Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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johnwirtz
Glenview, IL
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Andrew Hall said:
Did you read the full article? It makes me wonder how much the combination of flexibility, real-time manipulation and more environmentally friendly engines can well mean that fixed-rail transit is *not* the future.A.
Yes. The main advantage of rail is the capacity you can get by linking multiple trains together and the resulting operating efficiencies of having one operator for a large number of people. In areas without huge passenger demands (i.e., Columbus), improving bus systems makes a lot of sense.
Walker
The KLD / Downtown / Gay Street
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cadillackid said:
if COTA were to begin creating routes that suburbanites would find useful...
Easier said than done. Suburban development patterns have made this a very difficult thing to accomplish. Curving cul-de-sac sub divisions have been intentionally created to deter thru-traffic. Strip malls are positioned to be optimal for driving customers and not walk-up customers who arrived via nearby bus stop. A lot of suburban areas have drainage ditches rather than sidewalks. Other than historic downtown areas, most suburbs have been built in a way that doesn't accommodate the addition of public transit systems.
This graphic illustrates well the fact that transit stops are best served in environments where walkability is easiest:
The red dot represents the transit stop and the blue lines indicate how far you can walk from the stop at a range of a quarter mile.
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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johnwirtz said:
Yes. The main advantage of rail is the capacity you can get by linking multiple trains together and the resulting operating efficiencies of having one operator for a large number of people. In areas without huge passenger demands (i.e., Columbus), improving bus systems makes a lot of sense.
But isn't the London example going against that prevailing wisdom? Ie - huge numbers of people and high density going away from fixed rail.
It seems like the massive capital investment and tremendous hassle (look at Cali right now) may well tip against the efficiency gains.
A.
johnwirtz
Glenview, IL
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Andrew Hall said:
But isn't the London example going against that prevailing wisdom? Ie - huge numbers of people and high density going away from fixed rail.It seems like the massive capital investment and tremendous hassle (look at Cali right now) may well tip against the efficiency gains.
A.
The London example doesn't change the fact that rail can carry more people and has lower operating costs. It just means politicians there have decided the high capital costs aren't worth those technical advantages.
cbus11
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gramarye said:
Very nice graphic, Walker. Where'd you find that?
That is a cool graphic. There is a similar one on walkscore.
http://www.walkscore.com/walkable-neighborhoods.shtml
Walker
The KLD / Downtown / Gay Street
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gramarye said:
Very nice graphic, Walker. Where'd you find that?
It's in this article... a good read:
"cul-de-sac hell and the radius of demand"
http://www.humantransit.org/2010/05/culdesac-hell-and-the-radius-of-demand.html
rus
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rus said:
Those tracks made from rearden metal? :-PETA:
And isn't this Disney's take on future transportation now?
Get the Video Plugin
And apparently, the future is now.
http://www.gizmag.com/electric-lightcycle-parker-brothers/19897/
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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johnwirtz
Glenview, IL
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Andrew Hall said:
Interesting article about adjusting bus routes in Tallahassee to reflect more jobs in outskirts than downtownA.
Good read. Does this sound like Columbus?
All of the city’s previous routes went one place: downtown. But by 2005, just 14 percent of the region’s jobs were located there.
COTA does a nice job changing things incrementally, but I think a major overhaul is long overdue. In my opinion, an agency should put some effort into rethinking its transit system from scratch every 10-20 years in response to land use changes. Many things will stay the same, but as a thought exercise it's good to unshackle yourself from the constraints of the existing system every so often.
bldng4jstc
Downtown
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I was surprised that COTA only had the ability to track %15 of the routes for passengers usage at any one time. If anyone at COTA has the time/title to compare rider usage with land usage, missed opportunities for better service, and outside the box solutions is unknown.
johnwirtz
Glenview, IL
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bldng4jstc said:
I was surprised that COTA only had the ability to track %15 of the routes for passengers usage at any one time. If anyone at COTA has the time/title to compare rider usage with land usage, missed opportunities for better service, and outside the box solutions is unknown.
That doesn't surprise me much. Most agencies only have automated passenger counters (APCs) on some buses. They rotate the buses with the fancy equipment around to different routes to collect data as necessary. I can see some value to having real-time information on passenger loads on all the routes simultaneously, but it probably saves more money to put the APCs on only some of the buses.
