Metro Phoenix Transit/Transportation Developments

[Obadno]

Just like the infrastructure plan of 2009

How many times must we run through this charade.

As much as like trains for completely absurd reasons they are useless in the vast majority of the united states

Great you got a high speed train between San Diego and Tucson (Slower and more expensive than a plane !) at either end there is not the density nor the local mass transit to make taking a train around worthwhile.

Even in the areas we think of as dense and urban 70% of the Metro areas are only accessible by car.

Outside of a few regions like the Northeast and Bay area there is quite literally no point in high speed trains. Complete waste

[YourBuddy]

Originally Posted by soled

I haven't been on an Amtrak for decades(DC to NY a few times), so this might be a dumb question, but what are the drawbacks now?

I just saw this video and they seem pretty cool. And honestly, this might be a great option for getting to Vegas or the LA area.

https://www.afar.com/magazine/amtrak...more-efficient

The drawbacks are Amtrak isn’t actually a high speed train. If the goal is to create an option with somewhat reasonable total travel times to get people out of planes then that is great. 160 mph seems to be the top speed of these trains unless there is some new train I’m not aware of.

[YourBuddy]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Just like the infrastructure plan of 2009

How many times must we run through this charade.

As much as like trains for completely absurd reasons they are useless in the vast majority of the united states

Great you got a high speed train between San Diego and Tucson (Slower and more expensive than a plane !) at either end there is not the density nor the local mass transit to make taking a train around worthwhile.

Even in the areas we think of as dense and urban 70% of the Metro areas are only accessible by car.

Outside of a few regions like the Northeast and Bay area there is quite literally no point in high speed trains. Complete waste

If you had an actual maglev that could go 250 mph and didn’t have to show up an hour early like they recommend people do for flights you are absolutely competing in travel time between a train and plane.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by YourBuddy

If you had an actual maglev that could go 250 mph and didn’t have to show up an hour early like they recommend people do for flights you are absolutely competing in travel time between a train and plane.

If Elon could build Hyperloop Pneumatic trains everywhere it wouldn't matter but we dont have unicorns shitting bubblegum so whats your point?

[YourBuddy]

Originally Posted by Obadno

If Elon could build Hyperloop Pneumatic trains everywhere it wouldn't matter but we dont have unicorns shitting bubblegum so whats your point?

Maglev is real and applicable now. Hyper loop will not be for a very long time.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by YourBuddy

Maglev is real and applicable now. Hyper loop will not be for a very long time.

Maglev aint never happening in any large scale capacity.

Come back to earth friend.

[azsunsurfer]

How cool would MagLev be for light rail, it be fun to see it hover while its waiting at stop lights!

[YourBuddy]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Maglev aint never happening in any large scale capacity.

Come back to earth friend.

I just want the US to pretend to be the best country in the world like it claims to be. You are probably right tho we will never invest to compete with other countries that are crushing the world in maglev infrastructure.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by YourBuddy

I just want the US to pretend to be the best country in the world like it claims to be. You are probably right tho we will never invest to compete with other countries that are crushing the world in maglev infrastructure.

High speed trains DO NOT MAKE SENSE in the usa outside of a few regions

thats it, even in most of the cities we consider "Urban" its only a small area of those urban sprawls

Its a waste of money, you arbitrarily have assigned trains, a relatively ancient technology, as "modern" and some "demonstration" of national prominence based on nothing but it happens to be fashionable among some circles.

You'd fit right in with the 1870's aristocrats I guess.

[YourBuddy]

Originally Posted by Obadno

High speed trains DO NOT MAKE SENSE in the usa outside of a few regions

thats it, even in most of the cities we consider "Urban" its only a small area of those urban sprawls

Its a waste of money, you arbitrarily have assigned trains, a relatively ancient technology, as "modern" and some "demonstration" of national prominence based on nothing but it happens to be fashionable among some circles.

You'd fit right in with the 1870's aristocrats I guess.

1. That is just an indictment on how far behind the US is.

2.You realize it is just as arbitrary for you to decide what is a waste of money and what isn’t. I would build for the future growth through density and a far cleaner energy.

[biggus diggus]

Calling high speed rail a waste of money is a fairly interesting statement. Do you have a lot of experience in the public transit sector? Some times we build things that have low demand now in anticipation of high demand later. I'm sure plenty of people viewed the 303 as a waste of money. I remember when the 101 was under construction and all the people - myself included - asking why they would spend all that money on a road to nowhere? It isn't a road to nowhere now, is it?

