Dallas Design District taking off with 23-story apartment tower (Houston: 2013, purchase)

[Metro Matt]

DART's sole purpose of light rail is to get suburbanites who work in downtown to/from work versus driving their car & clogging up the roadways even more.

People don't ride it just because its what all the hip urbanites do or to go to the local market, that's what the bus is for.

[rantanamo]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

The light rail ones are. I'd agree if you were talking about heavy and commuter rail systems.

Then you have a misunderstanding of Light Rail. What you describe is light rail street cars. What DART has is heavy light rail. The trains are faster than heavy rail and heavier than heavy rail. Not streetcars. DART is not the only system to use this type of light rail(referring to the overhead lines). Its is designed for commuter type rail.

Dallas is building a streetcar light rail system as well.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by rantanamo

Then you have a misunderstanding of Light Rail. What you describe is light rail street cars. What DART has is heavy light rail. The trains are faster than heavy rail and heavier than heavy rail. Not streetcars. DART is not the only system to use this type of light rail(referring to the overhead lines). Its is designed for commuter type rail.

Dallas is building a streetcar light rail system as well.

Then what the hell were you complaining about when I said DART was like a glorified commuter rail system and that it is unlike the majority of light rail systems in the country? Since the vast majority of light rail systems are used for short trips and the heavy/commuter rail is for commuters and special events. And lol, DART does NOT have faster trains than heavy rail. Provide a link, because heavy rail trains go from 75-80 MPH (DC and Atlanta trains, for example). I have NEVER seen DART go that fast. Not even in the one tunnel section under the NCX. The only light rail system in the country that's similar to DART that I can think of is Charlotte's first line. It's a glorified commuter rail line until you reach Charlotte's core.

And DART's trains are really no bigger or different than most light rail trains. Light rail systems in the country that are designed for short trips and can be used for longer ones: Boston, San Fran Muni, LA MTA, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Houston, Sacramento, parts of Denver (other parts are like DART), Seattle, Portland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, etc. Then, cities also have streetcar systems, in addition to the light rail. They aren't the same thing buddy. For example, look at the difference between Portland's light rail and streetcar system, that both run in the same area. Or, San Francisco's MUNI Light Rail and Streetcar system, that both also run in the same place. DART's commuter rail design is the reason why ridership is so low for a system that large. Why? Because it's almost no different than a commuter rail system, or a slower version of a heavy rail system and a lot of the stations are like in the middle of nowhere, or away from much development with the hope that TODs come in (which are built with huge parking garages for people with their cars). Dallas should have made the light rail go up and down the City of Dallas. Connect the neighborhoods. Then, you go ahead and link up the suburbs via commuter rail. The streetcar system seems like just an extension of the McKinney Streetcar into more areas of DTD.

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

Dallas should have made the light rail go up and down the City of Dallas. Connect the neighborhoods..

Where were you twenty years ago when this was decided? Apparently you don't understand the regional concept that was required to get this off the ground. It required the cooperation and money of many suburbs and of course they all want their piece of the pie. "Dallas" did not make the decisions alone or unilaterally.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Where were you twenty years ago when this was decided? Apparently you don't understand the regional concept that was required to get this off the ground. It required the cooperation and money of many suburbs and of course they all want their piece of the pie. "Dallas" did not make the decisions alone or unilaterally.

I wasn't even born twenty years ago.

But I knew that was why Dallas couldn't connect the city first with light rail, and then connect the suburbs with commuter rail. They all want a piece of the pie because they are so damn big. Hopefully Dallas connects it's neighborhoods (north and south of the Trinity) with normal light rail and continue to use the current one as it is designed: commuter rail system that uses light rail technology.

