The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[PaulChinetti]

4 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Uh-oh! It happened... 

https://fox17.com/news/local/police-man-on-bird-scooter-hit-by-car-in-nashville-after-failing-to-stop-at-light

Well regardless if that person was on a scooter or in a car if you run a red light... Bad things are bound to happen. 

[rookzie]

16 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

Well regardless if that person was on a scooter or in a car if you run a red light... Bad things are bound to happen. 

He's lucky that he went flopping up like rag-doll into the air, instead of going "plmp-plmp.."

[Mr_Bond]

Ridesharing has always competed with street cars and public transportation.

https://www.shareable.net/blog/the-history-of-carpooling-from-jitneys-to-ridesharing

One insight I found in this story is what the federal government decided to do during World War II.  Since ridesharing consumes less gas, they mounted a huge campaign to persuade the public to join "car clubs."  Of course, if state and local governments hadn't put up legislative barriers to stop ridesharing 20 years earlier, the public would not need a marketing campaign to ask them to do what they are already doing.

If the government can't find a way to provide service that the people want, then they should not outlaw their competition.

 

[smeagolsfree]

As I mentioned at the meet Saturday, the commuter rail lines need to be right on the interstates with the park and ride stations being built  along those interstate roads. If a City/County want a stop then it is a shared cost between that government and the state for each station to be built. CSX will never give us their lines and with the interstates you already have the right of way.... use that right of way.. build on it.. people will use it.

 

Folks the state is going to have to be involved. There is no way around it. Let Nashville do what it needs to do in Davidson, but if the ding dongs that live outside Davidson and work here want an easy way in they are either going to be stuck in traffic or they will eventually bitch enough to their state and local lawmakers to do something. Roads are out of the question, contrary to what Dianne Black wanted to do and that is to add more lanes. You can add so much sewage capacity but when there is more crap than you can handle, you will still have a backup and then a big mess and that's what we have now.

Ride sharing will only work to a limited degree because we are looking at in many cases, long distance of lets say 30 miles or more into downtown. If you have all of these  people using those HOV lanes they will quickly fill and fill with accidents too. Besides with the HOV lanes and ridesharing those HOV lanes end about 3 miles out of downtown which causes more congestion and more problems. Ridesharing will be fine in Metro, but for commuting....no. You can never get enough people doing it.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle tend to put their heads in the sand and pretend there is not a problem because they either don't live here and its the big cities problem or they start playing politics to screw the other side. The large cities of this state are the heart of economics and when the heart clogs the body dies, but in this case the message is not getting to the brain which in this case is the legislature.

[markhollin]

^ ^ ^ But be prepared for this to be even more expensive than what was voted down in the spring.  

[grilled_cheese]

3 minutes ago, markhollin said:

^ ^ ^ But be prepared for this to be even more expensive than what was voted down in the spring.   

I have some ideas on how to pay for it.

[Guest]

There will be no comprehensive (read: expensive) transportation plan in the near future because Taxes are a bigger source of pain than the occasional traffic jam or slow-down. Once you overcome that hurdle, you will then need to convince the tax paying populace that giving the government more money will result in a better outcome than not giving the government more money.....an even harder task.

[smeagolsfree]

You have to remember this would end up being a regional plan, not just Davidson and the cost would be spread over a number of cities, counties , the State and the Feds. Any right of ways would be non existent as the state already owns the majority of the right of ways to implement such a plan. The only areas that would need to be bought would be parking areas and access to those parking areas for the park and ride stations and if they were done right many of them could be done atop the interstate.

The main thing you want to accomplish is getting folks into and out of the city center during rush hours efficiently. Granted you want to be able to get those folks around in downtown one they are there and that is where ride sharing, buses and vans would come into play.

[henburg]

10 minutes ago, nashville_bound said:

There will be no comprehensive (read: expensive) transportation plan in the near future because Taxes are a bigger source of pain than the occasional traffic jam or slow-down. Once you overcome that hurdle, you will then need to convince the tax paying populace that giving the government more money will result in a better outcome than not giving the government more money.....an even harder task.

What solution would you suggest then? 

