AUSTIN | Transportation Updates

[M1EK]

On the first day of pay service, the Red Line got 917 boardings. (A boarding is a one-way trip; don't know how they have been dealing with joyriders who never left their seat downtown though).

Ben Wear's blog

Capital Metro tallied 917 MetroRail boardings today, the first day that the transit agency charged for rides on the new commuter rail line.
Agency officials have predicted 2,000 daily boardings.

In a thread on twitter with Roger Cauvin, I finally went out on a limb last week and predicted ridership would be 500-1000 boardings/day when things settled down (if Capital Metro allowed them to settle down before cancelling express bus service).

[nixcity]

^and some will say, oh yea, but it was cheap. That's like those that buy things on sale and then never even use them. And not really cheap, again, even though light rail will cost an arm and a leg it should end up being less per person.

[bluedogok]

Originally Posted by M1EK

Typical response, but ignorant. It only takes ONE person to stop on the tracks to ruin things for thousands for a day or longer. And you'll never get to the point where NOBODY will stop on the tracks in an intersection like 51st/Airport was - where you effectively have to stop on the tracks at certain parts of the day unless you want to wait an undetermined number of additional light cycles to get through (could be 1, could be 10; no way of knowing).

Especially given that this intersection 'worked' with people stopping on the tracks for decades, given that the rail service was one or two freight trains a week operating overnight at 5-10 MPH.

Why is it ignorant? It would seem putting yourself on the tracks and being ignorant that a train might hit you is beyond ignorant, it is stupidity. I don't want anyone to get hit but I am just tired of people excusing stupidity and putting the blame on everyone but the cause of the stupidity. Maybe it's because I grew up riding motorcycles and learned the cause/effect of my own stupid actions, I found out stupid hurt. Too many people seem to have never figured that out...but then I also guess "common sense" isn't so common anymore.

I grew up with railroad right-of-way with a spur line next to our backyard (it just a great source of enjoyment as a kid, pretty much a park outside our back yard) that had nothing more than "Railroad Crossing" signs on every street other than the main section line roads, those were the only ones that received lights, gates didn't come until the later 70's. Only the main line trains on the major roads had crossing gates as far back as I can remember, the secondary roads had lights.

In regards to light cycles, this place is a massive cluster all over town, that one is not exclusive. I still think restricting right turn on red, stopping behind the tracks, even using the crossing gate if need be on that one lane and actually putting a decent cycle on that light (that may be the hardest thing for the city to do) would go a long ways toward correcting an issue that ultimately rests on the individual decision to park on the track or not.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by bluedogok

As far as I am concerned if that happens then it is the fault of the car driver, too many people operating vehicles are just too stupid and oblivious to their surroundings for their own good. How many flags and DO NOT STOP ON TRACKS signs are needed to let these clueless wonders know that a train might be coming?

Agreed, to a point. You live near me, you're familiar with the crossing at Stassney and also up at Matthews and even Vinson. I think people who have lived near tracks for so long become very cautious of trains, and not just in their neighborhood either. A few years ago someone was actually hit and killed in their car by a train at Stassney. I've always respected the trains, but I don't think everyone else does or maybe they just forget.

Anyway, I would imagine a lot of the people crossing those tracks up at 51st Street don't actually live in that neighborhood. 51st is a fairly busy street despite being just 2 lanes.

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by bluedogok

Why is it ignorant?

The ignorance comes in when you think a campaign of education and ticketing can substitute for intersection design - when there's tens of thousands of people travelling through that intersection every day; not necessarily the SAME folks every day (hundreds of thousands of people who hit it at least once per year, let's say), and it only takes ONE person doing the 'wrong' thing to ruin everything.

That means that an education campaign that's, say, 99.999% effective would still fail.

Also, again, people are being ignorant of WHY people are stopping on the tracks there. It's because at certain times of day you could end up having to wait a few additional (very long) light cycles if you don't; and there's no way to predict how long that'll be.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by M1EK

Also, again, people are being ignorant of WHY people are stopping on the tracks there. It's because at certain times of day you could end up having to wait a few additional (very long) light cycles if you don't; and there's no way to predict how long that'll be.

I'll agree you can't educate stupidity out of people. But traffic delays caused by the signal light isn't the reason so many are parking on the tracks there.
It's turning traffic off Clarkson Avenue that are stopping on the railroad tracks at 51st Street, or 51st Street traffic cutting off turning traffic off Clarkson. It seems most drivers can't stand others cutting in in front of them even when the signal light is red.

The most expensive solution that will work is to gate not only 51st Street at the crossing, but to gate all the approaches to the intersection at 51st and Clarkson. I don't think they have to at 53rd Street because there is plenty of room on 53rd for more than a few cars to wait at the signal light at Airport, even though there is the complication of Bruning Avenue west of the railroad crossing too. I also don't think there's a problem at 45th because 45th has the right-of-way and can easily block turners from Clarkson.

If it were me, I would close the 51st Street railroad crossing and force all the traffic to cross at 53rd Street. It's just two short blocks out of the way. Another possibility is to close sections of Clarkson and force the neighborhood traffic to the intersection of 51st Street and Caswell Avenue. Although I prefer closing the 51st Street crossing best.

Although 51st Street approach from the west gets signal preemption with the signal light at Airport on the approach of the train that should clear the tracks, there's always the possibility a car will stall on the tracks. No signal preemption is going to move a stalled car. That''s why you should never stop a car on any track. That''s why CapMetro is making so much fuss over this.....

And please don't suggest cars don't stall now and then...

