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One of the problems with public transit in the burbs is the way the burbs are set up.
For instance Chicago has Metra as commuter rail, but Metra is much better at bringing people into the city than anything else. Reverse commuters may have issues with the schedule(i.e. three trains that can get you to the loop by 7:30AM but none or few that can get you to some burb at that time).
Burbs also often lack sidewalk which greatly limits how far you can travel around/from the station. i.e. Even if you destination is near the station it can be unsafe to walk to your destination from the station.
Burbs can also be lacking in additional public transit. i.e. No/Few busses to take you away from the station.
One of the problems with public transit in the burbs is the way the burbs are set up.
For instance Chicago has Metra as commuter rail, but Metra is much better at bringing people into the city than anything else. Reverse commuters may have issues with the schedule(i.e. three trains that can get you to the loop by 7:30AM but none or few that can get you to some burb at that time).
Burbs also often lack sidewalk which greatly limits how far you can travel around/from the station. i.e. Even if you destination is near the station it can be unsafe to walk to your destination from the station.
Burbs can also be lacking in additional public transit. i.e. No/Few busses to take you away from the station.
Stereotypes, stereotypes, stereotypes.
Here's the metra schedule. You can play with it. Also note transit links. Most suburban stations have Park 'n Rides where you can leave your car. Also, most suburbs, as most cities, are safe to walk in.
Here is a map of the Chicago suburb where my in-laws lived. Note the sidewalks. They're even the old-fashioned kind, with a strip of land between the sidewalk and the street.
You sure they are not only on the outskirts of the burbs? I don't think they are integrated in suburbs as you would like to think.
This is a trolly in Media Pa, it terminates back to the 69th Street terminal in Upper Darby where is connects to the MFL subway/El. This line also connects with the Media/Elwyn Regional rail line and services a decent portion of DE county in Philly
The Camden to Trento Riverline Line also services basically only the burbs, connects with PATCO, two seperate NJT Regional rail lines (AC and NEC), Septa Regional Rail (trenton Line), and Amtrak Regional and Acela service
Cleveland's Rapid Red Line was built in the 50s to get out to the southwest suburbs, including the Brook Park Ford plant and other industries in the area, and the airport.
The Rapid routes going out to Shaker Heights were built before WWII, and are what's left of old interurban and streetcar lines.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Kim
Then come the criminals riding the train right out to your town.
Riiiiiiiiight. Because criminals don't already have cars that they can ride into your neighborhood.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chirack
Burbs can also be lacking in additional public transit. i.e. No/Few busses to take you away from the station.
Not true in Cleveland and Philadelphia, anyway. For instance, the Norristown Transportation Center outside of Philadelphia is the convergence of one high-speed trolley line, one commuter rail line, and about a half-dozen bus routes, designed to get people to and from the city to employment and educational destinations like malls, colleges, etc.
The commuter rail line runs to and from downtown Philadelphia. The high-speed trolley goes to another regional transportation center, and connects with the suburbs southwest of Philadelphia.
Here is a map of the Chicago suburb where my in-laws lived. Note the sidewalks. They're even the old-fashioned kind, with a strip of land between the sidewalk and the street.
Another west vs east difference.
That style of sidewalk building definitely didn't go out of style here. The other kind isn't too common except in dense commercial areas.
That style of sidewalk building definitely didn't go out of style here. The other kind isn't too common except in dense commercial areas.
My brother-in-law's neighborhood in suburban Omaha, built in the 70s, has sidewalks with a small strip of land between the sidewalk and the street. Perhaps "old fashioned" was a poor word choice. You don't see them much around here though, except in Denver itself and the older part of some burbs. But the suburbs do have sidewalks here, with VERY few exceptions.
if you avoid light rail, that means you use more gas and more money goes to middle east countries. and yes all the criminals in usa do not have cars, they will attack neighbourhoods once there is public transportation right??????
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Kim
Don't drink the light rail Kool Aid!
The first thing they do is set up a regional transit authority, i.e., sock the suburbs with higher taxes based on their higher property values, since urban areas are too broke to pay for them.
Then come the criminals riding the train right out to your town.
I was reading about Calgary's C-Train. It looks like they're incrementally extending the lines as the urban area expands and the ends of the light rail lines are never far from the edge of the urban area.
Here's a map:
Red and blue are the current lines, orange and light blue are under construction. Other colours are other extensions and lines being proposed, although I'm not sure about the exact alignment of purple and brown lines.
The system isn't so big because they have a lot of oil money to waste either. It's run in a very effective way. I'm having a hard time believing it myself but apparently it costs only 27 cents per passenger to operate. Capital investments have by far the highest ROI of any light rail system in North America, with an investment of $2400 required to get a new passenger. The next highest are Edmonton's light rail at $8700 and Sacramento's at $9100. It also helps that the city has a very prominent CBD, that they aren't prioritizing road and parking investments. It probably helps that the whole urban area is part of the city, so it's easier to plan everything. By 2030, Calgary will have grown about 4-fold since the first LRT line was opened, so it will be interesting to see how the C-Train will have shaped the city.
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