Houston vs. Dallas (Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie: 2013, bus, train)

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

haha, the gentrification of the inner city was the next point i was going to bring up (though admittedly counter productive to commuter rail to the suburbs).. the Main Street line has brought numerous residential developments into the city that would of probably never materialized, or been in the locations they are in, if it werent for the light rail line. so while it may not be serving the suburbanites (at least without them having to drive almost to 610 to get on the train), it is encouraging growth along the corridor and bringing a larger residential population into the city...















just to give a few examples.. not counting the new hotels that have sprouted up along the light rail lines, or the residential towers going up along the new East End/SouthEast lines in east downtown.. lets not forget the countless bars and retail that has opened along the lines, and the new HSPVA campus on the line in downtown. (not mentioning the countless office towers that have gone up along the light rail lines.. so much for the light rail lines not serving anybody...

Houdton is HUGE remember???.....The areas you named are in one area......it serves 2% of the city.

[TexasTallest]

actually not even 1% of the metropolitan population rides it.. just as not even 1.5% of the DFW metro rides the DART system. im well aware DART doesnt cover all of DFW, (though it has commuter rail feeding the T into DART) Metro doesnt cover the whole Houston area either...
the Houston line served 40,000 people a day with all measly 8 miles... (since the new line opened it obviously wont have figures for another year), compared to the 80+ miles of Dallas lines which serve only 90,000 people. hmm.. which one has the better ratio?

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

actually not even 1% of the metropolitan population rides it.. just as not even 1.5% of the DFW metro rides the DART system. im well aware DART doesnt cover all of DFW, (though it has commuter rail feeding the T into DART) Metro doesnt cover the whole Houston area either...
the Houston line served 40,000 people a day with all measly 8 miles... (since the new line opened it obviously wont have figures for another year), compared to the 80+ miles of Dallas lines which serve only 90,000 people. hmm.. which one has the better ratio?

The moral of this story is "build commuter rail to where the riders are, not where you wish they would be" Am I right?

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

actually not even 1% of the metropolitan population rides it.. just as not even 1.5% of the DFW metro rides the DART system. im well aware DART doesnt cover all of DFW, (though it has commuter rail feeding the T into DART) Metro doesnt cover the whole Houston area either...
the Houston line served 40,000 people a day with all measly 8 miles... (since the new line opened it obviously wont have figures for another year), compared to the 80+ miles of Dallas lines which serve only 90,000 people. hmm.. which one has the better ratio?

You are right! !!!....Dart is for the dallas side. The T is for tbe fort worth side. ......duh!!

[R1070]

TRE connects both sides.

As for Metro Rail in Houston. The cars look a lot like the new street cars coming to Dallas and the majority of it runs on streets where bus routes once were. Is it considered a street car or light rail? What differentiates something from being a street car and being light rail? That always confuses me.

[TexasTallest]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

You are right! !!!....Dart is for the dallas side. The T is for tbe fort worth side. ......duh!!

Originally Posted by R1070

TRE connects both sides.

^^^ THIS. yes Dart is for the Dallas side, but theoretically anyone who rides the T could easily ride the TRE over to DART, yet the light rail numbers are still only 90,000..

As for Metro Rail in Houston. The cars look a lot like the new street cars coming to Dallas and the majority of it runs on streets where bus routes once were. Is it considered a street car or light rail? What differentiates something from being a street car and being light rail? That always confuses me.

good question, i always wondered this too. i know streetcars have entrances accessible to the street level and thus, dont need designated stations to stop at.. but other then that im not sure.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

You are right! !!!....Dart is for the dallas side. The T is for tbe fort worth side. ......duh!!

I get the feeling that us having separate transportation authorities may soon be a thing of the past...

[R1070]

Originally Posted by JJG

I get the feeling that us having separate transportation authorities may soon be a thing of the past...

Ya I agree with this. The TRE, future Cotton Belt and DART testing service in Eastern Tarrant County (Arlington) may be the beginnings of consolidation.

[Dallaz]

Originally Posted by JJG

I get the feeling that us having separate transportation authorities may soon be a thing of the past...

Agreed, we need one transit agency for Dallas, Collin, and Tarrant Counties.

[R1070]

Originally Posted by Dallaz

Agreed, we need one transit agency for Dallas, Collin, and Tarrant Counties.

Isn't the A-Train commuter rail a part of DCTA? Isn't that it's own entity as well?