SAN ANTONIO | City and Metro Transportation Thread - Page 33

JACKinBeantown · #**641** Posted **May 25, 2014, 3:05 PM**

Or they could build one lane of rail in each direction and solve the problem once and for all.

jman3000 · #**642** Posted **May 25, 2014, 3:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 21bl0wed

They might as well build some sort of double or triple decker on 281. Going wider isn't going to help at all before a major interchange (281-1604) just look at I10 just north of the 410/10 interchange. It's 6 lanes wide west and east bound and still backs up along with 2 lanes on each side of access road! Lol what a joke.

Those southbound lanes on 10 heading towards the 410 interchange are ridiculous. You have 2 on ramps right before you hit 410 and no off ramps. People trying to get on 10 are directly jostling with people trying to get off and it's like that for half a mile. A couple of lanes that bypassed that interchange altogether would be great.

sirkingwilliam · #**643** Posted **May 25, 2014, 7:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

Or they could build one lane of rail in each direction and solve the problem once and for all.

One rail in each direction isn't going to resolve the congestion. People who live out there are not abandoning their cars for public transportation.

Keep-SA-Lame · #**644** Posted **May 25, 2014, 10:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirkingwilliam

One rail in each direction isn't going to resolve the congestion. People who live out there are not abandoning their cars for public transportation.

Agreed. How exactly are you supposed to ride the train if you live at Encino-Culdesac-at-Sonterra?

JACKinBeantown · #**645** Posted **May 26, 2014, 4:52 AM**

I know this to be true of both of you (sirkingwilliam and Keep-SA-Lame) and I make the natural assumption that other people on this forum are not only intelligent, but also have the ability to think beyond the obvious and realize that a simple statement such as the one I made is merely a summation of a much larger answer.

Main rail lines always have feeder lines connecting to them as well as ways for people to get to them in the first place. I was simply making the argument for building a better public transit system to relieve congestion and give people a better way to get around town while relieving them of the need to drive, buy gas, possibly get into accidents, etc. It has proven to work in cities the world over. It's even happening in Houston and Los Angeles to some degree.

So I say it again... build one lane of rail in each direction (and the other parts of such an infrastructure) and solve the problem once and for all.

miaht82 · #**646** Posted **May 26, 2014, 4:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

Agreed. How exactly are you supposed to ride the train if you live at Encino-Culdesac-at-Sonterra?

Any walkable station would be out of the question unless there was ever some serious sprawl repair, but if they keep adding lanes (and keep increasing traffic and congestion) it could make sense at some point if there were ever a consistent service.

The unknowns of traffic, cost and difficulty for parking are some of the reasons people would ride. Of course you have got to have a train to ride for any of this to even matter. Until then, people that would ride will be one more car on the road increasing congestion for those that won't.

JACKinBeantown · #**647** Posted **May 27, 2014, 5:41 PM**

I used to live in New York (for 18 years in 3 different apartments). Each time I was within walking distance of the subway. That's New York... great subway system (even with the rats and urine). Now I live in Boston, and while I don't have the subway within walking distance, I do have a bus that stops right on the corner and takes me right to the subway station about 7 minutes later. It could work for San Antonio... it just takes a can-do attitude by the people and a willingness to alter their lifestyles (for the better). And for what it's worth, I grew up in San Antonio.

Spoiler · #**648** Posted **May 28, 2014, 2:17 AM**

Why can't a station have a parking garage?

miaht82 · #**649** Posted **May 28, 2014, 4:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spoiler

Why can't a station have a parking garage?

Not sure if you are replying to me or Jack, but by saying that a walkable station would be out of the question, I was implying that the station would have to be what I consider a "suburban-style" station, which includes a massive parking deck.
Having been to many places with great public transit and lived near both a "suburban-style" station and walkable station, my preference always flows towards the latter. Nothing wrong with the former; time and some sprawl repair will take care of converting those when the need and demand rises; it's just that the activity and economic impact is so much better around a station when the built environment is walkable or the surrounding land around a new station is developed appropriately.

