UP|Urban Transit

Mass transit construction time-lapse comparison

Neo — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:03:05 +0000

Here is a time-lapse video of the construction (including future construction plans) of mass transit lines in various cities. What is interesting is how far ahead Atlanta was at one time and how far behind it is today:

How long is your morning commute?

Neo — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:21:53 +0000

This is a questionnaire regarding your method of transportation during your morning commute, the distance and how long it ultimately takes you to get to your destination.

Northstar Commuter Rail (Minneapolis Area)

Neo — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:13:58 +0000

I believe I watched a Dirty Jobs episode where Mike Rowe did a segment for this train.

The Eisenhower Interstate System

Neo — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:07:31 +0000

Here is another awesome representation of the interstate system that I found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/senexprime/4055072020/

Northstar Commuter Rail (Minneapolis Area)

Minneapolitan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:43:20 +0000

Commuter rail service between Big Lake and Minneapolis began today. Each coach car has seating for 140 seats, but holds a maximum 330 riders. The goal is to have a daily ridership of 3,400 in the first year. NorthstarLink (St. Cloud Metro Bus), which are commuter coach buses, also started service between St. Cloud and the Big Lake Station. This is the first daily transit option between St. Cloud and Minneapolis. Eventually the Northstar commuter line will reach St. Cloud.

Obama on transportation

mallguy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:53:01 +0000

tombarnes, on 12 November 2009 - 09:54 AM, said:

has said the right things, but what are the facts regarding Amtrak and its future funding? We need a viable plan for rapid rail and the willlingness to make it more than just a plan.

The NARP website (narprail.org) has detailed information about Amtrak funding for next year- going DOWN, despite the talk of "hope and change" from Obama.

Obama on transportation

tombarnes — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:54:10 +0000

It will take new thinking. If I'm to judge by recent conversations at my club, transportation ideas are firmly entrenched and must be drastically altered. I'm thought of as something of a nutcase there when I mention that we might think of alternatives to the internal combustion engine. Obama has said the right things, but what are the facts regarding Amtrak and its future funding? We need a viable plan for rapid rail and the willlingness to make it more than just a plan.

Obama on transportation

Neo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:46:26 +0000

I can only hope that that is Obama's agenda. If something drastic doesn't change with the current administration, I'm not sure America will have another chance to turn things around anytime soon.

Obama on transportation

ronsmytheiii — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:23:08 +0000

Watching the daily show I realized that Obama might have unexpectedly shifted social consensus to mass transit. Under cash for clunkers, many vehicles were taken off the road and rendered inoperable. The future consequence is a small pool of used cars driving up costs, inother words making buying a car (or having daddy buy it) for teenagers much more difficult. This should lift up the usage of mass transit, which should have a social effect in the future.

What is the future of transportation?

Neo — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:45:46 +0000

I agree that maglev technology is in the cross-hairs for future transportation, but it is unfortunately just getting of the ground even though it has been around for some time. There are currently some studies being done for maglev projects like between the Chattanooga and Atlanta airports, but I don't have a great deal of faith for actual construction beginning any time soon for any of these projects. Maglev projects in the US can be found here: http://www.usmaglevcoalition.com/projects.php

You are most correct in the future of transportation being directly attributed to political willingness to pump money and faith into mass transit in America. Without it we'll always be stuck with the inefficient automobile network we currently invest most of our dollars into.

What is the future of transportation?

cloudship — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:33:16 +0000

Light rail and Metro (subway) rail are not extremely different. Steel Wheel on Steel Rail has many advantages, and one of those is that it is cheap, tried and tested. It is about as conservative as you can get and still be mass transit.

Busses of course will always remain popular. Cheap upfront, most people still have difficulty thinking far enough ahead to see the ultimate savings trains provide.

Monorails prove an interesting anomally. They have the benefit of a guided transit way with the conventionality and cheapness of the rubber tired bus. Yet ironically they are seen as too futuristic and gimicky to be taken seriously. But as Asia and the Middle East start building more and more monorail systems, at some point they are going to become commonplace, and at that point we may suddenly see a surge of interest.

An interesting new technology is MagLev. Still relatively new, if promises hold true such savings in costs will end up making them highly desirable. But if they don't see those savings, they may become just another passing fad.

