From: jeremy@classic.asd.sgi.com (Jeremy Higdon)
Subject: Re: Pro-rail bias in Adrian's transit
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.  Mountain View, CA
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 10:05:45 GMT

In article <=#cnj1l.loren@netcom.com>, loren@netcom.com (Loren Hart) writes:
> I just thought I would give my $0.02 worth on this whole bus vs. rail
> discussion.  As I see it there are several advantages to rail, and I
> made a decision about where I bought my house based on the fact that
> SCCTD was going to build (and now has built) the LRT within walking
> distance.  Additionally I am currently looking at where to locate my
> business and many of the same criterion apply.  I will likely place my
> business along a rail line, and near a freeway exit.

It is a good idea to locate near transit corridors.

> 
> Not only is service by rail typically better (e.g. faster, smoother
> ride, etc), but rail systems allow for the following advantages.

In a very recent posting, I gave some examples of where bus service
could have been / could be faster than rail service.  Who wants inferior
bus service?  There is nothing inherent in LRT to make it faster than
buses.  Just the opposite, in fact, since express service is difficult
to operate.

>     1)  The route is perminant, and some traffic engineer or worse yet,
> 	some buracrat can not easily decide to re-route the rail
> 	system, as they do with busses, thus making a location that was
> 	once easy to reach, more difficult to reach.  This is not
> 	theoretical, but in fact has happened to me twice before, once
> 	to an appartment I lived in and once to a place that I worked.
>
>     2)  Governments and transit agencies have more of a commitment to
> 	rail systems and are less inclined to suffer from funding cut
> 	backs and almost never to the extent of cancelation of a
> 	route.  SCCTD just recently made this sort of decisions with
> 	their latest budget cuts.
>
>     3)  Rail systems are easier to use for the casual or out of area
> 	rider.  The rider has more confidence that s/he won't get lost
> 	or get on the wrong train or this train has a slightly modified
> 	route that doesn't go to the same place.  Again, personally I
> 	have taken trains in many cities where I am not familiar with
> 	the transit, but I have been reluctant to take busses in cities
> 	that I am unfamiliar with.  Additionally if you walk up to
> 	someone on the street and ask "Where is the nearest <name of
> 	rail service> station?"  they will usually know where it is
> 	even if they don't ride that system, but if you ask "where is
> 	the nearest line 87 bus stop" you will most likely not get a
> 	useful answer.
> 
> I am not a "rail fan" as it were, I am just a person that needs to get
> from one place to another.
> 
> -- Loren

To take the specific case of the Guadalupe corridor, if there had been
a busway built, all three of your points would have been negated.  There
would have been stations, just like with LRT, so that people could easily
know where to go.  The route would not have been changeable (although
multiple routes could use it, just as they may have multiple routes on
the LRT line), and the government would be almost as committed in funding
(it would have cost somewhat less), and would not just stop using their
new 300 million dollar busway.

Obviously, LRT on its own right of way is going to win out in all three
points over a bus on a regular street.  It will be faster, too.  Also
about $490 million more expensive.  But that is hardly germane to the
discussion.  It's like saying a PC is better than a Mac (a computer
analogy) because my 486 PC with VGA and 80MB hard disk is better than
your Macintosh Classic with a floppy.  No one would make such a comparison.

Ottawa, Ontario (the capitol (capital?  I never can remember) of Canada)
has the best North American example of a busway based system.  They have
a number of busways which are essentially two lane exclusive freeways,
crisscrossing the city.  They have stations just like rail transit.  They
have the advantage that express service is possible, and people can take
one-seat rides into downtown (a big advantage in Ottawa winters).  They
also have more frequent service than you could have for the same cost with
rail.

Pittsburgh has a mix of busways and rail, but I don't know as much about
their system.  I do know that there is a section where an LRT and busway
run along the same right of way.

jeremy