I would guess that if they are talking about it, that it would. I'm not sure on any of the numbers, but I often drive on State and I see a lot of people waiting for buses all the time. There are so many businesses on State that I think it probably would bet used. Trax is so focused on getting people downtown, a State BRT would get people to and from locals on and around state better.
I agree with FutureMayor, I think a BRT line on State Street would be successful. I've ridden the buses on State Street and they're generally full throughout the day.
For BRT to be a success in Utah something in the culture will have to change. There is a negative stigma attached to riding the bus whether it is accurate or not. For some reason riding a train is a completely acceptable form of mass transit for many in the valley but not a bus.The express buses are full of commuters every morning but the regular routes in and out of downtown are generally not full of downtown employees. I'm not sure what the solution would be but there will have to be a change.
Since last month visible changes at the Viaduct project have been:
1. More work on the deck itself in preparation for the pouring of concrete.
2. A massive excavation on the east side of the Viaduct to remove old pipe and such and prepare new pipe and for Geofoam.
3. The placing of many blocks of Geofoam on the west side of the Viaduct.
FrontRunner is so awesome!
Last edited by s.p.hansen; Jan 14, 2011 at 5:45 AM.
Apparently, there could be a Mountain View Corridor TRAX line from the Airport to Herriman. There's also an extension of the West Valley Line to Magna!
Does anyone know how likely these are to happen or how far in the process these routes are?
Murray • Unless you live here, there’s not much reason to wander west of State Street around 4800 South. And if you do, you’ll find limited routes to get back on your way, because Main Street ends to the north and Cottonwood Street ends to the south.
That’s likely to change in a few years if Murray succeeds in redeveloping its City Center District near the Intermountain Medical Center. To help create a vibrant housing and entertainment district there, the city is working with the Utah Department of Transportation to punch a new route — or perhaps a pair of one-way connections — through the area...
I agree with FutureMayor, I think a BRT line on State Street would be successful. I've ridden the buses on State Street and they're generally full throughout the day.
For BRT to be a success in Utah something in the culture will have to change. There is a negative stigma attached to riding the bus whether it is accurate or not. For some reason riding a train is a completely acceptable form of mass transit for many in the valley but not a bus.The express buses are full of commuters every morning but the regular routes in and out of downtown are generally not full of downtown employees. I'm not sure what the solution would be but there will have to be a change.
That's because riding the bus in most of my experience has sucked. Why would anyone choose to ride the bus when they have the option of train. I'm all about more options, so if we have BRT on State that's for sure better than nothing. But it seems kind of silly to promote the idea that people should be OK with riding busses vs. trains when they are clearly reasons why people dislike busses. Maybe we should instead look into reasons why people prefer trains. I can't think of any advantages to riding the bus vs. train.
That's good to hear. Murray has a lot of potential at the 5300 S Trax/FrontRunner station, with, IMC, and the city center close by. Some additional medium to high density residential between the rail and "downtown" could really make that a nice urban node. Combine that with the Fireclay station at 45th and Murray could have two great urban nodes.
Well, one benefit of buses from the passenger's perspective is that you can stop much closer to your destination in most cases, as there are usually several stops per block and you can request whichever one you want. I'm not sure if that would be the same with 'BRT' though.
Well, one benefit of buses from the passenger's perspective is that you can stop much closer to your destination in most cases, as there are usually several stops per block and you can request whichever one you want. I'm not sure if that would be the same with 'BRT' though.
True, busses have benefits in terms of destination, but I can't think of any in terms of rider experience.
It looks as if they're working faster on the southern (traffic) side of the viaduct than the northern (TRAX) side. I knew the bridge would be open to cars before trains, but I guess they're making it in two segments or the other side hasn't arrived yet. I'm anxious to see work on the North side of the viaduct!
... as demand justifies. I'd expect an "enhanced bus" for phase 1 (a normal bus with ticket machines at stations), which would evolve into dedicated BRT bus lanes as ridership demands it, and eventually TRAX .... but that could be decades (25+ years) away.
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(I've sadly learned...) You can take the boy out of Utah, but you can't take the Utah out of the boy
Has anyone ever heard of the Deseret Power Railroad (Deseret Western Railway)?
It's a rare example of an electrified freight rail service in the United States. It began operations in 1984 with its track built in a loop to connect the Bonanza coal power plant with coal mines in a geographic area between Utah and Colorado. The electrified trains operating on this line have been very economic and continue to operate successfully today.
In reading about this and seeing these pictures I can't help but think, why doesn't Union Pacific electrify its freight lines along the Wasatch Front?
Well, UP sort of does have electrified freight lines. A UP engineer told me that the locomotives they use have diesel engines that only run electric generators for the electric motors that actually pull the train. So, they create their own electricity on board instead of getting it via wire.
Wikipedia: "A diesel-electric transmission system includes a diesel engine connected to an electrical generator, creating electricity that powers electric traction motors.... This kind of power transmission is used on railways by diesel electric locomotives and diesel electric multiple units as only electric motors are able to supply full torque at 0 RPM. Diesel-electric systems are also used in submarines and surface ships and some land vehicles."
I saw a Test Run of the New Trax Trains today running on the University Line at 5th East and 4th South. They used 4 sets of cars and they looked really cool. Did anyone else see them?
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Did anyone else see them?
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