The Overhead Wire

Kinda Late Posted News

2009-07-10T02:16:00.001-07:00

Getting Sleeeeepy...

Jarrett continues with the streetcar mobility argument alone. Starting to look like a manifesto on why cheap buses are better than "expensive" streetcars. Sorry, I just don't see it in that kind of a vacuum. After riding the 51 last week, I wish there was a streetcar on Broadway. Sure would keep me from having to hold on for dear life when the driver smashes the gas pedal or hits a bump in the road.

I love how engineers and others always try to be quantitative instead of qualitative. It's like everything has to be put into number format or measurable box. That's what got us our fun cost-effectiveness measure at the FTA. It's almost like Lord of the Rings. One number to rule them all!!!! Except when people know that number was created using BS four step transportation models that don't catch land use and externalities. But hey we've been doing it since forever so why stop now. - end late night rant.
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"I can eat breakfast now"
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No zoning huh? We should start calling Houston's regs car zoning instead of land use zoning.
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More BRT boosterism about third world transit systems coming to your first world country. Does anyone really think Transmilenio is as smooth as the subway? Give me a break guys. And why are no subway systems applying for carbon credits?

In recognition of this feat, TransMilenio last year became the only large transportation project approved by the United Nations to generate and sell carbon credits.

And more BS from Walter Hook. Three times as much to maintain? Where did that number come from? Is that with Columbian Bus wages?

Subways cost more than 30 times as much per mile to build than a B.R.T. system, and three times as much to maintain.

Sigh.
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And not quite transit, but transportation and land use law. Apparently if you buy parcels and land airplanes on them without a permit, people don't like that. Go figure.

Back to Steem?

2009-07-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

The latest in the wire issue related to streetcars, trams, and LRVs.

The Story in a Story

2009-07-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

BART pays RENT at the airport? Doesn't this sound like the SFPD taking liberties with Muni funding?

SFO built the BART station at a cost of more than $200 million and pays $14.8 million annually for debt service on bonds sold to construct the station. BART pays SFO $2.5 million per year for rent on the BART station in the International Terminal, plus an additional $700,000 for custodial and electrical support services.

Am I missing something here?

TTI Congestion Lacking

2009-07-08T22:57:00.001-07:00

Ok, I get it. TTI says we as a country are a congested place. But who's fault is that? It's certainly not mine. Riding BART almost every day I never see the congestion. But why? Because I chose to live somewhere I can avoid it. Many other people around the country make that choice as well. I realize some people don't. But where is the calculation of money saved on transit systems or cities that promote walkable and bikeable neighborhoods that operate efficiently and allow people to leave for work at the same time every day for 20 years and never see a change. We know the congestion issue is a big one because most people drive. But should we be talking about congestion in terms of cars alone? Perhaps in cities that don't have transit. But is it a bit disingenuous to say that the Bay Area is one of the most congested when in parts it isn't, or people have ways to avoid it if they so choose? I think it might be.

Charlotte's Ringstrasse?

2009-07-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

Mary Newsom has an interesting post about the wishful thinking that some local business leaders have about taking down the freeway noose that encircles Charlotte's downtown. At the same time, there is a long shot hope to turn part of Uptown into a thriving Rome copycat. Of course both of these things are both dreams at the moment, but what happens when instead of bringing Rome we start to think about Vienna, Austria and its Ringstrasse.

Vienna was once a medieval city surrounded by a wall that was later torn down by the Hapsburg King Fraz Joseph who built a ringed boulevard around the city. Today that boulevard is known as the Ringstrasse and carries people, cars, and trams around the medieval center city.

At the same time, Charlotte's freeway has cut off the city from its surroundings and could possibly learn from Vienna's teardown of the moat and walls as well as other cities who have decided to tear down thier freeways in search of a better life. Here is downtown Charlotte as it stands now:

and here is the center of Vienna:

The Vienna ring U shaped is 2.5 miles while the Charlotte U ring is 3 miles. This makes them strikingly similar in size and Charlotte very adaptable to the possibility of creating a ring road that actually ties Uptown together with the rest of the city versus the freeway which separates each area.

Here is what this might look like if Charlotte finishes its transit plan and adds the ring. The cool thing about this would be that it would open up a lot of the land that was taken by the freeway off the tax rolls and put it back on as well as increasing the value of land inside and just outside the loop tremendously over time.

In thinking about this through the network paper from the streetcar planning effort in Portand, it's likely that this could end up being an integrated circle line with radial streetcar lines pushing out from the center ring.

