Metro Phoenix Transit/Transportation Developments

[exit2lef]

^
I notice that article is written by Angie Schmitt. You've complained before about her bias. It seems that she's taken a side in this debate without digging much deeper. There has definitely been an inexcusable delay in adopting the guidelines, but I'm still not clear who's to blame. This blog finds fault with city staff, but in the memo described in the New Times article, city staff seem to blame the advisory board for the delay. I don't know if we'll ever learn the real cause of the delay, but the spotlight is now on the city council to move things forward expeditiously.

[azsunsurfer]

There is a substantial "cultural deficit" here in the Valley. I've witness this first hand especially in the late evening hours in some areas of the valley where simple observance of the law such as crossing at an intersection or marked pedestrian crossing --seem to have no importance to the local populace. Thus again why is this a concern of the municipality (aka the tax payer)?

[combusean]

^ This is victim blaming.

Pedestrians do often do stupid things, but in a discussion of this on his facebook page Sweat posted "A father just emailed me. He shared that three months ago, his daughter, Kacie, was walking down the sidewalk in Phoenix when a car jumped the curb, dragged her 60 feet, and killed her."

Somebody else commented. "I literally just got home from ASU where I witnessed a douchebag run the red light, hit another car, careen onto the sidewalk, tear down a power pole, and smash a pedestrian’s leg in the process. "

50+ MPH traffic (because nobody does the speed limit) right off 5' sidewalks is shit design no matter how you look at it. Walking down the street shouldn't be the hazard it is in Phoenix, and this city shouldn't be #1 for pedestrian deaths.

[azsunsurfer]

Yes such wisdom you exhume yet again....the Government will end all pedestrian related deaths. Do you realize how many linear miles of sidewalk exist in the City, in the County? How do you expect one would pay to retrofit said sidewalks with miles upon miles of bollards? Please enlighten me!

[azsunsurfer]

If only someone could tell me what they do in Denver??!? Denver never has any pedestrian related deaths, I mean they have a pedestrian mall after all.

[azsunsurfer]

And I apologize for blaming the victims. We all know that any pedestrian killed is never at fault. Yield to them if they dart out in front of your car as the statute claims.

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by azsunsurfer

And I apologize for blaming the victims. We all know that any pedestrian killed is never at fault. Yield to them if they dart out in front of your car as the statute claims.

It doesn't have to be an all or nothing proposition. Sometimes pedestrians dart out in front of cars (my wife once hit a kid on a bike [thankfully no major injuries] in this situation). But I find it hard to believe that Arizona having the worst pedestrian fatality rate in the US, twice the national average, isn't in part a result of a more systemic problem.

Originally Posted by azsunsurfer

Yes such wisdom you exhume yet again....the Government will end all pedestrian related deaths. Do you realize how many linear miles of sidewalk exist in the City, in the County? How do you expect one would pay to retrofit said sidewalks with miles upon miles of bollards? Please enlighten me!

And regarding the government...I mean they are the ones that pay for streets and sidewalks, and I do think there is a design element that contributes to pedestrian fatalities. I don't think you're required to have a full funding model in place to recognize that the current design of sidewalks throughout the Valley is generally bad.

[biggus diggus]

There are some parts of town where people are constantly crossing the road across traffic. This isn't a product of stupid pedestrians or bad drivers as much as it's a product of poor design.

When you put a six lane road with no crossings for 1/2 mile in either direction and people want to get from their apartment to Fry's, they walk across when they think it's safe. This is how most of the pedestrian fatalities happen. Phoenix is one of the only big cities where the infrastructure is bias toward the automobile and that's due to the era in which it was built. It's changing, albeit slowly, with the addition of HAWK signals and crosswalks with center islands.

[azsunsurfer]

They have installed some pedestrian crossing flashing signage/ crossings (with curb cuts/ islands) here near Downtown Gilbert, that could help. I just think it needs to happen in areas you described where the pedestrian crossings will actually be used.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

^
I notice that article is written by Angie Schmitt. You've complained before about her bias. It seems that she's taken a side in this debate without digging much deeper.

