Old METRORail Plan

[ricco67]

Some people say that they need a vehicle to carry all of their groceries. Why not, say, buy a couple of bags full one day, then the next day stop and get a couple more. You don't ten bags of groceries to make it through a day or two.

I totally agree with people not needing to buy a ton of groceries at a time. Even though I have a car, I make a note of what I need, and on the way home buy 8 to 10 items, go through express and I'm outta there in under 30 minutes.

I do believe one of the main reasons one of the Rail ordinances didn't pass a few years ago, was that the taxi companies had a fit, because one of the lines included going to one of the airports. I can't recall the entire story.

The taxi drivers in this city are a joke. 60$ just from IAH to Downtown is horrible (including tip).

Actually, the zone rate for downtown is $44.50, but it's usually $50 with a tip, more if the cab is clean and doesn't smell.

My $6 million question is why we would want an ugly elevated structure, and why we would want it to have fewer stops, thereby making it more inconvenient.

Haa anyone other than the editor ever actually SEEN the El? It is hideously ugly! Why would that be considered an improvement?

I've seen El's and I have to agree, it's not the most attractive thing in the world and it was made in an age where city government basically built what it wanted to.

How expensive will it be to build a light rail subway? In Dallas, it costs about $50 million to build the CityPlace station and about $122 million for the 3.25 mile subway they have now. I am sure costs won't go over $200 million in Houston for a subway of that length. It would probably total out to about $250-$300 million (including the Uptown Line section of subway and two stations).

Dallas and Houston are different animals as far as soil goes, so the costs go up accordingly. As ridership goes up with the current (and extended) line(s) increases, the odds of us getting a subway in some parts of the city will increase.

[Trae]

Forgot about the soil issue. DFW is probably a bit more hallow (like Atlanta, where making a subway line is pretty easy).

[RedScare]

How expensive will it be to build a light rail subway? In Dallas, it costs about $50 million to build the CityPlace station and about $122 million for the 3.25 mile subway they have now. I am sure costs won't go over $200 million in Houston for a subway of that length. It would probably total out to about $250-$300 million (including the Uptown Line section of subway and two stations).

Those are 1990 dollars. Today, that 3.25 miles would probably cost $350 million or more. The Uptown Line at grade as currently proposed was estimated to cost $297 million in 2004, so I feel comfortable in saying that your $250-300 million estimate is WILDLY optimistic.

[desirous]

$600 million is more like it. Construction costs have spiralled significantly since 2004.

In any case, Houston deserves at least something like DART rail. Houston has more serviceable clusters of employment, such as DT, Uptown, Greenway, and Greenspoint. Dallas has DT and... Las Colinas? Much of Dallas' office space is scattered along 635 and other freeways, more so than here.

[Trae]

i have a cousin that lives there. he told me that charlotte is losing public support because of escalating costs. i think the intial cost was 225 million and now they've spent over 450 million. because of this, later this yr, a successful move was made to put back up for vote the sale tax allotment for this. now the rail people are trying to get the contractor to move up the start date before the election so that they'll have a working system.

Well, it looks like the majority of Charlotte residents want the rail. 70% of the people who voted, voted to keep the transit tax for more rail. So much for over spending. Also, Charlotte's first line was 50% funded by the Feds.