I've used HSR extensively in Japan and Italy. Plenty of trains go through plenty of very rural and sparsely populated areas. I think it's interesting to envision HSR running between, say, Phoenix and LA. If $20 - $50 got me to Union Station in a couple hours I would very likely make use of that several times a year. It's a 20 minute ride to Los Feliz on the red line. I'm just one guy but with how many flights go back and forth every day I'm not sure how someone could imply HSR wouldn't be used.

[Obadno]

Oh wow you used HSR in countries with vastly more density and very low car ownership in cities that have a pre-automobile dense built environment.

Well shit! Lets build a Train from Denver to St. louis

LMAO I have a degree in urban planning (AKA WASTE OF TIME) and I have read endlessly on trains, rails transportation.

HSR or any sort of useful national network is a complete and utter waste of time and money.

Even if built it will hardly be used because we simply lack the necessary conditions for it to be useful

[biggus diggus]

I'm just curious, are you a Trump guy?

[combusean]

>Its a waste of money, you arbitrarily have assigned trains, a relatively ancient technology,

The age of a technology is irrelevant when performance is all that matters.

The wheel is thousands of years old. The UNIX systems on this server and underpinning your smart phone got their start in 1969. HSR is newer than safe reliable passenger jets by several years, however. You want something time-tested in transportation or you get white elephants.

[soled]

Originally Posted by YourBuddy

The drawbacks are Amtrak isn’t actually a high speed train. If the goal is to create an option with somewhat reasonable total travel times to get people out of planes then that is great. 160 mph seems to be the top speed of these trains unless there is some new train I’m not aware of.

250mph would certainly be more impressive, but if this high-speed Amtrak brought a 2 hour and 15-minute ride to Vegas it'd be worth it for me.

The time would be comparable to a flight + all the security, and parking distance issues. And the comfort and accommodations in that video are a lot more appealing than the cramped, minimalist seating in a plane.

[Obadno]

Lmao, You people are fooling yourselves. A national rail network in the usa is asinine.

Have fun with this pipe dream.

[MMDelon]

If I am Phoenix and Las Vegas I am jumping at the opportunity of HSR. I would 1000% take HSR from Phoenix to Las Vegas or Phoenix to San Diego or LA. My fear is that a lot of ppl will move to Phoenix or Las Vegas to travel to Cali.

[Camelback]

High-speed works in a few areas of the country. Arizona won't be one of those places that the Federal Government wants to invest $50 billion to connect Phoenix to LA over other areas that should already have high-speed in place. We're not there yet. California is struggling to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco and that is one of the places that makes sense to me. The costs to connect those two cities in the same state is approaching $100 billion and is indefinitely delayed at this point.

I don't have faith that Amtrak will be able to use $80 billion in funds to improve the nation's network existing network, let alone build new high-speed routes. Amtrak's proposal still has the Phoenix to LA route going through Yuma for Christs sake.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by MMDelon

If I am Phoenix and Las Vegas I am jumping at the opportunity of HSR. I would 1000% take HSR from Phoenix to Las Vegas or Phoenix to San Diego or LA. My fear is that a lot of ppl will move to Phoenix or Las Vegas to travel to Cali.

Brightline West will extended from Las Vegas to Phoenix and Tucson. This is for HSR. I can take a trains from Phoenix to Las Vegas. No more flying or taking a bus.

[phoenixwillrise]

In California the attempt to build a small portion of the route from L.A. to S.F.
is a laughable disaster. Why did they not first stick to what I call low tech rail and double up first on all rail lines from San Diego to L.A? The right of ways are already there. It's a joke that when traveling from San Diego to L.A there are portions where you have to wait for the train coming from the opposite direction. Why not use those right of ways build numerous new bridges etc and make low tech rail fast and efficient first before going off on the grandiose high speed train that has tremendous cost over runs and goes nowhere? You first square away low tech rail running from San Diego to L.A. then Santa Barbara then from there to S.F. You make it efficient and they, the riders, will come. Then and only then do you upgrade to high speed rail. Who the hell is in charge of the this kind of folly? Comforting to know that our new U.S. Secretary of Transportation only experience, (in his own words), with transportation is that he likes to ride on Amtrak Trains. Are you freaking kidding me? So I like to go to professional baseball games so does that means they should make me a general manager? WTF?