clifton corridor plans announced— it's going to be light rail =[ (Atlanta: mattress, costs)

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by JPD

You also have to take into consideration that not everyone who rides a bus (or train) owns a car. So you can't just say each person (or family) on the bus equals one less car on the road. It's not that simple.

Hmmm....so how are these 5,300 folks who are supposed to be riding this new light-rail line getting to work currently then? Walking? Bicycling? If so, why do they need a train? They have perfectly valid forms of transportation already that don't impact traffic.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Hmmm....so how are these 5,300 folks who are supposed to be riding this new light-rail line getting to work currently then? Walking? Bicycling? If so, why do they need a train? They have perfectly valid forms of transportation already that don't impact traffic.

People who don't have cars are basically stuck. Transit makes it possible for people to seek work, education, health care, etc. outside of the areas that are currently accessible to them by foot or bicycle. This is why there is an outcry whenever bus routes are eliminated.

[cqholt]

Walking? Bicycling? If so, why do they need a train? They have perfectly valid forms of transportation already that don't impact traffic

Wow, your view of transit is wrong. People who choose to live close to stations can walk or ride bikes. Others can use buses that connect to the stations, while still others will drive their cars to stations.

[arjay57]

I still say light rail is ideal for this line.

It's what, maybe 3 1/2 miles from Lindbergh to Emory? If the train is only averaging 25 mph and the stops are 30 seconds each, that's still only a 10 minute trip. If you want to go on over to downtown Decatur that shouldn't take more than another 5 minutes or so.

How can you beat that? I can't imagine heavy rail getting you there any faster.

[cqholt]

How can you beat that? I can't imagine heavy rail getting you there any faster.

It wouldn't, MARTA trains hardly get above 40 mph except in long stretches outside of the tunnels. The trains travel at 35 mph in Midtown and Downtown. HRT would have maybe eliminated a transfer at Lindbergh, but most users would have still had to transfer.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

It wouldn't, MARTA trains hardly get above 40 mph except in long stretches outside of the tunnels. The trains travel at 35 mph in Midtown and Downtown. HRT would have maybe eliminated a transfer at Lindbergh, but most users would have still had to transfer.

Right. And I think part of the object with lines like the Clifton Corridor is to have frequent stops with short intervals in between. They're locals, rather than express trains.

The lack of that has been one of the complaints about MARTA from the beginning. It often doesn't take you that last mile. This will go a long way toward fixing that and bring direct access to one of the most heavily developed parts of metro Atlanta.

[StAubin]

Couldn't Light rail vehicles be modified to run on third rail too. That way they could run on marta tracks. The only problem is finding a light rail vehicle tall enuf to work on marta platforms.

Or perhaps a hydrolics system.

I think light rail will be succesfull but it would be better if they could run direct to the airport.

[cqholt]

Couldn't Light rail vehicles be modified to run on third rail too. That way they could run on marta tracks. The only problem is finding a light rail vehicle tall enuf to work on marta platforms.

No, different gauge of tracks. Transferring is no big deal people. Go to larger cities and everyone does has to do it. The issue people in Atlanta have is the frequency of trains. If MARTA had more transfer and a higher frequency of trains it would be no issue.
Also, I think the LRT ending in Decatur would be better than Avondale. Having Downtown Decatur as a hub would be great and bring more people to the square. I know the people of Decatur have a bad taste for rail construction, after the decades it took for the square to recover from the Decatur Station tunnel.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by cqholt

No, different gauge of tracks. Transferring is no big deal people. Go to larger cities and everyone does has to do it. The issue people in Atlanta have is the frequency of trains. If MARTA had more transfer and a higher frequency of trains it would be no issue.
Also, I think the LRT ending in Decatur would be better than Avondale. Having Downtown Decatur as a hub would be great and bring more people to the square. I know the people of Decatur have a bad taste for rail construction, after the decades it took for the square to recover from the Decatur Station tunnel.

It's my understanding that MARTA looked into running LRT down Clairmont, but Decatur residents shot it down.

Avondale Station is inside Decatur city limits. Frankly, I think Dekalb Industrial and the medical center area need this more, and will be better served by it than Downtown Decatur would.

[bryantm3]

the reason the LRT disappointed me is that the light rail line after the north decatur station, is proposed to run up scott boulevard, in mixed traffic. having HRT would have eliminated that from the plan and would have required building a tunnel. although it's more expensive, it doesn't interrupt traffic flow and is truly independent of the street system.