By Frank on September 20, 2008
Starting Monday, there are a couple of extra trains going back and forth between Tacoma and Seattle. New schedule here. Interesting nugget from the press release:
Today, more than 10,500 riders board Sounder trains on a typical weekday, which is nearly equal to the number of Sounder riders that boarded on the first weekday day of I-5 construction and lane closures in August 2007.
Posted in public investment
By Frank on September 18, 2008
With Phoenix just 99 days away from opening its light rail line, local scenesters are lobbying the city’s metro agency to keep the trains going later at night on the weekends. Currently, planned operating hours are 4:45am – 12 midnight.
In case you’re wondering, Seattle’s light rail will be a bit more night owl-friendly, running until 1am every night. I belive this is about when BART stops running, incidentally.
One of the great things about rail, of course, is that it has relatively low operating costs once you build it, so extending the hours shouldn’t be that big of a deal. It’s running on electricity that’s basically free (water still flows over Ross Dam at night, but the electricity it produces often goes to waste because demand is so low).
Of course, those late night drunk trains aren’t always fun. I’ve ridden the train known as the “vomit comet” more times than I’d care to admit, and it’s incredibly annoying. Still, it beats everyone getting into their cars at 2am by a long shot.
Posted in i5
By serial catowner on September 18, 2008
A common lament among transit bloggers is to wonder how transit can be financed in a failing economy. But there are reasons the economy is failing! And the failure to fund transit is one of them!
As Harold Meyerson observes in The Washington Post-
“The banks’ underinvestment in America was hardly due to a lack of capital. But even as petrodollars and China’s dollars poured into Wall Street, the investment houses directed trillions into new and ever more dubious credit instruments, which yielded massive profits for Wall Streeters and their highflying investors, and put chump change into efforts to improve, to take just one example, American transportation….
Finance set the terms of corporate behavior over the past quarter-century, and not in ways that bolstered the economy. By its actions — elevating shareholder value over the interests of other corporate stakeholders, focusing on short-term investments rather than patient capital, pressuring corporations to offshore jobs and cut wages and benefits — Wall Street plainly preferred to fund production abroad and consumption at home. The internal investment strategy of 100 years ago was turned on its head. Where Morgan once funneled European capital into American production, for the past decade Morgan’s successors have directed Asian capital into devices to enable Americans to take on more debt to buy Asian products.”
To put it plainly, the “magic of the market” is no way to manage a modern economy. Perhaps we need to keep re-learning this lesson because we have never been decisively defeated in battle or invaded.
At the bottom line, transit presents an intractable problem for “private enterprise”. The capitalization is too great to provide a high rate of return, the management must reflect the public interest, and the benefits derived are often not measured by economists. In spite of all of this, some nations come up with plans for transportation that strengthen their economies instead of destroying them.
We should all be able to think of what some elements of those plans might be.
Posted in Uncategorized
By Frank on September 17, 2008
ST2.1 is doing pretty darn well in the polls. On the other hand, oil is down to $90/barrel, down from a peak of $140 or so. Will cheap gas take some of the urgency away from mass transit? I don’t think so. People have internalized expensive gas, and it will take a while before they internalize anything else.
Posted in Uncategorized
By joshkelley on September 16, 2008
For bikers who also bus . . .
Metro is also launching a demonstration project to ease restrictions in the tunnel on where bikes can be loaded and unloaded from bus bike racks. The change is expected to make it more convenient for people who ride both bikes and buses. Cyclists are urged to take care when moving off the platform to load their bikes on the front of the bus, and are reminded to use the stairs or elevators not escalators between street level and the platforms in stations. If the demonstration project proves successful, Metro will consider making the changes permanent.
http://your.kingcounty.gov/exec/news/2008/0915metro.aspx
Joshua Kelley
Posted in alternative commute, Apple, oil, policy, RTID, TOD
By Frank on September 16, 2008
This is what I like to hear:
Across the aisle, a Newark-bound passenger Chrissy Dumbert took in the commotion and observed, “This is the craziest train ride I’ve ever been on.”
In the next car, Biden told another passenger that “If we get elected, it will be the most train-friendly administration ever.”
Like I said…
Posted in tacoma
By Frank on September 15, 2008
Take away street parking, and businesses in the Bronx get salty. This highlights a big difference between Seattle and New York. In Seattle, there would have been a lengthy comment period, and ample time for the businesses to kill the BRT route before it ever got off the ground. Overall, community input is a positive thing for urban development, but we have to acknowledge that it imposes certain costs.
More importantly, these costs to local businesses tend to be ignored by BRT advocates who claim that bus is “cheaper” than rail.
Posted in rail transit
By Frank on September 15, 2008
More of that sweet, sweet Transit Now service is swinging into action. This is good. I know Metro’s taking it in the shorts with the fuel increases, but service improvements, even small ones, are critical to make sure that all these new riders have a positive experience.
Posted in inothercities, regional transit
By Frank on September 15, 2008
Posted in i5, rural roads
By bgtothen on September 14, 2008
I wanted to start my series by showing these pictures because it perfectly sums up what I learned in Europe. No matter how different one country or culture is from the next we all have the same problems, what varies is the solution. As you can see some solutions are much better than others. All you do is push that metal attachment into the soap and you’ll have dry soap every time you use it.
Posted in Uncategorized
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