The real change in transportation will come, though, not in the technology but in the politics. Mass Transit systems are held to much higher standards than cars and busses. And they often are seen as a public subsidy and not a public convenience. But as more and more transit systems in other countries prove the US standards to be out of touch, and that public transit is more than just for the poor, those standards will change, and more systems will be built.

What is the future of transportation?

Neo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:33:52 +0000

I see light rail as being what many medium sized cities are investing in in an attempt to future proof their cities...likewise larger cities (particularly fast growing Asian cities) are still investing in subway technologies that have been around for over a century. Have we made much gain in transit methods for our cities? Are existing technologies so well designed that they are the most efficient method available?

What is the future of transportation for our fast growing cities? What technologies are being developed and what types of transit should we stay away from if we really want to future proof the world in which we live?

Transit systems under construction

varider — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:58:37 +0000

Norfolk, VaLRT

Update of Norfolk Light Rail Transit.

Resized to 93% (was 1024 x 768) - Click image to enlarge

Resized to 93% (was 1024 x 768) - Click image to enlarge

Resized to 93% (was 1024 x 768) - Click image to enlarge

Good bus route maps - examples?

manzell3 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:24:32 +0000

I'm partial to these - I know they've done extensive work on making them informative but easy to use and visually attractive.

http://www.cata.org/Schedules/RouteInforma...17/Default.aspx

Lansing's CATA is undertaking a multimodal corridor study

manzell3 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:18:17 +0000

The Capital Area Transportation Authority in Lansing, MI, is leading a coalition of agencies, municipalities and community organizations in evaluating long-term multimodal enhancement options along the 7.1 mile stretch of Michigan Avenue and Grand River Avenue between the Capitol and Meridian Mall. The study is the first phase of one or many projects that will improve transportation options in this stretch.

I say 'one or many' because we really do not know what the final outcome will be. The study will be looking at all modes of transportation in the corridor; including biking, walking, automotive, and transit.

The improvements on the corridor will be made to increase mobility for persons along the corridor. We will look at everything from safety to land use to congestion and traffic counts to see what can be done better. The study will also pay attention to opportunities for economic development along the corridor.

The overriding motivation behind this study is the importance of this corridor to our region. With the state capital, Sparrow Hospital, MSU, Meridian Mall, and everything in between in the study area, the vitality of the corridor affects not only our local region, but has state, national and international implications as well.

From the transportation side, there are many reasons to study this corridor further. First among these is the corridor's high transit ridership. With over 1.7 million trips on Route 1 alone, this corridor is one of the most-served in the Midwest (with 10-15 minute service for much of the day), but also one of the highest-traveled in a year.

Additionally, the corridor has an average daily traffic count (ADT) of up to 28,000 vehicles per day, which is the among the highest-traveled non-highway routes in our region.

CATA is especially interested because of a 2005 Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA). The study found that Route 1 (along the corridor) carries over 10% of the trips on Grand River Avenue, and recommended conducting a more in-depth transit study.

MDOT recommended that, rather than concentrating only on transit improvements, the study should be of all transportation options in the corridor, including transit, walking, biking, and automobile.

The study is being funded entirely through a federal grant to CATA. As the team leader, CATA has assembled a group of government officials, heads of local organizations such as LEAP and the Lansing Chamber, state and regional officials such as the Ingham County Road Commission and MDOT, to study this corridor.

If you want more information, check out our 'interim' website at www.migrtrans.org or on facebook. A new website that doesn't look home-made will be up and runnning in less than a week's time.

California Zephyr and High Speed Rail

Neo — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:20:28 +0000

go_vertical, on Aug 16 2009, 04:04 AM, said:

I am not sure about USPS, but UPS does use what is referred to as TOFC (Trailer on Flat Car). Basically, some of the trailers that you see on the interstate can be dislodged from it's subframe and placed on a flat railcar two high. Many cross country packages are transported this way.

In the "postal facts" section on the USPS site, they state that they use the following methods for mail transportation:

"planes, trains, trucks, cars, boats, ferries, helicopters, subways, float planes, hovercrafts, T-3s, street cars, mules, bicycles and human feet"

You can find this here: http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/postalfacts.htm

California Zephyr and High Speed Rail

go_vertical — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 08:04:52 +0000

monsoon, on Jun 9 2009, 01:32 PM, said:

[*]I am not sure if the USPS uses trains for mail delivery. Seems to me they either use trucks or planes.

