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Since 1995, Dallas/Collin County has constructed 85 miles of light rail (through 2012). By 2014, the system will be finished to 93 miles. DART is the largest light rail operator in the United States, with 85 miles (136.8 km) of track.
There is also a 30 mile commuter rail from Downtown Dallas to downtown Fort Worth.
That is a long Light rail system - will this be larger than LA (or when LA is done) when done?
Not often discussed Philly has about about 62 miles of light rial in the area - 20 in the city itself, 12 in DE County and 30 on the Jersey side - think the overall ridership is about 135K - 115k of which is among the 20 miles within the city itself
Definitely LA by a long shot. More current rail projects in the pipeline than any other American city, with additional expansions likely in the future. This is what happens when a city's traffic becomes so unbearable that voters opt multiple times to increase their own taxes to pay for transit alternatives. The old "make it so bad that they have no other choice" strategy :P
Is there a better site compiling all of this than the Transport Politic?
Also, the point criteria doesn't seem to make sense since it'd be so much based on how the things are actually run--like the infill stations for that one MBTA commuter line doesn't add any miles, but probably does a good deal. Or stuff like the G train increasing its frequency or the M train going further out on weekends and weeknights in NYC would probably add as much ridership as an extension of some light rail or even heavy rail lines.
I would think that Denver should be top 3! It will blow past Dallas soon and leave it in the dust for total LR mileage. When done, it will be one of the largest LR systems in the Nation. I believe it is either 119 or 123 miles of new line. We just opened the Line to the Federal Center recently! And the Union Station transit Hub is well on its way! For CURRENT stuff, Denver is near the top no doubt for total miles of new lines!
The thing about light rail- it's just not that great, honestly. Slow, usually less frequent service, subject to traffic, traffice lights, less space for passengers, etc. I don't think it's really anything to brag about. Though I guess it depends how the light rail is done. From experience, Boston's light rail is nothing to write home about, whereas Cleveland's light rail is actually pretty quick and for much of its routes, is completely off the street level and operates functionally like heavy rail.
In the next 30 years (hopefully) Atlanta will have Heavy rail, Light rail, Commuter rail (which they had funding for, but didn't move forward), and streetcar.
Is there a better site compiling all of this than the Transport Politic?
Also, the point criteria doesn't seem to make sense since it'd be so much based on how the things are actually run--like the infill stations for that one MBTA commuter line doesn't add any miles, but probably does a good deal. Or stuff like the G train increasing its frequency or the M train going further out on weekends and weeknights in NYC would probably add as much ridership as an extension of some light rail or even heavy rail lines.
I don't think the points really matter. Nobody is calculating anything so the point totals have no effect on the discussion.
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Muni: 1.7 X 3 = 5.1points
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BART: 16 X 5 =80 points
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BART: 4.8 X 5 =24 points
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E-BART (DMU): 9X 1 = 9 points
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SMART: 70 X 1 =70 points
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The Bay = 188.1 points
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I don't know how you would categorize BART extensions to exurbs like Livermore and Contra Costa county. Doesn't seem accurate to count it as heavy rail as those extensions are not going to bring in much ridership. The MUNI project is probably going to bring in multiple times the ridership than those BART extensions combined (not counting the San Jose extension, and even that is questionable).
I don't know how you would categorize BART extensions to exurbs like Livermore and Contra Costa county. Doesn't seem accurate to count it as heavy rail as those extensions are not going to bring in much ridership. The MUNI project is probably going to bring in multiple times the ridership than those BART extensions combined (not counting the San Jose extension, and even that is questionable).
I didn't factor in ridership to the point total, just mode since ridership can't be substantiated. We will never know ridership until things are built. Also, could you please post actual miles for L.A. that are coming and not finished so I can calculate L.A?. Thanks!
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