This would also be highly dependent on a rapid transit network that moves to the center. The Vienna system can be highly dependent on the U Bahn which connects to points in the center city with three minute headways. Charlotte already has one piece of this with another in the Silver Line rapid transit coming in from the east. It's an interesting excercise and something that could sit at the back of people's minds because it won't happen anytime soon. This might also be another good reason to go visit other cities and you know, learn from them.

Parking Rates & Housing Needs

2009-07-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

In Phoenix, Light Rail has pushed more businesses to core areas and pushed parking rates up.

While they remain among the lowest in the nation, monthly parking rates in Phoenix grew faster this year than in any other major metro area in the country. A new annual report on parking rates from Colliers International says the median unreserved monthly parking rate in Phoenix is $65. That’s up 24 percent from last year’s survey, while the national average declined 1 percent. Two years ago, the average in Phoenix was just $35 a month.

The strange thing is the light rail is causing more people to drive downtown. Perhaps downtown parking fees should be harvested as value capture, since there seems to be some sort of causation according to the article.

“With the light rail’s capability of moving more people in and out of downtown, we are beginning to see entertainment venues and businesses shift from the Camelback Corridor and other metro areas to downtown Phoenix to take advantage of light rail traffic,” Miscio said. “This shift is also driving more auto traffic into downtown, increasing parking garage usage and rates during both the daytime and evening.”

Though businesses moved, development has been slow in Phoenix, for obvious reasons. But while the line connects destinations, according to local developers it's lacking in housing density, which is another likely reason that more people are driving and parking rates are higher. It's times like these that looking at value capture possibilities to pay for more transit and related infrastructure is probably a good idea. Especially since there is likely to be a residential building uptick if there is a lack of options along the line.

A Day in the Life

2009-07-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Today I had a cinco. I was on three different transit systems and on five different transport modes. This morning I woke up realizing that I needed to take my car in after the check engine light had been flashing at me lately and the throttle just wasn't acting right. Since I drive to my Grammas each week (because the bus line used to stop running at 3:30pm and is now gone) it's nice to have my car to get too and from her house.

But today I took my car to Broadway in Oakland and dropped it off. "Can I get you a courtesy Shuttle?" says the service manager. "No thanks, I'll take the bus". I walked through the showroom where everyone else was waiting for thier shuttle to take them to thier car needy areas and stepped out to the 51 bus stop. I hopped on and waited five minutes for the driver to load a wheelchair customer who almost ran him over. "Whoa, slow down man" he said to the motorized wheelchair owner who wanted to back over his feet while he held the seatbelt up for him. The rest of the trip to 14th and Broadway took about 6 minutes. Not long at all.

Later that evening when I got off work, I hopped on BART and rode to Powell. I got off and walked up stairs to the Muni Metro and hopped on the J Church LRV. I hopped off at Church and Market and walked into Safeway to buy groceries for the next few days. I walked back out and back onto the J to go home to 24th street.

That's pretty cool. I drove, took the bus, took the subway, took the Muni Metro and walked today while running a number of different errands that were on the way to my final destination. All possible because I live in a place that gives me options. I wish more people could do it this way and I know there are plenty of people out there who wish they could have the opportunity, but our leaders are denying them the option on the false premise of car superiority and lame numbers.

Fear and Loathing in Los Angeles

2009-07-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Ask Hunter S. Thompson about LA traffic and growth in 1965.

Crushload to Death

2009-07-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

Check out the video of crush loaded Indian Railways at the City Fix. It's no wonder more people die on Indian Rails than anywhere else in the world.

Yearly more than 3,500 people die on the Mumbai suburban railway track due to unsafe riding on trains or trespassing on railway tracks.
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Central and Western Railway was forced to release under the Right to Information Act that at least 20,706 people have died in the last five years; an average of 10 each day. The request was filed by Mumbai activist Chetan Kothari.

Obviously we wouldn't tolerate that here, unless it was in cars.

Where's Your Parachute?

2009-07-06T22:49:00.000-07:00

I agree with Ryan, Glaeser seems to forget all his own research when he wants to become Randall O'Toole's cousin. Here's the quote that gets me though:

For most workers in America’s sprawling metropolitan areas, no train is going to drop them within walking distance of their home or job. In Greater Houston, only 11.6 percent of jobs are within three miles of an area’s center and more than 55 percent of jobs are more than 10 miles away from the city center.

