SAN ANTONIO | City and Metro Transportation Thread

[sirkingwilliam]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Whoa whoa whoa. So what you're telling me is that the state is seriously proposing having - at max - 4 free mainlanes in each direction, 3 regular tolled lanes each way, and another 2 HOV lanes each way? After you factor in the typical 2 to 3 access road lanes on each side that's a total of 22-24 lanes total.

That seems incredibly outlandish to me.

What I've read is simply two lanes each direction that are tolled (basically the same as HOV) in addition to the already free but expanded 4 mainlanes of traffic.

Here's what they have online:
http://www.i35northeast.com/Video.aspx

You seem to be right. Again, it's what I heard the county wanted but this was about a year ago and elevated lanes were mentioned so things obviously changed.

[JACKinBeantown]

Perfect opportunity to include rail lanes in each direction. With all the overcrowding I think even Texans are beginning to realize the importance of rail transportation. (And I don't mean the people on this forum. Everyone here is wise to the importance of rail... I'm talking about the general public.)

[sirkingwilliam]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

Perfect opportunity to include rail lanes in each direction. With all the overcrowding I think even Texans are beginning to realize the importance of rail transportation. (And I don't mean the people on this forum. Everyone here is wise to the importance of rail... I'm talking about the general public.)

This is incredibly true.

[Fireoutofclay]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

Perfect opportunity to include rail lanes in each direction. With all the overcrowding I think even Texans are beginning to realize the importance of rail transportation. (And I don't mean the people on this forum. Everyone here is wise to the importance of rail... I'm talking about the general public.)

I'm thinking BRT would be more appropriate for a venture like this. IMO

[JACKinBeantown]

I can definitely see your point about BRT. But if there's a rail it could eventually connect to the overall rail network without the need for passengers to get on and off the bus. Trains can carry far more passengers than buses and the SA/Austin metro-grande will hit 5 million in the not too distant future. If designed properly, a BRT lane could be converted to rail at some future date. In any case, a dedicated lane in each direction for rail or BRT would be nice. There would, of course, be people (and oil companies) who would argue against it.

[miaht82]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

I can definitely see your point about BRT. But if there's a rail it could eventually connect to the overall rail network without the need for passengers to get on and off the bus. Trains can carry far more passengers than buses and the SA/Austin metro-grande will hit 5 million in the not too distant future. If designed properly, a BRT lane could be converted to rail at some future date. In any case, a dedicated lane in each direction for rail or BRT would be nice. There would, of course, be people (and oil companies) who would argue against it.

Easy there Jack...

With the $1 billion+ price tag on this, we could have invested in a couple other viable options before adding on extra lanes, which I think are a vicious cycle.
Amtrak on the other hand has outgrown its home at Sunset, and they're looking to move over to the new Westside MM Transit Station. It has done so while mostly serving as long-haul. A trip to Austin costs anywhere from 20-30 bucks, one-way.
Megabus offers the 7-10 dollar trip one-way and does so at least 6 times a day. The schedule shows it to be a 90 minute trip. Amtrak can take up to 150 minutes, but of course they don't have dedicated line. If rail up to Austin could get closer in time to the bus, have a couple of stops in NB and San Marcos, then I think that it would be a good option to add if a lane was dedicated to rail.
However, if these are lanes for cars only, all it will do is add more traffic, add more sprawl and you can forget all of this talk about ever getting rid of 37, having Austin-San Antonio rail pushed back "another" 10 years more (at least) and SA not meeeting some of its 2020 goals for DT.
The city should tell the TxDOT "no" on this one.

[miaht82]

Westside Multimodal Transit Center is up for final approval...

http://www.sanantonio.gov/historic/D...nter_Plaza.pdf

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by miaht82

Easy there Jack...

With the $1 billion+ price tag on this, we could have invested in a couple other viable options before adding on extra lanes, which I think are a vicious cycle.
Amtrak on the other hand has outgrown its home at Sunset, and they're looking to move over to the new Westside MM Transit Station. It has done so while mostly serving as long-haul. A trip to Austin costs anywhere from 20-30 bucks, one-way.
Megabus offers the 7-10 dollar trip one-way and does so at least 6 times a day. The schedule shows it to be a 90 minute trip. Amtrak can take up to 150 minutes, but of course they don't have dedicated line. If rail up to Austin could get closer in time to the bus, have a couple of stops in NB and San Marcos, then I think that it would be a good option to add if a lane was dedicated to rail.
However, if these are lanes for cars only, all it will do is add more traffic, add more sprawl and you can forget all of this talk about ever getting rid of 37, having Austin-San Antonio rail pushed back "another" 10 years more (at least) and SA not meeeting some of its 2020 goals for DT.
The city should tell the TxDOT "no" on this one.

Ha!

Even if it weren't part of Amtrak of Aus-SA rail, it could be part of a future SA rail/BRT mass transit system. I'm just saying that if it does get built it should have that element. Planning for the future is the best way to get the future you want.

