urbanMSP

I rode the red line from the moa to cedar grove this afternoon and have to say that while it's a *nice* bus line, there's nothing light rail like about it. The boarding platform at the mall feels like an after thought and the drivers have a lot of trouble lining up with the load platforms. The buses...

Gas cars are powered by gasoline and diesel cars are powered by diesel, a by-product of gasoline production. Electric cars *can* be powered by anything, which eventually will be a win, but for the moment means coal. If a large portion of the population switch to electric cars in the short term, it w...

I've thought for a minute now that even if climate change was a gigantic liberal hoax to take away ur freedoms, there are very few changes we could make to ostensibly fight climate change that wouldn't be a good idea anyway. Driving less is one of them. Which isn't to say we should ban cars, obviou...

So, do hyper-efficient cars change things? People often speak to the environmental impacts of cars when explaining why things have to change, but I get the sense that's usually a canard used to cover for a deeper dislike of cars and their social impacts. Somebody (don't remember who) basically came...

To be fair, the political issue is complex. But the short version is that T-Paw was against the project completely until the Bush administration's FTA said that the southern half of the line looked like a viable transit line, and that the project could secure funding if it were cut in half. Pawlenty...

Yes, it's hard to imagine what it will actually provide: not a practical alternative to parking at the Mall, since mall parking is free and distances are too short for gas prices to matter. Not a one-seat ride to any northern destination, since a transfer is required at the MOA to get anywhere inter...

So does that mean by extension that the average fare paid was $1.07? How does that work? Yes, all the things FISHMANPET mentioned, plus remember that people on Metropasses and the like would be essentially "free" in the sense that there's no easy way to divide their payments among their t...

Yes, University used to look like a suburban strip, a wide piece of asphalt in bad condition with nothing hugging the street. It's not looking amazing but it's a huge improvement IMO. I also like that the Central stations present a more unified look than Hiawatha - and I guess living along Hiawatha,...

CTIB indicates that Hiawatha's ridership of 10.5 million last year worked out to a per-ride cost of $2.66, with a subsidy of $1.59. That's pretty awesome. Nice to see Hiawatha's ridership growing while simultaneously seeing the cost per rider drop. I think this is the lowest subsidy yet and is appro...

So reading the CTIB report for the July meeting, it's revealed that Northstar collected ~$2.6M in passenger revenue in 2012 and cost ~$14.0M to operate, for a per-ride (they say per-passenger) subsidy of $19.47. For comparison, Hiawatha collected ~$10.3M in passenger revenue and cost ~$26.9M to oper...

IIRC, St. Paul ponied up additional cash for enhancements along its chunk of the line.

Winner winner chicken dinner. St. Paul came up with the cash.

$100 million went to BNSF just for easement rights. "JUST" easement rights? That's BNSF's property, not to mention quite a busy freight line as well. Are you suggesting BN shouldn't receive money to have additional trains on their own rail line that doesn't directly benefit their company?...

My homies, I thought we were rapping specifically about the difference between BRT and LRT in initial capital cost. Vehicle capacity and lifespan and ongoing facility maintenance are valid concerns and worth considering, especially in light of government's favorable financing opportunities. But the...

Do you think the compromises in quality are a bigger cost advantage than the much lower price of asphalt relative to steel? How about the much lower price of buses relative to LRVs? Interesting question, but I think the capital cost savings there are wiped out by the very quick amortization of asph...

I think this is why a lot of people hesitate to support BRT. Yes, it can be built to the same standards as LRT, but it becomes so much easier to make concessions when it operates in the same infrastructure that a car does. I have no doubt that if the Green Line was BRT that it would run in mixed tr...

Yeah, I get that. Any mass will be subject to the force of gravity, and thus 'hang'. Should have said, "sufficiently straight." guess i was more surprised that the tolerance of the train is tight enough to require what looks a little 'rube goldberg-ish' to the uninformed observer. Thx! It...

Just a minor point, but I think if it's single wire it's not catenary - the term refers to the way the top wire hangs naturally (in a catenary shape), with varying lengths of support wire binding the lower to it, to provide a flat, straight path for the lower wire.

The PiPress piece from April made it all sound far more nebulous; it sounds like there's little plan in place. They describe the transit investment in terms that sound less transformational: "Improvements to the transit and transportation system -- including new bus routes, a transit station an...

So the Strib article about Rochester (Mayo) getting its $585m subsidy states that "The county will also fund a $116 million transit line to make it easier for patients and Mayo visitors to move around the community." I know the initial proposal had suggested a streetcar line in the city to...

Is Cocina del Barrio in Humphrey actually open now? My family will be in Humphrey at dinner time waiting for a flight on Friday, and it looks like the best choice.