Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Los Angeles Metro has multiple light rail under construction including Crenshaw line opening 2021. Regional Connector subway 2022 Foothill extension to Pomona Valley 2026. Total 20+ miles.
There are a few other light rail projects in such as the Whittier line, near Orange county line. Van nuys line. Torrance extension which Total can be 40+ miles in 15 years.
For heavy rail, the 3 phase purple line to West Los Angeles to Koreatown. Will open 2023,2025, 2027 each phase.
I think the Sepulveda subway from west LA to van nuys should be done in 15 years but there is a push by 2028 Olympics though unlikely.
Commuter rail nothing new other than adding infill stations, grade separation, and a loop in Downtown union Station. Which overall add frequency and speed.
I think LA has a mostly build as you earn plan. When the money via mostly county sales tax comes in then it is spent on projects rather than borrow billions then pay back over time. Only 35% of transit tax is for building new rail. State and federal loans and grants do accelerate projects funding so the more extra money in future can push future projects to start sooner like like central LA line from Hollywood to Crenshaw or Vermont rail or orange line brt converted to lrt. And others.
Not sure if everything i wrote is factual. Check LA Metro website for most current information on future projects and current.
If you follow transit closely, COVID has destroyed most transit budgets across the nation, as ridership has fallen well over 50% if not more, for two reasons. 1) People are working from home remotely more than ever in history. 2) There is legitimate caution to take transit because of transmission. Therefore most transit budgets have been destroyed and capital programming has been halted.
I am not sure of your reference with how the cities with the highest COVID rates will see the most new projects?
If anything it is the opposite. Cities with the highest COVID rates saw the largest drop in transit ridership, and it does not look like ridership levels are coming back any time soon. Even NYC has seen a complete drop-off in ridership and its budget is currently destroyed.
It is interesting to see how COVID will affect how companies do business remotely in the future to be honest. The majority of transit ridership is from commuters who work in CBDs.
I see some major Amtrak improvements in the pipeline, and potentially some focus on BRT lines in medium size cities.
I do not see major rail investment for at least 5+ years.
And with the advent of autonomous cars it is hard to say where transit is going in the future.
I think BRT's are the key to start piloting an increase in transit usage and encourage denser and walkable communities, followed by light rail.
Commuter Rail is an incredible resource, but with COVID, the state of traditional commuting is up in the air tbh.
I do not see any city making heavy rail investments (subway), outside of maybe LA, but now that is even questionable.
I think your points are all very well taken, but given that voters in a few cities have voted to make major investments in new transit lines anyway, I wouldn't rule out some sort of heavy rail rapid transit expansion. I believe the Atlanta package of projects does include the extension of one MARTA rapid transit line — or maybe I'm confusing it with the vote in Gwinett County over extending MARTA into that jurisdiction (I know the county government, which had been opposed in the past, urged its approval this time; did it pass?)
And if New York is to fully recover from COVID once that's possible, it will have to make a major investment in bringing its subways back into a state of good repair, much as it did in the 1980s to the tune of $12 billion. Of course, the problem with this is that in New York, the costs of doing so are as astronomical as the rents and house prices. The latter two are falling as New Yorkers increasingly move out of the city in search of more affordable property, but the chances of subway construction costs doing the same are nil, so the repairs may not happen, or may not happen to the extent they need to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag
Houston’s probably the only city to modernly have two unconnected transit lines. Yes, they are working on a line to connect them but I’m not sure why they didn’t just wait.
Since biggest improvement is the question, I pick Austin because they’re just starting to get a system rolled out.
I also voted Austin for the same reason.
This city just voted to build a rapid transit system consisting of a mix of light metro and BRT lines from scratch, plus additional regional rail service to augment its one existing line. That's the biggest expansion relative to the baseline of anything being discussed here.
Boston has the GLX, South Coast Expansion, new Red/Orange LIne Cars, and updates to all the signaling. But is that enough to compete with some of these systems that are rapidly expanding?
Cities like NYC, SF and Chicago May improve but already have it made so it won’t be as impactful.
LA is one of the “almost there” systems. It’s going to see improvement
Then you have systems like Dallas and Atlanta that are fairly well but still have long ways to improve before they’re reliable.
Then cities like Houston and Denver that with the right amount of focus, can really make a difference in the coming years.
And lastly, cities like Austin that basically didn’t have a transit system at all and are finally implementing one.
Supposing all improve, this is the pyramid of who’s going to improve the most.
Large swaths of NYC and SF are transit deserts. Both systems could be dramatically better and are highly inefficient for a significant portion of th populations. As are Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, etc... No American Transit system is 'good'
St. Louis' Metrolink's Red Line is being extended in Illinois to terminate at MidAmerica Airport, next door to Scott Air Force Base. Illinois is paying for this, so that's why a rather non-urgent extension is being built immediately.
As for a north/south line in the city and St. Louis County, the city ordered further study last fall, including the potential cost of non-light rail options. The city wants to get the ball rolling on a north/south due to the construction of the NGA West facility in north city. What Covid does to this expansion remains to be seen. Phase I of anything will only be within the city limits regardless though. Expansion into the county would be phase II as they've been far more reticent.
Cities like NYC, SF and Chicago May improve but already have it made so it won’t be as impactful.
SF's transit system is not that large compared to NYC or Chicago's so there's potential room for expansion there. I don't think you'll see NYC's *expanding* too much (maybe something to finally connect to LGA? who knows) but hopefully we should see some sort of improvements with signal systems, stations, etc. The system here is pretty large, but there's some very obvious coverage gaps. For example, in Manhattan the coverage at least for 2/3 of the borough is great. However, getting between Queens and Brooklyn for example on the train? You have to go through Manhattan currently. There's some huge gaps in some areas in both there as well as the Bronx, and Staten Island of course. Going between Brooklyn and Queens though sucks. It's pretty much not possible on a train system today especially on a more massive scale. There are plans for some lines to connect them though with initiatives such as BQX, but that's only the western half near the water.
With Chicago, they actually spent a ton of money already on signal system replacement and track replacement on a few lines, as well as renovating a bunch of stations. It's why the system became a bit more reliable in the last decade. However, there are still a lot of expansion initiatives that have been there for awhile including expanding the Red Line for another 5.6 miles south, and something called Loop Connector. Some other things might also get traction like converting the Metra Electric into a line under the CTA. While DC and Chicago duke it out for #2 most used subway/rail system in the US, outside of NYC, there's still a lot of room for expansion there as far as new lines and what not goes.
Houston’s probably the only city to modernly have two unconnected transit lines. Yes, they are working on a line to connect them but I’m not sure why they didn’t just wait.
Since biggest improvement is the question, I pick Austin because they’re just starting to get a system rolled out.
The most recent plans to extend the Purple and Green lines to Hobby don't make much sense to me.
I guess the current plans are the cheapest but not the most pragmatic.
If money and land issues were not a factor I would run a new line along Belfort from Fannin South to HOU. I know they are planning to do the BRT along that route.
I would have continued the purple line straight down MLK to link with the Belfort link and continue the Green Line down Broadway not Telephone.
The University line is 40 years overdue, and should not be BRT.
Midtown should have BRT on Bagby, Caroline and McGowan when those streets were touched up.
Almeda should have been a commuter line when it was upgraded. With stops at Holcombe, Wheeler and Leeland.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
