DENVER | Transportation Thread - Page 51

Octavian · #**1001** Posted **Jul 1, 2009, 4:36 PM**

Snyder, integrate these technical requirement into your maps: For HSR, the radius of curves must be no less than 200 meters. The platform length must be between 300 to 400 meters long, and probably 60 meters wide.

As for DIA, they plan on expanding soon. Take a look at the presentations at this link for details.

http://www.flydenver.com/diabiz/comm...plan/index.asp

Octavian · #**1002** Posted **Jul 5, 2009, 11:50 PM**

A long Denver Post article on Fastracks:

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_12755554

Quote:

The Regional Transportation District's FasTracks commuter rail project, reeling from soaring costs and plummeting revenues, faces critical challenges that could derail the $7 billion project.

RTD is looking for a new leader. It is scrambling to execute a crucial public-private partnership worth more than $2 billion. And it must return to voters for a second tax increase, probably next year, amid tough economic times and doubts about its handling of FasTracks.

Follow the link for charts and the rest.

Pizzuti · #**1003** Posted **Jul 6, 2009, 12:10 AM**

Maybe DIA could build its own light rail station and corridor as part of its "expansion" that is already being funded.

That way RTD can use the funds from that route to build other lines, and avoid the potentially problematic burden of asking for a tax increase while the economy is doing poorly.

wong21fr · #**1004** Posted **Jul 6, 2009, 4:08 PM**

Yeah, I'm sure DIA has an extra $1.4 billion dollars lying around for the project.

The expansion is projected to cost $ 1 billion and I doubt that the airport authority would consider the East corridor a good funding option, though they are building one of six stations along the line.

It's funny, but two years from now this entire drama could be rendered mute if the new federal transportation bill is really going to have as much of a increase for mass transit as has been hinted at.

Airliners 2000 · #**1005** Posted **Jul 6, 2009, 5:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pizzuti

Maybe DIA could build its own light rail station and corridor as part of its "expansion" that is already being funded.

That way RTD can use the funds from that route to build other lines, and avoid the potentially problematic burden of asking for a tax increase while the economy is doing poorly.

DIA is building its own station along with a few rail bridges including one over Peña Blvd. This is part of the $1 billion redevelopment project announced a few days ago.

Octavian · #**1006** Posted **Jul 6, 2009, 7:27 PM**

Another Fastracks Article:

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_12755420

Quote:

RTD's problems with the commuter rail facility show how unforeseen events and delays — some call it poor planning and execution — have helped to drive up FasTracks' costs.

"They don't think things through initially and look at all the factors. Then they put on their blinders and don't listen to anybody," said Mickey Zeppelin, who fought RTD over its plan to build its maintenance facility next to his Taxi development on Ringsby Court. "They start with bad information and then go forward from there until they get clobbered. By then, they've spent a fortune on studies and consulting fees."

glowrock · #**1007** Posted **Jul 6, 2009, 8:34 PM**

It's not "unforeseen events and delays -- some call it poor planning and execution", it's NIMBYism, pure and simple! Noone wants a rail maintenance facility next to them, but RTD only had x number of location choices, and x wasn't very large.

Is it really fair to force RTD into having a huge "NIMBYism contingency fund" for lack of a better word? While SOME of the cost overruns could have (and probably should have) been predicted by RTD years ago, MOST of them are due to no fault of its own.

Aaron (Glowrock)

BroncosCountry · #**1008** Posted **Jul 7, 2009, 5:36 AM**

Yep, I'm thinking now is the time to dig our heels in. We can't let this project slip away from us. If we do, it will cost us the sustainability we need NOW. It's time to sh*t or get off the pot. Time to coordinate and stand up for our rights.

Crazy stuff is happening right now and if our funds get sucked up in the recession, Denver will be SOL. We will soon need to be able to get by without oil; and as this blog proves, we can get by without it as long as we have decent transit system: http://ayearofbikecommuting.blogspot...max-results=50

wong21fr · #**1009** Posted **Jul 7, 2009, 4:44 PM**

^Except for the lube the guy was using, that's more than likely petroleum based.

cadetwhite · #**1010** Posted **Jul 8, 2009, 5:11 AM**

We do need oil for plenty of non-auto uses. That's just another reason why we shouldn't be burning the stuff at such an astounding rate.

SnyderBock · #**1011** Posted **Jul 8, 2009, 6:01 AM**

Our countries plan is to burn up all the world's oil, while saving as much of ours as possible. Then when the whole world is no longer oil dependent, but still dependent on oil bi-products, the USA will have the largest available remaining source. Possibly the plan by at least a few big oil men?