Nothing is ever black and white; I judge each piece on its own merits. But the bias if you follow their thinking is that it's always the street's fault. That can lead to some amazingly myopic thinking and unrealistic expectations.

Originally Posted by azsunsurfer

There is a substantial "cultural deficit" here in the Valley.

Very true; there is certainly room for improvement from various angles.

Originally Posted by azsunsurfer

If only someone could tell me what they do in Denver??!? Denver never has any pedestrian related deaths, I mean they have a pedestrian mall after all.

One of my favorite lines is that "every place is unique and must decide for itself what is best." Denver and Phoenix are very different from each other as is true of all cities and metro areas. It's one reason why Phoenix has a 'best-in-class' transportation/freeway system and Denver remains clueless. But honestly what works so well for Phoenix wouldn't work so well in Denver.

Perhaps some have missed the fact that my comments are often quite critical of the over-the-top (IMO) local urbanista's in Denver. Doesn't make their goals all wrong, it's their attitude that grates with me.

But since you inquired Denver has joined the Vision Zero crowd.

Originally Posted by muertecaza

It doesn't have to be an all or nothing proposition. Sometimes pedestrians dart out in front of cars (my wife once hit a kid on a bike [thankfully no major injuries] in this situation). But I find it hard to believe that Arizona having the worst pedestrian fatality rate in the US, twice the national average, isn't in part a result of a more systemic problem.

And regarding the government...I mean they are the ones that pay for streets and sidewalks, and I do think there is a design element that contributes to pedestrian fatalities. I don't think you're required to have a full funding model in place to recognize that the current design of sidewalks throughout the Valley is generally bad.

Very well stated.

It takes a lot of time, effort and patience to change entrenched attitudes and dated ways of doing things. But as they say, there's no time like the present and where we stand to get started.

[exit2lef]

The city council voted yesterday to expedite the approval of the complete streets guidelines, essentially trying to forge a compromise between the immediate action requested in the citizen petition and the slow, deliberative process favored by city staff. Similar action was taken on a separate petition regarding trees and shade:

https://downtowndevil.com/2018/04/19...zen-petitions/

[muertecaza]

Tempe and Mesa have allocated $300,000.00 each to fund a study of potential Street Car extensions. Although the study boundaries go from 202-Baseline-Country Club-Priest, the most likely corridor still seems to be the one that has rumored for a while, along Rio Salado headed East to Sloan Park in Mesa.

I would be much more bullish on the Street Car if this type of extension gained momentum. Pretty much the whole stretch is currently vacant/developable, and having an extension plan in place could go a long way to making any future Pier 202 or Novus Innovation Corridor development transit oriented.

[N830MH]

https://www.azcentral.com/story/trav...018/559266002/

Monthly statistics released Friday show 4.38 million passengers traveled through Sky Harbor's three terminals in March. That's up 2.3 percent from March 2017, and is the most passengers the airport has handled in a month.

Sky Harbor sets a new passengers records for March 2018.

[b1n9]

Does anyone have the information from the South Central Corridor meeting last night?

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by b1n9

Does anyone have the information from the South Central Corridor meeting last night?

Couldn't find anything on their website or in the news.

Originally Posted by exit2lef

The city council voted yesterday to expedite the approval of the complete streets guidelines, essentially trying to forge a compromise between the immediate action requested in the citizen petition and the slow, deliberative process favored by city staff. Similar action was taken on a separate petition regarding trees and shade:

https://downtowndevil.com/2018/04/19...zen-petitions/

Thanks for the link:

“Really, it’s designing various aspects of what a complete street should look like in the urban environment,” Maria Hyatt, Phoenix’s street transportation director, explained.

There's obviously and not surprisingly some 'old school' resistance.

City staff argued that the review process would prevent any discrepancies or unintentional negative outcomes as a result of the guidelines.

Good Grief...

Descheemaker also spoke to the Council, discussing the five boards and commissions the complete streets guidelines had yet to pass through and citing 42 meetings that had already occurred concerning the guidelines.

