51,000 rides in less than a month for streetcar (Atlanta, Calhoun: 2013, utilities)

[Sammy215267]

I dont think any type of weather would prevent the unhappy numbers. Only a disaster or hurricane and terrible flooding and some kind of crazy catastrophic event would kill this. If you build it people will ride it. But from my understanding.....how many people did they really think would ride the 1.3 Mile line ? and does it connect any major connecting routes ? I think had the line was longer then the ridership would hopefully be more then what it is currently now. Some transit projects go through a phase were the numbers are not what was expected and over time it improves. I've seen it many times. I Will say i think $100,000,000 Million for a 1.3 Mile line is a bit much.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by Sammy215267

I dont think any type of weather would prevent the unhappy numbers. Only a disaster or hurricane and terrible flooding and some kind of crazy catastrophic event would kill this. If you build it people will ride it. But from my understanding.....how many people did they really think would ride the 1.3 Mile line ? and does it connect any major connecting routes ? I think had the line was longer then the ridership would hopefully be more then what it is currently now. Some transit projects go through a phase were the numbers are not what was expected and over time it improves. I've seen it many times. I Will say i think $100,000,000 Million for a 1.3 Mile line is a bit much.

You must not be very familiar with what this actually is. It is a 2.7 mile route that is the basic starter line of a much broader network.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by JMatl

You must not be very familiar with what this actually is. It is a 2.7 mile route that is the basic starter line of a much broader network.

WRONG! The longest we can realistically consider the route is 1.6 miles! Why is this so hard to understand? Just because the tracks are separated by a block doesn't mean the route mileage automatically doubles! AGAIN, if we transit advocates are going to be taken seriously, we have to be honest with ourselves first, otherwise when our opponents figure it out, it's just something else they can use against us!

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Sammy215267

I dont think any type of weather would prevent the unhappy numbers. Only a disaster or hurricane and terrible flooding and some kind of crazy catastrophic event would kill this. If you build it people will ride it. But from my understanding.....how many people did they really think would ride the 1.3 Mile line ? and does it connect any major connecting routes ? I think had the line was longer then the ridership would hopefully be more then what it is currently now. Some transit projects go through a phase were the numbers are not what was expected and over time it improves. I've seen it many times. I Will say i think $100,000,000 Million for a 1.3 Mile line is a bit much.

That $100M cost includes the city buying modern trains, instead of refurbished and purchasing 1 more than FTA required. Also, streetscaping along the route and utility improvements. So its is not just $100M for a basic2.7 mile route. Also do understand that the VMF was a large chuck of the cost and it was built with storage for a total of 6-8 trains. The entire project was built with future capacity and expansion in mind. Placing the VMF under the connector was a huge win because it saved using valuable land for it and replaced a dilapidated, wasteland.

[cqholt]

Best bars and restaurants along streetcar route. The media is really trying to jump on the streetcar bandwagon.Zagat names best restaurants, bars along streetcar route (SLIDESHOW) - Atlanta Business Chronicle

[Ant131531]

They just need to connect it to the beltline as soon as possible.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by MattCW

WRONG! The longest we can realistically consider the route is 1.6 miles! Why is this so hard to understand? Just because the tracks are separated by a block doesn't mean the route mileage automatically doubles! AGAIN, if we transit advocates are going to be taken seriously, we have to be honest with ourselves first, otherwise when our opponents figure it out, it's just something else they can use against us!

Actually it does. You can argue that those 2.7 miles are constrained to a relatively confined area, but they are actually 2.7 miles of looped track.

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Actually it does. You can argue that those 2.7 miles are constrained to a relatively confined area, but they are actually 2.7 miles of looped track.

It's still exaggeration. I wouldn't call a one mile stretch of downtown Lawrenceville shops 2 miles because it has 2 separate one way roads going different directions that add up to 2 miles of pavement. For servicing aspects sure it's 2.7 miles, but footprint wise it just affects an a 1.5 mile or so segment.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by sedimenjerry

It's still exaggeration. I wouldn't call a one mile stretch of downtown Lawrenceville shops 2 miles because it has 2 separate one way roads going different directions that add up to 2 miles of pavement. For servicing aspects sure it's 2.7 miles, but footprint wise it just affects an a 1.5 mile or so segment.

That's not even an analogous example LOL. There is a very real 2.7 miles of track that the streetcar travels along. Yes it goes in a loop in a relatively confined area but it IS 2.7 miles in reality.

[Ant131531]

It might be 2.7 miles in rail length, but the actual displacement is only 1.3 miles.