AUSTIN | Transportation Updates

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by papertowelroll

Hopefully we can have some moving sidewalks or something so that it's not too much of a hike to get to any of these exits.

Ha! In New York you just walk. I used to walk this tunnel just to get to my station.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c2/08...95f4e155dc.jpg



Then walk about half a mile to make this connection... from the black dot on the left to where the red and purple lines meet on the right. I did this every day, once in each direction. In winter snow boots and in the sweltering heat of summer.


https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphic...ta-map-720.png

[We vs us]

Yeah, TBH, transit also = walking.

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Yeah, TBH, transit also = walking.

That's a good thing. People need to walk more.

Wall-E nailed it.


https://1768504116.rsc.cdn77.org/wp-...09/giphy-1.gif

[StoOgE]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

Ha! In New York you just walk. I used to walk this tunnel just to get to my station.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c2/08...95f4e155dc.jpg



Then walk about half a mile to make this connection... from the black dot on the left to where the red and purple lines meet on the right. I did this every day, once in each direction. In winter snow boots and in the sweltering heat of summer.


https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphic...ta-map-720.png

I had a friend who worked for Nomura who had to walk that tunnel every day. Thats a murder tunnel.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

That's a good thing. People need to walk more.

Wall-E nailed it.


https://1768504116.rsc.cdn77.org/wp-...09/giphy-1.gif

Watched this movie with my kids the other day. It's amazing how on point it is.

And yes, people need to walk more. My wife and I very much miss urban life in Asia. Ironically because of the transit, we walked more to get to and from stations, to and from restaurants, to and from retail, etc.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by drummer

Watched this movie with my kids the other day. It's amazing how on point it is.

And yes, people need to walk more. My wife and I very much miss urban life in Asia. Ironically because of the transit, we walked more to get to and from stations, to and from restaurants, to and from retail, etc.

I was amazed how far my baseline fitness level plummeted after we left Chicago. Turns out I'd been walking for miles every day to/from the EL and never really thought too deeply about it.

But from that point on we've lived in car-centric cities, and have really come to sorely miss that routine.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by We vs us

I was amazed how far my baseline fitness level plummeted after we left Chicago. Turns out I'd been walking for miles every day to/from the EL and never really thought too deeply about it.

But from that point on we've lived in car-centric cities, and have really come to sorely miss that routine.

For sure. Would have been interesting to have a Fitbit back then.

[kingkirbythe....]

Originally Posted by We vs us

I was amazed how far my baseline fitness level plummeted after we left Chicago. Turns out I'd been walking for miles every day to/from the EL and never really thought too deeply about it.

But from that point on we've lived in car-centric cities, and have really come to sorely miss that routine.

Ditto for me.

[J78704]

Originally Posted by kingkirbythe....

Ditto for me.

Air-conditioned tunnels throughout Austin sound amazing - especially in a traditional (non-pandemic) summer lol!

[chundercracker]

Originally Posted by J78704

Air-conditioned tunnels throughout Austin sound amazing - especially in a traditional (non-pandemic) summer lol!

Air conditioned tunnels sound like havens for the homeless... curious how they're going to regulate that once it's a thing.

[JAM]

Originally Posted by chundercracker

Air conditioned tunnels sound like havens for the homeless... curious how they're going to regulate that once it's a thing.

not just the tunnels....

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/c...ears-i-m-done/

[nixcity]

Rail transportation sure does seem to highlight a national concern that I have never experienced even on busting at the seems lines in Mexico City. I wonder when this country will start to prioritize humanity over profit......Don't worry, I'm not naive, I know it will never happen.
Edited to add I recently spent time in BFE nowheresville small DEEP RED towns in the Permian Basin that were awash with the homeless. These were towns ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 people. Again, profit over humanity, oil tycoons and rancher barons swim in their gold whilst others pander for money in front of their businesses... Are we coming up on another era of "Hoovervilles?"

[kingkirbythe....]

Originally Posted by chundercracker

Air conditioned tunnels sound like havens for the homeless... curious how they're going to regulate that once it's a thing.

You have to pay at the turnstile as you enter the station.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by kingkirbythe....

You have to pay at the turnstile as you enter the station.

Turnstiles that freeloaders seem to jump over without any problems what-so-ever.

Dallas has had a network of underground tunnels that vendors set up shops within, but too many deadbeats abused so most of the entrances and exits into and out of the tunnels were boarded and walled up.

Tunnels work best between building within the same corporation's ownership, having a tunnel vs having an elevated walkway. That way the buildings' security controls all entrances and exits. Otherwise, it becomes an out of sight, out of mind, trash heap.

[llamaorama]

In central Texas, wanna bet that if you had open-to-the-elements tunnels like that they would be full of crickets. So many crickets.

[dilliam]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

In central Texas, wanna bet that if you had open-to-the-elements tunnels like that they would be full of crickets. So many crickets.

Haha, honestly, this is an amazing point. And then they smell like absolute death.

[papertowelroll]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

In central Texas, wanna bet that if you had open-to-the-elements tunnels like that they would be full of crickets. So many crickets.

We need to get another one of those cricket swarm years like 2011. 1.) It's hilarious, 2.) It may help scare away some Californians.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by papertowelroll

We need to get another one of those cricket swarm years like 2011. 1.) It's hilarious, 2.) It may help scare away some Californians.

I recall a swarm in the early 90s that was pretty bad, but can't recall if it was on the same scale as 2011. However, they are a mess and I wouldn't want to walk through dead cricket bodies to get to the metro, so point taken on that being a problem that would require mitigation...

[SproutingTowers]

Originally Posted by papertowelroll

We need to get another one of those cricket swarm years like 2011. 1.) It's hilarious, 2.) It may help scare away some Californians.

I think this was the year I was giving free Texas Longhorns football tickets to sit in the west upper deck. I went up there to see piles of decomposing wet crickets like a black snow drift where the smell was awful. I turned around and found a seat in the lower section.

[atxsnail]

This thread has veered way off course into some weird territory.

There are a bunch of new Project Connect design meetings coming up for:
The Drag (Dec 8 - virtual and in-person)
McKalla/Stadium (Dec 9 - virtual only)
4th Street (Dec 14 - virtual only)

Register at https://projectconnect.com/get-involved

For the road warriors, the Mopac South virtual open house is still going on as well (through Jan 7, 2022): https://voh.mopacsouth.com/