Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
They will 100% half-ass it. The low population density and lack of traffic in Raleigh prohibit them from implementing a true BRT system. If they did, it would hemorrhage money for a long time until the city both densifies and when our traffic begins to be an actually problem.
I would and will use the BRT when it's introduced. However, the average Joe will not unless either they have 1) a reasonable walk with sidewalks to the BRT stop, which is something the vast majority of Raleigh does not have or 2) the traffic is so bad it makes a lot of sense in terms of commute times.
I can't stress enough how horrible Raleigh was in terms of developing, growing and connecting the city for pedestrians. The damage is already done and it will take billions to properly fix.
Agreed about sidewalks - I think the City is planning on doing a sidewalk project along New Bern Avenue where there are none right now - it makes zero sense to have BRT if you can't safely access it. https://www.raleighnc.gov/projects/c...ernAvenue.html
At the conference I was that, there was a lot of talk about automated vehicles - apparently the Triangle Expressway has been approved as a potential test site for them and with Uber's experiment in Pittsburgh with them, things seem to be going in the right direction. Automated trucks are also in play which have the possibility to displace 3 million jobs in the coming years (but positives are they could drive overnight avoiding periods of congestion and when other people are on the roads). It seems to be a question of when (some presenters who did AV topics said under 10 years, others were less optimistic and pointed to the 2030s). Obviously there are some issues - has enough testing been done? Are they hacker-proof? Who is going to insure the cars if we go a step farther and everyone ditches their cars for shared AV's? etc.... And then there's an issue of how far they'll get with deployment - what will happen if there's half and half with autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles, how will mixed traffic work? Will they be allowed on local streets or will it be a freeway thing only? etc...
That being said - if AV's ever do become popular, that could be a bad thing for certain transit projects - I think buses will still have a part to play and local grade-separated transit projects. The population is still increasing so there will eventually be a capacity issue with the roads even if AV's do make things more efficient. I can definitely see commuter rail suffering though as well as other transit options that involve a park & ride option which is a little worrying for all the money we're putting into the Garner-Durham line. That being said, nobody knows what's going to happen. We're planning for the future based on the transportation for today but the magic 8 ball is a little hazy for the future. If everything pans out with automated vehicles making I-40 more efficient, the commuter rail project could be a bust but if not, then it could still be needed. Who knows - also throw in increased opportunities to work flexible hours or work from home etc.... It'll be easier to look back and debate whether it was the right decision or not. (The guy who founded the consultant company that worked on the Wake County Transit Plan believes vehicular travel will never fully get to Level 5 automation - fully automated so you don't even need a steering wheel - so that's where he's coming from)
A presenter did mention that one day the majority of kids could be going to school from home at their computers - that was scary. Wonder how my grandkids are going to learn social skills........
the world has long been about the dream - possible - probable - can do - makes good sense.
as far as schools ... the day that we don't think the socialization is as important as the learning is way off in the distance. the only chance of it happening near-term is to show the right number of voters who don't care about socialization at all how much cheaper broadcasting/streaming a school day would be.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
