zaphod Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I didnt even know this thing existed till i found it on wikipedia. It seems nice but a bit silly at the same time. I think if they build that urban center thing and connect it to the new dart line it will really be useful since commuters could ride all the way to the front of their office buildings. Right now it says it only runs around lunchtime because thats the only time anyone rides it, and that for a while back in the mid 90's it was in a mothball state due to low demand of the office park it serves... it would be cool if it hooked up to the light rail. I also read an interesting idea where it would be converted to a special track for special buses that could run on regular streets. that way they could build a normal road to the new light rail station instead of new guideway that might be too expensive.it'd have to be one of the first bus/train hybrids ever built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamHouston Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I checked it out last summer (as you drive around Las Colinas you're like"what the hell is that?"). Anyways, it only runs at lunch, is free and has few stops, but if you go to a "station" and look at the map, it shows more "proposed track" around the whole complex and maybe to DFW (the map must be from 15 years ago). From looking at it, I remember it being in pretty good shape, for being a flop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowbrow Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I used to use it daily back in 88 or 89. Had a summer job out in Las Colinas.Always seemed a little bit odd to me, but it got me to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Hizzy! Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 The MetroMover in Miami (not monorail) as well as the people mover systems in Detroit and Jacksonville should already provide evidence that this form of mass transit can be hit or miss, but especially miss if you don't have a high volume of commuters. The problem with a mover system is that it competes with the sidewalk for commuters. Think about it. What is one of the big neighborhood draws for a true-blooded urbanist? Walkability. If you have the option to walk five or six blocks on a nice day to your destination (especially while browsing storefronts or the like), are you really going to bother with going to a mover platform to potentially wait five or six minutes for your next ride and then still have to more or less walk a couple of blocks to your actual destination?A "mover system" could work in a very large urban area like Chicago's Loop or Midtown Manhattan (or, hell, even DT Houston) because the existing rail service isn't enough to take you everywhere you might want to go downtown, and those business districts are large enough physically speaking where walking might be a pain in the butt. For smaller geographic areas (especially if they don't have a high volume of customers to begin with), this becomes more of a challenge. That appears to be Las Colinas' primary problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 9, 2006 Author Share Posted March 9, 2006 i think it would be a great thing if dart connected. then commuters from throughtout the metro area could funnel onto this thing to take them to the very front of their buildings.but yeah, i see what your saying about it competing with the sidewalk. BTW, i also found out there is an underground people mover in washington DC that links certain government buildings and the capitol.... didnt know that was there either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Voice of University Oaks Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 i think it would be a great thing if dart connected. then commuters from throughtout the metro area could funnel onto this thing to take them to the very front of their buildings.This is exactly what is going to happen in the coming years. DART's light rail extension to Irving and DFW airport will have stations in Las Colinas that will allow transfer to the Las Colinas APT (peoplemover). Right now DART is in the process of evaluating station locations. Here is a link to a station analysis study done last November (warning: 3.3mb .pdf) that goes into detail about possible station location alternatives in Las Colinas, including their ability to provide a connection to thep peoplemover:http://www.dart.org/NWIrvingDFWStationLoca...ysis17Nov05.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Plastic Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Yeah I've seen it. I think it just connect a hospital compund or some buildings. It's not a real urban train system.I lived in The Las Colinas area and they probrably still haven't built the light rail to Irving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 Yeah I've seen it. I think it just connect a hospital compund or some buildings. It's not a real urban train system.I lived in The Las Colinas area and they probrably still haven't built the light rail to Irving.it connects some office buildings in the lac colinas office park with main station called bell tower station. There isnt a hospital over there i think. Indianapolis has a tram thing in its downtown to get people around their huge clarian hospital complex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonsemipro Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 :closedeyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 :closedeyes:just for the record, i think people movers are goofy and wastes of money unless there is a need to move people from one building to the other within a complex without them leaving the premises, like in an airport or a hospital. If i designed this office park i wouldve built the towers closer together with a central outdoor shopping area like the woodlands main street thing. But im not a developer or know anything about that stuff so maybe that wouldnt have worked in this situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby(DC) Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Here's a picture of the Skyway in Houston 1956 at Arrowhead Park. It was later torn down and rebuilt at the Texas State Fairgrounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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