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Anything that is still in the planning stages is going to take decades to complete, just look at how long it’s been taking Seattle to build their light rail system.[...]
That's lightning speed relative to the Roosevelt Boulevard subway (Broad Street Line Northeast Spur).
That route first appeared as part of a rather ambitious package of new rapid transit lines proposed by the city almost 101 years ago, in the spring of 1913.
The city came close to building it twice — once in the 1950s, when loud opposition from Northeast residents scotched it, and again in the 1970s, when Mayor Frank Rizzo told Transportation Secretary William Coleman to pick the Commuter Tunnel over the subway when he was told he could get Federal funding for only one of his two grant applications.
It's been studied almost to death, and just about every study concludes that it should be built. Yet we wouldn't be talking about building it now were it not for this Penn city planning PhD student who was looking into the almost as star-crossed Second Avenue subway in his hometown of New York and noted the similarities.
His efforts to put the project back on the table have borne fruit; SEPTA GM Leslie Richards has gone from "it's never going to happen" to "it's worth considering," and since the agency pulled the plug on the light metro spur to King of Prussia it wanted to build, it may be even more worth considering now.
But given its history so far, I'm not holding my breath for shovels to go into the ground. But I am ready to be pleasantly surprised sometime in the next few years.
Which cities will see the largest growth/improvement of their Rail systems? (Subway, Light Rail, Commuter Rail, etc)?
Probably -- none of them.
"Mass transit" is viewed by much of the public as a loss of personal freedom and surrender of individual liberties and options to Big Brother.
The only exceptions to this which I can discern are transit systems which have sufficient speed and flexibility to link a healthy job market to a desirable exurb -- rather than a mere suburb.
New York to Wrightstown/Browns Mills in New Jersey is one; Los Angeles to Santa Clarita, CA is another. But these examples are so sparse, and so exclusive that I doubt they could be adopted on a scale sufficient to justify the large investment of capital
Which is ridiculous. Mass transit gives you more freedom as it gives you an alternative., It means your under 16 year old's don't rely on you to get everywhere. It means disabled, elderly, etc people can get around without having to rely on a friend or family member. It means if you are drunk you can get a train or bus and not kill yourself or others.
Being forced to buy a $20,000 car sounds like something a moron would consider freedom.
That's not a lot of money for many people. Less than a year's rent. Less than 6 months for some. And while I love transit, I can see and appreciate the freedom that can come with a car. I guess the real freedom is being able to do what you want. Buy a car, don't buy one, ride a bike, ride transit,...choice is freedom.
Being forced to buy a $20,000 car sounds like something a moron would consider freedom.
Ehh that's pretty condescending. I like urbanism (I am a transportation planner after all...), but I also love the idea of having a car to have the freedom to go anywhere I want, whenever I want. I can just hop in the car and go to the beach on a Saturday, then over to hiking on Sunday? Tuesday off to CT to see family! Maybe up to Boston on Wednesday? Nah, Newport it is... then back home on Friday. I have the freedom to go where I want whenever I want. That is freedom no matter how you slice it. However, the freedom not do this is also 'freedom' to somebody else.
Forced car ownership is certainly a hardship for a lot of people.
A few years ago my brakes were making noises...looked up average brake/rotor repair costs for my car and was expecting 200-300 dollars worth of repairs. Ended up paying nearly $3500 for everything else they found. All other plans and goals went to the back burner.
Recently bought a used car, had to scour southern California to find one for 11K, and this is the absolute bottom of the barrel car with no features.
How this kind of stuff can be seen as anything but a monkey on your back is a mystery to me-you need a lot of money to keep and maintain a car these days.
I'll happily stand on a crowded bus and sit next to strangers on the train over taking part in this car economy.
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