SAN ANTONIO | City and Metro Transportation Thread

[SA_Pride28]

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

What I desperately want is the Broadway corridor reconstruction to have an actual BRT component. I don't think Broadway is currently one of Via's busiest routes, but Broadway is clearly becoming the growth corridor for the inner city, so upgrading transit along that street would be a good idea in my opinion.

It's what Albuquerque has done on Central Ave, which is sort of an analogous street to Broadway, and I think it's working well there. But last I checked what they want to do on Broadway is add a bunch of street parking...

There is a corridor planned for Broadway, going up to UIW and to Austin Highway.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by SA_Pride28

There is a corridor planned for Broadway, going up to UIW and to Austin Highway.

Yeah on the Via plan, but that's separate from plans that have been released for the Broadway corridor. Via's goals and the City's actual plans aren't necessarily the same thing. I can't find the article to which I'm referring, maybe someone can help me out here, but Centro did a privately funded corridor study/plan for Broadway sometime last year which was released to the public, and those plans did not include a transit component, they had tons of street parking and a giant median. Now, the City may have changed their mind about that since then (since that study wasn't an official city-funded project), but as far as I know, that's the latest on what's planned for Broadway.

Edit:

Here's the full plan:

http://3snpdc2ba9m5uwuk62n8cs84-wpen...compressed.pdf

Again, it was a privately commissioned, so the City could be going in a different direction. But it's the only thing I've seen that's public about the project so far.

[aggie2008]

I'm annoyed by the plan they put out there as well. Part of the problem with Broadway is that it isn't terribly wide. I think transit is a huge priority, so are sidewalks, so are bike lanes, so are trees... I think they can forget street parking and narrow down the medians but they'll likely keep the parking at least

VIA's 2040 plan has Austin Highway BRT (I'm assuming this would include Broadway?) as Medium/Low Ridership. I ride the 9/10/14 pretty often though and it isn't that low IMO. Plus, if you made it better all those students at UIW would use it more often. I guess I don't understand why they build the schedules like they do but its incredibly common to see the 9 and 10 running one after the other. If they staggered them frequency would go way up along a lot of the densest part of the route

Here is a link to the plan in case you all haven't read it yet: http://www.viavision2040.com/wp-cont...A_2040_LRP.pdf

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by aggie2008

I'm annoyed by the plan they put out there as well. Part of the problem with Broadway is that it isn't terribly wide. I think transit is a huge priority, so are sidewalks, so are bike lanes, so are trees... I think they can forget street parking and narrow down the medians but they'll likely keep the parking at least

VIA's 2040 plan has Austin Highway BRT (I'm assuming this would include Broadway?) as Medium/Low Ridership. I ride the 9/10/14 pretty often though and it isn't that low IMO. Plus, if you made it better all those students at UIW would use it more often. I guess I don't understand why they build the schedules like they do but its incredibly common to see the 9 and 10 running one after the other. If they staggered them frequency would go way up along a lot of the densest part of the route

Here is a link to the plan in case you all haven't read it yet: http://www.viavision2040.com/wp-cont...A_2040_LRP.pdf

The planning must be bad if an Aggie is making sense.

Hook 'em Horns!

[SA_Pride28]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

The planning must be bad if an Aggie is making sense.

Hook 'em Horns!

I'm an Aggie too so make sense to me

[micahinsa]

I was in Melbourne not too long ago and was really impressed by their transit system. I was wondering to what extent it would be similar to the Via 2040 stuff, or the Centro plan like the Broadway corridor.

Especially as you move beyond downtown/the CBD, they have some really great transport corridors, like the ones below, where they manage to fit two lanes of traffic in each direction, plus a tram line, plus a bike path through the middle, plus ample trees/vegetation around it:







Google tells me they managed to squeeze all of that that into 131 feet of space. I was trying to think of any important roads in SA that would have that much room to work with. Broadway seems to run between 70 and 80 feet. We'd have to ditch the bike path basically, but that could probably be moved somewhere else:







Nothing dramatic to see here, folks, just some random musings on what we could do to add some much needed rail options to our city.

[aggie2008]

I didn't know Google Maps allowed you to measure streets like that, really cool!

I also agree that VIA/CoSA should look to other cities for street design. There has to be a dozen streets similar to this throughout the world. The other thing they could do is look to NACTO, which CoSA and VIA are members, for designs. They have built designs for tons of types of streets. 80 feet is hard to work with but there are strategies that can help prioritize transit even in non-dedicated lane situations. It would be a lot for Texans to deal with though I guess. We're very used to 12-14 foot lanes that never deviate from a norm and you can drive 45 mph on. Here are two different ways you can help give transit a jump at key intersections:
-I saw this a LOT in London (seemed like every street honestly): https://nacto.org/publication/transi...approach-lane/
-I think Seattle did this somewhere with great results, I can't find an article about it though and I think they used the center turn lane instead of the bike lane (meaning no left turns were allowed at the intersection): https://nacto.org/publication/transi...ue-jump-lanes/

There's also an ability to offer parking but remove it where there are stations by requiring cars to go into what would be the parking lane. Businesses along that stretch would likely hate it (even though most businesses along Broadway don't really rely on street parking). They'd also need to space stops relatively far apart to not take away too much space for stations, reduce costs as stations are expensive, and most importantly make the transit faster! Example picture of the parking to driving lane transistion here:
https://nacto.org/publication/transi...ansit-street/#

And thanks JACKinBeantown, of course I like Aggies and Longhorns equally if they are on board with making urban life better

[Sigaven]

Anyone else struck by how similar the vegetation in that streetview looks to here? On a different continent in the opposite hemisphere! Usually looking at other parts of the world in streetview, even the vegetation looks remarkably different than here at home.

