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Old 10-04-2019, 05:04 AM
 
Location: 35203
2,099 posts, read 2,178,665 times
Reputation: 771

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Coming to the city of Birmingham in 2020

https://www.al.com/news/2019/10/zyp-...ist-bikes.html

https://www.birminghamal.gov/2019/09...-ride-service/

https://alabamanewscenter.com/2019/0...1-world-games/
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Old 10-04-2019, 06:58 PM
 
666 posts, read 519,405 times
Reputation: 544
Via looks really cool and new. I have not seen this in other cities. This is what I'm talking about! Be an early adopter.

If I'm wrong and they are in other cities, then it's still a new concept and a great way to keep up with times. Exactly what Bham needs.
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Old 10-05-2019, 12:32 PM
 
377 posts, read 342,286 times
Reputation: 254
I like all of these but most excited about the Bham Xpress and I love that it will be operational by the 2021 World Games to showcase for all of our international visitors moving around the city. That is a great look. I see this as a game changer for public transit in Birmingham more than anything. 15 minute headway and this level of reliability and efficiency is unheard of here and will definitely get people talking and riding a lot more.
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Old 10-05-2019, 02:36 PM
 
23,612 posts, read 70,493,499 times
Reputation: 49323
Quote:
Originally Posted by cherokee48 View Post
I like all of these but most excited about the Bham Xpress and I love that it will be operational by the 2021 World Games to showcase for all of our international visitors moving around the city. That is a great look. I see this as a game changer for public transit in Birmingham more than anything. 15 minute headway and this level of reliability and efficiency is unheard of here and will definitely get people talking and riding a lot more.
As most of you know, I think that light rail is a money pit with no flexibility. Although I'm not a big fan of mass transportation, this idea of busways and doing simple surface roadways is, IMO, far far better than any of the existing alternatives. The costs are within reason, routes can be changed if needed, speed will be comparable to a rail system with a similar number of stops. I've seen one in operation in south Dade county Florida, and it works.
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Old 10-06-2019, 12:51 PM
 
Location: Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, and Raleigh
2,580 posts, read 2,489,803 times
Reputation: 1614
Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea View Post
As most of you know, I think that light rail is a money pit with no flexibility. Although I'm not a big fan of mass transportation, this idea of busways and doing simple surface roadways is, IMO, far far better than any of the existing alternatives. The costs are within reason, routes can be changed if needed, speed will be comparable to a rail system with a similar number of stops. I've seen one in operation in south Dade county Florida, and it works.
Light rail transit (LRT) is way more beneficial than bus rapid transit (BRT) in the long run. LRT is more likely to run its own dedicated right of way and less like to be caught in traffic than bus rapid transit even with transit signal prioritization.

https://kinder.rice.edu/2018/01/11/h...-some-benefits
https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulati...y/transit-role
https://iconsofinfrastructure.com/do...igh-the-costs/

Streetcars are more considered money pits than LRT because they are considered attempts at economic development with limited to low ridership and are essentially buses on rails in the street. Whereas, LRT encourages transit-oriented development, higher population densities, urban infill, more pedestrian/cyclist-friendly environment, and placemaking in an existing urbanized area where there may urban decline or nothing at all.

The way Birmingham is laid out in an urban grid so more urban infill and higher population densities are the way to go. This is perfect environment for more high capacity transit such as the eventual conversion of BRT into LRT when and where the population density and land use allows it.

I have a very close friend who works for Miami-Dade Transit as a senior transit planner whose entire job is project management of converting that BRT into LRT in South Florida. BRT is seen as a tool to transition from regular local buses to high capacity transit and to get more people from point A to B while encouraging higher economic uses of surrounding land uses along those corridors.

Last edited by jero23; 10-06-2019 at 01:30 PM..
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Old 10-06-2019, 01:31 PM
 
23,612 posts, read 70,493,499 times
Reputation: 49323
The south Dade route is somewhat unique, and if the ridership figures justify the conversion than it may be a logical expense. I had an office a few hundred yards from the last station on the elevated system. The growth towards Homestead was stunning, and the old FEC right-of-way was always the main trunk of development. South Florida is also flat, which makes for fewer engineering challenges. Once out of the valley, the hills in B'ham create problems. Anyway, what is planned for B'ham seems sensible and likely sustainable.
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Old 10-07-2019, 08:56 AM
 
Location: Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, and Raleigh
2,580 posts, read 2,489,803 times
Reputation: 1614
Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea View Post
The south Dade route is somewhat unique, and if the ridership figures justify the conversion than it may be a logical expense. I had an office a few hundred yards from the last station on the elevated system. The growth towards Homestead was stunning, and the old FEC right-of-way was always the main trunk of development. South Florida is also flat, which makes for fewer engineering challenges. Once out of the valley, the hills in B'ham create problems. Anyway, what is planned for B'ham seems sensible and likely sustainable.
The Over-the-Mountain communities being connected will be the engineering issue when they all coalesce with the idea of high capacity transit in the future. The last feasibility study conducted by the RPCGB, the Birmingham MPO, in the late 2000s was to utilize the median of the US 280 corridor and the CSX right-of-way. The CSX corridor cuts through Red Mountain as a potential corridor to connect West Homewood, Oxmoor Valley, Bluff Park, and Hoover to Downtown.

The last regional plan update by the RPCGB in 2015 foresaw more urban infill and increases in population density in the Jones Valley portion of the region with the intown neighborhoods redevelopment, economic growth in the urban core, and transit investments as the impetus of such.
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