Salt Lake City | Transit and Airport Developments
Fellow Forumer SLCrising takes us to the debut of Salt Lake City's new Commuter, "FrontRunner" and the new 400 West TRAX light rail line
http://www.provo.org/img/Image/mayor/railcar.jpg UTA :banana: :banana: UTA FrontRunner up and running today:banana: :banana: Beginning Monday, the new downtown TRAX intermodal line will connect FrontRunner passengers with light-rail... http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1...273908,00.html All Pics by SLCrising Quote:
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Looks great! I checked out the schedule - that's amazing frequency for a new commuter rail line:
http://www.rideuta.com/projects/commuterRail/maps.aspx |
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We have a real opportunity here to get people out of their cars and an expanded schedule to fit many peoples' schedules will do just that. The air quality here can get bad as we live in a bowl, so this is just what was needed. Come down to SLC sometime and check it out!! |
Just wanted to thank Delts145....
...for starting this thread, it gives alot of people outside our area to see what is going on here in Northern Utah.
I was real fortunate to get close to the two locomotives that came nose to nose during the opening ceremonies today. If you are outside of our state, you might remember that back in the mid 19th Century, the construction of the Trans Continental railroads was completed here in Utah. It is referred to as the Golden Spike. But anyhow, the nose-to-nose of the locos was done as a symbolic gesture of that achievement. It is a reminder of how we have progressed in Transportation in this country, yet looks forward to the many, many possibilities that lie ahead. I suspect gas will exceed $4 a gallon in most parts of the country soon, so let us look as this as a way to promote a greener Earth. SLCrising P.S. Our transit agency has begun planning a 50 mile extension of FrontRunner to the south. |
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They're currently considering another ballot measure for November - one option is add another 12 trips (6 RT) on the Tacoma Sounder line. Here's the latest expansion proposal: http://future.soundtransit.org/proposed.aspx Congrats on launching the new SLC line! |
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Congrats on the Commuter Rail!
Are there any LRV purchases required for TRAX? Quote:
I noticed quite a few future LRT projects on the website, how bad are your NIMBYs? ;) |
^ this isn't a light rail line, its heavy rail. Really, really heavy too - the specs on those locos are ~150 tons!
I'm pretty amazed to see that you guys get all-day schedule. That's more than just mere 'commuter rail.' |
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Hey Zilfondel, There was the inaguration yesterday of both the 'Commuter FrontRunner,' (heavy rail) and also the new '400 West TRAX lightrail line' was just completed. Both are shown in SLCrising's pics. :tup: FrontRunner service starts amid festivities - Officials hail return of cummuter rail to Utah http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1...274205,00.html Kids and Trains, "You got to love it!!" :haha: http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/midres/5434627.jpg ( Keith Johnson, Dereret News) http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/midres/5434616.jpg (Keith Johnson, Deseret News) A FrontRunner Commuter-rail train arrives Saturday at the new intermodal hub in Salt Lake City. ( Keith Johnson, Dereret News) http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/midres/5434629.jpg Children line the tracks at the Farmington station on Saturday as they wait for the arrival of the FrontRunner commuter-rail train. Celebrations were held all along the route. (Keith Johnson, Deseret News) . |
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I've never seen such clamoring for mass-transit by the general populace. I think a lot of it has to do with so many newbys moving in from the coasts, where commuter rail is prevalent. Also, there's a significant part of the adult population which have served as missionarys in all parts of the world, where of course commuter service is highly valued. As far as scheduling frequency, that will continue to increase as new lines continue to open and the ongoing boom of TOD's, a new stadium, and the 'Downtown density boom' comes on-line. |
Is a train every 15 minutes really that infrequent?
I would imagine that is right about where other cities are with light rail, no? When you consider that the lines come together downtown at staggered times, there is a train through downtown every 7 minutes. Not bad if you ask me. Here's a new map of the system for those who are interested: http://www.rideuta.com/images/08NEWRailCarMap.jpg The red and blue lines are existing light rail, the purple is the new commuter rail line, and the rest are in various stages of planning and construction. The plan is to have them all finished by 2015: http://www.rideuta.com/projects/fron.../overview.aspx |
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Nice. How much does it cost?
I think all your transit officials should come to Philadelphia! :jester: Then we could have good transit, too! |
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Looking at pictures of low floor stations makes me jealous though, can't wait until our future SE line gets built since its likely to be similar design. |
The commuter rail looks really nice. The light rail...not so much.
It looks high floor...is it? Its a bit pricey for what it is. The website sucks The frequencies are slow. Its a start though, hopefully itll get better. The frequencies on the commuter rail are very impressive. |
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This is evident when you look at the amount of new residential condo projects being constructed in the city core. |
For me 15 minute frequency would be "check the schedule and arrive a few minutes prior" frequency.
For the city I consider 5 minutes or better "frequent", 6-10 minutes "semi-frequent", and 11+ minutes "infrequent". You can't expect the same in the outer suburbs, so there I consider 10 minutes or better to be excellent frequency, and even 15 minutes to be very good. If you're very patient, 15 minutes might be fine. |
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Living in Toronto, 15 minutes is a pretty long wait for me. But when I used to live in Brampton, 15 minutes was high frequency service, and I thought it was pretty good.
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SLC isn't DC or Toronto.
The frequencies on both the commuter rail and light rail are INCREDIBLE for a city of SLC's density and the length of time that each train has existed. Bravo. I know I've seen mention of several TOD's happening - how successful have these been? What has been the density of these projects? |
To answer some of the questions that have been asked:
Light rails cars are high floor, the Commuter Rail cars are bi-level but the lower level is flush with the platform, so you might call that "low-floor" A monthly pass for Frontrunner and the rest of the system is $145 A monthly pass for light rail/bus only is around $50 Most of the new TOD's are still under construction. There are a few townhouse/condo developments that are doing quite well along the original light rail line, but nothing that is truly mixed use has been finished yet. |
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