OpEd did the author offer any suggestions as to WHAT needs to happen to provide robust and well supported mass transit in the community. (Well, 'cept 'me no likey rail'...)
Thanks for the insight Rob . Frankly the good people of City-Data forums have offered more thoughtful examinations of the issues (both for and against) than this hack.
The author also seems completely unaware of the large companies like Red Hat and Citrix that are locating their offices in Downtown Raleigh, and appears not to have read the half-dozen (at least) pieces I've read in the N&O over the last 18 months describing transplants from other areas of the country who are used to working in dense urban settings with rail and other transit options.
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. Frankly the good people of City-Data forums have offered more thoughtful examinations of the issues (both for and against) than this hack.