And your point is? No airplane will either. Unless we finally get our flying cars. Isn't that what HSR is competing against? 500 mile or less trips that could be made by train instead of plane? Especially in smaller cities between that don't have plane service. There is a huge untapped market out there.

I still think people don't quite get what HSR is supposed to do. They think train and think transit. I guess that's good because airplanes are basically flying buses. At least in a train you might have some room to yourself where the person next to you won't have his elbow in your ribs.

And So It Begins

2009-07-06T22:45:00.000-07:00

Utility relocation along the Central Corridor has begun.

LaHood on the Silly Juice?

2009-07-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

Those poor drivers and suburban apologists (or sprawlagists), they've been neglected for so long...

"We cannot let the cynicism of old ideas get in the way of what people really want," LaHood said about his vision of Americans on foot, on bikes and in trains and buses. How about letting the facts on the ground get in the way of a well-intentioned pipe dream?

They just can't quite understand why people might want alternatives to thier suffocating cancer/asthma causing habits. But transit and biking is only 2.5% of trips they say. There's no wonder people can't take transit or walk, because it isn't offered in a competitive fashion to the automobile trip. When it is, people take it. According to the CTOD database, over 40% of people living near Metro Stations in DC walk, bike, or take transit.

These people all need to wake up and stop throwing around these stupid statistics they don't understand. The newspaper industry and it's "Entitled Driving Journalist Syndrome" is dying a slow death because they don't understand there is a whole other world out there people are craving. I for one am glad that Ray is finally speaking for the other half after being ignored for half a century.

Beijing Subway Shots

2009-07-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

Overhead Wire correspondent @nspicer (who doesn't know he has been conscripted until now) is in Beijing and took a few shots of the subway there. Have a look.

I like how you can obviously tell what is going on without having to know a language.

Inaugural Trams

2009-07-05T16:02:00.001-07:00

So the Super Furry Animals have come up with this catchy ditty. Here's part of the song:

Inaugural Trams. It’s the first day of the integrated transport hub. Let us celebrate this monumental progress. We have reduced emissions by 75%. It’s a magical day and it will be even better tomorrow. Let us make the best of a difficult situation.

Nice! We need more songs!

Via Treehugger

Independence Day Notes

2009-07-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Links and ink:

I really like the idea of setting a baseline for ridership and road usage so you can use it for performance measures later. I hope that is what they are looking at. It might also be illuminating to see regions compared to each other. I hope they would take pedestrian and bike counts as well.
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The draft streetcar network plan is out in Portland. Looks pretty extensive.
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New Jersey is expanding the transit hub tax credit to include industrial areas that use rail access.
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Smart Growth is killing cities!!! Or rather, it's more NIMBYs. Not that I can't blame them, we don't really need more high end housing in this region do we? Considering almost all of it is high end. And looking at it from a tax perspective, building four houses that are 250,000 versus a million dollar single house brings in the same taxes in property, but greater taxes in local services such as restaurants and groceries. Has anyone ever looked at those numbers?
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This is cool. Making subways rainproof FTW.
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This could bring transit sexy back.
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Colorado Railcar reincarnated?
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More NIMBY articles! This time on the peninsula HSR version. My favorite quote:

Whatever option is chosen, peninsula residents simply want a transparent process that considers their opinions, said Nadia Naik of Palo Alto, who helped form a citizens' group, Californians Advocating for Responsible Rail Design. "That would give us tremendous peace of mind," Naik said. "Nobody's done that. We get a lot of, 'Oh, you're just 50 people who complain.'"

Is it really 50?

BART Reliability

2009-07-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

As much as people complain about the old cars and the noise in the tunnel and the sometimes surly folk that ride BART, I feel that being on time and reliability is the strength that BART has going for it. Because it has its own right of way, it's pretty easy for BART to keep a schedule, and for that reason, a lot of people can rely on them to be on time. So I sort of cringe when people give one of the reasons for not liking BART is that it's not reliable.

It's not exactly the most reliable ride either but we deal with it because it is the lesser of two evils.

As someone who takes BART almost every day, I have to say that over the last 4 years there have been sooo many delays I can count them on two hands. That's a lot right?? As compared to traffic and services that run in traffic such as say, the Municipal Railway. I understand the gripes about the strike. BART workers get very generous pay and benefits, higher than most agencies in the country, but to say that it's not reliable is just plain wrong. If anything, that is the main reason why people continue to ride BART.

