Thursday, December 16, 2004
Feds Rip Planning for Hiawatha Light Rail
Light rail always will slow the flow
A report by the Federal Highway Administration concludes poor planning is to blame for the congestion crisis along Highway 55 in Minneapolis caused by light rail signal preemption.
A report by the Federal Highway Administration concludes poor planning is to blame for the congestion crisis along Highway 55 in Minneapolis caused by light rail signal preemption.
Comments:
The Minnepolis light rail line is good example of a success story that took 30 years in the making. It was understood the motorist would have to wait longer but that's too bad. The lightrail line is spuring new development because it carries over 360,000 thousand passengers PER MONTH! If you put all those passengers in cars, they would have ended up downtown causing even greater gridlock.
Whatever inconvience the motorist suffers is just too bad. If they want to travel quickly and cheaply, the solution is simple. Leave the car at home and take the Lightrail to work. The days of quick commute times by motorcar are coming to an end.
The Minneapolis system is a real money maker and will gross over $4,854,500 this year in fare collections which do not include the park and ride fees or fines collected.
Whatever inconvience the motorist suffers is just too bad. If they want to travel quickly and cheaply, the solution is simple. Leave the car at home and take the Lightrail to work. The days of quick commute times by motorcar are coming to an end.
The Minneapolis system is a real money maker and will gross over $4,854,500 this year in fare collections which do not include the park and ride fees or fines collected.
Hey Anon #1
I'm afraid the Minneapolis LRT is NOT a "moneymaker" in the "business" sense of the term. At the rate of money coming in you quote, it may recover 40% of its operating expense for Fiscal Year 2004-05, and perhaps 50% in FY 2005-06 starting July 2005.
Of course one builds new transit lines for the many benefits they provide, or to avoid much more expensive roadway expansion--a full freeway in the Hiawatha corridor would have certainly cost much more than the LRT line and would have had far less long-run utility in the coming "peak oil-then decline" era.
As for the slowing down of traffic on the parallel roadway, the designers could have shown more brains by reviewing what LRT designers have done in similar situations where a LRT line parallels a major arterial. In Sacramento and Denver, for example, parallel traffic flows just fine (except during peaks when too many cars congest the roadway, not the LRT) despite just as frequent service in Denver and much higher parallel traffic counts.
I agree with your sentiments that some inconvenience to motorists is not too big a deal; but in arguing with congenital transit opponents such as those who control this blog, it matters that your facts are as accurate as possible.
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I'm afraid the Minneapolis LRT is NOT a "moneymaker" in the "business" sense of the term. At the rate of money coming in you quote, it may recover 40% of its operating expense for Fiscal Year 2004-05, and perhaps 50% in FY 2005-06 starting July 2005.
Of course one builds new transit lines for the many benefits they provide, or to avoid much more expensive roadway expansion--a full freeway in the Hiawatha corridor would have certainly cost much more than the LRT line and would have had far less long-run utility in the coming "peak oil-then decline" era.
As for the slowing down of traffic on the parallel roadway, the designers could have shown more brains by reviewing what LRT designers have done in similar situations where a LRT line parallels a major arterial. In Sacramento and Denver, for example, parallel traffic flows just fine (except during peaks when too many cars congest the roadway, not the LRT) despite just as frequent service in Denver and much higher parallel traffic counts.
I agree with your sentiments that some inconvenience to motorists is not too big a deal; but in arguing with congenital transit opponents such as those who control this blog, it matters that your facts are as accurate as possible.
