I certainly do not know all the facts. But i dont understand how you could not like Light Rail. Is it a phobia of trains. Or maybe something that doesnt have wheels shouldnt be going anywhere? Im confused.
Here are a few other cities w/ street level rail. Boston Jersey City, NJ Other North American City's w/ street level rail include: Tornonto, Ontario Salt Lake City, UT New Orleans, LA Portland, OR Some overseas cities include: Milan, Italy Graz, Austria Insbruck, Austria Vienna, Austria Melbourn, Australia Southern Switzerland Borduex, France Grenoble, France Orleans, France
Oh, and here is an excerpt from an article comparing a city that attempted to convert from light rail to an express bus system like BigTexxx wants. This article was found on the Light Rail Transit Association website as were all the previous pictures I found.
I used light rail twice durring the rodeo and I was not impressed either time. 1st time I parked downtown and rode to Reliant. I'm sure I could have driven to there faster with all the stops we had to make. That and being crammed in like cattle wasn't a pleasnt experience. My little girl was excited about riding the train and afterward she said, "I wish we would have taken the car so I wasn't squished by all the people". After the Rodeo it took an hour to get on a rail heading back down town, then stop, stop, stop. My trip home (to the Heights took almost 2 hours) 2nd time I was smarter. I parked at the park and ride just north of Reliant and rode the crammed train again (my only mistake this time). After the Rodeo this time when I saw the line was the same as last time I opted for walking the mile or mile or so to my car even if it meant carrying my son and daughter most of the time. I don't know what the correct mass transit solution for Houston is but I doubt it is light rail. I like the Gondola idea though.
I'll admit that during large events, the trains get overloaded and they suck. My hope is that when the trains start running every 6 minutes instead of 12, then it'll move twice as many people. But we'll see. It's not cool when you get squished in.
I get the distinct idea that big_texxx/small_taxxx will label the light rail a complete failure until one of two things happens: (1) All Houstonians simultaneously ride the train, (leaving no operating cars or SUVS within the loop), and 100% of the Houstonians report a positive experience as they leave the train. or (2) Lite Rail cars are added that cater to single riders, complete with luxury SUV interior details and plenty of distance between a single rider and any other commuting human being. This would be more like the kids little train that used to run around near the zoo (or still does? haven't checked).
These particular trains should also have off road 'capability' even if it’s never really used. ___________ Side note – I think spinner rims on all the trains would be a real plus for Houston.
Yea, or BigTexxx can just ignore this thread since he has been sufficiently debunked and has no rebuttal.
Hardly. Your evidence is based on personal anecdotes and non data driven facts. It's not worth my time trying to persuade you since you clearly are enamored with our "cool-looking" trains.
What statistics have you cited? What facts? You mean your unproven conclusion that the transit model of a third world city like Curitiba Brazil is more appropriate that that of any number of other American cities?
Heh heh, Samuel, you're really a treat. Trying to hunt down any remaining conservatives on the board and attack them, are we? The onus of providing facts is clearly on the one who is trumpeting the fact that light rail is "successful so far" in Houston. I remain unconvinced.
I guess you haven't been reading any of my posts. ...You conveniently ignored the facts I put forth. Let me recap: How about that Quebec converted from Light Rail to a "busway" system because it was 'cheaper.' It failed miserably and was 400% more expensive than originally told. Now they are preparing to REBUILD their rail system. You provide ONE data point how a bus system is good. I provide ONE that it is bad. Your other argument is that it is too dangerous. I demonstrated for you that at least 18 other cities worldwide have similar street level systems to us. But I guess you ignored that fact too.
Oh, and the Chron article was also cited that March saw 435,000 boardings for March. But you chose to only read that title...which you bashed...but it contained more facts. Lets spell it out. 435,000/31 (days in March) = 14,032 daily boardings 14032/20 (daily hours of operation) = 701 boardings per hour 701/5 (trains per hour) = 140 Let me spell that out for you. Each train that runs is averaging 140 boardings. People are riding it like crazy. Oh, and that number will increase dramatically in May when they stop running paralell bus routes and the trains run every 6 minutes instead of 12.
The Rodeo was in full swing in March. I'd be surprised if those numbers didn't decline once the Rodeo is over. I could be wrong but I think that Rodeo attendance skewed the numbers for March and April. An objective look at May June and July should give a better idea how successful light rail is in Houston.
The Rodeo numbers were subtracted from that total. The total boardings were 604,300 passengers. The figured I quoted was for 'non-event' boardings.
ever heard of Maglev trains? Magleve as in Magnetic Levitation. That'll be sweet. http://travel.howstuffworks.com/maglev-train.htm
Well I'm sure glad that 21st Century Houston spent millions of dollars to build 19th century Europe downtown. Without a separation of car/foot and rail traffic the conflicts between them make each mode less efficient. How much faster would light rail be if it didn't have to interact with street traffic? How much safer would street traffic be if it didn't have to interact with a train? Provided totally clean slate, without having to evolve from an existing system, choosing to build a system that imposes additional conflicts was pure folley. I guess I could cite the elevated railways in Chicago and New York as better 19th century solutions but I would have hoped Houston would have been an innovator of new technologies. Just take your chrome plated rail car, hook it up to a cable system that brings it down to the existing stations and up over street traffic and Wahla!
