dbigtex56 Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Light rail has numerous advantages over streetcars.such as.....?Just off the top of my head... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 The use of the terms 'streetcar' or 'trolley' when referring to light rail is a not-so-subtle attempt to portray light rail as an obsolete form of transportation.Implementation may vary, and certainly the system has been modernized (as would be expected), but the vehicular technology is still really very similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Implementation may vary, and certainly the system has been modernized (as would be expected), but the vehicular technology is still really very similar.Yes; and SUVs rely on gasoline powered internal combustion engines and ride on rubber tires, much like the 1903 Oldsmobile. Yet, if someone referred to your Tahoe as a "horseless carriage", you might correctly assume that he's doing so in an effort to dismiss its relevance. Automobiles have made advances in the past century; so have public transit systems. Let's call things by their correct names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 ...if someone referred to your Tahoe as a "horseless carriage", you might correctly assume that he's doing so in an effort to dismiss its relevance.No, not really. I'd think that the person was attempting and failing to be cute. That's all.If I really wanted to carry this argument onward, I could just turn it around and claim that the pro-rail folks only use the term light rail instead of streetcar because the connotation makes their hugely expensive transit systems sound vastly more durable and useful. But then we'd just be stuck on a meaningless little bit of semantics, and I just don't want to go there. Not worth my time and patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
713 To 214 Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 If I really wanted to carry this argument onward, I could just turn it around and claim that the pro-rail folks only use the term light rail instead of streetcar because the connotation makes their hugely expensive transit systems sound vastly more durable and useful. But then we'd just be stuck on a meaningless little bit of semantics, and I just don't want to go there. Not worth my time and patience. lolol. . .then why is so much of this thread comprised of posts from you? "Light Rail" is referred to as such because it is an industry-specific term that distinguishes it from "Heavy Rail!" Go look both of them up, then post the definitions of both here. . .then we can end the discussion. The bottom line is that no one uses the term "light rail" because it sounds cool, or futuristic, or because he/she is trying to make an "expensive transit system sound vastly more durable and useful." Do us all a favor, and discontinue the arguing just for argument's sake. IMHO, it's adding little to no value to this discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Just off the top of my head... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 lolol. . .then why is so much of this thread comprised of posts from you? "Light Rail" is referred to as such because it is an industry-specific term that distinguishes it from "Heavy Rail!" Go look both of them up, then post the definitions of both here. . .then we can end the discussion. The bottom line is that no one uses the term "light rail" because it sounds cool, or futuristic, or because he/she is trying to make an "expensive transit system sound vastly more durable and useful." Do us all a favor, and discontinue the arguing just for argument's sake. IMHO, it's adding little to no value to this discussion.This thread is composed heavily of posts from me because 1) the original topic was more interesting and 2) I post excessively. I do agree, however, that no one (or very very few people, anyway) use the term "light rail" for promotional purposes...but it was an exercise to demonstrate the futility of this line of argument...in fact, if you read to the bottom of my post, you'd see that it was my expressed interest to not continue argument on this trivial matter.Per your request, I googled "Heavy Rail" and "transit" together, and this is what I came up with. Heavy Rail is high-speed, passenger rail cars operating singly or in trains of two or more cars on fixed rails in separate rights-of-way from which all other vehicular and foot traffic are excluded. Also known as "rapid rail," "subway," "elevated (railway)," or "metropolitan railway (metro)."Source: American Public Transportation AssociationLight Rail is lightweight passenger rail cars operating singly (or in short, usually two-car, trains) on fixed rails in right-of-way that is not separated from other traffic for much of the way. Light rail vehicles are typically driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley or a pantograph. Also known as "streetcar," "tramway," "trolley car.""Heritage trolley" and "vintage trolley" systems are light rail systems that use vehicles that were built before 1960, or modern replicas of such vehicles.Source: American Public Transportation AssociationCommuter Rail is long-haul rail passenger service operating between metropolitan and suburban areas, whether within or across the geographical boundaries of a state, usually characterized by reduced fares for multiple rides, and commutation tickets for regular, recurring riders. Also known as "regional rail" or "suburban rail."Source: American Public Transportation Associationhttp://www.apta.com/links/transit_by_mode/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston1stWordOnTheMoon Posted December 29, 2006 Share Posted December 29, 2006 I rode on the LRT today. I let 2 trains go by before i boarded. The first 2 were completely packed!! What was going on today? Also, there seemed to be a lot of youth onboard, many of which had on red t-shirts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted December 29, 2006 Share Posted December 29, 2006 I rode on the LRT today. I let 2 trains go by before i boarded. The first 2 were completely packed!! What was going on today? Also, there seemed to be a lot of youth onboard, many of which had on red t-shirts.Are you joking? Its the Texas Bowl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston1stWordOnTheMoon Posted December 29, 2006 Share Posted December 29, 2006 Are you joking? Its the Texas Bowl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted December 29, 2006 Share Posted December 29, 2006 I rode on the LRT today. I let 2 trains go by before i boarded. The first 2 were completely packed!!i'm glad you added the last statement because otherwise it sounded as if you had to let a couple go by before you figured out what it was! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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