The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[donNdonelson2]

We would be happy to have Mr. Beeman bring his jobs and customers to Donelson. 

[BnaBreaker]

4 hours ago, donNdonelson2 said:

We would be happy to have Mr. Beeman bring his jobs and customers to Donelson. 

So would I! 

[titanhog]

5 hours ago, donNdonelson2 said:

We would be happy to have Mr. Beeman bring his jobs and customers to Donelson. 

Yeah...I don't think we'd mind if Mr. Beeman moved his business to just about anyplace other than where it is now.  That type of business doesn't really belong in the core of a city like it used to 50 years ago.  Not that I'm saying someone should force him to move...but just that most business owners like this would understand how much money they could get for their land AND how much better their business would probably be in a different part of the city.

[grilled_cheese]

I know how to pay for mass trans.

It involves legalizing something and taxing it.

If we are as free as some would say then we'd be able to vote on it's legality.

I wonder what group is against allowing the people to vote on it....

 

[titanhog]

Can we please turn this thread into a political discussion?  That would be so much fun. 

[Pyramid Scheme]

Something like mass transit is necessarily political.

[jmtunafish]

[titanhog]

Thread lock countdown in progress....

[BnaBreaker]

I dunno, it seems like a pretty tame exchange from where I sit... Ya know, not that I'm blaming y'all in the least, but at times it feels as though the inevitable "OH NOOOO, RUN FOR THE HILLS, IT'S POLITICAL TALK!!" reactions have a tendency to kind of create rougher seas rather than calmer waters.

Edited September 3, 2017 by BnaBreaker

[smeagolsfree]

Treading on the ice here. Back on track.

[smeagolsfree]

Keep on going off topic and i will keep on hiding posts.

[nashwatcher]

So we've got light rail bringing people into downtown in the years to come likely. Would it be possible to have some sort of above ground circulator that helped people get to their final destination?

 

For example, the light rail comes down Murfreesboro Rd/Nolensville Rd and ends at a station at the Howard Office Building. From there a circulator goes down 2nd to Broadway, goes up the 12th, goes through the Gulch and returns down the Division St Connector back to the Howard Office Building (or however you wanted to create the loop...)

 

Just thinking out loud

[FromParkAveToTN]

I work from home so I shouldn't have to pay a dime in taxes towards mass transit and I probably go downtown  only a few times per year.  Ijs...

Edited September 3, 2017 by FromParkAveToTN

[BnaBreaker]

18 minutes ago, FromParkAveToTN said:

I work from home so I shouldn't have to pay a dime in taxes towards mass transit and I probably go downtown  only a few times per year.  Ijs...

Yeah, unfortunately for you, that's not how, ya know, living in an advanced society with other human beings works.  You could always take the deserted island route I suppose.

[nashwatcher]

1 hour ago, BnaBreaker said:

Yeah, unfortunately for you, that's not how, ya know, living in an advanced society with other human beings works.  You could always take the deserted island route I suppose.

Exactly. I don't have kids but a large amount of my tax dollars go towards funding the education of others' children. And I'm happy about that. It's an overall positive. Much like mass transit. It has the potential to help many others and our city as a whole.

[dmillsphoto]

/s y'all.

[FromParkAveToTN]

5 hours ago, nashwatcher said:

Exactly. I don't have kids but a large amount of my tax dollars go towards funding the education of others' children. And I'm happy about that. It's an overall positive. Much like mass transit. It has the potential to help many others and our city as a whole.

I really don't want to help others.  Been there done that.  It goes unappreciated,  it's never enough, and people continue to make the same mistakes that cost tax payers even more money. When does it stop?

[BnaBreaker]

3 hours ago, FromParkAveToTN said:

I really don't want to help others.  Been there done that.  It goes unappreciated,  it's never enough, and people continue to make the same mistakes that cost tax payers even more money. When does it stop?

Lol... when does what stop?  Humans being humans?  Having to pay for stuff that costs money?  You're not really making a whole lot of sense here.  

[Pyramid Scheme]

4 hours ago, FromParkAveToTN said:

I really don't want to help others.  Been there done that.  It goes unappreciated,  it's never enough, and people continue to make the same mistakes that cost tax payers even more money. When does it stop?

I think the tax problem is centered on all the levels of government doing things that aren't within their realm of responsibility. Transit in a fast growing metro area is within that realm though.

The only 2 things that are certain are death and taxes. -Ben Franklin

[markhollin]

Mayor and boosters to to launch petition drive to rally support for transit funding referendum:

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/09/07/nashville-transit-boosters-launch-petition-drive-rally-support-mayors-megan-barry-referendum/639790001/

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2017/09/07/transit-coalition-to-begin-its-public-push-this.html

[dReAmWiELdEr]

So we've got light rail bringing people into downtown in the years to come likely. Would it be possible to have some sort of above ground circulator that helped people get to their final destination?

 

For example, the light rail comes down Murfreesboro Rd/Nolensville Rd and ends at a station at the Howard Office Building. From there a circulator goes down 2nd to Broadway, goes up the 12th, goes through the Gulch and returns down the Division St Connector back to the Howard Office Building (or however you wanted to create the loop...)

