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You know why? Because it's not light rail! It's heavy transit rail!
For one thing it's track gauge is too large for it to be classified light rail.
Give it up. You lost. Light rail is used by the real cities to distinguish between the light electrified lines and the big, heavy diesel-electric lines. Atlanta doesn't have two systems, so using "light" and "heavy" are meaningless distinctions that shouldn't be employed there.
We've been over this.
Tell you what, you can call Marta heavy rail, all you want. Atlanta can be your own Fisher-Price village, where you can play make believe about your own terms.
The rest of the world will reserve "heavy rail" for those tracks that carry freight trains.
MARTA rail has been around since 1979. That's way older than most of the light rail systems in America. Marta is the 8th most used rail system in America. NYC, D.C., Chicago, Bay Area, Philadelphia are the only ahead of us. That puts us in the big leagues. List of United States rapid transit systems by ridership - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Big as New York, Chicago? No way. Bigger than the majority of systems in the U.S.? Yes.
Cincinnati is the first city with no transit rail at all I've seen try to compare it'self to us on City Data. So I don't know what to think about that.
I'll show this again because you just don't get it. Look at the videos and you will see the difference between light rail and Atlanta's rail system. Whether you wanna call it heavy rail or subway Atlanta's MARTA rail is not light rail. There is not a single rail authority out there that classifies it as light rail and I challange you to find one.
And I've never heard anyone in New York call it's subway system light rail to distinguish it from diesel commuter rail. New York City does not have light rail either. In fact I've participated in several transit disscussions on and off of City Data and you are the only person I've ever heard call a subway system like Atlanta's, D.C.s or New Yorks light rail.
Last edited by Galounger; 10-06-2010 at 07:01 AM..
Cincinnati is a very nice urban midwestern city, its urban nature and weather would make me pick it over Atlanta.
How is Cincinnati more urban than Atlanta? They both have about the same density with Atlanta growing more dense while Cinci has been getting less so. Atlanta has far more highrises, more and better public transit and several large business districts. During the weekdays Atlanta's population swells more than just about any city it's size during which time Atlanta has way more activity and bustle than you will see in Cincinnati. Unless you mean more old buildings I can't see how Cinci is more urban. And even in that category Atlanta has Cincinnati beat in one way. The flat Iron building in Downtown Atlanta is one of the first high rises in America. Older than any high rise in Cincinnati.
Last edited by Galounger; 10-06-2010 at 06:51 AM..
How is Cincinnati more urban than Atlanta? They both have about the same density with Atlanta growing more dense while Cinci has been getting less so. Atlanta has far more highrises, more and better public transit and several large business districts. During the weekdays Atlanta's population swells more than just about any city it's size during which time Atlanta has way more activity and bustle than you will see in Cincinnati. Unless you mean more old buildings I can't see how Cinci is more urban. And even in that category Atlanta has Cincinnati beat in one way. The flat Iron building in Downtown Atlanta is one of the first high rises in America. Older than any high rise in Cincinnati.
Having visited both cities, Cincinnati feels more like an east coast urban city while Atlanta feels more like Dallas with high rises, but without a strong urban core.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smoking357
Give it up. You lost. Light rail is used by the real cities to distinguish between the light electrified lines and the big, heavy diesel-electric lines. Atlanta doesn't have two systems, so using "light" and "heavy" are meaningless distinctions that shouldn't be employed there.
We've been over this.
Tell you what, you can call Marta heavy rail, all you want. Atlanta can be your own Fisher-Price village, where you can play make believe about your own terms.
The rest of the world will reserve "heavy rail" for those tracks that carry freight trains.
Seriously dude, you really need to point to where the rest of the world says this because it's the first I've heard of that. And it's not just what Atlantans say, it's what the WHOLE world says. If you really don't believe me, check this out:
MARTA along with the New York Subway and PATH, Boston MBTA, Philly SEPTA, San Francisco BART, DC Metro, Chicago El, Miami Metrorail, the Baltimore Subway, the LA Metro, Tren Urbano in San Juan, Cleveland RTA Red Line are all heavy rail transit systems. Some cities call them subways, rapid transit lines, or Metros but they are all classified as heavy rail.
Basically there are two types of Heavy Rail for transit:
-City subway/metro systems listed above
-Commuter rail systems that you keep going on about
There are basically two types of Light Rail for transit:
-Trolleys/Cable cars
-LRT transit
While they all run on rails, the two are separated the following way. City metros/subways and commuter rail lines can carry far more passengers at once than Light rail systems like Trolleys and LRT vehicles.
Having visited both cities, Cincinnati feels more like an east coast urban city while Atlanta feels more like Dallas with high rises, but without a strong urban core.
During the 50's I would have said that Cincinnati was more urban than the City of Atlanta (not the Metro) But it's population is much lower now than it was then. I can understand it looks or feels more urban maybe now but that's if you don't recognize that many of it's buildings are abandoned or unoccupied. Remnants of the days when it's population was larger.
Not trying to be biased buy Honestly take a look at these videos and tell me overall which you think actually has the most urban development. Cincinnati has a lot of attractive old architecture and Atlanta is far more modern but over all I think Atlanta has more.
During the 50's I would have said that Cincinnati was more urban than the City of Atlanta (not the Metro) But it's population is much lower now than it was then. I can understand it looks or feels more urban maybe now but that's if you don't recognize that many of it's buildings are abandoned or unoccupied. Remnants of the days when it's population was larger.
Not trying to be biased buy Honestly take a look at these videos and tell me overall which you think actually has the most urban development. Cincinnati has a lot of attractive old architecture and Atlanta is far more modern but over all I think Atlanta has more.
Your videos prove that Cincinnati is more urban, the Atlanta videos look like they could be of Dallas or Houston. This is not a dis to Atlanta but it is simply not as urban as a classic city like Cincinnati. For a person like me that appreciates the urban nature of cities that is important.
Having visited both cities, Cincinnati feels more like an east coast urban city while Atlanta feels more like Dallas with high rises, but without a strong urban core.
You are 100% correct. Atlanta feels like a sprawling big, new, suburb, while Cincy feels like an East Coast city.
I'm starting to think that these Atlanta folk just don't know what American cities feel like.
Your videos prove that Cincinnati is more urban, the Atlanta videos look like they could be of Dallas or Houston. This is not a dis to Atlanta but it is simply not as urban as a classic city like Cincinnati. For a person like me that appreciates the urban nature of cities that is important.
I just posted those. There's no way you could have even thoroughly glimpsed through those videos even if you were speeding them up. Not that fast.
If You think lots of really old buildings equals more urban okay that's your opinion. But I asked which showed more urban development. After watching those video's there's no way any sensible person could think Cincinnati has more than Atlanta whether you think it looks like Dallas, Houston or not.
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