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15 years? More like 25 years. Sepulveda Pass planned date of opening is 2043.
No, the planned opening date based on the current Measure M budget is 2033 (see link below), but it's one of the lines that Metro intends to open by the Olympics in 2028. If they don't get additional money in the next year or so that won't happen, but it will likely happen sooner than the current planned year.
Although the South is known for being more auto-centric than the rest of the country, that's not to say that there isn't a hiearchy of transit services, whether heavy rail, light rail, and bus (both commuter and general). Atlanta's MARTA, Dallas' DART, SunRail in Florida, as well as light rail in Houston, Charlotte, and even streetcars in New Orleans shows that it isn't to say that Dixie is fully void of public transit.
My rough ranking:
1. Atlanta
2. Dallas
3. Miami
4. Houston
5. Charlotte
6. Tampa
7. New Orleans
8. Austin
9. Raleigh
10. Orlando
Swap Dallas for Atlanta. MARTA does serve two large counties adjoining Atlanta - Cobb and Gwinnett and has not rail to Clayton. In the last 25 years, expansion has included a modest street car line and the addition of three stations on the northern line. In that same period, DFW has added three light rail lines for a total of five plus a street car line that links with its Uptown Trolley Line. A sixth line was approved in 2019. DART serves a wider market than MARTA. Plus there is a heavy rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth and the latter opened last year a rail line to DFW International Airport.
How is connectivity poorer on DART light rail than on LA metro rail? LA metro rail is often built where it's cheap to build--freeway medians. The stations are often far away from actual employment centers and residences. Transit Oriented Development in LA is tiny and insignificant. DART light rail stations have bus connections just like LA.
The history of LA rail was to build it cheaply and in areas where there wasn't much resistance. So we ended up with most of the initial lines being built in poorer areas with fewer jobs. But that's changing. Expo was built cheaply, but it connects two major job and employment centers and has millions of square feet of TOD being built next to about half the stations. HBO, Amazon, and Apple are opening major office centers next to expo over the next 2 years. Netflix is opening 1.5 million square feet of office space in Hollywood. Not TOD, but still walking distance to the red line.
Also, most of LA's rail stations are served my multiple major, high frequency, bus lines. That's definitely the exception in Dallas. It doesn't even have many high frequency lines. Also there are way more jobs within walking distance of LA stations than Dallas. I ride the green line and just on that line it's full of workers heading to SpaceX, other aerospace, and LAX. Most walk to work from the station or in the case of LAX they take the airport shuttle.
I don't like freeway rail for the reasons that you mention, but LA appears to have moved away from doing that. None of the new lines under construction are in the middle of, or even next to a freeway. There's one planned extension where one of the options is next to a freeway, but that is still better than in the middle and at least for now it's the least supported of the remaining two options.
Swap Dallas for Atlanta. MARTA does serve two large counties adjoining Atlanta - Cobb and Gwinnett and has not rail to Clayton. In the last 25 years, expansion has included a modest street car line and the addition of three stations on the northern line. In that same period, DFW has added three light rail lines for a total of five plus a street car line that links with its Uptown Trolley Line. A sixth line was approved in 2019. DART serves a wider market than MARTA. Plus there is a heavy rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth and the latter opened last year a rail line to DFW International Airport.
Houston and Austin are late to the game.
The Trinity Rail Express is a commuter line. Not a heavy rail transit like comparable to WMATA or CTA.
Swap Dallas for Atlanta. MARTA does serve two large counties adjoining Atlanta - Cobb and Gwinnett and has not rail to Clayton. In the last 25 years, expansion has included a modest street car line and the addition of three stations on the northern line. In that same period, DFW has added three light rail lines for a total of five plus a street car line that links with its Uptown Trolley Line. A sixth line was approved in 2019. DART serves a wider market than MARTA. Plus there is a heavy rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth and the latter opened last year a rail line to DFW International Airport.
Houston and Austin are late to the game.
I can see that, but having ridden both DART and MARTA, I think that having a heavy rail, completely grade separated system definitely sets Atlanta apart. But Atlanta's bus system is pretty poor, likely because Atlanta is too sparsely populated and spread out. The bus system should be the backbone of every city on this list, but sunbelt residents that have a choice refuse to ride buses.
Houston's light rail might as well be a streetcar, although it hits important destinations and is well used.
The Trinity Rail Express is a commuter line. Not a heavy rail transit like comparable to WMATA or CTA.
People often use "heavy rail" for commuter and Amtrak. Not necessarily wrong, but the convention in the US is to use heavy rail to describe electric metro/subway systems that aren't light rail and aren't subject to FRA oversight.
I ranked Miami ahead of Atlanta. For all of DART's coverage less people use it compared to Atlanta. Another thread listed the amount of workers that commute via transit in absolute and percentage. Out of the southern metros it was Miami first followed by Atlanta with Atlanta's numbers nearly doubling that of Dallas's in both cases.
You give more weight to usage versus coverage/availability. More people use MARTA rail because of a inadequate road system and access to the airport. However, DFW three years ago extended it rail service reach to its airports on both sides of the region. Metro Atlanta lacks the cooperation necessary to reach its transit potential. As D/FW grows, so does the Bus and Rail grid, identifying corridors for growth, centered around employment hubs. That's not the case in the Atlanta MSA and it will never be.
Problem with DART is DFW did what was cheap in terms of building the system rather than taking it to where people really needed it. Given you have to drive to it and by the time you reach it, you may as well keep driving to your destination. That may change as DFW becomes more populated and arteries become more congested, however; I still think its a long way off as DFW seems to intend to continue sprawling practically all the way up to Oklahoma. DNT was approved to be extended to U.S. 75 just south of the state line. I think DFW would do better by becoming more dense and especially improving its core areas.
I will have to say this though. DFW had alot more of a haggle with federal funding with DART than Atlanta did with MARTA Seattle said no, Atlanta said yes and opportunity met. Decades later its now exponentially more expensive to build heavy rail AND get projects approved for federal funding than it was when MARTA rail was conceived. This is why DART's connection to the airport was not conceived initially as the feds did not approve it. Despite the poor ridership, DFW has done more with what they have to work with. Technically MARTA would as well if the outlying counties did not frequently oppose it.
Overall, I think MARTA rail's connection to the airport and being coupled with the countless numbers of business travelers coming in and out of Atlanta really helps it as it eliminates the need to rent a car if you're traveling within the core / intown areas.
I like both systems and applaud DFW for extending it out to the suburbs despite the poor ridership, atleast it's 'there' to be used so to speak... but on the other hand I have to note Heavy Rail has a significant advantage over Light Rail.... thing is, very few major cities are building heavy rail today.
I can see that, but having ridden both DART and MARTA, I think that having a heavy rail, completely grade separated system definitely sets Atlanta apart. But Atlanta's bus system is pretty poor, likely because Atlanta is too sparsely populated and spread out. The bus system should be the backbone of every city on this list, but sunbelt residents that have a choice refuse to ride buses.
Houston's light rail might as well be a streetcar, although it hits important destinations and is well used.
Seems like a lot of people in Sunbelt cities have this "you're broke or poor if you ride the bus" stigma attached to public transportation.
Seems like a lot of people in Sunbelt cities have this "you're broke or poor if you ride the bus" stigma attached to public transportation.
I don't agree with that at all. People don't ride the bus because it is slower and less convenient than driving. There is no point in riding the bus in cities with quality road systems and ample parking.
The issue with rail is simply that rail is expensive, and most people live in sprawling suburban areas. Any given rail plan in a sun belt city is inevitably useless for most of the population,so they vote against it.
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