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Being from Houston, this is a topic I've discussed quite a bit.
The only reason I could see going to Dallas would be for business, so you wouldn't really need a car, you could just catch a Lyft or Uber to get to where you need to go.
Honestly, I'd be much more interested in a high speed rail line between Houston and Austin. You don't even want to have a car in Austin really and it would be cool to be able to head to a show there or grab a few drinks on 6th street and have a quick trip back. It would make it to where you could realistically have a day trip there, even extending to the night a bit and not have to book a hotel so long as the rails ran late.
Dallas's rail system is pretty extensive. 93 miles of DART light rail alone (including to both airports)--not including commuter rail to both Denton and Fort Worth.
I much prefer train over car or plane, well long as its convenient and no TSA idiocy. This was stupid bureaucracy at its finest. Annoy, grope, and delay everybody without any actual increase in security. Driving has become downright dangerous anymore. I think lot people that drive long distance do it mostly to avoid the airport rigamarole and being packed in like sardines in the plane. And because American passenger train travel other than east coast is pretty horrible and super inconvenient for most people unless they live close to one of the routes.
Dallas's rail system is pretty extensive. 93 miles of DART light rail alone (including to both airports)--not including commuter rail to both Denton and Fort Worth.
Dallas’ highway system infrastructure is pretty good too. If you can afford it, you can drive straight thru the DFW on the toll roads. Only annoying thing is on some of the HOV toll lanes, it’s down to only one lane, and god forbid that there’s an accident on it or a car breaks down. That happened to me on the 183 once, and I had to sit for an hour. But I have to say that the cops and tow trucks got out there pretty fast to clear that lane out. I was impressed.
People that have to drive the Dallas to San Antonio gauntlet know just how awful that can be. I’d take that train in a heartbeat.
The only way I’d drive it is if I started leaving Dallas around midnight. I refuse to drive thru Austin during daylight hours. It’s maddening.
For sure, Austin is a town built for 100K people that has a million people in it now. The roadways are not developed enough to support the number of people in the city so there's almost constant traffic and there's never anywhere to park.
There was a time I was living in south Austin and I had to commute for a while to Pflugerville which is just north of Austin less than 20 miles away from where I was living and that commute would take 2 Hours one way most of the time.
Absolutely if I was in Dallas needing to get to San Antonio and there was a rail option, I'd jump all over that assuming it was priced competitively.
I much prefer train over car or plane, well long as its convenient and no TSA idiocy. This was stupid bureaucracy at its finest. Annoy, grope, and delay everybody without any actual increase in security. Driving has become downright dangerous anymore. I think lot people that drive long distance do it mostly to avoid the airport rigamarole and being packed in like sardines in the plane. And because American passenger train travel other than east coast is pretty horrible and super inconvenient for most people unless they live close to one of the routes.
Meh, I think too many of you folks just have it in for the TSA. They’re just doing their jobs with what resources they have. After 9/11, the American people decided to make a deal with the devil by telling the Bush Administration that they wanted to trade some freedom for a tiny bit of security. The TSA is one piece of the trade, and it’s not their fault that they exist.
For sure, Austin is a town built for 100K people that has a million people in it now. The roadways are not developed enough to support the number of people in the city so there's almost constant traffic and there's never anywhere to park.
There was a time I was living in south Austin and I had to commute for a while to Pflugerville which is just north of Austin less than 20 miles away from where I was living and that commute would take 2 Hours one way most of the time.
Absolutely if I was in Dallas needing to get to San Antonio and there was a rail option, I'd jump all over that assuming it was priced competitively.
My nephew is an Austin cop, and he was living in Pflugerville for his first few years on the Force. His frustration with the traffic got so bad, that he bought a house in Austin although he and my niece struggle like hell to make the mortgage. It’s definitely not their dream house either. 1250 sq ft bungalow with a small backyard and one car garage....not the big backyard they’d dreamed of for their two boys.
The Austin Dream is a tough thing to grab on to, but on a normal income, you’re gonna have to trim it down by a whole lot if you wanna live in the city. If you want that big house in the Austin Metro out in the suburbs, the price is HOURS behind the steering wheel unless you can fanagle a way to work from home. Otherwise, get used to your car. You’re gonna be in it a whole lot.
That sounds like a hellish trip. I would get to Dallas and throw up.
This will be amazing if it works. Goodbye work commute
Last edited by vacommonwealth; 12-26-2019 at 05:40 PM..
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