Light Rail in Albuquerque! (Rio Rancho, Bernalillo: house, neighborhood, living)
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Exactly ABQSunseeker, and certain things have to take priority, and I honestly think that the Rail Runner shouldn't have been top priority.
clearly Rybert hasn't been here the last few years. Because traffic has only gotten worse, and it is only going to get worse, and when they were proposing the Rail Runner there were several other projects that had been planned for years that the Rail Runner took priority over.
Sadly too many vocal citizens believe we can build roads to relieve congestion still. Despite larger cities proving time and again that roads aren't the answer and continually attempting to invest in mass transportation to alleviate what roads could not, they still scream for roads. It's amazing.
Luckily we built the RailRunner. Slowly, the areas around the stations are becoming dense, village-like neighborhoods. But it's still very young at this point. It might take $5/gallon gas to convince people to invest in other rail systems.
Exactly ABQSunseeker, and certain things have to take priority, and I honestly think that the Rail Runner shouldn't have been top priority.
clearly Rybert hasn't been here the last few years. Because traffic has only gotten worse, and it is only going to get worse, and when they were proposing the Rail Runner there were several other projects that had been planned for years that the Rail Runner took priority over.
Yeah, I've been out of town for a while, but not that long... geez.
Traffic in ABQ is childs play... expanding roads won't help a damn thing.
Traffic Now is childs play, but in 10 years it might be a very different story. Expanding roads help create the necessary infrastructure for growth. Some people belive that cars will magically dissapear if you build an alternative form of transportation. More people means more cars, period. Sure some measures can help slow the growth of traffic, but one way or another, as long as the population grows, traffic will grow. If you don't build roads to suit the growth, congestion becomes hell. Public Transportation is a good thing, but it isn't the only solution. More urban areas is a good thing, but that won't stop people driving. Those of you who thinks $5 gas is a good thing because it will get people off the roads are idiots--food prices will skyrocket and all it will do is create price floors. Don't think that if you don't build the roads that the traffic won't increase. Don't think if you build up the public transportation that it will cease traffic growth--it'll help but will not solve anything.
It's a good thing both sides are represented in the gov. then... looks like we'll have a healthy mix of the solutions you want and the solutions I want.
I think urbanABQ has a great point with node-communities. I'm sure we'll see communities along the rail growing exponentially (something I'm very excited about).
5$ gas is a good thing because it will spur more development of sustainable technology (just like $4 gas prompted a flood of investment).
When it comes to the Railrunner, I think people have unrealistic expectations---they take on an almost fantasy quality-- and these people imagine comparisons to dense Eastern or European cities where mass transit works very well. Where here in sprawling Albuquerque will these dense village clusters gather around the rail stops? Has anyone seen these stops in Belen, Los Lunas, Paseo, Rte 550? I've seen them all and I can 't imagine that happening. At the most around the downtown stop and the Bernalillo stop.
Railrunner may be part of a future growth strategy if it is expanded and connected well. The ABQ-Santa Fe corridor run may be a great boon to the growing metro areas. But to expand the network and add more trains will cost plenty of dollars.
Those who are critical of building more roads and improving infrastructure would doom Albuquerque to a congested future--a future of diminishment and failure. People are moving here and that growth is not stopping. The reality is that people will continue to commute by car---that is just the nature of Albuquerque and that is not going to change very much. People may cluster in neighborhood urban centers like Rio Rancho where a very attractive downtown is planned for the future. But they will drive there. Just from shorter distances maybe.
The recent growth in the West is not like the East or Europe. We built cities dependent on the automobile and the very look and character of these cities are different.
So hopefully we can come up with a variety of solutions, auto, bus, and now rail that will see us to the future.
Rybert, it's all a matter of focus and balance. I hope the Railrunner succeeds if even in a minor mode. I voted for the funding myself. I just hope we take the right steps to keep pace with growth and fund roads and infrastructure---probably far more important for Albuquerque right now.
Dont know the entire route but will Railrunner have a stop at the airport? That would be crucial for optimizing growth downtown and add convenience for travelers looking to get out of their cars. In San Diego we have the trolley that reaches fairly far into the county in many directions, but does not go to the airport just 2 miles away from downtown.. So you still have to cab from airport to downtown. Hope Railrunner planners have more foresight that they did here. Personally I will love jumping on at the 550 station and going north or south.
No, unfortunately Rail Runner doesn't stop at the airport. That would have been a terrific idea and wouldn't have been too far off track. Probably would have been too expensive to build, but in hindsight I think a mistake, because it might have gone to the airport and to the newly developing Mesa del Sol where tens of thousands of people will live. I think somewhere there are plans for a rail stop within a couple of miles of the airport and bus connections.
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