Is it possible to have an honest discussion about Austin's traffic? (Houston: houses, to live in)

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

I can hardly wait!

I feel like that's the human equivalent of Mopac and 35th street during rush hour. Except the people being stuffed in are coming from further back of the same train.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by mm57553

And if my kid wants to kick around the soccer ball or run around in the the sprinklers, I don't have to waste my time walking or driving to a park. I just open the door.

Not to mention that it is entirely possible to live close to where you work in the suburbs, never having to drive downtown.

According to City-Data Austin the: Mean travel time to work (commute): 22.4 minutes

That does not sound like a horribly long commute to me.

[mayfair44]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

No! It's a toll lane! Excuse me....a 'managed toll lane'. Not an HOV.

Express, or Managed, Lanes are highway lanes that are free to registered van pools and transit vehicles, and tolled for all other vehicles. The toll rate changes throughout the day based on how much traffic is on the managed lanes in order to keep the lanes fully used without being too busy. Express lanes are used to travel within a city and between close-in suburbs and the city.

Think congestion pricing, or variable pricing strategy that regulates demand, making it possible to manage congestion without increasing supply. This is the MoPac model and proposed idea of I-35 corridor.

HOV is dead. HOT is the new HOV. There are no future plans for HOV lanes in Austin.

[mayfair44]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

I can hardly wait!

nicely done

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Not to mention that it is entirely possible to live close to where you work in the suburbs, never having to drive downtown.

According to City-Data Austin the: Mean travel time to work (commute): 22.4 minutes

That does not sound like a horribly long commute to me.

Exactly. Neither my husband nor I work anywhere near downtown.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

I can hardly wait!

So you'll never ride the train - the crush of humanity and all that. But each one of those people who willingly get on the train is another car not on the road. Call me crazy but isn't that what everyone complaining about - too much traffic?

[scm53]

Originally Posted by Komeht

So you'll never ride the train - the crush of humanity and all that. But each one of those people who willingly get on the train is another car not on the road. Call me crazy but isn't that what everyone complaining about - too much traffic?

Been there, done that - a station on the Yamanote line circling Tokyo. I can guarantee that not everyone of those train riders represents a foregone car on the road. Just as there is demand elasticity when it comes to highways, there is for transit lines as well - even at that level of pain.

When I lived in Germnany, I didn't own a car and had a monthly unlimited ride pass. Train station was a five minute walk. I would many times ride into town to get an English language paper at the station. Had I had a car, and no pass, there is no way I would have driven. The frequency and ease of use got me on a train.

Not trying to be argumentative - just pointing out that the mode of transportation exchange doesn't lend itself to linear analysis.

[ScoPro]

I've ridden the Japanese bullet trains from Yokohama to Tokyo several times.

I rode the electric streetcars when they still had them in St.Louis.

Have ridden the NYC subways and the cable cars in San Francisco.

We probably will ride the CapMetro commuter train to go have lunch downtown.

Otherwise I won't ride any light rail because we rarely go downtown.

Y'all go ahead and spend billions to accommodate a few hundred people, I don't care.

[tildahat]

Originally Posted by Komeht

So you'll never ride the train - the crush of humanity and all that. But each one of those people who willingly get on the train is another car not on the road. Call me crazy but isn't that what everyone complaining about - too much traffic?

Yeah, that's one of the things I don't get - people walking, taking transit, carpooling, even if you would never do one of those things, still help you because it's fewer OTHER people on the road. It's like the guy at the neighborhood planning workshop I was at who got *livid* when we were talking about improving pedestrian facilities, primarily to make it safer for kids to walk to the library. OK, you don't want to walk to the library. Why does the idea of OTHER PEOPLE walking with their kids to the library make you so angry? Makes no sense to me.

Ditto with non-detached single family living. Some people can't conceive of living in anything else. OK. But why get hysterical about OTHER PEOPLE wanting to make a different choice? As a parent of two elementary aged kids, a downtown condo doesn't appeal to me at this stage in life. But I support giving that option to as many people as want it - it benefits the city in multiple ways. Yet, I hear people all the time who are just so *angry* about "tall buildings downtown".

I just don't get it...

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Komeht

So you'll never ride the train - the crush of humanity and all that. But each one of those people who willingly get on the train is another car not on the road. Call me crazy but isn't that what everyone complaining about - too much traffic?

The Tokyo model - I'm not convinced those people LIKE that model. The train may be better than driving in Tokyo. But that could also be because driving in Tokyo is absolutely crazy.

As a tourist in places like Tokyo, standing in a train for 20 minutes is interesting. If it was part of my daily life, especially after a 20 minute walk to the station at one end and a 10 minute walk at the other - I might prefer driving. Or a scooter.