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While it's true that many right-wing people are not interested in spending huge sums for rapid transit, I think a lot of them are more receptive of rapid transit as long as the huge costs don't out weigh the benefits. Spending billions on rapid transit in Nashville including a downtown tunnel for a city that has deplorable transit ridership is an obscene waste of funds. I am a huge supporter of transit but I would have voted down the Nashville proposal in a heartbeat.......................I know a waste of money when I see it.
For many it's about getting value for the dollar and the vast majority of US cities with newer rail systems don't provide that. This is why BRT has taken off in so many cities in the first place, building an expensive LRT system simply cannot be justified. You don't build a stadium to fit 40,000 in a town of 10,000, you don't build a 8 lane freeway in a rural area, and you don't build LRT when the city doesn't need even a small fraction of it's capacity.
You build a transit system for the people not one for politicians looking for ribbon cutting ceremonies to enhance their ability to get re-elected or for developers hoping to make a quick buck.
While it's true that many right-wing people are not interested in spending huge sums for rapid transit, I think a lot of them are more receptive of rapid transit as long as the huge costs don't out weigh the benefits. Spending billions on rapid transit in Nashville including a downtown tunnel for a city that has deplorable transit ridership is an obscene waste of funds. I am a huge supporter of transit but I would have voted down the Nashville proposal in a heartbeat.......................I know a waste of money when I see it.
For many it's about getting value for the dollar and the vast majority of US cities with newer rail systems don't provide that. This is why BRT has taken off in so many cities in the first place, building an expensive LRT system simply cannot be justified. You don't build a stadium to fit 40,000 in a town of 10,000, you don't build a 8 lane freeway in a rural area, and you don't build LRT when the city doesn't need even a small fraction of it's capacity.
You build a transit system for the people not one for politicians looking for ribbon cutting ceremonies to enhance their ability to get re-elected or for developers hoping to make a quick buck.
How many cities have built BRT? I don't think a single one has true BRT.
I think Omaha just got approved for a line. They're not even at a million people yet
They basically are though. If you believe the latest estimate for 2021, the MSA is a mere 28,000 away from the 1 million mark, and their CSA is over 1 million.
And yes, Omaha will be building a streetcar line which will run from its downtown core riverfront, to their traditional core midtown area. Projected to be completed in 2026; in concert with Mutual of Omaha’s new 45-50 story downtown HQ’s skyscraper tower. Also projected for completion in 2026. They go hand in hand.
I have a hard time seeing how light rail will work in Nashville. Austin has a pretty solid grid and consistent density, but Nashville is super sprawly almost immediately outside of the downtown area.
I can't stand this "look Mom I have LRT too" mentality that so many US cities have. You do not build transit for developers, for ribbon cutting ceremonies, or for make-work projects but rather to provide an effective, affordable, fast, safe, reliable, and accessible transportation service. Full stop.
These cities like Austin & Nashville have incredibly low ridership levels where the building of a high capacity transit line is a horrific waste of precious transit funds. What's more they build the lines and then starve it of operational funds. They also don't provide the key bus service to connect people to those LRT stations somehow expecting everyone to walk 2 or 3 km to the nearest station.
BRT often provides a far superior and faster transit experience than many of these LRT lines do in the same context while doing so at a far lower price. It's far better to have 30 km of BRT than 10 km of LRT as the larger BRT system provides the same quality of service to hundreds of thousands of more residence and hundreds of more destinations. What's more they can provide faster non-transfer trips due to interlining and they are far easier to expand.
The advantages of LRT over BRT which are often sighted {smoother ride, no emissions, lower operation costs, less vehicle maintenance} have also been greatly reduced over the last few years with the advent of electric/hydrogen buses. Electric buses offer the much quieter ride, no emissions, faster performance, lower vehicle maintenance costs, level boarding, and reduced operational costs that were once the domain of LRT. Even the higher capacity of LRT has been reduced with the increasing usage of bi-articulated buses.
*I put "BRT" in quotes because there is nothing rapid about a bus that mostly rides in the same lanes and waits at the same traffic signals that cars do. This is why the tunnel in the most congested areas is sorely needed.
As for the ride, yes steel running rail will always be more comfortable than buses but this again is greatly reduced with BRT lanes. It's not so much the tires that cause the vibrations and bouncy ride of buses but rather the roads that they run on. This is why highway buses offer a more comfortable ride than local transit ones.............the roads are well maintained.
I don't understand this thinking. The idea is that we want to expand ridership, so to achieve that we are improving the quality of the service. The places where Austin is building light rail is where they currently have busses with the highest ridership. (Particularly the MetroRapid 801 "BRT"). The real value add in the system under construction is not rail, it's the tunnel under downtown with a number of subway stations. This is needed because there does not exist available real estate to remove busses from traffic congestion... Also, there are a number of "BRT" lines being added as well. Look at the plan, the purple lines are busses.
*I put "BRT" in quotes because there is nothing rapid about a bus that mostly drives in the same lanes and waits at the same traffic signals that single occupancy vehicles do. This is why the transit tunnel in the most congested areas is sorely needed.
I don't understand this thinking. The idea is that we want to expand ridership, so to achieve that we are improving the quality of the service. The places where Austin is building light rail is where they currently have busses with the highest ridership. (Particularly the MetroRapid 801 "BRT"). The real value add in the system under construction is not rail, it's the tunnel under downtown with a number of subway stations. This is needed because there does not exist available real estate to remove busses from traffic congestion... Also, there are a number of "BRT" lines being added as well. Look at the plan, the purple lines are busses.
*I put "BRT" in quotes because there is nothing rapid about a bus that mostly drives in the same lanes and waits at the same traffic signals that single occupancy vehicles do. This is why the transit tunnel in the most congested areas is sorely needed.
Yeah I'm with you. Of course, if transit is awful, no one will want to ride it, unless absolutely forced to. If you build and provide a service that is actually useful, people will use it.
Most notably the Orange and Red lines, but they actually have close to a dozen. The red line runs frequently, with graded stations along the highway, stopping at the Mall of America and the airport (with light rail going on into downtown). They have light signal right of way, and can ride the shoulders to bypass traffic if needed.
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