This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
------=_NextPart_000_0002_01C02D28.A4EB4E00
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
A few days ago, I referenced a story on the limited carrying capacity of
light-rail. The PiPress� Rachel Stassen-Berger generously forwarded me the
original piece, below:
LIGHT RAIL WON'T TAME TRAFFIC AFTER VIKINGS GAMES
Published on 08/16/1999
If you were hoping the new $548 million light-rail line slated to stop at
the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis would ease traffic after a Vikings
game, expect your hopes to be dashed.
The one line - which is planned to run from downtown Minneapolis out of the
city and along Hiawatha Avenue to the Mall of America in Bloomington - won't
help much in shuttling folks from Dome events. The line can only handle
about 3,000 people over the course of an hour - and that's only if every
single rail car works and is filled to capacity.
``I don't want people saying light rail will empty the stadium,'' said
William G. Stead, of Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas Inc. in
Minneapolis, a project consultant on the Hiawatha Light Rail line slated to
be open by the year 2003.
Only 120 people, at most, can fit in each light-rail car. Currently,
planners have budgeted to run two-car trains instead of three-car trains
along the light-rail line as a cost-cutting measure. That means every three
to seven minutes, 240 people - at most - can board the trains.
Compare that 240 to the more than 60,000 people who pour from the Metrodome
after most Vikings events, and the future of transit looks very much like
the present.
``Washington Avenue is at a standstill for quite a while'' after Vikings
games, said Sharon Lubinski, inspector of the Minneapolis Police
Department's Downtown Command. ``It happens, and I think folks expect that
.. Minnesotans don't use mass transit. They use cars.''
In the post-light rail world, cars will continue to dominate the post-game
traffic.
``Light rail is not the answer to clearing out everybody that is the
Metrodome because there is a limited capacity,'' said Bob Winter, light rail
planner for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
But every little bit of traffic diverted onto mass transit helps, said
transit planners.
``It will give another alternative, obviously, to anyone that wants to use
that alternative,'' Winter said.
If 3,000 people use light rail after a game, that means about 1,500 fewer
cars rushing onto the roads after dome events.
``That's going to help ... I don't want to over-promise what light rail can
do or under-promise either,'' said Stead. In Boston or New York City, where
Stead has worked on mass-transit projects, multiple lines in several
directions have made a major difference to traffic congestion, he said. That
possibility doesn't exist with just one line.
To make light rail more accessible to Metrodome attendees, there also is
talk, in the Minneapolis Department of Public Works, of building an
additional ``events only'' platform on the north side of the dome with a
pedestrian bridge to the stadium. However, an extra platform won't guarantee
that people will want to ride the light rail trains.
Planners have images of the mass transit of the future - with several lines
criss-crossing the Twin Cities - but that will not happen for at least a
decade, said Winter, in the most optimistic estimates. Until then, the Twin
Cities will only have one choice.
``Since we have one line that goes off in one direction, everyone who leaves
the Metrodome is not going to want to go in that direction,'' Winter said.
