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So, we now know that the Federal Transit Administration has said "No" to federal funds for rail service along the NCRR corridor. Richard Stradling of the N&O has the story at https://www.newsobserver.com/news/lo...277605488.html. The shocking part, in my mind, is that the message was given four months ago and only now has been made public. The feds say that BRT, on the other hand, is a go.
I assume this puts a stake in the heart of rail-based transit in the Triangle once and for all.
Honestly as someone that has always been a huge champion of light rail, I'm fine if we go all out with BRT in this area. It's at least something, anything! We need an alternative and BRT done right actually can be something that gets people to use it, avoiding the stigma of "ewww bus". It is more flexible and can reach areas that right of way is harder to acquire. It will drive development along its corridor regardless.
That said, who knows maybe 25+ years from now we use the BRT right of way and replace it all with rail or something else. For now though, do the dang BRT and market it like there's no tomorrow. I'd happily use it if it eventually came down toward Apex. I'd ride it everywhere.
Honestly as someone that has always been a huge champion of light rail, I'm fine if we go all out with BRT in this area. It's at least something, anything! We need an alternative and BRT done right actually can be something that gets people to use it, avoiding the stigma of "ewww bus". It is more flexible and can reach areas that right of way is harder to acquire. It will drive development along its corridor regardless.
That said, who knows maybe 25+ years from now we use the BRT right of way and replace it all with rail or something else. For now though, do the dang BRT and market it like there's no tomorrow. I'd happily use it if it eventually came down toward Apex. I'd ride it everywhere.
Yeah, they need to take whatever money they were saving for rail and just plow ahead as fast as possible with BRT.
The lack of transparency is a little troubling, and I'm guessing we've lost whatever time since then that they could have been moving BRT forward.
Portland is unique. However, one thing they have that the triangle doesn't is a lot of bike lanes and respect for bike riders. Cycling for commuting is another great alternative to keeping the amount of traffic down on roads. And now with the proliferation of ebikes, that allows even more people to take this option... or it would if there were more bike lanes which are far less expensive to build than commuter rail systems.
But all it takes is one speeding idiot on their cell phone and not paying attention to the road to snuff out your life. In car versus bicycle crashes the car always wins. Before I started driving I rode my bicycle everywhere but I wouldn't dare do it around here for a zillion dollars.
That said, who knows maybe 25+ years from now we use the BRT right of way and replace it all with rail or something else. For now though, do the dang BRT and market it like there's no tomorrow. I'd happily use it if it eventually came down toward Apex. I'd ride it everywhere.
For rail to be feasible, it needs to run frequently (every 10-15 minutes throughout the day, every day), be within a short walking distance of the majority of residents, and take you to where you want to go in a reasonable amount of time (no hub-and-spoke model, please!). That requires a significant investment, both in infrastructure cost as well as right-of-way acquisition.
I really hope we aren't relying on outmoded forms of transportation in 25-50 years. Passenger-driven cars and buses need to give way as technology improves (which is why I'm putting in the timeline I stated above). And commuter rail hopefully is no longer the best solution to our transit problems by that time, but instead, something that is far more flexible and cost-efficient.
Yeah, they need to take whatever money they were saving for rail and just plow ahead as fast as possible with BRT.
The lack of transparency is a little troubling, and I'm guessing we've lost whatever time since then that they could have been moving BRT forward.
The City of Raleigh is managing the BRT projects and is moving that forward separately from GoTriangle. They received federal funding for the New Bern line and is aiming to start construction later this year.
(They're applying for funding for the Wilmington St/Garner line next)
For rail to be feasible, it needs to run frequently (every 10-15 minutes throughout the day, every day), be within a short walking distance of the majority of residents, and take you to where you want to go in a reasonable amount of time (no hub-and-spoke model, please!). That requires a significant investment, both in infrastructure cost as well as right-of-way acquisition.
I really hope we aren't relying on outmoded forms of transportation in 25-50 years. Passenger-driven cars and buses need to give way as technology improves (which is why I'm putting in the timeline I stated above). And commuter rail hopefully is no longer the best solution to our transit problems by that time, but instead, something that is far more flexible and cost-efficient.
Yeah I hear ya and am well aware of those points, but I've basically given up on rail here any time in the next few decades. At this point we need to invest in what we can and are afforded to do. That appears to be BRT, so lets just hope they don't screw it up. If done and marketed well, I think it can be a real gem for this area and grow well beyond the initial 4 lines.
Yeah I hear ya and am well aware of those points, but I've basically given up on rail here any time in the next few decades. At this point we need to invest in what we can and are afforded to do. That appears to be BRT, so lets just hope they don't screw it up. If done and marketed well, I think it can be a real gem for this area and grow well beyond the initial 4 lines.
However, most of the systems that are built in the US are just rated as Bronze or not even "BRT". I don't really have high hopes.
I've never ridden it, but have seen the line the line they've done in Richmond on Broad street and it does look inviting. No idea how it works for people living there. I also can't really compare to other countries. We did ride some busses in Belgium and a standard bus took us from just outside a train station to a village of maybe under a 1000 people and dropped us off at a stop where cows were in a field on the edge of the town. Then later we took a bus to another even smaller village also in the middle of nowhere. The big difference though is how steep the urbanization curve is there. These places were 6-9 miles from the edge of central Brussels and they were ore like what we would see 30 plus miles from downtown Raleigh (though we just don't have towns like that here). But it was workable for two dumb Americans to get around the Pajottenland and drink beer.
I've never ridden it, but have seen the line the line they've done in Richmond on Broad street and it does look inviting. No idea how it works for people living there. I also can't really compare to other countries. We did ride some busses in Belgium and a standard bus took us from just outside a train station to a village of maybe under a 1000 people and dropped us off at a stop where cows were in a field on the edge of the town. Then later we took a bus to another even smaller village also in the middle of nowhere. The big difference though is how steep the urbanization curve is there. These places were 6-9 miles from the edge of central Brussels and they were ore like what we would see 30 plus miles from downtown Raleigh (though we just don't have towns like that here). But it was workable for two dumb Americans to get around the Pajottenland and drink beer.
I was coming here to post just that. Richmond's system (which doesn't score particularly well either) looks inviting and frankly, other than the lack of the overhead wires for Light Rail, doesn't look all that different from a Light Rail line.
I don't think there's anything wrong with going for BRT over LRT. In fact, I think Norfolk made a mistake insisting on LRT 10 years ago and have now pigeonholed themselves as they can't really expand their starter line in a practical manner.
I was coming here to post just that. Richmond's system (which doesn't score particularly well either) looks inviting and frankly, other than the lack of the overhead wires for Light Rail, doesn't look all that different from a Light Rail line.
I don't think there's anything wrong with going for BRT over LRT. In fact, I think Norfolk made a mistake insisting on LRT 10 years ago and have now pigeonholed themselves as they can't really expand their starter line in a practical manner.
The biggest catch is "if" the BRT lanes are in their own dedicated lanes. A lot of times systems compromise and operate in shared lanes and you lose travel time that way. For instance, I think the western BRT route is going to operate in mixed traffic along Western between Gorman and 440. That's no bueno.
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