On Mon, 2004-04-19 at 21:11 -0500, Thomas Searles wrote: > Okay, so I'm being a bit sarcastic. I almost never see a MTC bus on 494. One > person I work with commented that her traffic moved better without the > busses. It seems that the buses travel on the shoulder of 35W, and traffic > will slow whereever the buses are present?
Sure it happens.. It's part drivers who are scared of a huge bus going past them (can you blame them?), part drivers who endanger themselves and busses by hanging out in the shoulder (I see this on Hwy. 252 at least weekly), and partly because planners want to provide 'transit advantages' without having to actually invest in true infrastructure. Luckily that is about to change. Investments in commuter rail and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) will take those buses off the roadways and provide far more volume, speed, and comfort -- encouraging ridership. Commuter rail and BRT also encourage multiple stops in a line (since the capacity is greater and ticketing is proof-of-purchase, a 7-15 second stop can quickly exchange passengers), rather than our current suburban lines that have two stops, the park and ride and downtown. This will create efficient arteries across the metro that could transform into a regional system -- rather than merely a way to get downtown. It doesn't mean that transit should get everywhere -- but it should give business and residents more options than suburbs into city. Hopefully within 10 years a functioning corridor from Lakeville to Big Lake will demonstrate that. And hopefully the transit 2025 plan is executed before 2030. For more information: http://www.metrocouncil.org/directions/transit/bondingJan04.htm http://www.mnrides.org/transitways.htm I think, in the end, people are willing to use transit systems -- as long as it gets them where they need to get to from where they are. We need transit systems that form corridors, not wormholes. I'm happy to say that my commute has gotten better -- instead of having to park far, far away from my place of work and having to carpool, total travel time close to an hour, I was able to make it to work in about 30-40 minutes. (I also get that time back to either do work or read) Hwy. 252 is *awful*, and the alternatives (University Ave., Central) are no better. The southern 'burbs have it made compared to the north. -- Scott Dier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> KC0OBS http://www.ringworld.org/ -- http://www.railworks.org/ -- http://publictransportation.org/ -- Stop "playing political splat ball," support the Northstar Train! _______________________________________________ Twin Cities Metropolitan Issues Forum http://www.e-democracy.org/tcmetro Rules: Sign posts with real name. You may not post more than twice a day.