[miaht82]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

Ha!

Even if it weren't part of Amtrak of Aus-SA rail, it could be part of a future SA rail/BRT mass transit system. I'm just saying that if it does get built it should have that element. Planning for the future is the best way to get the future you want.

Sorry, I should have been clearer on my point (did I have one?)

My point was that there is a market for people choosing not drive between Austin and SA, for whatever reasons. Just like you said, I also believe that if it does get built, that it should contain another transit element built in. I think that (even if it is not all the way to Austin,) that there would be a market for people choosing to give up the keys along that corridor.

It appears that the map (however accurate) shows that they will start/end at around AT&T Center Pkwy; that might not serve well for FSH, but it would be good for AT&T Center events. Other than that, it could serve SAMMC-N, Rackspace, an existing Park & Ride, NE Methodist Hospital, & the Forum, just to name a few of the larger employers/landmarks along the corridor.

Will it happen???

[sirkingwilliam]

High Speed Rail Between San Antonio and Monterrey Proposed

1200 WOAI News has learned that officials in Texas and in Mexico are discussing the possibility of building a high speed rail link between San Antonio and Monterrey.

U.S. Rep Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) discussed the idea last week with Mexico's resident, Enrique Pena Nieto, in Mexico City. He says top Mexican transportation officials are also on board.

"You are talking about a couple hours when they could go from Monterrey to San Antonio," he said. "People from Monterrey could be in San Antonio in two hours, they could be here to do shopping, business leaders could make the trip in a very short time, I think it's a win win situation."

No price tag has been placed on the project, and no funding sources have been identified. Cuellar says it will be another year before a potential route is even determined.

[wwmiv]

That's actually a great idea.

[UrbanTrance]

Now that would be something.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

I'm not exactly sure what market they would be trying to capture with this. There's plenty of cheap bus service of course, but I'd imagine ticket prices for this would be closer to air travel prices, and as it is there's only one daily flight to Monterrey (Aeromexico) and one weekly flight (Interjet).

[cole world11]

Monterrey? I'd respectfully decline. We can't even get high speed rail between Austin. And now with the proposal to turn IH35 to a toll and SH130 free, if I were interested in high speed rail investment and had the money of course, I'd be looking at this corridor.

[21bl0wed]

Originally Posted by cole world11

Monterrey? I'd respectfully decline. We can't even get high speed rail between Austin. And now with the proposal to turn IH35 to a toll and SH130 free, if I were interested in high speed rail investment and had the money of course, I'd be looking at this corridor.

Yep exactly. Let's square things away properly with a local rail system before thinking internationally. Austin to sa is just so much more economically viable as well

[WorldTexas]

Originally Posted by 21bl0wed

Yep exactly. Let's square things away properly with a local rail system before thinking internationally. Austin to sa is just so much more economically viable as well

I'll say that a rail connection to Monterrey is more logistically complicated because of the border, but might get more political backing locally. Having worked with some of the higher up folks in local government there appears to be more love for Monterrey than Austin, at least in certain circles.

Depending on ticket price they'd probably aim at the middle market that typically would drive. That customer won't take the cheap buses but also won't fly either because of cost or because the daily flight is inconvenient.

The route would be slightly shorter than the Madrid-Barcelona AVE train, which you can do one way for about $60-80. I think if they could hit that same price level on this route there would be a decent market.

[whatdoyouwantandwhy]

While I agree with everyone that a rail link from SA to Austin is MUCH more logical and has a greater chance of success. If this rail ultimately made it into construction, I have no problem with that.

In fact even if it doesn't have as much ridership as an SA-Austin, it would provide economic growth and may even speed up the actual SA-Austin link.

[Sean1187]

Long time lurker here. Born and raised in SA, but now living in Phoenix.

Any early reports on how well Primo is doing? Is it meeting ridership expectations and do passengers seem to enjoy this form of transportation as opposed to the usual Via bus?

[STLtoSA]

Originally Posted by Sean1187

Long time lurker here. Born and raised in SA, but now living in Phoenix.

Any early reports on how well Primo is doing? Is it meeting ridership expectations and do passengers seem to enjoy this form of transportation as opposed to the usual Via bus?

It is just another bus. The city and VIA have not fully committed to it. I ride it 2-3 times per week to get to a park-n-ride. the only time I ever see anyone on it is if there is something going on downtown or if it is a Friday. Then again I ride it at the end of the line, so you could say that is expected.

[jaga185]

Originally Posted by Sean1187

Long time lurker here. Born and raised in SA, but now living in Phoenix.

Any early reports on how well Primo is doing? Is it meeting ridership expectations and do passengers seem to enjoy this form of transportation as opposed to the usual Via bus?

SEAN! It's me James. and yeah, it's pretty low key for now. It needs to have access to higher density locations, but for the time being, it's okay.