Visualization of trains in Melbourne

Neo — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:58:34 +0000

Here is a great animation of the ebb and flow of the Melbourne train system. This is probably viewed best at the original site (CLICK HERE) since it will be quite a bit larger:

[vimeo]5570311[/vimeo]

NYC bridge flexing as subway passes [VIDEO]

Neo — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:58:05 +0000

Obviously bridges flex, but I had no idea it was this much. Below is a video of a bridge in New York City flexing as a subway passes (multiple times):

California Zephyr and High Speed Rail

MrFSS — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:07:53 +0000

If you are really interested in HSR visit Amtrak Unlimited Forum for lots of discussion on the topic.

California Zephyr and High Speed Rail

cloudship — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:22:52 +0000

It's hard to pinpoint an exact regulation that makes them illegal, but it has mostly to do with the weight and structural integrity of the trains themselves. American railroad regulations are biased towards heavy freight trains - passenger trains must be able to withstand collisions with heavy freight trains with little structural deformation. This means that it is next to impossible to make lightweight, efficient high speed trains for the US. Acela, which is really based on European designs, had to be significantly strengthened, this added so much weight that it was impossible to make it go as fast as trains in Europe do.

California Zephyr and High Speed Rail

InTheZ0ne4823 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:07:46 +0000

Thanks monsoon for the info!!

California Zephyr and High Speed Rail

monsoon — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:32:21 +0000

I will attempt to answer your questions based on my experience with riding the various Shinkasen lines in Japan along with other research that I have done.

Forgetting exotic tech like Maglev, the practical limit seems to be around 300 kph or 185-190 mph. This would be for electrified EMU style trains of the most advanced type running on dedicated ROW.
HSR of the type able to handle what I posted in bullet #1 need to be on dedicated track. Track conversion of existing freight lines usually results in lower speeds due to the curves in the track. The original Shinkansen between Tokyo and Kyoto had to operate at reduced speeds between Tokyo and Yokohama due to this factor. Noise pollution was another. Most of the newer systems, such as subsequent Shankansen and european lines operate on newly built dedicated tracks. It requires a considerable national investment.
HSR EMUs should not share the same tracks with freight trains.
I am not sure if the USPS uses trains for mail delivery. Seems to me they either use trucks or planes.
As far as viewing scenery, even at 187 mph it's not an issue. Most scenery is far enough away to enjoy at these speeds.
I suggest looking for a Japanese youtube of the Tokaido line as it passes Mt. Fuji. The current state of the art Shinkansen is the N700 Series.

Video of N700. Note the older 700 series that pulls in beside it before it takes off. You can notice the immense size and power of these trains as it pulls out of the station.

The Eisenhower Interstate System

Neo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:12:25 +0000

jeffconn, on Jun 9 2009, 09:20 AM, said:

I-64 stopped at Richmond and didn't go to Hampton Roads, VA in the original plans? I thought that the Hampton Roads was planned from day one.

From what I could find, I-64 wasn't actually completed to the Hampton Roads area until 1976 when the parallel Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel was constructed. Before the I-64 designation, it was labeled as US Route 60/State Route 168. Bit more of the history of I-64 through Virginia can be found here: http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I64_VA_Desc.html

California Zephyr and High Speed Rail

InTheZ0ne4823 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:09:34 +0000

I didn't know that Mike. Do you know what exactly it is that makes it illegal in the US??

Transport related photos

InTheZ0ne4823 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:04:04 +0000

Cool pictures guys. Looking forward to seeing more

A "Smart" idea?

InTheZ0ne4823 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:54:49 +0000

Thanks for posting pics of the car JDC.

The Eisenhower Interstate System

jeffconn — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:20:25 +0000

I-64 stopped at Richmond and didn't go to Hampton Roads, VA in the original plans? I thought that the Hampton Roads was planned from day one.

The Eisenhower Interstate System

cloudship — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:07:13 +0000

Now if we could only put that kind of planning into our public transportation systems...

The Eisenhower Interstate System

Neo — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:34:44 +0000

monsoon, on Jun 3 2009, 11:03 AM, said:

It must be an older map as it doesn't show I-40 going from Wilmington to the coast of California.

I-40 doesn't go to the coast as it stop in Barstow, CA. The portion from Raleigh to Wilmington wasn't completed until the late 80's. The above graphic is of the original Eisenhower system.

The Eisenhower Interstate System

monsoon — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:03:59 +0000

It must be an older map as it doesn't show I-40 going from Wilmington to the coast of California.