--Forwarded by David Brauer, King Field � Ward 10
------=_NextPart_000_0002_01C02D28.A4EB4E00
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<html xmlns:o=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" =
xmlns:w=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" =
xmlns=3D"http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<meta name=3DProgId content=3DWord.Document>
<meta name=3DGenerator content=3D"Microsoft Word 9">
<meta name=3DOriginator content=3D"Microsoft Word 9">
<link rel=3DFile-List href=3D"cid:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">
<title>RE: PRT</title>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:DoNotRelyOnCSS/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:DocumentKind>DocumentEmail</w:DocumentKind>
<w:EnvelopeVis/>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
p.MsoAutoSig, li.MsoAutoSig, div.MsoAutoSig
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p
{margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ascii-font-family:Arial;
mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;
mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;
color:navy;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=3DEN-US link=3Dblue vlink=3Dblue style=3D'tab-interval:.5in'>
<div class=3DSection1>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle18><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>A =
few days
ago, I referenced a story on the limited carrying capacity of =
light-rail. The
PiPress’ Rachel Stassen-Berger generously forwarded me the =
original piece, below:<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;color:navy;mso-color-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>LIGHT =
RAIL WON'T
TAME TRAFFIC AFTER VIKINGS GAMES <br>
Published on 08/16/1999 </span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color=
-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><br>
If you were hoping the new $548 million light-rail line slated to stop =
at the
Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis would ease traffic after a Vikings =
game,
expect your hopes to be dashed.</span></font><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color=
-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>The one =
line -
which is planned to run from downtown Minneapolis out of the city and =
along
Hiawatha Avenue to the Mall of America in Bloomington - won't help much =
in
shuttling folks from Dome events. The line can only handle about 3,000 =
people
over the course of an hour - and that's only if every single rail car =
works and
is filled to capacity.</span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color=
-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>``I =
don't want
people saying light rail will empty the stadium,'' said William G. =
Stead, of
Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas Inc. in Minneapolis, a project
consultant on the Hiawatha Light Rail line slated to be open by the year =
2003.</span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Only =
120 people,
at most, can fit in each light-rail car. Currently, planners have =
budgeted to
run two-car trains instead of three-car trains along the light-rail line =
as a
cost-cutting measure. That means every three to seven minutes, 240 =
people - at
most - can board the trains.</span></font><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color=
-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Compare =
that 240
to the more than 60,000 people who pour from the Metrodome after most =
Vikings
events, and the future of transit looks very much like the =
present.</span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>``Washin=
gton
Avenue is at a standstill for quite a while'' after Vikings games, said =
Sharon
Lubinski, inspector of the Minneapolis Police Department's Downtown =
Command.
``It happens, and I think folks expect that ... Minnesotans don't use =
mass
transit. They use cars.''</span></font><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color=
-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle18><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New =
Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>In the
post-light rail world, cars will continue to dominate the post-game =
traffic. </span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>``Light =
rail is
not the answer to clearing out everybody that is the Metrodome because =
there is
a limited capacity,'' said Bob Winter, light rail planner for the =
Minnesota
Department of Transportation.</span></font><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color=
-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle18><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New =
Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>But =
every little
bit of traffic diverted onto mass transit helps, said transit planners. =
</span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>``It =
will give
another alternative, obviously, to anyone that wants to use that =
alternative,''
Winter said. </span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o=
:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>If =
3,000 people
use light rail after a game, that means about 1,500 fewer cars rushing =
onto the
roads after dome events.</span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color=
-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>``That's=
going
to help ... I don't want to over-promise what light rail can do or
under-promise either,'' said Stead. In Boston or New York City, where =
Stead has
worked on mass-transit projects, multiple lines in several directions =
have made
a major difference to traffic congestion, he said. That possibility =
doesn't
exist with just one line.</span></font><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color=
-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>To make =
light
rail more accessible to Metrodome attendees, there also is talk, in the
Minneapolis Department of Public Works, of building an additional =
``events
only'' platform on the north side of the dome with a pedestrian bridge =
to the
stadium. However, an extra platform won't guarantee that people will =
want to
ride the light rail trains.</span></font><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color=
-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Planners=
have
images of the mass transit of the future - with several lines =
criss-crossing
the Twin Cities - but that will not happen for at least a decade, said =
Winter,
in the most optimistic estimates. Until then, the Twin Cities will only =
have
one choice.</span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:=
p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>``Since =
we have
one line that goes off in one direction, everyone who leaves the =
Metrodome is
not going to want to go in that direction,'' Winter =
said.</span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
color:navy;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>--Forward=
ed by
David Brauer, King Field – Ward 10</span></font><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;color:black'> =
</span></font><font
color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font><=
/p>
</div>
</body>
</html>
------=_NextPart_000_0002_01C02D28.A4EB4E00--
