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Why dont the trains have the right of ways?


astros148

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was riding the red and purple line today and for the life of me why eff dont they have the right of way? it is so damn stupid that they dont have it. Was riding with a guy from out of state and he couldnt believe it. Like wtf why cant metro fix this? Esp the purple line in downtown, whats the damn point if it has to stop at every red light. this needs to change ASAP

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Because traffic on Louisiana and Travis suck badly enough now at rush hour. Imagine the road rage that would come with having to sit through TEN EFFING RED LIGHTS just so an EMPTY EFFING TRAIN can go by.

I would be the first to grab a shovel and jackhammer to rip up the tracks

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was riding the red and purple line today and for the life of me why eff dont they have the right of way? it is so damn stupid that they dont have it. Was riding with a guy from out of state and he couldnt believe it. Like wtf why cant metro fix this? Esp the purple line in downtown, whats the damn point if it has to stop at every red light. this needs to change ASAP

You may get your wish for the east side lines. I asked Metro this same question a few weeks back.

So as a daily commuter of the Green train, I decided to tweet the city & Metro urging for Metro to be given it's ROW Downtown for the Green/Purple trains.

Metro's response ...seems encouraging.

https://twitter.com/metrohouston/status/662286626199101440

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All trains crossing Bagby and westbound trains crossing Smith are always 100% empty of passengers.

I can't tell if this is sarcastic or serious.. Must be sarcasm considering both cross streets are at the far west end of the line right where it ends..

Does metro make all passengers exit at the last stop before the "turn around"?

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You may get your wish for the east side lines. I asked Metro this same question a few weeks back.

 

 

Thank the lord, wonder how close they are? hopefully they implement this before the superbowl or else it will be a embarrassment. Could you imagine tourist going to GRB and being stuck behind traffic on the train. we would be the laughing stock

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  • 5 months later...

In response to the OP, I can imagine it's a variety of reasons.

 

1. If you're comparing the light rail to the right of way usually given by freight, freight trains are dead slow in street-running freight tracks (yes, they do exist...imagine Commerce between Palmer and St. Charles except with a train that goes by daily AND with higher traffic.

2. Because the trains share the right of way WITH the road, they may be obligated (out of accident-avoidance or contractual) to stop occasionally for traffic flow.

3. I would also posit that if the trains had FULL right of way, all intersections would require flashing red lights and gates.

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On 11/22/2015 at 8:53 PM, astros148 said:

 

Thank the lord, wonder how close they are? hopefully they implement this before the superbowl or else it will be a embarrassment. Could you imagine tourist going to GRB and being stuck behind traffic on the train. we would be the laughing stock

I mean we def need a dedicated lane for the Green and Purple lines but we wouldn't be the laughing stock. I mean other cities face similar situations with their transit as well. The only thing I don't like is having to turn ON the track like you have to do in the TMC. I would much rather have the lane next to the tracks as the designated turning lane. 

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If you are talking about trams. trams don't necessarily have to have dedicated right of ways. Here in Germany they are called "strassenbahn" for a reason and thats because they are part of the street and in most cases share road surfaces with car traffic. The important thing is continuing to develop a culture where the relationships of tram and car travel are seemless or doesn't fight with each other.

 

I could post pics some time to help illustrate this. multiple rights of way is a waste of space in many cases. a combination of right of ways can help build more respect for train travel and make car drivers understand that they aren't king of the road ways.

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turning left on capitol in downtown is pandemonium on weekends.

 

the whole part time 'no left turn' signs that light up when the train is near are stupid and need to be removed, or re-thought.

 

so many people are afraid to drive in the lane with the tracks, they turn left from the second lane. missing trains, bikes, cars and scaring pedestrians. 

 

driving in on weekdays I don't usually see any issues, but man, a cop could have a field day stopping people for safety issues.

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