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High-speed intercity rail works if the cities are less than two hours apart. Much more than that and airplanes make better time sense at the cost of far more fuel per passenger mile. Choosing how to travel to NYC from my home in southern New Hampshire I can drive, fly of use a combination of bus and rail. If time were critical I would fly from my local airport. If I wanted to work at getting there I would drive (FWIW - driving in NYC is really different from most other places) and if I wanted to work or just enjoy the trip I would take the bus to south Station and the Acella high speed train to NYC. The lowest cost trip would probably be by car if only the fuel were counted.
In city mass transit works if you have a dense enough system. I suspect that a couple of the new single line systems may work in the west but a multi line system (think NYC’s or Boston’s subways) would better serve a dispersed population. I think the heavy rail systems in NYC and Boston are overkill for an in city transport system and a resurrection of something closer to the old electric trolley might be more appropriate for a spread out city. I think a narrow gauge trolley might just combine almost the same passenger capacity with a greatly reduced ROW and rolling stock costs that may just make economic sense.
For commuting from the “suburbs” in western sprawling cities, I think a standard gage train line the NM Railrunner is appropriate provided there is adequate free parking at the stops and a good bus system linking the rail stops with the business, industrial and shopping areas. A study of the NYC transit system is appropriate for places like Phoenix or, in a few years Albuquerque, because the NYC system is nearly 50 miles (or more) from one end in Connecticut to the other in New Jersey.
I suggest a parking fee at malls, businesses and industrial destinations could be instituted to pay for the rail lines. I know this would not be very popular but it would allow the real cost of providing “free” parking to be collected and applied to relieving the congestion inherent in an auto based commute. When provided with an economic choice between an expensive auto commute and a lower cost rail system many folks will switch to the rail.
In my case a rail system is not available but an intercity bus system is. I take the bus at a cost of over $300 per month and consider it to be a bargain because just parking in Boston would cost far more and parking is “free” at the suburban park & ride lot. It does require that I own two cars with all the associated expense. There is also the fact that I can “sleep” on the bus and do not have to play in the notoriously erratic traffic. The drawback is that sometimes the ride (I commute early in the morning and afternoon to avoid the densest traffic) takes 45 minutes one way and sometimes 4 hours if it happens to snow on the way home. That happens about three tines per winter. If a properly designed and operated modern rail line were available I would certainly use that because rail is more reliable and comfortable than bus or driving.
for clarification, we are talking about Columbus Ohio right?
Sure, but they are very sensitive about the "Ohio" part being a requirement for discussing their city. The metro area has over 1.7 million folks, and they feel that their is only one Columbus worthy of discussion.
I found this link (http://www.cota.com/pdfs/long_range_transit_plan/Section%204.pdf - broken link). It talks about Columbus area BUT it lays out the different forms of mass transit, which ones are good for high, medium and low density areas etc. Very good read. Seems Columbus will be going the BRT route
I found this link (http://www.cota.com/pdfs/long_range_transit_plan/Section%204.pdf - broken link). It talks about Columbus area BUT it lays out the different forms of mass transit, which ones are good for high, medium and low density areas etc. Very good read. Seems Columbus will be going the BRT route
Possible connection of a light rail between Ohio State and German Village, a distance of about four miles north and south of downtown. This is unlikely though, if you are familiar with how the streets are laid out and current usage. I think you will find that they mostly just expand the interstates.
I think a lot of elected politicians in DC could succeed much better in getting us to see the need to stay in Iraq and go to war against Iran than promoting the development of mass transit. In fact, aren't most Republicans in Congress favor doing away with Amtrack because it requires too many federal tax dollars?
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