[Guest]

I believe Metro and TN are doing a good job of staying out of the way of private initiatives. We are a very regulatory friendly location for Uber/Lyft/... and it seems we will welcome autonomous vehicle technology.  If I am riding to work in a Uber or unmanned vehicle and can be on a conf. Call or on my computer, a 30 min. delay is less painful. 

If delays continue to mount, the public will become more ready for BRT and when that occurs the city must prove competent in budgetary matters and operations. If they prove a credible recipient of largess the public will be more likely to fund larger capital projects in the future. The goal must be to transport people as efficiently as possible and not become a works program like so many other urban transportation authorities.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Guest

[Dale]

Removing the Friday night train will enable the Music City Star to repair and replace locomotives, cars and improve tracks ...

www.musiccitystar.org

Edited December 4, 2018 by Dale

[PruneTracy]

4 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

As I mentioned at the meet Saturday, the commuter rail lines need to be right on the interstates with the park and ride stations being built  along those interstate roads. If a City/County want a stop then it is a shared cost between that government and the state for each station to be built. CSX will never give us their lines and with the interstates you already have the right of way.... use that right of way.. build on it.. people will use it.

Where there is available Interstate right-of-way I'd rather see managed lanes with dynamic tolling.

It makes more sense to put modes together, as the infrastructure required to separate road and rail traffic (particularly at stations) equals either right-of-way or money. You also can't build transit-oriented development around a rail station in the middle of an Interstate.

Managed lanes keep at least some traffic moving and also tend to pay for themselves while doing it. It also gives anyone stuck in traffic an option. When there's congestion, is making a meeting or picking up your kid from daycare worth paying a few dollars every once in a while? Sitting in traffic is a little more tolerable when you know you can hop into some managed lanes if time becomes a factor.

[Tennessine]

Over the summer, I recall a headline from the Tennessean about increasing Music City Star ridership; higher ridership has been posted since operations began in 2006. It's to my understanding- correct me if I am wrong- that the state had to bail out the service during the '08 crash, and that anticipated plans to expand the service to Clarksville and Ashland City were devoured by the financial crisis.

Despite increasing ridership, it's been crickets chirping about our commuter rail service relative to the talks of light rail and BRT in Davidson County.  Since 2006, Music City Star has remained unchanged aside from transit-oriented developments in Wilson County.

What do you guys think about the possibility of a Nashville to Clarksville line during the next decade? Nashville to Murfreesboro? Do you think the demand for this service is high enough to counter the high cost of building the new lines?

I think Clarksville and Murfreesboro could easily support a commuter rail service to Nashville. There is no shortage of healthy population growth and increasing neighborhood density in those two cities. The question is how many residents of Rutherford and Montgomery County commute to Davidson County 5 days per week.

Having grown up in Williamson County, I can attest to the fact that the majority of those folks in Brentwood and Franklin would rather drive than commute via a public service. I could not realistically envision commuter rail operating there.

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by nativetenn
Crappy sentence structure

[Dale]

It is a fair surmise that if you improve bus service you’ll increase ridership. Wouldn’t the same hold true for Music City Star ? Maybe that’s what they’re thinking.

[PruneTracy]

12 minutes ago, nativetenn said:

What do you guys think about the possibility of a Nashville to Clarksville line during the next decade?

Rail from Nashville to Clarksville is happening; the study for that wrapped up last year.

http://www.rtarelaxandride.com/PDF/NorthwestTransitStudy.pdf

As for the next decade part, unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) the former ROW was used to build the Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail, so there will be a lengthy process to reacquire it.

[Guest]

No intent to throw gasoline on a tamped down fire, but this summary of the CA high-speed rail debacle illustrates my point about government and the transportation lobby being either corrupt or incompetent......or both.

 

https://www.city-journal.org/californias-high-speed-rail-project

[smeagolsfree]

1 hour ago, PruneTracy said:

Rail from Nashville to Clarksville is happening; the study for that wrapped up last year.

http://www.rtarelaxandride.com/PDF/NorthwestTransitStudy.pdf

As for the next decade part, unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) the former ROW was used to build the Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail, so there will be a lengthy process to reacquire it.

Sorry, that one will be another loser in a matter of speaking running it through Cheatham. No one lives there and Cheatham is not wanting the growth.  There are miles of tracks that have to be rebuilt. The Music City Star is OK but look how long its taken for it to take off and its still got issues and is expensive. I live along this route and guess what, I will never take it because I can beat the train into to town.

