Oct

29

Back to the Future for rail?

October 29, 2007 |

The Star’s plan is now available. It mostly follows the current MAX express bus line along Grand and Main. The big differences from most plans is that the Star proposes an eastward spur along Linwood to Prospect, and the use of an updated version of the streetcar that KC had before the 1950s.

The Linwood spur is an obvious concession to concerns that a line through the central business corridor does not connect poor, transit-dependent neighborhoods on the East Side to the jobs in the west. A more cynical view would be that it also is a play for African American votes.

The streetcar technology proposed is half the cost of traditional light rail vehicles . This is important because it would let us pay for a starter line ourselves, without waiting 10 years for federal funding. The modern streetcar is used in many European cities where they are usually referred to as trams.

Perhaps the only big drawback of streetcars is a lower capacity. Streetcars carry a lot fewer people than light rail, not many more than the MAX could carry if it was upgraded to a true BRT system. However, light rail in the urban core would never reach its full capacity because it would still have to run in the street, with traffic, going the speed limit. We don’t have an abandoned rail line to re-purpose as cities like St. Louis have been able to do.

Finally, KC Light Rail shows us Portland’s modern streetcar and reminds of a light rail meeting tonight.


Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. Larry T on October 29, 2007 11:24 am

    Just goes to show this is not about transit,because if it did it would go where the poor are, on troost where we have high ridership.Need to have a count at the meeting tonight and see how many people use transit and how many are there because of their jobs .Chamber of Commerce should take a pool and see how many of them will be in business if Light rail goes in while they wait for streets to be dug up.[how long will it take to go a mile?

  2. James on October 30, 2007 11:02 am

    Larry T, transit isn’t just for the poor. It is for everyone should they choose to use it. Right now, it is not a very convenient or attractive option for most. Rail transit, be it LRT or streetcar / tram, aims to change that.

  3. Tim on November 2, 2007 7:55 am

    In the era or peak oil and a .08 legal limit, this needs to be an option. Oil is near $100/barrel and is running out. People need to get off their fat asses instead of looking for the nearest drive-thru. Oil is getting scarcer and more expensive. Please people, locate and watch the documentaries “A Crude Awakening” and “The End of Suburbia”.

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