Search found 488 matches

by tmart
December 5th, 2017, 4:58 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Northern Lights Express
Replies: 510
Views: 497680

Re: Northern Lights Express

That's pretty consistent with my views as well, though I think NLX has more than a snowball's chance. Absent a significant shift in transportation priorities and values, what we'll probably see is lots of folks driving to Duluth from the Range, parking at the train station, and riding the rest of th...
by tmart
December 5th, 2017, 3:41 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 702071

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Think like the box office at a theater, then.

IIRC San Francisco's streetcars have these. They're fine. If operators say they're important I'm inclined to believe them and support this.

And I agree with all the comments about how sad it is that something like this is necessary.
by tmart
December 5th, 2017, 3:38 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Northern Lights Express
Replies: 510
Views: 497680

Re: Northern Lights Express

My note about a carbon tax was not meant to be a statement about whether a train would represent a substantial improvement in CO2 output; truthfully I have no idea how all the emissions shake out. I was just trying to give an example of a hypothetical scenario that could broadly shift demand from au...
by tmart
December 5th, 2017, 1:00 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Northern Lights Express
Replies: 510
Views: 497680

Re: Northern Lights Express

I think it's probably accurate that NLX is the only rail line in NE MN that makes sense, but I don't think it's a question of congestion. The key factor IMO would not be about the usefulness of, say, a Virginia-Duluth connection on its own, but how much more useful the NLX becomes by adding these co...
by tmart
December 4th, 2017, 3:07 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Northern Lights Express
Replies: 510
Views: 497680

Re: Northern Lights Express

Yeah, I cited Thunder Bay as a possibility *if* we had HSR to Minneapolis from Duluth, and *if* Duluth became a regional hub. Its relative isolation means a sufficiently fast rail link would probably be leaned on pretty heavily. However, I underestimated the distance--at close to 200 miles it would ...
by tmart
December 4th, 2017, 1:37 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Northern Lights Express
Replies: 510
Views: 497680

Re: Northern Lights Express

Yes, I was exaggerating a bit, but only a bit. I'm currently living in Montreal and moving here has been an exercise in discovering just how wonky our border actually is, in lots of ways. One of them was discovering that border control of all things has been one of the key hurdles to introducing mor...
by tmart
December 4th, 2017, 1:00 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Northern Lights Express
Replies: 510
Views: 497680

Re: Northern Lights Express

I always figured the full-build plan, to whatever extent there even is one, was for Duluth to be a secondary rail hub in Northern MN. You could have service to the Range, Bemidji, and (in a crazy unrealistic dream world where we can solve how to operate a train across the unguarded border with our c...
by tmart
November 22nd, 2017, 10:15 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Red Line (Cedar Avenue BRT)
Replies: 538
Views: 223489

Re: Red Line (Cedar Avenue BRT)

Yeah, agreed. I can see the argument that it's just not worth the cost to extend it out there, but without at least some level of direct service to Downtown it probably wasn't worth building in the first place. Like many folks here, I'm hopeful that they'll at least extend the line to use the Orange...
by tmart
November 21st, 2017, 12:42 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT
Replies: 5265
Views: 1247414

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

I know it's a lot of money, but I'm increasingly sour on federal matching funds in general. I know it's a pipe dream, but I'd much rather double the transit sales tax and build things to our own needs. The amount of compliance overhead, the number of stupidly-hobbled projects, the inability to work ...
by tmart
November 20th, 2017, 4:42 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Bicycle Infrastructure
Replies: 1800
Views: 1034905

Re: Bicycle Infrastructure

When you say automated, are you talking about a system that detects authorized vehicles and retracts on its own? That seems to me to be overkill (not to mention more vulnerable to breakage and abuse). I feel like it's entirely reasonable to ask someone who wants to take the extraordinary step of dr...
by tmart
November 20th, 2017, 1:34 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Bicycle Infrastructure
Replies: 1800
Views: 1034905

Re: Bicycle Infrastructure

I think it was maybe you that suggested retractable bollards as a solution somewhere else. Automated retractable bollards are very expensive, and I suspect are also not likely to perform particularly well in our environment. I'm not sure what they're actually using at Cedar Lake Trail -- any photos...
by tmart
November 20th, 2017, 10:00 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT
Replies: 5265
Views: 1247414

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Oh so they can't build a concrete tunnel for a train and a underground for a bike trail, then fill it in with dirt so they can build green space on top with a nice nature walk that is street grade? I mean, you could always reverse the historic designation, but that would be an uphill battle. My gue...
by tmart
November 18th, 2017, 5:44 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT
Replies: 5265
Views: 1247414

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

I know zilch about historic railway preservation, but it seems from what's happened with SWLRT that it's less a ban on construction/renovation/redevelopment/conversions/etc, and more an obligation to work through a process of minimizing certain aesthetic disruptions where feasible. Is that about rig...
by tmart
November 17th, 2017, 7:39 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Labeling the Transit System
Replies: 69
Views: 10699

Re: Labeling the Transit System

The highway BRT study didn't assume dedicated guideway , so by that measure it wouldn't be METRO. Perhaps they'd be regular routes like the 535(?) bus on 35W, using shoulder lanes/transit advantage for the limited distance they're available on any given route. As a side note, but still very much on...
by tmart
November 17th, 2017, 3:46 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 702071

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

This all just feels like another proxy way to be mad about the stadium. It's basically the same discussion but touching 3x the public infrastructure dollars, and a more tangible public impact. I'm not surprised that it's flaring up again, because the resentment has been simmering all along. I defin...
by tmart
November 17th, 2017, 2:53 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Bicycle Infrastructure
Replies: 1800
Views: 1034905

Re: Bicycle Infrastructure

I noticed that these are called "LRT Trails", e.g., "Lake Minnetonka LRT Regional Trail." Were these acquired as potential transit right-of-ways or something? Or is that a total coincidence?
by tmart
November 17th, 2017, 2:07 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 702071

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

I don't think it's a transit hill. It's frustration with public subsidies of for-profit businesses (and especially sports (and especially the NFL)) that has been present for years and is boiling over into transit because hosting the Super Bowl is pervasive and disruptive across the region.
by tmart
November 17th, 2017, 1:17 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Dan Patch Intercity Regional Passenger Rail
Replies: 180
Views: 158662

Re: Dan Patch Intercity Regional Passenger Rail

I mean, it would probably be a rider in a much larger transit bill, just crossing out the gag order without mandating further study. Heck, they could even just issue a blanket invalidation of any transit study gag orders as a legislative overreach, and sorta sidestep the issue. Either way, I could s...
by tmart
November 17th, 2017, 12:06 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Dan Patch Intercity Regional Passenger Rail
Replies: 180
Views: 158662

Re: Dan Patch Intercity Regional Passenger Rail

What would be the first step to getting the gag rule removed?
If we're being honest, it's probably changing the composition of the state legislature.
by tmart
November 15th, 2017, 12:20 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Expo 2023 / 2027
Replies: 53
Views: 21439

Re: Expo 2023

Considering people's general reaction to the Super Bowl logistics, perhaps it's best if we don't host a major world event for a few years anyway :)