The Council voted 6-1 to expedite, but not bypass, the approval process.

Any guesses on what "expedite" means and if it has any power? At least the Mayor is sympathetic.

“Our arterial streets, in part because of the history of the city of Phoenix, were designed as almost de facto freeways,” Stanton said.

Phoenix can and should do better than this.

[TakeFive]

Heh Buddy, anything happening in a city not named Denver that's interesting.
Sure Doobie, San Antonio comes to mind.
Dang, only thing that comes to mind when I hear San Antonio is George Strait and rodeos.
Understandable but it turns out that San Antonio is the first transit agency in the country that I'm aware of that's openly discussing 'trackless trains.'
Buddy, What in the world is a trackless train.
Doobie, it's like bus rapid transit on steroids.


No Light Rail In Multi-Modal Transit Plan?
Apr 11, 2018 By Elizabeth Ruiz/KTSA

If all goes as planned, San Antonio residents will vote on a multi-modal transit system plan next year, but don’t expect it to include light rail.

“The newer technologies are much more appealing. They’re much more flexible and they don’t set those lines down in stone if things change,” said the mayor. He favors technology out of Europe and Asia, which is focused on trackless options. China is testing a bus that looks like a train that can carry as many as 300 passengers. The mayor says buses can travel on existing roads, but they would have their own right-of-way.

And in my San Antonio:
https://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion...o-12547575.php

China has been testing a driverless electric-powered “trackless train.” It’s a rubber-tire bus that looks and feels just like a train. It can carry 300 passengers and reach 43 miles per hour. Just imagine where the technology will be by 2025, when the first rapid transit corridor here might become reality, let alone 2040.

“It’s more of a future-proof technology and can easily be scaled to rider demand,” he said.

So is this the future of transit?

• Video Link

China is also planning to use autonomous bus-trains and is rapidly adopting all-electric, zero emission buses.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Heh Buddy, anything happening in a city not named Denver that's interesting.
Sure Doobie, San Antonio comes to mind.

It's not about Denver, but it's also not about Phoenix. I think general discussion of transport modes and technologies across multiple cities might be better situated in the transportation forum:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/forumdisplay.php?f=25

[TakeFive]

It shouldn't be any different for transit
Everybody understands the dramatic impact of technology on our lives.

(repost)
Buses are going to save the world


Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Electric Buses Are Hurting the Oil Industry
April 25, 2018 by By Jeremy Hodges/Bloomberg

Electric buses were seen as a joke at an industry conference in Belgium seven years ago when the Chinese manufacturer BYD Co. showed an early model.

“Everyone was laughing at BYD for making a toy,” recalled Isbrand Ho, the Shenzhen-based company’s managing director in Europe. “And look now. Everyone has one.”

Where are we now? Btw, BYD is making RTD's electric buses for the 16th Street Mall. BYD was also featured when Warren Buffet flew to China and became a BYD investor a few years ago.

The numbers are staggering. China had about 99 percent of the 385,000 electric buses on the roads worldwide in 2017, accounting for 17 percent of the country’s entire fleet. Every five weeks, Chinese cities add 9,500 of the zero-emissions transporters—the equivalent of London’s entire working fleet, according Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Suddenly, buses with battery-powered motors are a serious matter with the potential to revolutionize city transport—and add to the forces reshaping the energy industry.

The energy industry; how so?

For every 1,000 battery-powered buses on the road, about 500 barrels a day of diesel fuel will be displaced from the market, according to BNEF calculations. This year, the volume of fuel not needed may rise 37 percent to 279,000 barrels a day because of electric transport including cars and light trucks, about as much oil as Greece consumes, according to BNEF. Buses account for about 233,000 barrels of that total.

Technology can be sooo amazing and beneficial in multiple ways.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

It's not about Denver, but it's also not about Phoenix. I think general discussion of transport modes and technologies across multiple cities might be better situated in the transportation forum:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/forumdisplay.php?f=25

Oops, now I know and that's fair; that's fine.

[combusean]

Thanks exit2lef for pointing that out.