Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > San Antonio
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-20-2007, 01:14 AM
 
Location: Y-Town Area
4,009 posts, read 5,733,294 times
Reputation: 3499

Advertisements

Why be more progressive ? Dallas, Houston and Austin all have Light Rail and
San Antonio can only come up with more buses .
If you look at the cities that have a rail system, those are the cities that are moving in the right direction. San Antonio is headed down a more congested and polluted path, I'm afraid.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-20-2007, 01:25 AM
 
925 posts, read 1,227,806 times
Reputation: 129
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kerby W-R View Post
Why be more progressive ? Dallas, Houston and Austin all have Light Rail
Only Dallas and Houston have light rail.

Quote:
San Antonio can only come up with more buses .
Are you talking about the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system VIA is putting into place? There's honestly no major difference between BRT and LRT (Light Rail Transit) except for the rail. Also, future plans call for the transitioning of BRT lines into LRT lines.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2007, 02:00 AM
 
Location: San Antonio. Tx 78209
2,649 posts, read 7,440,762 times
Reputation: 1769
Dallas also has 6 million in it's metro area. Houston's is a starter system. Austin once again doesn't have it. San Antonio's bus fleet is modern and a number of them run on propane, or LNG.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2007, 05:45 AM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX
8,399 posts, read 22,989,445 times
Reputation: 4435
Maybe if you bothered doing a search, you will find this has been discussed ad nauseam (i.e. in 36 different threads, such as Light-rail... Possibility?).

Cheers! M2
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2007, 07:25 AM
 
Location: Tampa
3,982 posts, read 10,462,106 times
Reputation: 1200
you need a certain level of density to pull off light rail. SA doesnt have it yet.

Do they/y'all even want that kinda density?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2007, 03:18 PM
 
925 posts, read 1,227,806 times
Reputation: 129
What type of density are you talking about? Population? If so, SA is denser than a lot of cities with light rail.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2007, 03:26 PM
 
Location: Houston
181 posts, read 642,917 times
Reputation: 153
I'm in Houston and I'd kill for a bus like the San Antonio VIA. I grew up in SA and remember being able to get all around the city and home again for less 3 or 4 bucks (this was the 80's). The Houston Metro buses hardly travel anywhere, and you've got to walk at least 2 miles from my neighborhood to find a bus stop.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2007, 03:26 PM
 
Location: Texas
2,703 posts, read 3,417,385 times
Reputation: 206
^^Don't know where you are living. There are literally bus stops on every block in many areas of Houston.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kerby W-R View Post
Why be more progressive ? Dallas, Houston and Austin all have Light Rail and
San Antonio can only come up with more buses .
If you look at the cities that have a rail system, those are the cities that are moving in the right direction. San Antonio is headed down a more congested and polluted path, I'm afraid.
Well, Austin doesn't have light rail, but Houston and Dallas do. The three you named have (or will have) commuter rail, too. SA I believe is working on getting a commuter rail line to NB, then on up to Austin.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2007, 03:32 PM
 
Location: Texas
2,703 posts, read 3,417,385 times
Reputation: 206
Quote:
Originally Posted by Insomniac View Post
What type of density are you talking about? Population? If so, SA is denser than a lot of cities with light rail.
Like who? Not saying you are wrong, just wondering which cities.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Insomniac View Post
Are you talking about the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system VIA is putting into place? There's honestly no major difference between BRT and LRT (Light Rail Transit) except for the rail. Also, future plans call for the transitioning of BRT lines into LRT lines.
Actually, there is a difference between BRT and LRT. There is something called a "rail bias" that many transit agencies (and the Feds) are starting to realize. This may help SA get light rail actually. BRT is just a bus in its own lane. It is like having an HOV lane on a freeway. Most cities have BRT lines in addition to LRT lines. It also costs more to transition to an LRT line once a BRT is in place. METRO (Houston's agency) figured that it would cost an extra few hundred million (not sure on the exact number, but it was over 400 million; I'll have to find it), to transition from BRT to LRT. That is why they decided to go ahead and start on the 38 mile light rail expansion instead of having to use BRT. Maybe VIA will figure this out, too, and get light rail instead of the cheap BRT.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2007, 03:37 PM
 
925 posts, read 1,227,806 times
Reputation: 129
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guerilla View Post

Actually, there is a difference between BRT and LRT.
In nothing more than the fact that light rail requires a set of tracks for the transporter to move on while BRT requires a flat surface. Both have their own ROW, stations, routes, etc. Besides those semantics there is basically zero difference in terms of what they accomplish.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > San Antonio
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top