How do you want to spend $173 Billion to keep metro ATL moving through 2050?

[architect77]

Originally Posted by primaltech

I mean I'm a millennial and I like heavy rail, and most of the millennials I know also like heavy rail or from the ones I've talked to.

Millennials do like Uber and Lyft too. But give them a nearby station in the neighborhood to Uber to/from, so that it's not a $30 plus trip that takes forever in traffic.

I like the L system in Chicago, cause it goes further out and it's very frequent and useful. Imagine if the L only went inside the loop, and how many people would ride it then. Well that's Atlanta's issue, on its own (more sprawled out) scale. A million people live in Gwinnett, and there's 0 stations serving them. So you can't really even say that they have a preference or a dislike of a service that they do not have. If you build it (and make it good and useful), then of course people will ride it.

Well, Gwinnett probably has a lot of young adults who could have voted for MARTA to be extended into the county, but people voted it down.

As many people said though, it's a matter of when, no if.

But y'all realize that the heavy rail is not being expanded at all in the new transportation initiative. The cost of heavy rail extension is about 30-40% more than slower light rail, and they are opting to use cheaper light rail which will require time-consuming transition amd then slower travel speeds to Emory-CDC Clifton Corridor.

Both factors will discourage ridership, but they'll be able to build a little more length with anticipated money available.

So the harsh reality is that an extension of our existing heavy rail which would be faster and more seamless, costs too much (for them to approve) for even one new line.

Light rail being added to our heavy rail is a huge mistake in my opinion, except for the beltline, where it's a good fit.

You need to research the residents who already live near MARTA but don't use it to see the real reasons it isn't utilized more.

Commuter rail likely isn't feasible due to freight trains getting backed up in metro Atlanta all the time. Some sit idling for over 12 hours before being able to move through.

The exurbs will continue expanding simply because we have unlimited land in all directions which will always be ripe for development because it has some proximity to 9th and soon 8th largest metro area in the country.

Transit oriented development is happening as much as anyone could hop for. Lindbergh and perimeter are just two examples. It is happening because traffic is so bad.

Once MARTA begins taking delivery of all new rail cars 2-3 years from now, I expect ridership will increase but if fares are raised with any discounts for bulk purchases that will hurt ridership.

[architect77]

Regarding commuter rail, here is yesterday's announcement about Virginia's investment in getting more trains in and of D.C

Great news for NC's successful railroad service with 4 daily round trips between Charlotte and Raleigh.

With Virginia's purchase of the abandoned S-line which is a direct shot to Raleigh, the two states can now figure out a deal to lay new track since they ripped up old track in the 80s. That will cost about $4 billion, but will effectively enable higher speed train service to run from Boston to Charlotte.

One bridge is taking almost $2 billion of the $3.7 billion announcement, the land acquisitions in total only cost ~$550 million.

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2019/12/...inia-csx-deal/

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by architect77

*SNIP*

Commuter rail likely isn't feasible due to freight trains getting backed up in metro Atlanta all the time. Some sit idling for over 12 hours before being able to move through.

I keep seeing this lie repeated over and over again. Any commuter rail investment would REQUIRE expansion of the overall rail network capacity. Even just to run the commuter trains themselves if the freight service evaporated instantly would require lots of expanded infrastructure. If you tried to make CRT work on the existing rails exactly as-is, then yea, but LITERALLY NO NEW CRT SYSTEM EVER has not done major track upgrades.

[Deacon Dawg]

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

Traffic without much of a real urban benefit. In New York, San Francisco, Boston, DC, and even LA you're getting a much better urban experience that justifies the traffic somewhat and at least viable transit options.

In these same cities, you'll also have 2 to 4 times the cost of living as you would in Atlanta