"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"Calif Bill" wrote in message
ink.net...


Do not know if it still true. Used to be 50% of the population of the
USA
lived within 500 miles of Cleavland, OH. Includes Boston / NYC. Very
good
to have mass transit in this situation. Problem with most new Mass
transit,
is the Politics and Union required laws. Bart ends in my town.
Livermore,
Calif is 7 miles away, and has also been paying BART taxes since 1957.
To
run BART the extra 7 miles is projected to run $900 million to $1.5
billion!
It is an above ground light rail. No tunnels required. Where do these
costs come from? Even figuring in another train does not add up. Also,
if
the job could be done wrong BART did it. Non-standard guage railways.
Wrong frequency and voltage for signaling the train as they did not want
to
pay the railroads for the right to use there system. So we spent
anothor
100 million or so and still lost trains. A high tech fare system that
costs more to monitor than the extra money a simple ticket or token for
anywhere in the system ala Paris / London / NYC costs.
Bill



Well...I guess if something's done incorrectly, nobody should ever try it
again anyplace else. You're right.



Nope, just do not build over priced edifices to some pol's idea of nirvana.
Build them where lots of the people live, and connect up to other mass
transit with frequency. And affordable fares. San Jose did something near
right. Their light rail runs from The North end of San Jose to the way
south. Right down the middle of the valley pretty much. Connects to the
Altamont diesel train at the Northern terminus and the ticket from the train
is good for a ride. The Light rail ticket is $1.25. Good for miles and
miles. Affordable for everybody and convenient to bus connection. Free
connecting bus to San Jose Airport. For the same distance from the airport
at Oakland, BART gets $2 and have to have an exact change BART ticket.
Bill