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M II A II R II K Jan 8, 2023 8:48 PM

Widening Highways Doesn’t Fix Traffic. So Why Do We Keep Doing It?

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/u...s-traffic.html

Quote:

.....

- When a congested road is widened, travel times go down at first. But then people change their behaviors. After hearing a highway is less busy, commuters might switch from transit to driving or change the route they take to work. Some may even choose to move farther away.

- Officials from the Texas Department of Transportation said the Katy expansion provided the capacity needed to keep up with projected population growth in the Houston area. “Expanding roads does not create more congestion,” transportation officials said in a statement. Rather, they said, it “helps to manage new travel demand.”

.....

llamaorama Jan 8, 2023 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanImpact (Post 9827022)
https://apnews.com/article/omaha-war...04a22652199977

Warren Buffett jumps into local politics to fight streetcar


OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett broke with his practice of staying out of local politics to urge his hometown of Omaha to abandon its planned streetcar project because he says it’s too expensive and not as flexible as buses.

Buffett wrote a letter to the editor of the Omaha World-Herald and met with the mayor this week to lobby against the $306 million project and urge the city to let residents vote on it.

But city officials are moving forward with the streetcar because they believe it will spur development, including Mutual of Omaha’s planned $600 million headquarters tower downtown.

Buffett said in his letter that he decided to make an exception to his policy of staying out of local issues even though “it can be off-putting to many to have a wealthy 92-year-old tell them what is good for their future.” He said he wanted to weigh in on the streetcar because it’s “going to be hugely expensive if implemented.”

To be fair I would agree with him only because the Oklahoma City and Milwaukee streetcar projects have not been very successful.

Kansas City and Cincinnati's worked because those cities have a lot more than just parking lots and vacant office buildings in their downtown. KC has a somewhat urban "corridor" from Downtown to Country Club Plaza that is a line of relative density and lots of destinations people want to reach.

mrnyc Jan 20, 2023 6:25 AM

the free movement:


Free transit: Is it a public good, like libraries or schools?

By Sophie Hills Staff writer
January 18, 2023
WASHINGTON


more:
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Societ...ies-or-schools

M II A II R II K Feb 11, 2023 7:37 PM

Video Link

M II A II R II K Feb 22, 2023 1:13 PM

Spanish transport secretary resigns after new trains too big for tunnels

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ig-for-tunnels

Quote:

......

- Spain’s secretary of state for transport and the head of the state rail company have resigned amid continuing public and political anger after it emerged that dozens of new trains ordered for two northern Spanish regions were too big to fit through some tunnels. --- Three years ago, the state rail operator, Renfe, announced plans to modernise the rolling stock on narrow-gauge commuter trains and medium-distance trains in Asturias and Cantabria. But it was revealed last month that the trains being built under the €258m (£227.5m) contract would be too wide to pass through some of the tunnels in the two regions.

.....



https://i.imgur.com/JcLOKsz.jpg

M II A II R II K Feb 28, 2023 12:17 AM

In defence of trackless trams.



Video Link

Nouvellecosse Feb 28, 2023 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K (Post 9877581)
In defence of trackless trams.



Video Link

Video Link


:haha:

mrnyc Feb 28, 2023 1:18 AM

^ busbahn! :haha:

llamaorama Feb 28, 2023 6:35 AM

I think the trackless tram is kind of cool but the arguments both in favor and against it both seem to miss the point.

I don't think it's a gadgetbahn because it's just a bus, and any service that the trackless tram can offer could probably be substituted with a normal bus if the tram broke down.

But it's also not a replacement for rapid transit. The point of rapid transit is not steel wheel on steel rail, it's bridges and tunnels and stations with platforms and ticket collection. It's certainly possible to build a rapid transit system but with buses as that does exist obviously, but then it just needs wider paved road space and more stuff vs tracks that are smooth and last a long time.

