Riding The Bus Is Possible?! (Dallas, Fort Worth: lease, buy, construction)

[In_Correct]

I thought that a Dial-A-Ride, On-Call, Flex, or whatever you want to call it, would be the first thing that happens with public transit. I thought it would be the first thing that happens with public transit because it seems like the easiest thing! But it seems there isn't such a thing in some areas?!

North Central Texas area for example it has a few options.

There is Amtrak to and from Cooke County, Tarrant County, and Johnson County??

There is TAPS which I think if you can get a ride from and to any of these counties:

Bryan
Clay
Collin
Cooke
Fannin
Grayson
Montague
Wise
Witchita

But Not Denton County?!

There is Public Transit Services for

Jack
Palo Pinto
Parker

Star Transit for
Kaufman
Rockwall
Part of Dallas County,
and very limited (if at all) Ellis County.

Cletran for
Johnson
very limited stops in Tarrant County.

Denton County and Dallas County and Tarrant County have their own services.

DTCA only services Denton and Lewisville only.
The T services Fort Worth and Richland Hills only.
DART has various services, from bus stops, light rail, open almost all the time, and also they have dial-a-ride services. And The T and DTCA both connect to DART. Star Transit possibly connects to DART. It also seems that TAPS has a very limited service to a DART station.

But otherwise there isn't any connection of TAPS which services at least eight counties and even one from Oklahoma, but NOT to DTCA or The T or DART?!

So if somebody in Wise County needed to get to Denton County by bus, ... they couldn't?! Even if they are next to each other?!

Or, if somebody in Everman or Forest Hill or White Settlement needed to catch a bus, there is no bus at all?! Even though they are obviously surrounded by Fort Worth?!

Or, if somebody in Johnson County wanted to ride a bus to Fort Worth, it would be next to impossible?!

Or, if somebody from Parker County lived one mile from the border of Fort Worth, nothing will happen?!

Or, if somebody in Denton County wanted to get to Denton by bus, they might be stuck?!

Or can anybody in the TAPS service area stop at a DART station? Would they have to avoid entering Denton County?! That is almost as bad as connecting Fort Worth to Denton by going through Dallas First?! Or perhaps wait a few days for Amtrak?!

I know that there are people who hate the expansion of public transit but I am not focusing on rail. I am talking about bus: adding dial-a-ride and most likely using already existing buses and already existing staff to just finish connecting all these counties with each other already!

Will the public transit service expand to adding the simple and easy dial-a-ride services?
Any expansion during the next few years?!

Or will the bus riders need to drive by themselves among the rich spoiled text message drunk drivers?!

Also, what exactly are vanpools? I looked at the vanpool map and it literally covers EVERYTHING. But am I just going to have to get a vanpool myself? DTCA lists the monthly lease cost for a vanpool? Why do they do that? Does the main person driving the vanpool have to pay the lease?!

[2nd trick op]

Welcome to the "real world" of public transit; it can get you to most of the places to which you might want to go (with the possibility of a long and expensive cab ride at the start and/or finish if your origin and/or destination are too remote. And you'ld better plan to devote a good portion of your time to waiting on connections.

It's not the result of some conspiracy by evil men in suits; it's a simple outgrowth of the fact that most people, and virtually everyone over age sixteen in non-urbanized areas knows how to drive and prefers to do so. The deterioration of bus networks intensified both as more and more women learned how to drive and a societal stigma against women traveling alone (which you have to be pretty far along in years to remember) diminished.

The "writing on the wall" that the Age of Petroleum has reached its high point has become more apparent, but I suspect that the long-term answer will be smaller personal vehicles (and probably, vehicles less dependent upon fossil fuel).

You are, unfortunately, swimming against a very strong tide.

[In_Correct]

And completely automatic cars. I forgot about automatic cars, or "driverless cars". If they succeed (and if they aren't built around GPS) then driverless cars will eliminate public transportation, at least in U.S.A. where materialism is rampant.

[curbur]

The fact of the matter is our large urban centers need mass transit, and in addition to that, multiple mass transit options which connect them. What happens for the places in between these cities is of no concern of mine and also none of the 70-80% of the state's population that lives in or around these major urban centers in the Texas Triangle.

[2nd trick op]

Sorry to have to disappoint a lot of people, but the idea of "self-driving automobiles" has been heavily oversold:

//www.city-data.com/forum/scien...wheel-let.html

Research by Google and other visionaries have developed a few more components and brought the idea a bit closer to reality, but the highway system is just too complicated, and would require far more stringent data management, to permit the "George Jetson" fantasy the public has been duped into hoping for.

[TheOverdog]

highway system is just too complicated

The highway system is too complicated? No it's not, you can buy a Tesla right now that can drive itself on the highway just fine. The complicated part is cities, with road construction, pedestrians, and bikes. And the city sytems exist and are fairly high quality, they are just very expensive and a few years (as in less than 5) away to work out the kinks. They are also only legal in a few states, but the laws are slowly changing.