Pickerington_Kyle
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I've been thinking, and why does Columbus not have rail transit or another form of transportation.? A couple months ago, when The Blue Jackets where having open house, and the Clippers where in the playoffs. A woman was upset on the street corner of Neil, and W Nationwide that their was no cabs or other transportation to the airport. She said she had only 45 minutes till her flight and had no way to get to the airport.
I have a couple of questions.
1) Do buses even go to the airport? I feel you can only go to Port Columbus in a Car or Taxi Cab.
2) Why do we not have rail transit or street cars? I mean we could link The casino, Ohio State, Arena District, German Village, Franklin Park conservatory, COSI, Columbus zoo and the airport to the core of our city. I mean I would rather use a rail transit and pay $1.25 a trip then $7 bucks in gas back and forth.
I think we have great opportunities to link hospitals, colleges, attractions, offices, airport, restaurants, and so many things together if we have rail transit in Columbus. WE NEED RAIL TRANSIT!
3) We could have street cars in the core of downtown, where we could ride from Biccentinal Park to the Columbus Commons, to the Capitol buildings, to Grant Medical Center, to CCAD and Columbus state, to the convention center to nationwide and Huntington Park. We could also have future lines that link German Village, Short North, OSU campus, and Franklin Park Conservatory to the center?
I just don't understand why we don't have any forms of rail transit. Wouldn't it cause future development like it did in Portland, Charlotte, Austin, and Minneapolis?
Pickerington_Kyle
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lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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Pickerington_Kyle said:
I've been thinking, and why does Columbus not have rail transit or another form of transportation.? A couple months ago, when The Blue Jackets where having open house, and the Clippers where in the playoffs. A woman was upset on the street corner of Neil, and W Nationwide that their was no cabs or other transportation to the airport. She said she had only 45 minutes till her flight and had no way to get to the airport.
I have a couple of questions.1) Do buses even go to the airport? I feel you can only go to Port Columbus in a Car or Taxi Cab.
2) Why do we not have rail transit or street cars? I mean we could link The casino, Ohio State, Arena District, German Village, Franklin Park conservatory, COSI, Columbus zoo and the airport to the core of our city. I mean I would rather use a rail transit and pay $1.25 a trip then $7 bucks in gas back and forth.
I think we have great opportunities to link hospitals, colleges, attractions, offices, airport, restaurants, and so many things together if we have rail transit in Columbus. WE NEED RAIL TRANSIT!
3) We could have street cars in the core of downtown, where we could ride from Biccentinal Park to the Columbus Commons, to the Capitol buildings, to Grant Medical Center, to CCAD and Columbus state, to the convention center to nationwide and Huntington Park. We could also have future lines that link German Village, Short North, OSU campus, and Franklin Park Conservatory to the center?
I just don't understand why we don't have any forms of rail transit. Wouldn't it cause future development like it did in Portland, Charlotte, Austin, and Minneapolis?
The 95 or whatever runs up James/Stelzer has an airport stop but I believe it's one of those deals that it's like every third bus or something. There is a seasonal one running to the airport from Campus around the holiday periods.
johnwirtz
Glenview, IL
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Pickerington_Kyle said:
I've been thinking, and why does Columbus not have rail transit or another form of transportation.? A couple months ago, when The Blue Jackets where having open house, and the Clippers where in the playoffs. A woman was upset on the street corner of Neil, and W Nationwide that their was no cabs or other transportation to the airport. She said she had only 45 minutes till her flight and had no way to get to the airport.
I have a couple of questions.1) Do buses even go to the airport? I feel you can only go to Port Columbus in a Car or Taxi Cab.
2) Why do we not have rail transit or street cars? I mean we could link The casino, Ohio State, Arena District, German Village, Franklin Park conservatory, COSI, Columbus zoo and the airport to the core of our city. I mean I would rather use a rail transit and pay $1.25 a trip then $7 bucks in gas back and forth.
I think we have great opportunities to link hospitals, colleges, attractions, offices, airport, restaurants, and so many things together if we have rail transit in Columbus. WE NEED RAIL TRANSIT!
3) We could have street cars in the core of downtown, where we could ride from Biccentinal Park to the Columbus Commons, to the Capitol buildings, to Grant Medical Center, to CCAD and Columbus state, to the convention center to nationwide and Huntington Park. We could also have future lines that link German Village, Short North, OSU campus, and Franklin Park Conservatory to the center?
I just don't understand why we don't have any forms of rail transit. Wouldn't it cause future development like it did in Portland, Charlotte, Austin, and Minneapolis?
I think congestion isn't bad enough yet for people to demand it.
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