[micahinsa]

Originally Posted by aggie2008

I didn't know Google Maps allowed you to measure streets like that, really cool!

Yep, it's pretty nifty. They only added it as an option a little while back.

If you're on a computer then just right click wherever you want to start the measurement, then click "measure distance" in the pop up, then click again where you want to end the measurement. It'll tell you on the actual route and in the box on the bottom of the screen.

It also works on mobile devices but it's a bit less intuitive, you have to basically drag your finger while holding it down, but it gets the job done.

I use it a lot to get an approximation for as-the-crow-flies distance.

But you can also zoom in and get pretty accurate measurement over short distances---

[SAhometown]

Growth up nearly 10% for 2018!

http://www.sanantonio.gov/Portals/0/...-23-111916-100

[jaga185]

WOOT, I'm sure it will go back down to regular growth for April because of the Final Four... BUT YES THAT IS AWESOME!

[texboy]

San Antonio could take one step closer to direct flight into D.C. this week

San Antonio could move one step closer to gaining a nonstop route direct to Washington, D.C., this week if enough U.S. lawmakers side with Texas House members in a fight for access to one of the nation’s busiest airports.

A nonstop route from San Antonio International Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has long been on San Antonio officials’ wish list, citing high passenger traffic to Reagan and two other airports that service the District of Columbia — a phenomenon driven by the cities’ shared military, medical, cybersecurity and tech sectors.

But the city’s efforts have been thwarted by federal rules limiting the addition of nonstop routes into Reagan National and a contingent of D.C.-area lawmakers who want to limit traffic to the airport.

Now, officials believe they have a workaround that would give San Antonio a shot at a slot at Reagan National without increasing traffic and noise at the airport. An amendment offered by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar to a House bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration would allow airlines who already fly nonstop routes into Reagan to swap out an existing route for one that flies to a destination outside of the 1,250-mile perimeter allowed by the airport.

[cole world11]

I took a glance at my Flightradar24 app earlier today and noticed there was an American Airlines 787-8 parked at what appeared to be one of the maintenance tarmacs. Did anyone see it driving on 281? It was gone when I looked later this evening and didn't have a flight number assigned to it so I couldn't see what time or where it may have been going when it left. The regret of not writing down the plane's registration number is setting in right about now. Lol

[Sean1187]

Originally Posted by cole world11

I took a glance at my Flightradar24 app earlier today and noticed there was an American Airlines 787-8 parked at what appeared to be one of the maintenance tarmacs. Did anyone see it driving on 281? It was gone when I looked later this evening and didn't have a flight number assigned to it so I couldn't see what time or where it may have been going when it left. The regret of not writing down the plane's registration number is setting in right about now. Lol

When I flew into SAT back on Feb 2nd, there was an AA 787 parked at one as well.

[Runner]

Probably came in for maintenance.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by Runner

Probably came in for maintenance.

^^This^^


This particular one has been at SAT since April 14.

Registration #N807AA

[cole world11]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

^^This^^


This particular one has been at SAT since April 14.

Registration #N807AA

I see. Thanks for the clarification! Much appreciated

[Restless 1]

https://therivardreport.com/nirenber...nsit-proposal/

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said Tuesday that no rail transportation options would be considered in efforts to formulate a new mass transit plan for San Antonio.

“It’s absolutely not a light rail plan,” Nirenberg said following an appearance with Wolff at a Tricentennial Commemorative Week event. “We’re beyond light rail. The world is beyond light rail.”

Nirenberg recently announced the formation of ConnectSA, a nonprofit intended to become the driving force behind a modern multimodal transportation system plan that could be presented to voters. Neither Nirenberg nor Wolff had previously provided details of what the plan would include, including cost estimates.

Nirenberg and Wolff indicated Tuesday that the mass transit system likely to be pursued in the coming months would resemble something closer to trackless trains that are equipped with rubber tires and use dedicated traffic lanes. Trackless technologies could be developed on the city’s existing roads, be scalable to ridership demands, be more cost effective and adjustable than installing rail, and also present an opportunity for the city to be an early user of advanced technology, Nirenberg said."

Here is a link to the trackless trains mentioned by the Mayor:

https://www.citylab.com/transportati...-a-bus/545189/

[UltraDanPrime]

The future is becoming the now when it comes to transportation. Rail is becoming a dinosaur.

[jaga185]

Originally Posted by Restless 1

Here is a link to the trackless trains mentioned by the Mayor:

https://www.citylab.com/transportati...-a-bus/545189/

After watching the video, I'm convinced. It's a high occupancy bus that doesn't stop at red lights. I want 50.