[cmacemm]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

Then what the hell were you complaining about when I said DART was like a glorified commuter rail system and that it is unlike the majority of light rail systems in the country? Since the vast majority of light rail systems are used for short trips and the heavy/commuter rail is for commuters and special events. And lol, DART does NOT have faster trains than heavy rail. Provide a link, because heavy rail trains go from 75-80 MPH (DC and Atlanta trains, for example). I have NEVER seen DART go that fast. Not even in the one tunnel section under the NCX. The only light rail system in the country that's similar to DART that I can think of is Charlotte's first line. It's a glorified commuter rail line until you reach Charlotte's core.

And DART's trains are really no bigger or different than most light rail trains. Light rail systems in the country that are designed for short trips and can be used for longer ones: Boston, San Fran Muni, LA MTA, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Houston, Sacramento, parts of Denver (other parts are like DART), Seattle, Portland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, etc. Then, cities also have streetcar systems, in addition to the light rail. They aren't the same thing buddy. For example, look at the difference between Portland's light rail and streetcar system, that both run in the same area. Or, San Francisco's MUNI Light Rail and Streetcar system, that both also run in the same place. DART's commuter rail design is the reason why ridership is so low for a system that large. Why? Because it's almost no different than a commuter rail system, or a slower version of a heavy rail system and a lot of the stations are like in the middle of nowhere, or away from much development with the hope that TODs come in (which are built with huge parking garages for people with their cars). Dallas should have made the light rail go up and down the City of Dallas. Connect the neighborhoods. Then, you go ahead and link up the suburbs via commuter rail. The streetcar system seems like just an extension of the McKinney Streetcar into more areas of DTD.

You clearly aren't familiar with many of those cities you listed. Dallas has much longer trains than most cities mentioned. Many are either half or a 3rd of the length of the trains that run on the red and blue lines, and greenline has the longest trains.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by cmacemm

You clearly aren't familiar with many of those cities you listed. Dallas has much longer trains than most cities mentioned. Many are either half or a 3rd of the length of the trains that run on the red and blue lines, and greenline has the longest trains.

You're really going to argue that one little part of my post? And who cares how long the trains are. Capacity is what matters.

[mm4]

Scarface, your sense of scale is skewed. Commuter rail is an interconnect at the state regional level. (Denton to Dallas, Fort Worth to Dallas.) (Providence, RI to Boston, Worcester to Boston, Newburyport to Boston, etc.) (New Haven to NYC, White Plains to NYC, Montauk to NYC, Atlantic City to NYC, etc.) (Fredericksburg, VA to DC, Baltimore to DC, etc.)

DART is an area rail transit system like BART, MTA, CTA, SEPTA, MARTA, WMATA, etc. Its overhead catenary LRTs are as fast as heavy 3rd rail, and are used as such, covering the same distances as other cities' systems.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by mm4

Scarface, your sense of scale is skewed. Commuter rail is an interconnect at the state regional level. (Denton to Dallas, Fort Worth to Dallas.) (Providence, RI to Boston, Worcester to Boston, Newburyport to Boston, etc.) (New Haven to NYC, White Plains to NYC, Montauk to NYC, Atlantic City to NYC, etc.) (Fredericksburg, VA to DC, Baltimore to DC, etc.)

DART is an area rail transit system like BART, MTA, CTA, SEPTA, MARTA, WMATA, etc. Its overhead catenary LRTs are as fast as heavy 3rd rail, and are used as such, covering the same distances as other cities' systems.

Your reading comprehension skills are skewed. Yes, we all know DART is a light rail system, but it isn't designed as one. It's designed like a commuter rail or heavy rail system, except for in Downtown Dallas. And show me where DART reaches speeds of up to 75MPH like DC, San Francisco, and Atlanta trains do. And those systems you named also have higher capacities per rail car (and can link more rail cars together) than light rail.

[cmacemm]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

Your reading comprehension skills are skewed. Yes, we all know DART is a light rail system, but it isn't designed as one. It's designed like a commuter rail or heavy rail system, except for in Downtown Dallas. And show me where DART reaches speeds of up to 75MPH like DC, San Francisco, and Atlanta trains do. And those systems you named also have higher capacities per rail car (and can link more rail cars together) than light rail.

You're a ****ing idiot.