AUSTIN | Transportation Updates - Page 2

Lextx97 · #21 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 2:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAM

Call it what you may, but that is not an express bus. It sits in traffic just like the cars. If there was a dedicated HOV lane as Houston has, then I would agree with you.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

M1EK · #22 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 2:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lextx97

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

"express" just means "fewer stops", and yes, it does sit in traffic with the cars - but it'll still get you to the Northwest Park-and-Ride quicker than a 1.5 walk to the train station + train ride will.

I'm the last guy to be defending buses, normally, since I'm the light rail guy, but come on. You have to add that 1.5 mile walk time into your comparison. (Or, add in the stuck-in-traffic shuttle-bus ride to the train station plus the waiting time for _that_ bus).

At some point in the distant future, might a 1.5 walk to train station + train ride beat a direct express bus ride stuck-in-traffic? Sure. Do I think we'll ever get there? No. Downtown development would sputter if/when traffic got that much worse than today (with no real alternative to driving), and note that light rail directly to downtown destinations is off the table, thanks to idiots supporting commuter rail.

M1EK · #23 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 2:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAM

I could have sworn that the Convention Center termination point is still in flux. to be precise, the exact GPS coordinate has not been resolved?

Whether it's in front of Brush Square or the CC itself is in flux - the fact that it's not going to be at Seaholm is not. I don't even think they could extend it to Brazos without another vote.

here's the current plan by the way - Brush Square.

JAM · #24 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 5:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by M1EK

Whether it's in front of Brush Square or the CC itself is in flux - the fact that it's not going to be at Seaholm is not. I don't even think they could extend it to Brazos without another vote.

here's the current plan by the way - Brush Square.

So is one site option pretty much across the street from the other? What are the factors in what side of 4th St the downtown terminator will be placed? Seems like the convention center would provide better shelter from weather.

These appear to be the direct links to pdf files for the park side plan:

http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/dow...20plan%202.pdf

http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/dow...ite%20plan.pdf

ATXboom · #25 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 6:25 PM**

Wow... that really creates a need to move the fire station and finally do something relevent with Brushy square!

I could see an outdoor market on the land plus the historical site itself.

KevinFromTexas · #26 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 6:57 PM**

^ Yeah, you'd think with a proposed rail stop there so close to a fire station in downtown that that could be a safety issue with getting fire trucks out quick enough and safely around trains and a bunch of pedestrians.

M1EK · #27 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 9:10 PM**

You know, I often get attacked for being a broken record on this stuff, but then, even here, where people ought to know better, I have to repeat:

We're talking about a train every 30 minutes during rush hour only, and one train in the middle of the day; with no trains at night at all. Not going to be a problem for the fire station, and not going to be a stimulus at all for Brush Square.

ATXboom · #28 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 9:48 PM**

IF CapMetro wants to increase ridership its quite obvious if you run the trains as often as possible on UT game days and more importantly Friday and Saturday evenings from 6:30PM till 3:30AM they would get more folks on board than a weeks worth of rush hours...

What would prevent something like this from happening??

JAM · #29 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 9:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATXboom

IF CapMetro wants to increase ridership its quite obvious if you run the trains as often as possible on UT game days and more importantly Friday and Saturday evenings from 6:30PM till 3:30AM they would get more folks on board than a weeks worth of rush hours...

What would prevent something like this from happening??

drunk idiots that have no respect for Austin's community property.

paulsjv · #30 Posted **Aug 16, 2007, 9:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATXboom

IF CapMetro wants to increase ridership its quite obvious if you run the trains as often as possible on UT game days and more importantly Friday and Saturday evenings from 6:30PM till 3:30AM they would get more folks on board than a weeks worth of rush hours...

I'll beat M1 to the punch! hehe... People still have to walk a long ways from the station to the game/club and according to M1, who I'm assuming knows of the studies that have been done people aren't going to walk very far. They'd rather drive.

What needs to happen is $20 per/gal gas. Then maybe people will start thinking differently towards transportation.

Saddle Man · #31 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 12:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

^ Yeah, you'd think with a proposed rail stop there so close to a fire station in downtown that that could be a safety issue with getting fire trucks out quick enough and safely around trains and a bunch of pedestrians.

The firetrucks use 5th to go east, Trinity to go north (some times 5th and then Red River to go north), Trinity and then 6th to go west, and 5th and then the 35 feeder to go south. The trucks never go on 4th when leaving. I've watched them leave multiple times a day every day for the last year. The train won't affect to firetrucks at all.

Jdawgboy · #32 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 1:46 AM**

Look I was in downtown yesterday with a friend, we parked way over in the west end because there was no parking near the Second street district wich is where we were going and we did not have a problem with the walk from 10th and Rio Grand to 2nd. I always walk from one end of downtown to the other because I find it quicker than to wait for the bus. M1EK you say that it is an anomaly for people to walk from one end to the other in downtown but I find it the oppososite I know a great many people wo prefer to walk than to wait for a bus or try to fight traffic in a car. And honestly people in this city are more health oriented and know that its better to walk a mile and a half than to sit in a car or bus.

M1EK · #33 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 1:32 PM**

JDawg, we're talking about an office worker who currently drives to work; not a partygoer going to 6th street (the train won't run for them anyways).

arbeiter · #34 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 4:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by M1EK

We're talking about a train every 30 minutes during rush hour only, and one train in the middle of the day; with no trains at night at all. Not going to be a problem for the fire station, and not going to be a stimulus at all for Brush Square.

WE KNOW!

Saddle Man · #35 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 4:51 PM**

/\/\/\ It often doesn't seems like people know though.

ATXboom · #36 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 6:16 PM**

Its not going to be... but it could. With the right motivation and vision it could transform the square - in fact all down town parks could be much more packed if there was more VMU tightly wrapped around... give people areas to lunch outside, etc.

The potential is there... even without light rail... Frequency and timing must be changed.

Drives me nuts not seeing something live up to its potential.

M1EK · #37 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 6:44 PM**

Say it with me, including you, arbeiter: IT'S NOT, NOR WILL IT EVER BE, LIGHT RAIL.

arbeiter · #38 Posted **Aug 17, 2007, 7:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by M1EK

Say it with me, including you, arbeiter: IT'S NOT, NOR WILL IT EVER BE, LIGHT RAIL.

oh, i know this. I left Austin years ago and one of the seven or eight reasons was because light rail failed. Austin is not a progressive city in most senses of the word, at least in the 21st century. It is a highly delusional large suburb with decent high-tech and university presence.

M1EK · #39 Posted **Aug 18, 2007, 12:24 AM**

Seaholm has been discussed as an intermodal transportation hub; and many people still think commuter rail is going there. In this case, somebody pointed out that the center of 'downtown' was moving even farther away from the one lonely corner where the commuter rail line will actually stop.

JAM · #40 Posted **Aug 18, 2007, 5:42 AM**

IMHO, I feel the rail is relevant to the Seaholm area. It may be a major transport junction in the future. Analogous to Grand Central Station of New York, but of course, one or two centuries behind. I appreciate M1 and his consistent belief and expertise in the rail matters. He has educated all of us. Don't under estimate his knowledge, even though you may not like it or agree. Even though he can be abrasive, he is educational. I respect his opinion. I do wish he was a little more optimistic, but understand his stance in the matter. In any regard, that is why this board exists, to learn from one another. If we all conform, then we may as well be running the establishment. I will never give up as an optimist - that is my weakness. In my mind, this rail design is only a small step in the evolution of what will become a total mass transit plan for the Austin metro area. And am looking forward too it!