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CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines


monsoon

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1 hour ago, kermit said:

Mary Newsome has a nice write up  on the center city routing debate.

https://nakedcityblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/is-economic-development-tail-wagging.html

She spends lots of time discussing access vs. development. If CATS wants to build to maximize development potential (which they say they do) then I think they need to rely heavily on value capture as a means of paying for the line. If value capture does not play a significant role then they should build for access.

My current opinion (it changes daily) is CATS should have chosen the 6th street surface route through down. They could have closed the street to cars and installed signal prioritization. Once they decided they wanted a tunnel instead they could route all rail traffic along either 6th or Trade and then dug a cut and cover tunnel on the other route.

I can't access that site at work.  However, I'm not going to sign up for hindering a major artery road like 6th.  Trade is the street that needs to be closed for cars.

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Gwinnett County in the Atlanta area yet again failed to vote in favor of MARTA rail transit (among other things) yesterday. Looks like a lot of things went into this No vote, mainly holding this vote on a non-primary day so turnout was very low, but there were lots of the old concerns about the supposed train clientele. As usual it is disappointing to see a region be so opposed to public transportation. Here’s hoping when/if a vote is held in this county/region for the Big Bang we have enough political will to move it forward .

 

https://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt--politics/breaking-gwinnett-marta-referendum-has-failed/fzmvZ0KPZAOzGw7rlL9NPJ/

 

 

 

 

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I love the idea of light rail, and I am enthusiastic about its potential, but I am skeptical about spending billions of dollars on it when the system we currently have, which is only one north-south line, seems to function so poorly.  I am writing this while standing at a light rail station wishing I just walked after waiting for a late train that is already on an every 20 min schedule. 

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3 minutes ago, Brendv7 said:

I love the idea of light rail, and I am enthusiastic about its potential, but I am skeptical about spending billions of dollars on it when the system we currently have, which is only one north-south line, seems to function so poorly.  I am writing this while standing at a light rail station wishing I just walked after waiting for a late train that is already on an every 20 min schedule. 

There were significant delays about the same time last night also

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13 hours ago, Brendv7 said:

I love the idea of light rail, and I am enthusiastic about its potential, but I am skeptical about spending billions of dollars on it when the system we currently have, which is only one north-south line, seems to function so poorly.  I am writing this while standing at a light rail station wishing I just walked after waiting for a late train that is already on an every 20 min schedule. 

The 10:47 train I am waiting on never showed up....And neither did the northbound train that comes at the same time.  crapshow

Edited by Desert Power
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Anyone else worried that the Silver Line alignment doesn't actually go onto the airport property? I think having to take a people mover to an 'airport' station is a completely idiotic idea. I don't see why the money that will have to be spent on the people mover can't be used to double back the line, like so:

734503684_Screenshot2019-03-24at19_34_50.png.4a9e1557c8c7166ab3c3f698f7f7d0f9.png

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1 hour ago, CLT704 said:

Anyone else worried that the Silver Line alignment doesn't actually go onto the airport property? I think having to take a people mover to an 'airport' station is a completely idiotic idea. I don't see why the money that will have to be spent on the people mover can't be used to double back the line, like so:

734503684_Screenshot2019-03-24at19_34_50.png.4a9e1557c8c7166ab3c3f698f7f7d0f9.png

Agree- very short-sighted

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1 hour ago, CLT704 said:

Anyone else worried that the Silver Line alignment doesn't actually go onto the airport property? I think having to take a people mover to an 'airport' station is a completely idiotic idea. I don't see why the money that will have to be spent on the people mover can't be used to double back the line, like so:

734503684_Screenshot2019-03-24at19_34_50.png.4a9e1557c8c7166ab3c3f698f7f7d0f9.png

^ If architecture and turning radii permit this strategy might work if the line terminates at the airport. However, if the line extends further west this detour will significantly slow the ride into uptown for riders boarding at 485, Belmont (and possibly Gastonia). Don't forget, the airport is probably going to generate fewer riders than a park and ride station to the west. It is a shame, a cut and cover tunnel for a straight shot rail line to the terminal might have been relatively easy before the Terminal A extension.

FWIW at MSP their light rail system is used as the shuttle to get people between terminals. The rail runs 24 hours between the two airport stations.

Edited by kermit
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4 minutes ago, kermit said:

^ If architecture and turning radii permit this strategy might work if the line terminates at the airport. However, if the line extends further west this detour will significantly slow the ride into uptown for riders boarding at 485, Belmont (and possibly Gastonia). Don't forget, the airport is probably going to generate fewer riders than a park and ride station to the west.

Even less riders from the airport when getting to/from it is inconvenient. And how much longer will it add? A few minutes? Assuming there are less stations in Gaston, faster speeds could be achieved to make up for the 3/4 minutes added.

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