Columbia Transit

[Captain Worley]

Suprisingly, it would cause them a lot of trouble. Traffic sheduling is already a huge issue with the railroads.

Plus, I think it'd be a public relations nightmare if it appeared the government was seizing a private business, which is exactly what claming eminenet domain would be.

From an operations standpoint, it might be better to lay new lines anyway so you weren't constrained by the freight lines.

[BrasilnSC]

I guess I'm not as informed on this issue as I thought, but aren't the high-speed rail studies being done on existing tracks and doesn't Amtrak use existing tracks owned by CSX/Norfolk. Building new lines would be extremely expensive, requiring alot of right of way and displacing alot of people. Surely a compromise can be made to use existing tracks and at least build parallel segments for passing trains. That would make the most sense.

Edited June 5, 2008 by BrasilnSC

[waccamatt]

Suprisingly, it would cause them a lot of trouble. Traffic sheduling is already a huge issue with the railroads.

Plus, I think it'd be a public relations nightmare if it appeared the government was seizing a private business, which is exactly what claming eminenet domain would be.

From an operations standpoint, it might be better to lay new lines anyway so you weren't constrained by the freight lines.

I wasn't aware there were scheduling problems on existing tracks. It would certainly be a lot less expensive to use existing tracks and not have to obtain rights of way and build new tracks - in fact it would probably not be possible because of the additional cost.

[Captain Worley]

Yeah, scheduling is tough, and it's going to get toughr. There was an article in the state (it isn't deserving of capititalizatin) on the subject a few weeks back, but I've been hearing about it for a while.

It WOULD be cheaper to use what's already there, but the railroads will fight it tooth and nail.

"I guess I'm not as informed on this issue as I thought, but aren't the high-speed rail studies being done on existing tracks and doesn't Amtrak use existing tracks owned by CSX/Norfolk."

I don't know. I thought we were talking much lighter stuff than Amtrack.

[Spartan]

The whole benefit of commuter rail is that the tracks are already there. You just have to build stations and buy trains. Its by far the most cost effective rail transit you can have. You're going to have to work out a deal with the freight companies, thats just how it is. They will work with cities to make it happen. If you're buying dedicated ROW then you may as well do something bigger and better than commuter rail.

IMO the whole HSR and commuter rail thing is going to have to be addressed differently in the long run. As gas prices continue to climb, freight trucks are going to loose popularity. Freight rail has been increasing over the past 5 years anyway, so I expect conflicts with passenger rail to continues. I think that we're going to have to see more money from the fed that is dedicated to rail ROW purchasing, whether its from the rail companies or just to expand along those existing ROWs. This will also have to include the acceleration of passenger rail construction via the HSR. Something has to be done to solve the problem.

[krazeeboi]

Hopefully in this next administration we'll see more dedication to mass transit funding.

Spartan, do you think we'll see any new HRT transit networks established anytime in the near future?

[waccamatt]

Hopefully in this next administration we'll see more dedication to mass transit funding.

Spartan, do you think we'll see any new HRT transit networks established anytime in the near future?

I'd love to see that; imagine if all of the money spent on the Iraq war had instead been spent on public transportation and alternative fuel source refinement?

[Spartan]

HRT?

Do you mean BRT or HSR?

[krazeeboi]

Heavy rail transit

[Spartan]

Oh, haha, I should have seen that. I think that for now, Heavy Rail funding will be largely in the form of new lines and extensions of existing systems. IMO, light rail is the wave of the future unless a MAJOR policy and funding change happens in Washington.

[krazeeboi]

^I was thinking the same.

[scnative]

USC, CMRTA launch 'Cocky's Caravan'. WIStv articlehttp://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8872383

It's a start to something new.

[Spartan]

How appropriate. We were just talking about this in the SC Transit thread in the main forum. I'm glad to see CMRTA combine forces with USC to provide transit service. I hope that this will expand into a larger service over time.

[Captain Worley]

Kevin Fisher's editorial on funding the bus system. I'm not sure I agree with his solution, but I do think that Columbia City Council ought to be making the decisions rather than Richland County Council. Colatown should be funding it as well.

http://www.free-times.com/index.php?cat=11...011609081784292

[CorgiMatt]

Kevin Fisher's editorial on funding the bus system. I'm not sure I agree with his solution, but I do think that Columbia City Council ought to be making the decisions rather than Richland County Council. Colatown should be funding it as well.

http://www.free-times.com/index.php?cat=11...011609081784292

So should Cayce, West Columbia, Forest Acres, Springdale and Lexington County. REGIONAL is the word.

[waccamatt]

Fisher never fails to take potshots on Mayor Coble and City Council; why can't he accept the fact that the vast majority of Columbia's citizens told him to take a hike when he ran for mayor a couple of years ago. All area governments need to accept responsibility for public transportation and help fund it. People love to blame the city because it deflects the criticism off them.

[Captain Worley]

My theory is still that Columbia is the one who forced the deal and got the money from SCANA, they oughta pay for the transit system. SCANA was contractually obligated to provide mass transit in return for a monopoly. Letting them out of it was not a great idea.

waccamatt, you're right. that guy needs to get over his election loss.

[Spartan]

Wasn't SCANA's obligation only for 50 years? It seems to me that Duke's arrangement was something to that effect, then the cities in the upstate had to take over their own bus systems.

[CorgiMatt]

SCANA was running the system only out of obligation and not out of any desire for it to be a decent system.

[Captain Worley]

Wasn't SCANA's obligation only for 50 years? It seems to me that Duke's arrangement was something to that effect, then the cities in the upstate had to take over their own bus systems.

Nope. No time limit.

It was even held up in the Supreme court that they were contractually obligated to do it in return for having a monopoly.

I think what happened was that Colatown saw the big pot o' money that SCANA dangled and they thought of little else.

Edited September 19, 2008 by Captain Worley

[BrasilnSC]

Either way, what's done is done. When SCANA was running the buses, I was even scared to ride them and I don't mind public transportation one bit. I saw broken down buses constantly.

I agree that this should be a regional thing. Both Richland and Lexington Counties and all the municipalities that benefit from it. It'll be extremely challenging and unfortunate if all entities don't get on board.

[CorgiMatt]

The Central Midlands Council of Governments just released a new comprehensive regional transportation planning document for Columbia. I love the map on page 7!

http://www.centralmidlands.org/pdf/UPWP2008_2009.pdf

[Spartan]

What's so special about that map? Its just a street map.

[CorgiMatt]

It shows the layout of the metro so clearly, and the lake and rivers show up so well. The roads are so crisp and clear. The well laid out network of roads is presented in such an uncluttered manner. I love maps anyway, and that one is a nice one.

[Captain Worley]

While it was a pretty cool map...

HOLY MOLY!!! I just went through all 67 pages of that document, and didn't gather a lot other than I really need to get into the consulting business. I can't believe how much money is being thrown at studies.