[M1EK]

How does a guy up in the Metroplex think he knows more about why cars are on the tracks than people in Austin who drive through it weekly (if not more often) anyways?

There's at least three movements through there that are a problem; the right turn off Clarkson is only one of them. The one I wrote about a while back was the left turn ONTO Clarkson FROM 51st (the only way to definitely avoid stopping on the tracks would be to wait on the other side of Airport until everything was completely clear all the way to Clarkson on the other side, which is quite difficult during heavy traffic - and likely to just have somebody else cut in front).

[wwmiv]

I really hate it when people quibble over current location. Just because the dude lives in the Metroplex currently does NOT mean he can't intelligently talk about an issue in Austin. I live in San Antonio. Does that mean I can't talk about this? No.

[M1EK]

He has no experience with Austin - and has no way of judging why people are stopping on those particular tracks. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by M1EK

He has no experience with Austin - and has no way of judging why people are stopping on those particular tracks. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

You don't think Dallas and Fort Worth, which have had local passenger trains for almost 15 years, don't have similar intersections close to railroad crossings? To suggest that Texans in Dallas drive differently than Texans in Austin is telling one huge lie.

The truth is that DART, TRE, and DCTA have been willing to close dangerous intersections when necessary, or willing to redesign them to make them more safe. Has the City of Austin been willing to close any railroad crossings, or been willing to redesign them? Apparently not.

I still think 51st Street crossing should be closed. There's no valid reason to have two railroad crossings just two small city blocks apart in a residential neighborhood. There's no valid reason to have two through arterial streets two small cty blocks apart in a residential neighborhood either, whether there are railroad tracks in the residential neighborhood or not.

There's no reason why 51st Street can't be the main arterial street east of Airport Blvd. while 53rd Street is the main arterial street west of Airport Blvd. CapMetro doesn't have the power to close any part of city streets, that power lies exclusively with the City of Austin.

[alexjon]

M1EK telling folks they can't comment on cities they don't live in/"have experience with"?

I didn't realize today was jump the shark day at SSP, gosh. I shouldn't drink coffee at this rate, I keep laughing it up.

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by electricron

You don't think Dallas and Fort Worth, which have had local passenger trains for almost 15 years, don't have similar intersections close to railroad crossings? To suggest that Texans in Dallas drive differently than Texans in Austin is telling one huge lie.

The truth is that DART, TRE, and DCTA have been willing to close dangerous intersections when necessary, or willing to redesign them to make them more safe. Has the City of Austin been willing to close any railroad crossings, or been willing to redesign them? Apparently not.

I still think 51st Street crossing should be closed. There's no valid reason to have two railroad crossings just two small city blocks apart in a residential neighborhood. There's no valid reason to have two through arterial streets two small cty blocks apart in a residential neighborhood either, whether there are railroad tracks in the residential neighborhood or not.

There's no reason why 51st Street can't be the main arterial street east of Airport Blvd. while 53rd Street is the main arterial street west of Airport Blvd. CapMetro doesn't have the power to close any part of city streets, that power lies exclusively with the City of Austin.

There's too much traffic during peak hours to funnel crossings of Airport Boulevard to one rather than both of these streets without expanding both (really, you're declaring that your single E-W corridor between 38 1/2th and 2222 now uses both streets AND Airpot Boulevard). Another detail that's hard to know if you haven't been in the area during rush hour.

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by alexjon

M1EK telling folks they can't comment on cities they don't live in/"have experience with"?

That isn't what I said, but feel free to continue to shine on, you crazy diamond.

[BlueEyes_Austin]

Originally Posted by M1EK

There's too much traffic during peak hours to funnel crossings of Airport Boulevard to one rather than both of these streets without expanding both (really, you're declaring that your single E-W corridor between 38 1/2th and 2222 now uses both streets AND Airpot Boulevard). Another detail that's hard to know if you haven't been in the area during rush hour.

45th Street here, remember me?

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by BlueEyes_Austin

45th Street here, remember me?

Doesn't cross Airport. The whole problem is getting from I-35 (and points east) to Lamarish (points West of Airport).

[The ATX]

Maybe Kevin can change the name of this thread to "MIEK's Transportation Answers"

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

Maybe Kevin can change the name of this thread to "MIEK's Transportation Answers"

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by M1EK

Doesn't cross Airport. The whole problem is getting from I-35 (and points east) to Lamarish (points West of Airport).

Yeah, that short block from IH35 via Airport Blvd. is a real deal breaker!

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Yeah, that short block from IH35 via Airport Blvd. is a real deal breaker!

If you think most people consider getting on Airport east of I-35 and then continuing west on 45th to be an E-W corridor, then you've got yourself an answer. That's a pretty big if, though.

[M1EK]

Ben Wear got the numbers, finally

What a difference $3 can make.

Specifically, the distinction between MetroRail's free first-week rides and the cost of a one-way ticket in the second week was ridership that fell from an average of almost 2,900 boardings a day to about 1,000 daily boardings when people had to pay. That's about half of what Capital Metro has projected ridership will average in the first year of the Red Line, and it equates to about 500 people using the commuter line to get to and from work.

My prediction, reluctantly given to Roger Cauvin, was that ridership would be 500-1000 boardings/day after things settle down (before they start cancelling express buses). I don't think the second week is 'settled down', by the way; I expect further drops next week.

For reference, the 2000 light rail line was projected to have somewhere in the high 30,000s to low 40,000s after settling out. We can now never build that line, thanks to this 500-person carrying commuter line that doesn't serve Austin.