The Eisenhower Interstate System

Neo — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:26:15 +0000

Here is an interesting map of the nation's Interstate system. Akin to a mass transit system's map:

Favorite type of Mass transit

The Voice of Reason — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:34:18 +0000

LIRR is one of the best systems in the world. This may be partly because of geography and demographics, but its the best regardless.

I think there can be no right answer here, but as an opinion poll I suppose thats appropriate.

There are places that subway are appropriate and nothing else. There are places where commuter rail is appropriate and nothing else.
there are places where only light rail or trollys would work.

also within a city each item only works in certain ways and works best in conjunction with other methods.

The LIRR, Metro North, or PATH all work wonders, but what makes them so great is their intergation with the subway.

BART is a great commuter system that pretends to be a subway in Oakland and downtown SF. this sustem is great, but it depends on the trollys to get to the places it can not.

Some cities can not support a true subway like Rome, Moscow or NY.

Most decent sized cities should have a commuter rail however coupled with either a trolly, a light rail. it all depends on the geography size and density of a city.

Nightly maintenance on London's Underground

tSlater — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:11:09 +0000

I had no idea they did that much each night, and within such a short time frame. Wow.

Nightly maintenance on London's Underground

Neo — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:26:08 +0000

Wired made an awesome video of what goes on after London's Underground shuts down each night. Crews have two hours to do maintenance on the system before it opens back up. It is amazing that they can maintain such a vast system in such a short amount of time. I can't imagine the amount of manpower required to do this.

Interchanges

Neo — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:18:29 +0000

GOOD Magazine has some great images of traffic up on their site, most with interchanges as the centerpiece:

http://www.good.is/post/picture-show-traffic/

Proposed Light Rail Systems

Mobius57 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 03:45:47 +0000

Norfolk has, and with great success. Our 7.4 mile starter line is under construction and a 20 mile extention is going to start EIS next year. And most of the line outside of downtown (east) is built on an abandoned freight line.

http://www.ridethetide.com/

Obama on transportation

Neo — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:28:16 +0000

I really hope this can be built out as planned. Obviously it will take several terms from various presidents, but I'm optimistic that the groundwork that Obama is doing now will translate into this actually coming to fruition in the coming years.

A "Smart" idea?

monsoon — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:40:38 +0000

There isn't much detail there but it helps to understand that a capacitor is a basic component of electrical networks. In other words it has been around for a long time. In fact longer than they knew exactly what electricity was or what it could be used for as there are stories of people getting shocked by capacitors back in middle ages Europe and Benjamin Franklin did experiments with one. There is some controversy that artifacts found were capacitors built by the ancient Egyptians.

The point of this is that even though these devices have been known for hundreds of years and form one of the building blocks of modern electrical theory, they have never been able to develop one at reasonable cost to store electricity so that it may be used as a portable power supply. This is where the battery comes in which is a device that takes electrical energy, changes it to chemical energy, and when needed will convert the chemical energy back into electricity. In its chemical form, the energy is very stable, can exist for years if not decades, and is fairly safe. By making adjustments to the chemicals and plates you can easily change the characteristics of the battery to suit the needs. The downside of course is the conversion from electrical power to chemical energy isn't instant.

The challenge of doing this with a capacitor is that the electricity is not stored in a stable form. It exists as a charge potential between two plates. This charge wants to discharge all at once, and will tend to leak on its own, so the challenge is in manufacturing a device that fixes these problems. Energy stored this way is also fairly dangerous. Imagine if you had an accident in a car and the cap was damaged and the entire energy was discharged at one time. It could be like a bolt of lightening. Making a safe capacitor that mimics a battery is where the cost comes in. When I said technological breakthrough, I didn't mean in new discoveries, but rather in the processes used to manufacture these things on large scale.

A "Smart" idea?

aboutmetro — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:54:37 +0000

monsoon, on Apr 16 2009, 01:19 PM, said:

Barring some breakthrough, I wouldn't think there would be an economical way to produce a capacitor that could provide the energy that can be stored in a battery. Batteries tend to be very stable and meant to provide consistent power over long durations. Capacitors by their nature are temporary storage devices that generally get discharged very fast.

Well, I guess the bar's been breached... check out the website. Zenn bought into ultra capacitor company EEStor... article here.

There's about 50 dealers around the nation. I'd say that takes it out of the fantasy realm. It sounds like you're familiar with capacitors. Read the info and let us know...