3 ms·

Cut and cover only works if your subway follows streets. Yeah, I think we should do that where it makes sense but quite often you need to go under buildings or

by jeltz 2y ago

Cut and cover only works if your subway follows streets. Yeah, I think we should do that where it makes sense but quite often you need to go under buildings or hills.

bluGill 2y ago
Most of the time your subway will follow streets though. Your city has built around the existing streets and people have set their lives up around the places they can get to by the existing streets. If there are two points that are near each other as a crow flies but difficult to reach (shore to an island where there is no nearby bridge) people have made sure they don't need to go there and so you rarely gain much by giving them some new ability. While if you build on the streets they can now go places they were already going via your new subway. Note that I said street and not highway. Some highways (limit access) are good for longer trips, but your subway would be better off using a side street parallel to the highway since while most people use the highway your subway doesn't need to get to any point on the highway while points on the side street - while of limited interest have at least some interest. City transit design is a complex subject that whole books are written about (sadly the people who are in charge don't read them)
- Symbiote 2y ago
  That seems a very car-centric or American view, with cities built on a grid. Older cities without existing grids can have older metro lines following streets (a limitation of the time they were built, by cut and cover) but newer ones generally don't follow streets. They provide more direct routes, and new crossings over rivers or to islands. Look at Prague or especially Copenhagen for example. https://openrailwaymap.org//mobile.php?style=standard&lat=55.67858860616847&lon=12.583551406860352&zoom=15 https://openrailwaymap.org//mobile.php?style=standard&lat=55...
  - bluGill 2y ago
    Streets have existed since cities began is prehistory times. even before cars people needed to get around.
    - iggldiggl 2y ago
      > Streets have existed since cities began is prehistory times But not necessarily in a form that provides a suitable track alignment for rapid transit.

by jeltz 2y ago

Cut and cover only works if your subway follows streets. Yeah, I think we should do that where it makes sense but quite often you need to go under buildings or hills.

bluGill 2y ago

Most of the time your subway will follow streets though. Your city has built around the existing streets and people have set their lives up around the places they can get to by the existing streets. If there are two points that are near each other as a crow flies but difficult to reach (shore to an island where there is no nearby bridge) people have made sure they don't need to go there and so you rarely gain much by giving them some new ability. While if you build on the streets they can now go places they were already going via your new subway. Note that I said street and not highway. Some highways (limit access) are good for longer trips, but your subway would be better off using a side street parallel to the highway since while most people use the highway your subway doesn't need to get to any point on the highway while points on the side street - while of limited interest have at least some interest. City transit design is a complex subject that whole books are written about (sadly the people who are in charge don't read them)

Symbiote 2y ago
That seems a very car-centric or American view, with cities built on a grid. Older cities without existing grids can have older metro lines following streets (a limitation of the time they were built, by cut and cover) but newer ones generally don't follow streets. They provide more direct routes, and new crossings over rivers or to islands. Look at Prague or especially Copenhagen for example. https://openrailwaymap.org//mobile.php?style=standard&lat=55.67858860616847&lon=12.583551406860352&zoom=15 https://openrailwaymap.org//mobile.php?style=standard&lat=55...
- bluGill 2y ago
  Streets have existed since cities began is prehistory times. even before cars people needed to get around.
  - iggldiggl 2y ago
    > Streets have existed since cities began is prehistory times But not necessarily in a form that provides a suitable track alignment for rapid transit.