What did I learn about light rail, commuter rail, and, heavy rail in 2014?
Was what I learned technological, or cultural? Were the lessons learned related to what could have been done versus what should have done?
I guess most lessons that I learned relate to the destruction of more of my innocence concerning human nature, rather than to any technological answers to:
1. Planning good rail transportation systems is largely impossible in the US, based upon what has been built in the US for the last twenty years. The routing is cast in concrete long before public input is ever considered. Public input during the system and route layout phase is both largely ignored and after the fact.
Consequently, routing generally is too often is the result of self-serving big monied property interests, as well as regulatory requirements that aid huge contractors and promote using too much concrete and steel when building bridges, overpasses (drastically increases cost per mile), etc. While a vocal middle class centric community might affect station placement, community input seldom influences track layout.
2. The Denver system could have been world class. The Denver system should have been world class, because almost perfect track right-of-way was available prior to the build out phases through the urban core. The fact that did not (or will not) occur, is a function of the combination of financial genius and profound ignorance concerning just about everything else-too often present within the upper class.
Power succeeds over public need until times when the unwashed masses rise up and scare the ruling class into fixing a problem. In Denver, not enough of the unwashed masses rose up early enough during the system design phase to steer private money towards simultaneously making development both profitable and more public serving. Basically, from 1998 on, the potential for a world class urban rail system in metro Denver was lost.*
Denver’s steel rail system will not significantly affect metro level transportation patterns, other than result in more stick wall 4 to 6 story apartment buildings near transit stations (as the crow flies, not foot or bike distance) and non-pedestrian friendly office/retail space in station areas (again as the crow flies). Major transportation mode percentages will not change significantly except in localized areas.
3. The RTD rail system is not interested in making any rail improvements. Rather they are concerned with completing the system as designed. While RTD's determination is admirable, not remedying simple alignment problems is far cheaper before, rather than, after, neighboring lots are developed. Mistakes are largely "baked in" and have been so for 16 years.
4. Those interested in bringing new transit systems into being or making existing transit systems more effective, should not work in metro Denver except to go to "finishing" school (1 to 2 years) before leaving for somewhere else. Take the lessons about what not to do and go to cities where real potential for world class rail transit still exists and try not to repeat the same mistakes. Understand that despite the good intent of so many planners, the efforts of so many thinkers, and, the millions of hours of "study" the result likely will be mediocre, if not "banal."
Cities with:
Good rail right-of way connections through downtown (preserve “higher speed” through connections at all costs: through downtown right-of-way is worth hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, per mile)
Good right of ways radiating from downtown along existing or mothballed rail line routes.
Right of way opportunities along divided highway and/or freeway medians.
Possible opportunities for circular loops around downtowns.
An upper class more willing to plan for a less auto centric society (look at having 20 to 25% of transportation needs HAVING to be provided via public transportation…..
Wizened Variations
How to get something DONE and done right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s__ysTCD1wo
____________________________________________________________________________
*same seat travel through the urban core between suburbs; stations with passing tracks (for a two track main line, a minimum of 3, preferably 4 tracks at passing stations; platform to platform transfers, passenger car floor level platforms, maximizing turn radii for curves that cannot be avoided, shortest possible distance between origination and destination points, higher speed crossover switches, lowest possible line gradient, and preferentially using parallel roads to reduce the number of road level crossings. If you want to learn 95% of how good passenger steel rail, monorail, high speed rail and even limited access expressways can be, study Japan's rail, bus, and, turnpikes. Despite my sounding like a broken record, go there yourself for two weeks for the sole purpose of studying Japanese trains. You will learn more about good rail design during these two weeks than you would learn from the majority of master's level transportation programs in the US.
Prev
Linear Mode