Strange Meat · #**1012** Posted **Jul 8, 2009, 6:01 PM**

So, I was wondering something about the new lines. Most maps have them shown as singular lines, but will there be anything like how, for example, two lines come from the singular destination of Mineral (one to Union, the other to 18th/Cal). So will this also apply to the West and Gold corridors?

Pizzuti · #**1013** Posted **Jul 8, 2009, 9:55 PM**

I think you can get most oil-based products from plant oils as well. If not all plastics, then I think it would be easy to come up with new plant-based plastics to replace the function of the old ones. I think the number of kinds of plastic available are on a pretty exponential growth rate; they now make drinking cups out of corn starch and rice flour.

Honestly as soon as they perfect the fermentation process to be able to break down cellulose, our fuel energy supplies will inrease so drastically that I think thta getting off oil will be really easy. We are now gowing too much corn just to turn it into ethanol, but over 90% of the mass is wasted in the stocks, which could be turned to alcohol once we engineer bacteria or yeast that can produce the enzymes.

EngiNerd · #**1014** Posted **Jul 9, 2009, 12:36 AM**

Quote:

RTD scraps real-time updates of Colorado light-rail arrivals
A cheaper, simpler system will update train riders based on published schedules.
By Jeffrey Leib
The Denver Post
Posted: 07/08/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 07/08/2009 02:30:49 PM MDT

RTD has decided to swap a system that provided live "next train" announcements to passengers on light-rail platforms for a simpler one that tells travelers when the next two trains should arrive based on a published schedule.

The Regional Transportation District's contract for T-REX's southeast corridor light-rail project called for live next-train announcements over a public address system and on electronic variable message signs at stations.

The southeast train line opened in late 2006 but bugs with the communications system delayed certification of the next-train messaging system for at least two years and caused RTD to hold back about $5 million due the communications contractor.

Live next-train announcements relied on a complex computerized "train-tracking" system that presented challenges to engineers.

Bugs finally were worked out and RTD released the money to the contractor, but the agency now has decided that a live alert that the next train will arrive in three minutes isn't very useful to someone who arrives on the platform two minutes before its arrival, said Rick Clarke, RTD's acting assistant general manager for FasTracks/engineering.

So RTD will have communications personnel working on the West Corridor light-rail line retrofit the existing system with a simpler one that tells passengers on platforms when the next two trains are to arrive based on the published schedule, Clarke said.

"It is stepping back from the original intent of having real-time information," he said. But noting that 95 percent of trains stay on schedule, Clarke said, "Scheduled information provides most of what passengers need at much less cost and much less complexity."

In the small number of cases where trains are delayed, RTD's control center can make special announcements to passengers on platforms, he said.

The West rail line and all future FasTracks trains will have the simpler announcement system as well, according to Clarke.

He explained the switch to RTD directors Tuesday night as part of update on the "close-out" of the T-REX train project.

The $879 million project ended with a surplus of $3.7 million, which will be applied to power upgrades on the existing system, Clarke said.

The final price included about $30 million in southeast corridor upgrades, including new pedestrian bridges, that were not in the original scope of work, he added.

Also on Tuesday, RTD named engineer James Starling as corridor manager on the $707 million West light-rail construction project. He succeeds Dennis Cole, who died June 26 following a stroke.

The West line is the first FasTracks train under major construction. It is due to open in 2013.

Starling has been project manager on another FasTracks rail project, the North Metro train from Union Station to north Adams County.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12774365

bunt_q · #**1015** Posted **Jul 9, 2009, 6:50 AM**

Pathetic... Third world cities can get real-time train updates right, but we can't.

bcp · #**1016** Posted **Jul 9, 2009, 8:23 AM**

man....when will denver grow up? good thing peter park is here.

EngiNerd · #**1017** Posted **Jul 9, 2009, 2:16 PM**

It is pathetic, its not like its rocket science since its being done all over the world.

The Dirt · #**1018** Posted **Jul 9, 2009, 2:59 PM**

FailTD.

wong21fr · #**1019** Posted **Jul 9, 2009, 5:45 PM**

Just what kind of contractor has so much trouble delivering a product that isn't exactly cutting edge? This isn't like the DIA automated baggage system where it's the first of its kind. This is something that is common throughout the world and it still can't be delivered.

And now corridor project managers are dying.... what else is going to go wrong?

SnyderBock · #**1020** Posted **Jul 9, 2009, 5:47 PM**

As far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with "Denver" or "RTD" and everything to do with General Electric not being able to fulfill their contract obligations for this system. So ask yourself, how is it a blue chip, industry leading GE can't get this to work, if it's so simple and common place?