Pros And Cons Of Light Rail: The Future Of Transportation

1649 Words4 Pages

Government has indeed failed its citizens in multiple cities across our nation as well as abroad. The occurrences of bus and rail service frequencies while raising passenger fares, is far too often. This can be attributed to the really low ridership about 20 years ago. With the low ridership, transit across the US was operating with sizeable deficit in 1997. At this time, $19 billion was spent while only $10.6 billion in revenues was acquired. It has been shown by Prickell and Lee that government attests to special interests and not commuters (Winston, 2000). Federal monies went predominantly to transportation employees and transportation equipment suppliers (75%) and the remaining quarter to actually improve systems and obtain affordability …show more content…

However, the plans are not cohesive and may not give the Puget Sound the return on their huge investment. Both Houston and Washington D.C. have a few ideas that Seattle could benefit from. In Seattle, most of the Sounder trains are on a separate infrastructure than roads. With the looming expansion though, the Eastside will be getting light rail in addition the south end on some roads. Houston implemented their relatively small, but efficient light rail system in 2002 after 30 years of debates and votes. The system provides unique lights to allow light rail to meander through city centre without causing major disruptions to their routes and traffic congestion. With the NP component of light rail in play, commute times have dropped for almost every route. It is the most involved light rail system in the US. Light rail is the best stimulant for transit-oriented development. It integrates the suburbs and other surrounding communities with the urban core the best. It provides a much cleaner alternative which increases public health. Most effectively built rail systems can generate up to 400% more ridership. The initial might be steep, but the ‘Move Seattle’ campaign should focus on light rail as much as buses. The nation’s capital is now bargaining with developers to contribute toward the building of new transit centres. It will take more than just upfront costs, but monies to maintain the system. Metro has faced serious technical issues which prohibits efficiency and ultimately contributed to their first ever system wide refund not so long ago. It will always cost money, but the city should not allow developers to accommodate more cars because of their high density

More about Pros And Cons Of Light Rail: The Future Of Transportation

Open Document