Tex/South Central Transit Mania thread!!

[urbanactivist]

Our region is going through an unprecendented "mass transit renaissance"... with creation/ expansion of light rail and BRT in Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and other metros (Oklahoma, Arkansas?? Please post!!). Let's use this thread for the following...

1) Post updates and info on the various transit projects for our region

2) Discuss how the new transit will change our region, and try to develop some stronger arguments in favor of mass transit and HSR.

[urbanactivist]

My first question is aimed at the Dallasites...

How much of the new DART expansion is planned as Subway? Do you think that the blended system of light rail/subway can work?

[electricron]

Originally Posted by urbanactivistTX

My first question is aimed at the Dallasites...

How much of the new DART expansion is planned as Subway? Do you think that the blended system of light rail/subway can work?

The Green and Orange Lines = Zero intitially.

The new downtown D2 corridor = 1 to 2 miles at most.

Dart's Red and Blue Lines already use the subway under North Central from Bryan to Mockingbird = 4 miles.

Personally, I don't like the darkness of a subway. I rather ride a train where I can see scenery, instead of flashing lights going by in the darkness. But Dart's trains go their fastest down there, up to 65 mph, and makes good time over those 4 miles.

I think the key in making a subway cost effective is to run more than one line through them. Eventually, if what I've seen earlier this month is correct, Dart will have 3 lines running through the North Central subway section.