And the problem with 'expensiveness' in this case, is that people who can afford the expensive cars either buy them specifically to drive (sports cars), or have drivers for regular cars, and don't drive cross country much (only poor people drive), so 'expensive' is much harder to scale up. These are economic problems, not technical ones.

[2nd trick op]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

The highway system is too complicated? No it's not, you can buy a Tesla right now that can drive itself on the highway just fine. The complicated part is cities, with road construction, pedestrians, and bikes. And the city sytems exist and are fairly high quality, they are just very expensive and a few years (as in less than 5) away to work out the kinks. They are also only legal in a few states, but the laws are slowly changing.

And the problem with 'expensiveness' in this case, is that people who can afford the expensive cars either buy them specifically to drive (sports cars), or have drivers for regular cars, and don't drive cross country much (only poor people drive), so 'expensive' is much harder to scale up. These are economic problems, not technical ones.

Speaking as a Logistics (Transportation Studies) graduate, with work exposure to both rail and highway operations, I can attest that there are two approaches to "self-driving" vehicles -- and they both have a long way to go.

The experiments conducted by Google, etc. are limited to a closed, and well-defined grid system of streets -- places similar to upper Manhattan, Phoenix, and L. A.'s San Fernando Valley. All the issues which can complicate matters -- hills, variations in curves, etc. -- aren't too heavily factored into the process. And that doesn't even begin to address issues like weather, conflicting traffic for left turns, and all the foibles labeled under "human error".

Another approach (and one I think offers more prospects) is under study for a limited number of generally flat, and straight, limited-access highways such as the Ohio, Indiana, Kansas and Florida Turnpikes; these highways already allow for more liberal size- and weight-limits for heavier vehicles, so it's natural that the major truckers, who have the most to benefit, are showing some interest (and might actually be convinced to pick up some of the tab).

But if such a system can be made to work, it will probably require a database of individual highway conditions. Obviously, the Interstates will get the highest priority, and when any "self-driving" vehicle leaves the safety zone, a human operator will have to take over. That's going to diminish the enthusiasm of Suburban Suzie, -- who's hoping for something to take Gramps and Gran (who live 15 miles from town on a winding back road) to the doctor's office.

I sincerely hope I'm underestimating the power of technology in this instance, but to be honest, I suspect that the gap between science-fiction and "hard science" is going to pose more of a problem.

[JJG]

I can't speak for DART, Denton, or whatever the hell Arlington is calling their "public transportation", but I will speak for the FWTA. There needs to be:

- Expanded service to areas where there is none. It could be just ONE line for each town.
- Get started on TexRail. It supposed to kick on in 2018, but it keeps getting pushed back. That would take care of the northeastern suburbs of Tarrant County, connecting to the airport and eventually reaching out to SWFW (Sycamore School Road)
- LIGHT RAIL. Thanks to our city's previous administration, the streetcar has been killed for at least another 10 years. It would help connect downtown to the other Core Hoods. Maybe even have one or two exclusive LRT lines connecting the east to west.
- Expanded Commuter Rail to the far north, far south, and another FW to Dallas line that actually cuts through the center of Arlington, which would take care of some transportation issues for big games and events at The Ballpark and Cowboys Stadium.

[In_Correct]

Originally Posted by JJG

I can't speak for DART, Denton, or whatever the hell Arlington is calling their "public transportation", but I will speak for the FWTA. There needs to be:

- Expanded service to areas where there is none. It could be just ONE line for each town.
- Get started on TexRail. It supposed to kick on in 2018, but it keeps getting pushed back. That would take care of the northeastern suburbs of Tarrant County, connecting to the airport and eventually reaching out to SWFW (Sycamore School Road)
- LIGHT RAIL. Thanks to our city's previous administration, the streetcar has been killed for at least another 10 years. It would help connect downtown to the other Core Hoods. Maybe even have one or two exclusive LRT lines connecting the east to west.
- Expanded Commuter Rail to the far north, far south, and another FW to Dallas line that actually cuts through the center of Arlington, which would take care of some transportation issues for big games and events at The Ballpark and Cowboys Stadium.

Isn't commuter rail supposed to be faster than road travel? I know it isn't. But if it actually was fast, then more people will want to ride it. But if driverless cars plague the roads then the speed limit will probably be increased to 100mph, or perhaps have no speed limit at all. I think many people are already driving as fast as possible.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by In_Correct

Isn't commuter rail supposed to be faster than road travel? I know it isn't. But if it actually was fast, then more people will want to ride it. But if driverless cars plague the roads then the speed limit will probably be increased to 100mph, or perhaps have no speed limit at all. I think many people are already driving as fast as possible.

That's not the reason why commuter rail exists. Speed has nothing to do with it.