gildone

I've heard there is a problem developing with RTA stations turning into homeless shelters. I've seen that once at BP. Also this morning, the BP station smelled like urine upstairs. What is India Birdsong doing about this?

Reasonable suggestion. Any ideas?

The framers of the Constitution understood that there are times when public benefit outweighs private interest, and they crafted the 5th amendment to ensure private property owners be fairly compensated when their property is needed for public benefit. That said, considering the direction the private railroads have gone since many of them have been taken over by hedge funds, some form of nationalization, as @boomerang_brian describes, might be worth considering. Publicly-owned rails with open access would likely change for the better the environment for both freight and passenger. Since the EU has mandated open access on all state-owned rail networks, that's exactly what's happening. More operators have entered the market on both sides of the industry.

Or a privately-planned toll road that never got built until the gov't stepped in. Examples: the Ohio and PA tunpikes.

Brightline is too busy with So. Cal-Vegas and Orlando Tampa to think about anything else any time soon.

The same fear that never comes to fruition anywhere else protected bikeways have gone in is croppin up on the Superior Midway Cycle Track: "Loss of parking spaces will kill my small business". Often, those questioning these kinds of projects express fear without any real-world data. https://thelandcle.org/stories/you-gotta-fight-for-your-right-to-bike-safely-lorain-midway-debate-heats-up-over-loss-of-parking-spaces/?vgo_ee=VP2eXwYm1bsxtwQBH3fYNqZB3Q7HyCpZvWV9tGBI9Q20qmoB%3A5WdxkLEbrQh2LK4MRWnClT1GL6qjkUC6

I had to laugh... ProcrastaTransit LLC....

Or build your Lakefront Bypass, so the only NS traffic left would be a few local shippers and the Port.

Americans remain unconvinced that self-driving cars will happen any time soon: https://jalopnik.com/americans-are-starting-to-realize-self-driving-cars-are-1851231139

It should be. Having it dead-end in the muni lot is a huge ridership killer.

Atlanta City Council passes ordinance prohibiting drive-thrus, drive-ins near BeltLine Jason Dozier, one of the sponsors behind the legislation highlighted pedestrian safety as the primary reason for the ordinances. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-city-council-ordinance-drive-throughs-drive-ins-gas-stations-beltline/85-8da0b560-db38-48c0-803d-46319e1d18a7

More US travelers are choosing Amtrak: "For many, the tradeoffs are simple: Trains are often cheaper, provide more leg room and are better for the environment than air travel. Those advantages and others are driving riders to Amtrak..." https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-city-council-ordinance-drive-throughs-drive-ins-gas-stations-beltline/85-8da0b560-db38-48c0-803d-46319e1d18a7

Found this on Twitter/X:

America Walks calls for a moratorium on new highways/lane-miles. They have drafted a letter/petition. Dozens of organizations have signed on so far: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/02/06/freeway-fighters-stop-the-highway-expansion-madness-new-coalition-demands These are only some of the signatories:

Going car-free has financial, mental, and physical health benefits. These people in Philadelphia got rid of their cars and haven't looked back. https://www.inquirer.com/business/get-rid-of-car-sales-ownership-philadelphia-20240209.html

NOACA is conducting a large transportation survey of NE Ohioans. The survey will use randomly-selected individuals: https://neotravelsurvey.com/

True. The Strait of Gibraltar is gradually closing, as that part of Africa moves closer to Europe at a rate of 2.5 inches per year. I'm sure they will design for that somehow.

Dreamstar Lines is a private company looking to launch night train services (currently in the western US). They've announced LA-San Francisco, but have pushed back the start to 2025 rather than 2024 as they originally proposed. They are also looking at Salt Lake City-Las Vegas-Los Angeles and possibly service to/from Denver. They are looking to use low-traffic freight lines. https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2023/9/11/23864396/train-utah-to-las-vegas-cost Here's Dreamstar Lines' website: https://dreamstarlines.com/

The Congress for a New Urbanism will be holding its annual conference in Cincinnati this year on May 15-18 at Cincinnati Union Terminal. The organization Strong Towns (www.strongtowns.org) will have a presence there). Word is, the conference will fill up fast: https://www.cnu.org/cnu32

Texas Central has partnered with Amtrak. We'll see how that goes from here. https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-central-partners-with-amtrak-applies-for-federal-grants-to-study-high-speed-rail-viability/3313530/ No further news since this was announced.

I think the EU is paying for it. Morocco couldn't do it on its own. Looks like the faults are around the mountains in Spain and Morocco and not through the Strait of Gibraltar. I'm sure they are considering the geology. (https://the-geology-of-southern-spain.weebly.com/places---earthquakes--tsunamis.html)

Europe-Africa Rail Tunnel Project to Connect Two Continents Jan 24, 2024 by Heritier Home » News » Europe-Africa Rail Tunnel Project to Connect Two Continents The Europe-Africa rail tunnel project is a high-speed link across the Straits of Gibraltar to unite Africa with Europe. Leaders in Spain, Portugal and also Morocco have for long desired this construction. This plan has regained a lot of momentum and support prior to the 2030 World Cup preparations as matches will be in Spain and also Morocco... https://constructionreviewonline.com/biggest-projects/europe-africa-rail-tunnel-project-to-connect-two-continents/?

I realize that's generally the case, but in this instance it's 1%- verified.

The City needs to do an alternatives analysis to compare issues related to both TC and the Lakefront. Both have pros and cons. Two big issues with the Lakefront are the Cuyhoga River crossing and Collinwood Yard. Once we get, in the future, to the level of service we need to be successful (think Brightline), the lift bridge and potentially Collinwood yard become a problem. We'd be looking at dozens trains/day crossing the river and up to 30 or 35/day having to pass through Collinwood Yard and potential choke points to the east of Collinwood Yard. Tower City gets around those problems, but creates others. A portion of the Redline Greenway would have to be moved and it changes how the airport would be served. There may be an RTA bldg in the way just east of Tower City. Also for CVSR to get into Tower City, they need a grade of 1% on the eastern approach. That engineering problem would have to be solved. The City has been made aware of the potential issues. It's up to them now to decide how to proceed. I hope they do an alternatives analysis--and as soon as possible.

How about trackless trams for more bus routes? https://theconversation.com/why-trackless-trams-are-ready-to-replace-light-rail-103690 Probably not because ~10% thicker pavement is needed: Do Trackless Trams need stronger roads? – the “weight ... http://publictransportresearchgroup.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Reynolds-Pham-and-Currie-2021-Trackless-Trams-and-road-pavement-impacts.pdf