Taking a car isn’t always the fastest, most convenient mode of transportation. Metrolink and Caltrans have started advertising as much near LA.
http://m.ocregister.com/news/train-332497-metrolink-freeway.html
What if we had a national subway network instead of highways? Here’s what the map would look like, courtesy of Cameron Booth.
To complete the picture, here is what a subway map of the interstate system would look like.
(Source: twitter.com)
A ‘transit-less’ Washington D.C.
“WMATA then ran a second scenario in which the transit disappeared, but the region added new roads to get people to where they travel today. Just to keep congestion at present levels, the region would have to add more than a thousand lane miles of arterials and highways, at a cost of about $6 billion. This would be the rough equivalent of adding 15 more lanes to the already massive beltway that encircles the city – or, all of these roads, many of which run through the core of downtown, where street expansion would be all but impossible.”
(Source: transystems.com)
An intersection of transportation and safety that we don’t usually consider in the developed world.
From Transportation Nation today…
“About 100 Detroit city bus drivers refused to work this morning to demand safer working conditions after a driver was beaten by a group of teens on Thursday afternoon at the city’s main transit terminal…WDET’s Klinefelter said Henry Gaffney, the head of Amalgamated Transit Workers’ Union Local 26 representing the drivers, told WDET the city has agreed to put in bullet proof partitions around drivers.”
If bus drivers feel so unsafe that they are striking for bullet proof partitions, how should that make riders feel? Also, might you make riders that previously felt fine riding the busses now feel unsafe when the see their bus driver behind bullet proof glass? It’s like putting bars on store windows - even if it was relatively safe before, no one will feel safe now.
In addition to recent Next Bus systems implemented and expanded in Chicago and London, Napa County in California has implemented their own Next Bus system called “Where’s My Bus?”. Unlike the systems in Chicago and London, the Napa County system will not have any countdown displays at bus stops. Instead, the agency is relying completely on a web interface that allows transit riders to see when the next bus will arrive at any stop in the system.
Here’s a link to the web site.
(Source: thetransitwire.com)
In comparison with Chicago, which has recently begun installing countdown signs at 400 (20%) of its bus stops, London is replacing 2000 of its existing countdown signs and adding them to an additional 500 stops according to Transportation For London. These 2500 stops with countdown signs make up 13% of the roughly 19,000 total London bus stops. Bus arrival information for the remainder of the stops will be available via SMS and a web interface. London also plans to publicly release the data these systems are based on later in the year, paving the way for third parties to create their own smartphone apps to track London busses.
Edit: For reference, here is the online bus tracking site, and here is a picture of one of the 2000 old countdown timers that will be replaced.
From The Chicago Tribune: ”The Chicago Transit Authority has started installing electronic signs at 400 of its busiest bus shelters to inform riders when the next bus will arrive. Those 400 shelters represent 20 percent of the bus shelters throughout Chicago, but accommodate 80 percent of the system’s bus ridership, CTA President Forrest Claypool said. The cost of the project is covered by $1.4 million of CTA funds, a $1.8 million Regional Transportation Authority grant and $640,000 in federal transit money.”
Now those without cell phones can get the same level of service, at least at 400 stops, as those with them. Also, who knew LED signs were so expensive? $3.84 million dollar project works out to $9,600 per sign. This doesn’t include GPS, which the buses were already equipped with.
“HDR obtained a contract from the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) to provide preliminary engineering services for the Sugar House Streetcar project in Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake City. The contract includes an option to provide final design and design services during construction. To open in 2013, the proposed $37 million, two-mile streetcar line is jointly owned by the UTA and cities of South Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. HDR will provide preliminary engineering and final design services for the track work, structures, drainage, utility relocations, stations, street reconstruction and grade crossings.”
Another city going to streetcars, but this time, with a decidedly modern look.
The FAA avoids a second shutdown and SAFETEA-LU gets extended (again) until March. The price? Language in the new surface transportation bill allowing states to opt out of previously mandatory cross subsidies, which provided funding for things like pedestrian walkways and bike lanes. Overall, a net loss for complete streets.