[Dale]

3 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Sorry, that one will be another loser in a matter of speaking running it through Cheatham. No one lives there and Cheatham is not wanting the growth.  There are miles of tracks that have to be rebuilt. The Music City Star is OK but look how long its taken for it to take off and its still got issues and is expensive. I live along this route and guess what, I will never take it because I can beat the train into to town.

Yes, but, train ...

[Tennessine]

3 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Sorry, that one will be another loser in a matter of speaking running it through Cheatham. No one lives there and Cheatham is not wanting the growth.  There are miles of tracks that have to be rebuilt. The Music City Star is OK but look how long its taken for it to take off and its still got issues and is expensive. I live along this route and guess what, I will never take it because I can beat the train into to town.

 

1 hour ago, PruneTracy said:

Rail from Nashville to Clarksville is happening; the study for that wrapped up last year.

http://www.rtarelaxandride.com/PDF/NorthwestTransitStudy.pdf

As for the next decade part, unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) the former ROW was used to build the Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail, so there will be a lengthy process to reacquire it.

Thanks for the info/opinions guys. I have been checked out of any news pertaining Music City Star expansion and funding.

Is it less expensive to ride the Star from Lebanon to Nashville if you have a monthly pass?

[smeagolsfree]

Let me clarify, where I live I can be downtown in rush hour in 18 to 20 minutes and I live outside Davidson County. Its a well kept secret and I never touch the interstate. I would spend more time waiting, besides I don't have to go downtown to work, so for me its pointless. 

I just look at the weekly price in the cities that have mass transit that have been established and its cheap. Less than a tank of gas  for a weekly pass.

[Pyramid Scheme]

33 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Let me clarify, where I live I can be downtown in rush hour in 18 to 20 minutes and I live outside Davidson County. Its a well kept secret and I never touch the interstate. I would spend more time waiting, besides I don't have to go downtown to work, so for me its pointless. 

I just look at the weekly price in the cities that have mass transit that have been established and its cheap. Less than a tank of gas  for a weekly pass.

What an insight! I drive a company vehicle, so it's not pertinent to me, but that is pretty useful tidbits to commuters methinks.

[MLBrumby]

Did I see here or somewhere else that The Tennessean had a video feature in which four reporters each took a different way to get to the Davidson County Courthouse from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Wilson County (I think Lebanon)?  MC Star vs. private car on I-40 vs. private car on Lebanon Road vs. Uber.  The dude who took the MC Star arrived several minutes before the one who took I-40.  Uber came in last.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/wilson/2018/11/21/regional-transportation-authority-modifies-music-city-star-train-schedule/2028777002/

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by MLBrumby

[BnaBreaker]

39 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Let me clarify, where I live I can be downtown in rush hour in 18 to 20 minutes and I live outside Davidson County. Its a well kept secret and I never touch the interstate. I would spend more time waiting, besides I don't have to go downtown to work, so for me its pointless. 

I just look at the weekly price in the cities that have mass transit that have been established and its cheap. Less than a tank of gas  for a weekly pass.

You can get a Chicago CTA monthly pass here that is good for unlimited rides on any bus or train for about $100, which is an absurdly good deal compared to the costs involved with car ownership.  Of course, if you own a car the pass probably wouldn't be worth it since the cost would be in addition to (not instead of) any automobile costs (which is the case for me,) but still, it's very nice to have the option.  

[Mr_Bond]

3 hours ago, PruneTracy said:

Rail from Nashville to Clarksville is happening; the study for that wrapped up last year.

http://www.rtarelaxandride.com/PDF/NorthwestTransitStudy.pdf

As for the next decade part, unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) the former ROW was used to build the Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail, so there will be a lengthy process to reacquire it.

I think that link is to the RFP.  This link should be the final report issued in 2017.

http://www.rtarelaxandride.com/PDF/NWCTS_Final_Report_Oct2017.pdf

[Dale]

22 minutes ago, Mr_Bond said:

I think that link is to the RFP.  This link should be the final report issued in 2017.

http://www.rtarelaxandride.com/PDF/NWCTS_Final_Report_Oct2017.pdf

Unless I read it wrong, basically ... after 15 years, seriously begin to think about building the rail line.