3 ms·

Forget high speed rail, where's the commuter trains? It seems ridiculous that in most US cities public transit is mostly non-existent. Traffic is bad in most ma

Forget high speed rail, where's the commuter trains? It seems ridiculous that in most US cities public transit is mostly non-existent. Traffic is bad in most major US cities you'd think people would be jumping for this as urbanization increases.

ghaff 10y ago
Well, without really disagreeing, you tend to need a layout where hub & spoke makes sense. With older east coast cities (e.g. NYC & Boston) you have commuter rail lines radiating out from central city stations from which people can walk or take the subway to jobs connecting to suburban stations with parking. It doesn't work if you don't have that central density & transit. It doesn't generally work in the opposite direction either. (Urban dwellers to suburban jobs.)
Gibbon1 10y ago
Lost in the high speed rail bit, the CHSR is actually what you're asking for. Because it serves as commuter rail in the Bay Area and LA Basin. And to a lesser extent elsewhere. That's the actual reason it's expensive.
Sanddancer 10y ago
Those are covered under other bond measures. LA has a multi-generation plan [1] for building out several new rail lines, busways, etc. It's harder to find an overarching document for the Bay Area because there are too damn many counties and transit agencies around here, but there are lots of projects -- BART to San Jose, Caltrain electrification, new rail lines and improved lines in SF, rebuilding the Dumbarton Rail Bridge -- that are in various stages of planning and construction. [1] http://theplan.metro.net/ http://theplan.metro.net/
ubernostrum 10y ago
Part of the fallout of this is likely that the electrification and modernization of Caltrain will die, since it's dependent on funding from the high-speed rail project. Caltrain is currently running 30-year-old diesel locomotives and 30-year-old passenger carriages on many of its trains, because they have no funding to get more modern equipment or electrify the line. Minor breakdowns have been increasing for a while, with occasional major problems (like last week when they had a fire in one of the locomotives during the evening rush hour).

ghaff 10y ago

Well, without really disagreeing, you tend to need a layout where hub & spoke makes sense. With older east coast cities (e.g. NYC & Boston) you have commuter rail lines radiating out from central city stations from which people can walk or take the subway to jobs connecting to suburban stations with parking. It doesn't work if you don't have that central density & transit. It doesn't generally work in the opposite direction either. (Urban dwellers to suburban jobs.)

Gibbon1 10y ago

Lost in the high speed rail bit, the CHSR is actually what you're asking for. Because it serves as commuter rail in the Bay Area and LA Basin. And to a lesser extent elsewhere. That's the actual reason it's expensive.

Sanddancer 10y ago

Those are covered under other bond measures. LA has a multi-generation plan [1] for building out several new rail lines, busways, etc. It's harder to find an overarching document for the Bay Area because there are too damn many counties and transit agencies around here, but there are lots of projects -- BART to San Jose, Caltrain electrification, new rail lines and improved lines in SF, rebuilding the Dumbarton Rail Bridge -- that are in various stages of planning and construction. [1] http://theplan.metro.net/ http://theplan.metro.net/

ubernostrum 10y ago

Part of the fallout of this is likely that the electrification and modernization of Caltrain will die, since it's dependent on funding from the high-speed rail project. Caltrain is currently running 30-year-old diesel locomotives and 30-year-old passenger carriages on many of its trains, because they have no funding to get more modern equipment or electrify the line. Minor breakdowns have been increasing for a while, with occasional major problems (like last week when they had a fire in one of the locomotives during the evening rush hour).