Also because it's not on rails it has tires which have to be changed and also the road surface needs to be very well maintained. That's probably the one big flaw this thing has - nonexistent ground clearance combined with length, I would be willing to bet it would get stuck in dips, speed bumps, or railroad grade crossings. Hitting a curb or some debris in the road would do a lot of damage.

mrnyc Mar 12, 2023 5:58 PM

more road dieting broadway northward from 23rd st:



NYC begins new phase of ‘Broadway Vision,’ street improvements from Madison Square to Herald Square

Published: Mar. 12, 2023

By Jillian Delaney | jdelaney@siadvance.com


MANHATTAN, N.Y. — Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez have big plans for the streets from Madison Square to Herald Square. As per a press release, the mayor and commissioner began construction today in the next phase of the “Broadway Vision.”

“Two years ago, the pandemic devastated Midtown and our business districts, but it gave us the opportunity to reimagine our public spaces,” said Mayor Adams. “Beginning this week, our Broadway Vision will come to life with vibrant, new public spaces and safer streets from Madison Square to Herald Square. Midtown is back, and New York City is back.”


more:
https://www.silive.com/news/2023/03/...ld-square.html

https://www.silive.com/resizer/xpfBo...HK7YODVKU.jpeg
Rendering of Greeley Square after capital construction work is completed. Credit: “New” New York Panel

mrnyc Mar 14, 2023 10:54 PM

the scramble or barnes dance is ordered back in nys for school crosswalks in nyc and buffalo:



State Senate passes bill to establish ‘scramble’ crosswalks outside NYC schools

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on March 14, 2023


A bill that the state Senate passed on Monday would require New York City to implement “scramble” crosswalks outside all of its schools, allowing little ones to safely cross the street without the specter of auto traffic.

The legislation, passed unanimously by Albany’s upper chamber, requires cities with populations of over 250,000 — a threshold met only by New York City and Buffalo — requires intersections outside schools to be converted into scramble crosswalks, where vehicle traffic is stopped on all sides and pedestrians can cross in any direction, including diagonally.


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/state-s...s-nyc-schools/

Busy Bee Mar 19, 2023 1:47 PM

No suprise
 
March 18, 2023

AP Report: ‘Pro-Moscow Voices Tried to Steer Ohio Train Disaster Debate’

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief


“Soon after a [Norfolk Southern] train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in Ohio last month, anonymous pro-Russian accounts started spreading misleading claims and anti-American propaganda about it on Twitter, using Elon Musk’s new [Twitter Blue] verification system to expand their reach while creating the illusion of credibility,” Associated Press reporter David Klepper wrote on March 18. “The accounts, which parroted Kremlin talking points on myriad topics, claimed without evidence that authorities in Ohio were lying about the true impact of the chemical spill. The accounts spread fear-mongering posts that preyed on legitimate concerns about pollution and health effects and compared the response to the derailment with America’s support for Ukraine following its invasion by Russia.”

Klepper reported that some of the claims pushed by the pro-Russian accounts “were verifiably false, such as the suggestion that the news media had covered up the disaster or that environmental scientists traveling to the site had been killed in a plane crash. But most were more speculative, seemingly designed to stoke fear or distrust. Examples include unverified maps showing widespread pollution, posts predicting an increase in fatal cancers and others about unconfirmed mass animal die-offs.”

Rest of story

wanderer34 Mar 20, 2023 4:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnyc (Post 9798619)
major decarscalation!

the mayor explores getting rid of cars around grand army plaza in brooklyn:


City considering car-free redesign for Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn: report

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on November 13, 2022


more:
https://www.amny.com/new-york/brookl...nd-army-plaza/

If the MTA can place a bus lane along much of Flatbush Ave, great! I also believe that the bus lane should also be opened for taxis, ride shares, and carpools. I don't believe that Grand Army Plaza will be car free, especially since cars utilize GAP to get to and from wherever they have to go.

While I'm no fan of closing GAP to cars, I do agree on placing bus lanes along Flatbush Ave. Flatbush Ave isn't Broadway in Manhattan, in which Broadway is actually a tourist attraction, while Flatbush Ave is like Broad St in Philadelphia, Woodward Ave in Detroit, Michigan Ave in Chicago, and New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia Aves in DC in that those arteries serve to circulate all traffic into their respective downtowns, whether you like car traffic, or not.

