379 replies to this topic

[runawayjim]

f1rehead, on Jan 12 2009, 09:59 AM, said:

Over on Providence Daily Dose, Matt Jerzyk posted a list of all the items in the Mayor's Stimulus Wish List (remember the old days when you could get the Sears Stimulus Wish List Catalog? Good times.) and the line item for streetcars is for $20M.

I don't know much about infrastructure costs but they usually seem to be, what's the word?, "high", yes that's it, "high". Twenty million dollars for a streetcar system sounds that other thing, "low". The city doesn't have any money to contribute to that, so the $20M has to be most of the cost.

Can we really get a streetcar system for that little money? Will it look like one of those tiny trains Ricky Stratton had in his living room?

It'd be like the trolley that goes from Mr. Rogers' house to the Land of Make Believe.

[Pseudo_Work]

runawayjim, on Jan 12 2009, 08:07 AM, said:

It'd be like the trolley that goes from Mr. Rogers' house to the Land of Make Believe.

Not to mention that 13 million of those 20 million dollars just disappeared into The Don's budget cuts.

[BBascule]

From Cranston Style

[Pseudo_Work]

BBascule, on Apr 16 2009, 05:10 PM, said:

From Cranston Style

Holy crap!

[runawayjim]

That is a seriously extensive streetcar map. I would not have expected it to go all the way to Greenville, Johnston, or South Attleboro or even the airport. That's awesome.

The only problem I see is it still follows the hub/spoke method of the RIPTA buses. I would hope they'd change some bus lines around for some better north-south and east-west connections in the city, especially on the west side of the city.

I was gonna say that I'd rather see the yellow and green lines cross, but it actually makes a lot of sense to have them the way they are. A lot of PC kids use the bus to go to Thayer and the east side.

[BBascule]

I think it's difficult to break away from Providence's natural spoke pattern. I guess there's an opportunity to run a north/south line on the far western side of the metro area - along Route 5/Atwood Avenue?

Edited by BBascule, 16 April 2009 - 08:05 PM.

[Pseudo_Work]

I'm gonna go ahead and reneg on my last comment.  The blog date is April 1st, and there is no page 11 of the referenced list.  Clearly a joke.  Great map though.

Edited by Pseudo_Work, 16 April 2009 - 09:02 PM.

[09/21/38]

Providence 2020 calls for a trolley to start at Allens Ave. go north to downtown and then continue along the Promenade to Olyneville.  Which could be one branch of a metro system.  The price tag on something as extensive as what is shown would be huge.  Never mind the cars and the upkeep. But it would be better for the environment and would probably attract more riders than the current system.

One question is would there be a line down Hope St. to Pawtucket or just north Main st.?

[frymasterspeck]

Definitely add a stop up the Red Line at George/Pawt Ave/East Ave near the restaurant cluster. OMG, it could be there in the abandonment of the 100 block of Pawt Ave. And it could restore the right of way. (Cue angelic choir...)

[runawayjim]

frymasterspeck, on Apr 17 2009, 10:22 AM, said:

Definitely add a stop up the Red Line at George/Pawt Ave/East Ave near the restaurant cluster. OMG, it could be there in the abandonment of the 100 block of Pawt Ave. And it could restore the right of way. (Cue angelic choir...)

I'm going to guess that those aren't the only stops. If it's a streetcar, it could stop every couple blocks, which I would hope it does.

[Urbaner]

runawayjim, on Apr 17 2009, 10:48 AM, said:

I'm going to guess that those aren't the only stops. If it's a streetcar, it could stop every couple blocks, which I would hope it does.

They can always add stops. They may be thinking of these lines more like a subway or heavy rail system that moves larger numbers of people quickly with less stops. The bus system could be reconfigured to feed into the streetcar stops. Most urban subway stations are about a 15 minute walk apart. Midtown and Downtown Manhattan stations are typically 7 minutes apart or less by foot.

[Patrick Ward]

http://www.boston.co...0308_mit_hacks/

Red Line expansion in Cambridge. Those MIT kids are wicked smaht!

[mental757]

PROJO:  "A desire named streetcar: Providence seeks major transit overhaul"
http://www.projo.com...26.3c1be29.html

http://www.transit2020.com/main.php

http://www.transit20...ExecSummary.pdf

http://www.transit20...d streetcar.pdf

[09/21/38]

Like everything else that has been proposed in the last few years, call me when the politicians take the first ride and Newswatch 10 films it.  Then I will believe it.

It sounds like a great plan but so was 110, Dynamo House, Patriots Stadium, Farmer's Market, etc.

[runawayjim]

09/21/38, on 09 December 2009 - 12:35 PM, said:

Like everything else that has been proposed in the last few years, call me when the politicians take the first ride and Newswatch 10 films it.  Then I will believe it.

It sounds like a great plan but so was 110, Dynamo House, Patriots Stadium, Farmer's Market, etc.

Fortunately for the curmudgeons and skeptics among us, this isn't a plan yet, but rather the results and recommendations of an extensive transit study.

[mental757]

"PBN:  "RIPTA lays out plan for streetcars, buses "

http://pbn.com/detail/46655.html

[Cotuit]

They used one of my photos for the cover of the Executive Summary.

[mr2448]

runawayjim, on 09 December 2009 - 12:45 PM, said:

Fortunately for the curmudgeons and skeptics among us, this isn't a plan yet, but rather the results and recommendations of an extensive transit study.

Any plan that does not include continuation as light rail and private right of ways is doomed to failure. The Information District needs to have land set aside for ROW without automobile traffic. Side streets such as ACORN, Union, etc need to be transit ROW for both bus and light rail/streetcar traffic. Unlike other cities that now have electric traffic, Providence does not have those large roadways that will allow electric traffic to keep to the right. Can you imagine Broad Street without any on street parking? Tracks would be down the middle of the street. North Main Street travel would also need to be down the middle of the street as it was 65 years ago. Can you see pedestrian injuries as they have seen in Houston? I am a big fan of electric travel, but until these issues of ROW and light rail are settled, I would prefer overhead electric buses such as Dayton, Boston, and San Francisco have.

[runawayjim]

mr2448, on 13 December 2009 - 06:36 PM, said:

Any plan that does not include continuation as light rail and private right of ways is doomed to failure. The Information District needs to have land set aside for ROW without automobile traffic. Side streets such as ACORN, Union, etc need to be transit ROW for both bus and light rail/streetcar traffic. Unlike other cities that now have electric traffic, Providence does not have those large roadways that will allow electric traffic to keep to the right. Can you imagine Broad Street without any on street parking? Tracks would be down the middle of the street. North Main Street travel would also need to be down the middle of the street as it was 65 years ago. Can you see pedestrian injuries as they have seen in Houston? I am a big fan of electric travel, but until these issues of ROW and light rail are settled, I would prefer overhead electric buses such as Dayton, Boston, and San Francisco have.

Just as a side note, the trolleys in Philly run through the neighborhoods in city traffic, at least the west Philly one does. The others have their own ROW in the middle of the street, but I think that's only for part of the route. Some of them then go underground and go high speed into Center City, but in the neighborhoods, they're moving along with the flow of traffic. Of course, the route I'm thinking of doesn't have the traffic that Broad St does.

I think even if we added trolleys that went along with the flow of traffic, they'd get used by people who look down on the buses, even if they went through "undesirable" areas.

[mental757]

PROJO:  "Public transit is en route to bright, diverse future"

http://www.projo.com...11.3988b1e.html


PROJO:  "The race is on for rapid transit money"

http://www.projo.com...21.38ad620.html

Edited by mental757, 14 December 2009 - 10:19 AM.