JACKinBeantown · #**650** Posted **May 28, 2014, 3:51 PM**

I'm relatively close to Alewife Station in Boston.
https://www.google.com/search?q=alew...w=1323&bih=806

It's the end stop on the red line, which goes from downtown and west toward (but not as far as) Concord. There are several urban stops along the way and it ends at Alewife. It has a huge parking garage which people park in as they drive from farther out to get to the subway line to head downtown and other places in Boston. This is the kind of thing that could work farther out in San Antonio, with several urban stops along the way.

texboy · #**651** Posted **Jun 19, 2014, 9:10 PM**

SAT is getting beefed up service to LAX

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business...AX-5565195.php

cole world11 · #**652** Posted **Jun 19, 2014, 11:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by texboy

SAT is getting beefed up service to LAX

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business...AX-5565195.php

Finally! i've been waiting for this one. now i can trek to LAX without having to go thru the madness that is DFW. hopefully future demand pushes American to use bigger planes

WorldTexas · #**653** Posted **Jun 26, 2014, 6:02 PM**

It looks like TxDot is getting serious about non-highway transit options. They gave out more than $260 million for public transit projects across the state.

Quote:

TxDOT awards VIA millions for bus service improvements
BY VIANNA DAVILA

SAN ANTONIO — With a focus on easing traffic on some of the state's most congested roads, the Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday doled out millions of dollars to public transit, including $35 million toVIA Metropolitan Transit.

VIA says the money will go toward buses and bus facilities, including expansion of its compressed natural gas fleet. Some of the money is expected to go to improving the West Side Multimodal Transit Center and the Robert Thompson Transit Center on either side of downtown, said Mark Williams, the Texas Department of Transportation's director of planning.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc...ce-5581794.php

sirkingwilliam · #**654** Posted **Jul 3, 2014, 9:36 AM**

Duh!

STREETCAR WILL GENERATE BILLIONS

Quote:

VIA Metropolitan Transit’s modern streetcar system in San Antonio will generate billions of dollars in new real estate development, jobs and economic activity over the next 25 years, according to a new study conducted by SABÉR Institute of St. Mary’s University and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that was released Monday.

The study was conducted under the supervision of Steve R. Nivin, PhD, the institute’s director and chief economist, and was unveiled at a Monday press conference at VIA’s headquarters. VIA CEO Jeffrey Arndt, Nivin, and Alex Briseño, VIA’s board chairman, among others, spoke at the press conference. The study’s release comes amid considerable campaigning by anti-streetcar forces to undermine the project and in the case of the firefighters union, to oppose it as a mechanism for bringing pressure on city officials to award the union a more lucrative wage and benefits contract.

Paul in S.A TX · #**655** Posted **Jul 4, 2014, 6:42 PM**

moved

KevinFromTexas · #**656** Posted **Jul 12, 2014, 12:31 PM**

The only way to see a city. I rode my bike downtown from the AT&T Center on Thursday. I really enjoyed the day. I have to get my photos edited/resized, but I'll post them as soon as they're done.

JACKinBeantown · #**657** Posted **Jul 12, 2014, 12:58 PM**

Nice photo, Kevin. I like the way you have your tripod mounted to your bike. FYI, I have one of these seats and it's pretty comfortable.

http://www.bicycleseats.com/easyseat-bicycle-seats.html

Sean1187 · #**658** Posted **Jul 18, 2014, 9:01 PM**

How's the Fredericksburg-Medical intersection coming along? Google Earth only has updated images from Feb 2014. Anybody know where to find pictures or willing to get pics to post?

oldmanshirt · #**659** Posted **Jul 19, 2014, 12:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean1187

How's the Fredericksburg-Medical intersection coming along? Google Earth only has updated images from Feb 2014. Anybody know where to find pictures or willing to get pics to post?

Looks like they're doing a lot of work at night relocating utilities and building supports for the overpass.

http://txdotsanantonio.blogspot.com/...ccelerate.html

Follow that link to TXDoT's San Antonio blog. They have about fifty different posts regarding the Fred-Med project, as well as all the other state highway projects going on in greater SA.

Sean1187 · #**660** Posted **Jul 21, 2014, 4:53 PM**

Found this little gem. Thought y'all might enjoy.

Pic courtesy of Perkins Eastman

The Architect's Newspaper:
"Spurring Development"
http://archpaper.com/news/articles.a...3#.U81FFfldV8G