+BaltimoreAndOhioRR It's really easy to get to... It starts at Union station so you can just take MARC or Amtrak there. (It's a bit of a walk from the main station building though)
It's a shame the streetcars don't have dedicated lanes of their own. I know that would mean giving up street parking so that's probably the next battle ahead. However when they're sharing lanes they're basically just another bus stuck in traffic. That seems to be the biggest obstacle to more widespread use.
zyxwut321 I do think that the streetcar should have it's own lanes however it would be difficult to implement in a city that did not already have infrastructure for such a system. Over time people should be used to it and not block the tracks though.
+JBtrainman What would constitute "infrastructure" in this case? The streets can't feasibly be widened but does that mean that people should just accept inferior design? I'm not sure people will just get "used to it". Baltimore's streetcar along Howard Street has never done much to stimulate development in large part because the streetcar shares traffic. Really, if the streetcar's going to work as anything other than an underused novelty DC and its planners and citizens are going to need to make hard choices about parking and taking traffic lanes. Conservatives are already howling about delays and cost overruns and how it's all a huge "boondoggle". Without an efficient system I'm afraid they're going to be proven right.
zyxwut321 By infrastructure I mean dedicated lanes and right-of-ways in traffic that are seen in notable streetcar systems around the world. I think it's unfair to judge the feasibility of a system when it is only a few days old, only time can tell how successful it will be.
I really fail to see why there is a need to do with a streetcar what buses already do? I can never understand why more people would ride a streetcar, but not a bus? Buses can turn around obstacles, but a streetcar line will be completely blocked. Its also SOOOOO much more cost effective to operate buses than the expensive infrastructure, construction and routine maintenance of electric traction. No offense to streetcar fans, but these are just actual facts that I have studied in transit planning.
+LOCO-motix Road and Rail Videos This is only the beginning phase of the system, with expansion to Georgetown and other routes with dedicated right-of-way being planned. Besides, busses are not as reliable or cost effective in the long-term as a streetcar/rail system
I dunno, but bus statistical facts demonstrate otherwise---in reliability, maneuverability and cost. You have to maintain BOTH the streetcars and the infrastructure. If traction were so cost effective, then why did the buses virtually replace every streetcar system in the US? There was so much pressure to save $$$$.The historic numbers on paper clearly show how much was actually saved by doing so.
+LOCO-motix Road and Rail Videos Just because a decision historically was made doesn't mean it was the right one. For example, the closure of most of the US passenger rail system as to save money, but nowdays the negative effects of these actions are seen very prominently. I don't know about D.C. but in Baltimore the bus system is atrocious and people will do anything to avoid taking it
I wish more people would use transit, but the historic advent of the car changed many things. People also started moving to the suburbs and malls replaced downtown shopping. Transit has never been quite the same. As for Balt, even their subway really goes nowhere, so its a flop. It would be nice if people in the US valued passenger rail as much as in other countries. Sadly, many want instant gratification and just will not use trains. The great need for speed has made air travel king. I much prefer taking the train, so I can actually see things. People are in too much of a hurry these days. Even on daily MARC service to and from DC, I see people complain about a simple "three minute" delay, lol.
+LOCO-motix Road and Rail Videos about the MARC, its actually a systematic issue that their trains cannot keep to the schedule as they require 110mph running (which only the electrics can do) so the new policy of all diesels is really hurting them