You can reduce the amount of lanes, which is fine, but completely removing all car lanes from those streets is a pipe dream. The automobile will change and if there's a wheel-less hovering car, so be it, but automobiles will stay in the conscious of the America mind.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Busy Bee (Post 9801041)
It's encouraging to see that they are finally getting serious about this. That said I really don't understand how they think they are going to accomplish this as the IRT & BMT subway tunnels would likely make it impossible to put the sections of Eastern Pkwy, Flatbush or Vandy that run through the plaza oval in a short tunnel. And if you can't do that, if you can't physically grade separate the heavy traffic arterialss that funnel through the plaza, how are you going to accomplish pedestrianization? And shifting those streets to the outside perimeter accomplishes nothing in regards to pedestrian safety or experience and woukd make residents heads explode.

Another unrealistic pipe dream, at the most! Even if you was able to combine Flatbush Ave, Eastern Pkwy, & Vanderbilt (what's Vandy?) Ave into one seamless tunnel, do you know how much money that's going to take just to build an underground tunnel, as well as maybe rerouting the IRT & BMT tunnels & replacing the Grand Army Plaza IRT station?

It's way too much to do all that and the price tag would be in the hundreds of billions and it would be shot down in the NYC Council just because of the expense alone.

I'd rather reduce the amount of car lanes than completely close off GAP to auto traffic. Like it or not, the car traffic does give GAP some life and some personality. I say this as a former Brooklynite. I'd rather look into adding bus lanes on Flatbush Ave than a superfluous pipe dream such as closing GAP to auto traffic.

shivtim Mar 30, 2023 5:47 PM

MARTA moves forward with Atlanta Streetcar extension

A MARTA board committee Thursday approved plans for an Atlanta Streetcar extension to Ponce City Market... selecting the streetcar as the “locally preferred alternative” for the route.
"The 2-mile extension would run along Edgewood Avenue to the Atlanta Beltline at Irwin Street, then up to the market at Ponce De Leon Avenue. It would operate in traffic along the streets and in its own right of way on the Beltline. It includes five proposed stations."

https://i0.wp.com/roughdraftatlanta....24%2C639&ssl=1

mrnyc Apr 18, 2023 11:42 AM

wow!

‘World’s longest’ purpose-built cycling tunnel opens in Norway

By Maureen O'Hare, CNN
Updated 6:44 AM EDT, Tue April 18, 2023




A three-kilometer-long (1.8-mile) cycling and pedestrian tunnel has been blasted through the base of Løvstakken mountain and its makers say it’s the longest purpose-built tunnel of its kind.

Fyllingsdalstunnelen, as it’s known, opened on April 15 with a family day of sporting activities, following four years of construction that began in February 2019. The state-funded mega-project cost close to $29 million, or 300 million Norwegian kroner.

“We Norwegians are usually modest people,” Camilla Einarsen Heggernes, a spokesperson for rail company Bybanen Utbygging, tells CNN, “But in this instance we would say that the tunnel is 100% state of the art.”


more:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/w...nel/index.html

https://www.lifeinnorway.net/wp-cont...nce-tunnel.jpg

mrnyc May 3, 2023 8:46 PM

ok — and interesting only 11k known electric cars in the city:



City will build out EV charging hubs at outer borough parking lots

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on May 1, 2023

more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/city-bu...-parking-lots/

Grego43 May 3, 2023 9:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnyc (Post 9935313)
ok — and interesting only 11k known electric cars in the city:



City will build out EV charging hubs at outer borough parking lots

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on May 1, 2023

more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/city-bu...-parking-lots/

Re-read the article...Nearly 11,000 new EVs were registered in New York City last year

mrnyc May 6, 2023 12:03 AM

very clever idea in istanbul, getting energy from traffic!


Video Link

Busy Bee May 6, 2023 12:45 AM

Yeah but just imagine how many birds those will kill and much cancer they will cause...

202_Cyclist May 6, 2023 1:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Busy Bee (Post 9937471)
Yeah but just imagine how many birds those will kill and much cancer they will cause...

And the FLASHING RED LIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmake...night-21d4b815


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