There was local bus service to the station, but the frequency fluctuated throughout the day. The station was a half mile from the airBnB I stayed at and involved crossing a freeway entrance ramp and two crossings of a major intersection with wide roads (4-5 lanes) and traffic going at least 35 miles per hour. The El Cerrito del Norte Station of San Francisco’s BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is a good example of a station that’s difficult to access. If stations aren’t easy and safe to access then the service won’t be as useful and ridership will be lower. It’s important to have safe and easy accessibility to/from rapid transit stations. Rapid transit isn’t useful if stations are difficult to access #Light rail route mn upgrade#People may want rapid transit in their area, but it has to make sense to study and implement such a huge upgrade in transit service. For neighborhoods in the suburbs it would be unfeasible to even have regular fixed-route buses serving all of that sprawled area. Rapid transit serving all the neighborhoods and suburbs of the Twin Cities would be unfeasible. Rapid transit can’t serve the entire Twin Cities region #Light rail route mn how to#Lessons on Rapid Transit and Regional Railīased on experiences with our own transit system as well as transit systems in other cities, we can learn how to effectively implement rapid transit and regional rail in the Twin Cities. Just as with all transportation plans, these proposals are subject to change. Doing so would be repeating the mistake post-World War II of relying heavily on roadways and cars while dismantling valuable and important transit and railroad infrastructure. While electric autonomous cars are being developed and will eventually be proven technology, we shouldn’t consider them a cure-all for our transportation issues. This upgraded transit system will serve both current generations and future ones. What’s needed to make these proposals reality is strong political and public will for significant improvements in a short amount of time as we near a climate crisis and our population continues to increase (the Twin Cities population is projected to grow by 485,000 between now and 2040). The proposals outlined here today and in the coming two weeks are feasible if our country can fund and build a nationwide highway system including carving wide freeways through dense urban areas (for better or worse) then our country can massively overhaul transit systems so they are world class, up to modern standards, and serve a variety of travel needs. Before light rail was built in the Twin Cities some people thought the idea of it being here was fantasy, but with the Blue and Green Lines we’ve proven it can work and is one of the most successful modern light rail systems in the country. While there is a common understanding that a heavy rail (subway) system in the Twin Cities region is fantasy, something as simple as a dedicated busway or regional rail service on an existing rail line is considered fantasy by certain people. Two major parts of transit improvement are rapid transit and regional rail, and plans of how these should be implemented in the Twin Cities region have evolved over time including the proposals outlined below.īefore getting into that, however, note that the word “fantasy” is subjective. Meanwhile our transit system is slowly improving, but there’s a lot more that has to be done. The road system in the Twin Cities has been mostly built out we’re at the point where most roads can no longer be expanded without significant property acquisition, in addition to the environmental impact of increasing our dependence on cars, roads, and fossil fuels. Transportation plans are constantly changing as governments regularly reevaluate how best to maintain, improve, and expand them. Next week will cover bus rapid transit, while the final article will look at regional rail. Today’s entry focuses on rail rapid transit. This is the first of a three-part series, published today and the next two Mondays, detailing the rapid transit and regional rail requirements for the Twin Cities to become a transit-oriented, climate-neutral metropolitan region.
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