It will be a shame if BART workers go on strike because they want even more, but the real shame will be the loss of a reliable transit service that allows people to get to work at the same time every day, so when people do get back to work and more are driving, you don't have to worry about your travel time or paying attention to the road. And if there are people who use talking on the phone as an excuse for not taking BART and driving instead, I'm glad to be underground and out of your way.

More Regressive Progressives

2009-07-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

You know the type, those who think that having a hybrid car alone will help their environmental credentials but don't do much else. They are also the ones that push against new development just because they don't like how it looks or feels, and they'll cry traffic! Those are the folks that got called out in the aptly named article: You're Not an Environmentalist if You're a NIMBY. So true. The hardest part is taking folks seriously who want to stop growth on high capacity transit corridors or in the core cities themselves. Yet with the climate that we have, San Francisco and Oakland are the best suited for emissions reducing development.

Just Hop On Already

2009-07-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

Is it really so hard to just hop on?

Rather than taking BART from the Fruitvale station to the Oakland Coliseum station, which is the next southbound stop on the Fremont Line, LaHood was driven by staff in a black Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle.

Not cool dude. Perhaps he had enough money before fare hikes went into effect.

A Public Health Issue

2009-07-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

There is a lesson here for pregnant mothers. Stay away from freeways.

A team from the University of California, Irvine, has shown that pregnant women living within 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) of a major roadway in Los Angeles are 128% more at risk of giving birth prematurely.

Giving people options is a public health issue. Don't let people tell you otherwise.

Excuses

2009-07-01T01:20:00.000-07:00

Notice they don't say that it's not what they want or need, they just say that they can't figure out how to pay for it since the FTA process is so F'd up.

Montgomery County planners have recommended that a bus rapid transit system be built along the Interstate 270 corridor, saying that the other choice, a light rail line, would be too expensive to win federal funding.

This is a bullshit excuse. We spend billions on roads and interchanges to nowhere and get screwed on transit we need. Have fun I-270 dwellers. Guess what, there's more than enough money to widen the freeway.

The Montgomery Planning Board staff also called for I-270 to be widened with express lanes for carpools and toll-payers.
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State transit officials have said that a 14-mile bus rapid transit system would cost about $450 million to build and that light rail would cost $778 million. The highway widening is estimated to cost $3.8 billion.

Anyone smell the stench of global death?

Hunters Point Subway

2009-06-30T01:45:00.000-07:00

I like it. Heck, give Lennar a density bonus if they help fund it. The line looks awfully familiar. Like something out of a fantasy map...

In the Dark

2009-06-30T01:41:00.000-07:00

I guess there are still city officials who haven't read the High Cost of Free Parking.

When Fitness Centers are Like Catenaries

2009-06-30T01:29:00.000-07:00

I never understood why developers waste their time building fitness centers or other extras no one really uses. I wouldn't want to pay rent for that. Seems like they might start to figure out that gold plating isn't getting them where they wanted to go. So who thinks that LRT needs to go through the same de-goldplating process?

“The frills are coming out,” said Tim Colen, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition, who advocates for housing in the city. “No concierge, no fitness room, and much smaller units. These are the coping mechanisms for the new era we’re in.”

And in light rail world, the quote would look like this:

“The frills are coming out,” said Some Guy, executive director of the Rail Construction Coalition, who advocates for transit in the city. “No rebuilding curb to curb, no gigantic catenaries, and much smaller station designs. These are the coping mechanisms for the new era we’re in.”

Via Curbed SF

Creative People Walking to Bowl

2009-06-30T01:02:00.000-07:00

When do trends or catch phrases end? Does a good background idea like the Creative Class ever just go bad? What does this mean for Walkable Urbanism or Bowling Alone? Folks like Richard Florida, Chris Leinberger and Robert Putnam build up names for themselves around a central theme. The theme must be a good idea at some point, and why if it was so catching before, does something fade or not fade?

I think you have to look at the underlying facts and basic premises of it all. At the most basic level, every city has a creative class, but at what point does being a really lame city hurt you and the generation of big ideas? To me all of these folks have something in common in that they are trying to figure out why there are some places that people like to live more than others. But the boiled down answers aren't so simple as they make them out to be. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

A Challenge

2009-06-28T21:55:00.001-07:00

I challenge any city to draw lines in the street and run a bus, then run a streetcar and see what happens. And again, why are we so worried about overhead wires? Lungs don't care about your aesthetic.