Quote:
Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse
He's not comparing DART to the low-frequency, low-ridership diesel locomotive commuter rail systems common found in North America (did he even mention diesel?) but rather with the type of mainline commuter/suburban rail systems common in Europe, Asia and Australia which are the most typical form of commuter rail globally carrying the vast majority of commuter rail trips. in that global context DART would most certainly make for a more appropriate comparison to typical suburban/commuter rail systems than to most urban rail systems if not for the rolling stock.
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And in most of the world, light rail isn't called light rail at all; it is called a tram.
In the USA, trams are called streetcars. Streetcars have stations (or would a better word be stops) every few blocks along its' entire length, every 600 - 900 feet, or if you prefer every 200 - 300 yards or meters. Golly, DART runs a streetcar line to Oak Cliff for the City of Dallas that has a bridge over the Trinity River that places stations a mile apart (close to 1500 meters - five to seven times the streetcar average between station stops).
Expecting USA light rail systems to have distances between stations or stops like USA streetcar systems (the world "tram" standard?) is being slightly unrealistic.