 

Just thinking out loud

Actually, I've wondered about something similar but on a broader scale. How viable would it be to have a "stacked light rail or monorail system;" something akin to building a track structure over the light rail, if that makes sense. I know it sounds far-fetched but it would solve the problem of back-and-forth traffic.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How far away is the world from having hover transport?  Even if it was similar to large helicopters, with GPS, couldn't we have dedicated routes that fly below airplanes with all trees and towers mapped out to keep from colliding.  Fast transport with little infrastructure needed (other than landing ports).  Yes...the hover vehicles would be extremely expensive...but more than typical mass transit?  Basically just large human-carrying drones with preprogrammed routes.

I realize this may not work for short distances or downtown...but would definitely be an option outside of the core and especially to the suburbs and back.

This is actually becoming quite viable, and is expected to actually happen within the next 5 to 10 years (widespread or not.) There are many functioning prototypes already in the works, all of which have their pros and cons. I believe almost all of them are also autonomous and would rely on some form of integrated artificial intelligence to ensure safety. (this is aside from self driving vehicles.)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[archilove]

Even if an incentive package were huge, if the economic benefit to the city was many times the incentive package and it produced a watershed moment in the city's history; well?

[BnaBreaker]

I just got back from Zagreb, Croatia where they, like most European cities of at least moderate size, have a modern, very efficient, and extensive, mid-thoroughfare tram system.  I don't have a lot of experience with them.  I am a mass transit veteran, and take heavy rail in Chicago extremely often, but have little experience with light rail like that.  Let me tell you, it was *SO NICE* being able to just stroll around and when you got tired of walking just wait a couple minutes and hop onto a passing tram, and off at or near your destination.   It was so casual and unceremonious too, which I love.  Just hop on.  Even with Chicago's CTA trains you have to ENTER THE STATION and go through the gates and walk down massive flights of stairs.  It takes a slight bit of the convenience out of the whole affair.  In any case, so much of my time spent on those trams in little Zagreb was spent in thought about Nashville's own transit debate.

Now, granted, I'm not trying to make an apples-to-apples comparison between Nashville and Zagreb, for obvious reasons.  Zagreb's metro is roughly half the size of Nashville, and it's urban sprawl is probably a fifth the size.  The city itself is obviously far older and far more compact in it's core.  Then you have the very clear difference in culture in that in Zagreb, as it is in most of Europe, walking/riding is simply a way of life, and the compact and efficient construction of their cities makes that method of travel extremely viable.   So, I understand the obvious differences we're working with here.  That being said though, I still couldn't help but kind of long sigh and roll my eyes when lost in thought on this issue.  I honestly cannot believe all the issues Nashville is experiencing in building even a single line of a watered down version of a tram on wheels, much less a full fledged rail tram system that connects the city's urban neighborhoods.  

So to Nashville, I'd like to say, RELAX.  There are hundreds of cities around the world with tram systems, and they work for them.  The studies have been done over, and over again.  Nashville,  what you perceive to be your issues or potential impediments to building a real mass transit system *ARE NOT SPECIAL,* and as such, do not require *SPECIAL*  solutions like Monorail or underground tram lines.  Why are we so fearful of mid-street light rail being a disruption?  If all of these other cities can work with it, then so can Nashville.  In fact, in a city as wide open as Nashville I'd say that the potential for growing pains with the integration of LRT should be significantly lower than in most cities around the globe!  It really is pretty silly  to me that  so many Nashvillians, when trying to imagine light rail on a street like West End Ave. which is what would, in most places on earth, essentially be considered a suburban EIGHT LANE HIGHWAY, react with fear and concern about how it might effect traffic flow.  Don't get me wrong.  Having questions about something you aren't so familiar with is natural and understandable.  But you must step back and realize that, as I said before, Nashville isn't trying to be a pioneer here.  It's probably the 500th city in the world to explore building a tram network.  If trams accomplished nothing and actually worsened traffic, they wouldn't still be in use around the world and keep getting built.  So Nashville, stop your worrying and JUST BUILD THE DAMN THING! 

If you got this far, I thank you for reading and for indulging me in my need for a good rant now and again.

Edited September 10, 2017 by BnaBreaker

[grilled_cheese]

If we really want to be fiscally responsible we should stop spending money on roads and bridges in the counties that have very little population and/or contribute nothing to the TDOT fund. 

 

[BnaBreaker]

1 hour ago, grilled_cheese said:

If we really want to be fiscally responsible we should stop spending money on roads and bridges in the counties that have very little population and/or contribute nothing to the TDOT fund. 

 

The people who live there obviously deserve roads that are maintained and in good condition, but I completely agree that I wish the state would stop dumping so much money into building all these big four lane state highways that are only connecting tiny rural burgs.  That is what really irks me.  One can say they have financial concerns about mass transit, but it is hard for me to take them seriously if they dont bat an eye at the hundreds of millions the state spends on A YEARLY BASIS on the construction and maintenence of mostly unnecessary roads.

Edited September 10, 2017 by BnaBreaker