Which of these cities will have an officially Light/Metro rail within the next 20 years. (living, cost)
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I think all of the listed cities could certainly use light rail. I think there's a good chance some will get it. I am wondering which cities will likely either have light rail within the next 20 years or be in the process of getting light rail. I know Austin and Seattle will likely have large expansions soon.
Seattle will have expansions to the north, south, and east in 2024 and 2025. Some of this is later than expected due to construction problems. The east line will open a starter line in April iirc, from Bellevue to Redmond, then connect to Seattle sometime in 2025 after some plinths are rebuilt. The south extension is a little TBD because of some soils issues delayed an elevated portion. That's all ST2. The bigger questions are about ST3 work, starting with new in-city lines to Ballard and West Seattle, which are nearing the end of a combined EIS process and have big choices about alignments to be decided soon.
Detroit already has light rail with the newish QLine, which will hopefully be expanded in the near future as Dan Gilbert is advocating.
Of the rest of the list, Nashville needs it the most. In my recent visit, it actually surprised me how bad the traffic congestion can get despite some obvious transit routes right in front of their eyes. I guess the residents keep rejecting proposals. They’ll have to deal with some major quality of life dips as a result unless Nashville suddenly stops growing at a clip.
Nashville is definitely out. The mayor proposed a 1 billion transit bill that includes upgrades to bus service and "sidewalks" over the next 30 years.
With Nashville and its historic car-centered citizens and embracing of the automobile in general, I think the new mayor was smart not to immediately put rail back on the initiative. It failed badly in 2018, and this mayor does not want a repeat of that.
What I've read is that he is approaching transportation planning and infrastructure improvements in Nashville more slowly, and rail could be re-introduced in a couple of years, as an option.
With a projected consolidated metro area population of roughly 3 million by 2040 (this includes Clarksville, which is not in the standard metro area numbers currently), Nashville desperately needs rail, and this mayor knows it. He's trying to hedge it getting shot down right away, and will work to push it long term/long range.
Of the rest of the list, Nashville needs it the most. In my recent visit, it actually surprised me how bad the traffic congestion can get despite some obvious transit routes right in front of their eyes. I guess the residents keep rejecting proposals. They’ll have to deal with some major quality of life dips as a result unless Nashville suddenly stops growing at a clip.
I agree. I'm not sure about the transit routes? I know two people who are leaving Nashville due to what they say is quality of life issues including traffic and cost of living without a competive wage. Both admit to poor planning on their end.
With Nashville and its historic car-centered citizens and embracing of the automobile in general, I think the new mayor was smart not to immediately put rail back on the initiative. It failed badly in 2018, and this mayor does not want a repeat of that.
What I've read is that he is approaching transportation planning and infrastructure improvements in Nashville more slowly, and rail could be re-introduced in a couple of years, as an option.
I think he is very smart in his proposal. With major costs over runs in Seattle, Austin and St Louis, that would be devastating for his administration if happened in Nashville.
Nashville has a commuter train service called WeGo Star. But it's not much; only three trains each way during the AM and PM peak. I guess it's better than nothing, and I have no idea what its ridership is, but with such a flimsy level of service, it won't even make a dent in I-40 traffic congestion. If they could ramp up to service every 15 minutes or so, even if only during peak hours (plus a couple of midday trains), it might make a difference. And adding service southeast to Murfreesboro and south to Spring Hill would be a good thing. Also up to Hendersonville in the northeast, if tracks exist up that way.
But the OP asked about light rail or metro, neither of which WeGo Star is. With all the tourism that Nashville gets, I would think a line from the airport to downtown/Lower Broadway might make sense.
Of the cities listed I believe Tampa has the worst traffic congestion according to at least one study (TomTom) ranked #12 in the US for traffic congestion, ahead of Nashville. They were the only two in Top 50 from this list provided by the OP. Given Tampa's recent progressiveness with development (see Water Street) I would guess it's next in the 20-year plan for cities currently lacking here.
Detroit already has light rail with the newish QLine, which will hopefully be expanded in the near future as Dan Gilbert is advocating.
Of the rest of the list, Nashville needs it the most. In my recent visit, it actually surprised me how bad the traffic congestion can get despite some obvious transit routes right in front of their eyes. I guess the residents keep rejecting proposals. They’ll have to deal with some major quality of life dips as a result unless Nashville suddenly stops growing at a clip.
I was wondering if the existing streetcars count, in which case Detroit, Cincy, and KC already have them out of the cities listed, but I think they'll be expanded in the next 20 years. Also voted for Tampa and Orlando.
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