Sunrail ridership down, Looks like an Epic Fail (Miami, Orlando: transfer, income)

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

You can't expect these kinds of projects to go from 0-60 in 3 seconds. I think Orlando and Florida are on the right track.

Well said. Some, like Kyle, will trash Orlando and cfl at every opportunity

[Fl1150]

Not every city with light rail has better traffic sometimes worse just saying.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Fl1150

Not every city with light rail has better traffic sometimes worse just saying.

That's true, but I would imagine traffic would be much worse without them. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we have hundreds of thousands of people riding each day. If these services weren't there that would be a lot of extra cars on the road.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

That's true, but I would imagine traffic would be much worse without them. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we have hundreds of thousands of people riding each day. If these services weren't there that would be a lot of extra cars on the road.

The problem here isn't so much extra cars, but more just poor planning.
Before launching this project, the city should have come up with a plan that would keep it elevated (or something as effective) when cutting through major arteries.
I cannot tell you the mess this little train creates every time I see it cut across 434 at Ronald Reagan in the middle of the afternoon. It's bad enough there's a major intersection right there, now we have to deal with a train going across right before it.
So: light turns green, (finally) you're ready to go, but no, you have to stop and wait for it to pass, and hope the light's still green when it's gone.

I'm ALL for increased transit options. I come from a mid-sized city that boasts the 3rd highest commuter train ridership in NA, after NYC and Mexico City. I just wish we could get it right here.

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I'm still looking forward to riding this thing.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by MrKnight

Instead of constantly critiquing and being pessimistic about everything in Orlando locals should EMBRACE the fact that there are new alternative transportation methods being built that are providing a foundation of a well developed metropolitan city. Every major city needs public transportation infrastructure to be successful and Orlando politicians made the RIGHT decision to move forward with this project.

People have to keep in mind that SunRail is NEW and hence will go through growing pains just like anything that is new, there area already improvements that have been made based on several months of operation and Phase II will further expand the system to be as functional as possible and accessible to even the further areas of the metro region.

They spent 100X what it would have cost to implement BRT which would have been far more flexible. It was and will continue to be a massive money pit failure that serves only a miniscule percentage of wealthy patrons.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by annerk

They spent 100X what it would have cost to implement BRT which would have been far more flexible. It was and will continue to be a massive money pit failure that serves only a miniscule percentage of wealthy patrons.

Sunrail COULD be good if done right.
Currently, it's pretty much useless.
They should have waited for certain key city projects to be complete.
I agree that currently, a BRT would be MUCH more efficient.
Heck, I'D use it.

The way the Sunrail is, I've only been on it a few times as a joyride with the kids. There was no real purpose other than to get on a train.

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Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Sunrail COULD be good if done right.
Currently, it's pretty much useless.
They should have waited for certain key city projects to be complete.
I agree that currently, a BRT would be MUCH more efficient.
Heck, I'D use it.

The way the Sunrail is, I've only been on it a few times as a joyride with the kids. There was no real purpose other than to get on a train.

I found this article to be pretty entertaining: SunRail pub crawl

Since I'll be car-free for my first few months in Orlando, I'm actually interested in using SunRail to check out different areas of Orlando. I definitely wish Orlando had a frequent running light rail line instead, though.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

That's true, but I would imagine traffic would be much worse without them. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we have hundreds of thousands of people riding each day. If these services weren't there that would be a lot of extra cars on the road.

It's not just MUNI, it's also BART. The bus system is cheaper, more efficient, and extensible, not to mention it moves more bodies every day.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

Well said. Some, like Kyle, will trash Orlando and cfl at every opportunity

And some will shake their poms poms at every opportunity to make it out as some kind of paradise. That's why this is not considered a chamber of commerce chat forum.