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19 comments on DrumBeat II-10/24 (and the "are you going to Boston?" coordination thread as well)

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AlanfromBigEasy on October 25, 2006 - 2:53am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
I (Alan Drake) have checkec in Buckminister Hotel already staing till Sunday if anyone wants to meet.

Local transit advocate forwarded the following to me for the Sunday after the conference.

The Association for Public Transportation has several items of note for public transportation advocates and commuters:

                               Greenbush Map (Boston Globe)          This coming Sunday, October 29, APT will sponsor an inspection tour of the soon-to-be-completed Greenbush leg of the Old Colony South Shore lines.  The Greenbush line cost a one-half billion dollars to rebuild and is a lesson in both the benefits and costs of large scale transportation projects.  While the tour will be very informative for general interest, it will be especially valuable for anyone interested in advocating new transportation initiatives such as: Green Line extension to Medford/Somerville, commuter rail to South Coast (New Bedford & Fall River), North South Rail Link, Red-Blue Connector at Charles, Green Line restoration on the Arborway, commuter rail to Nashua/Manchester etc.  But, to take part in this tour, you must register today.  Price is $25 for APT members, $30 for non-members.  There will be a limited number of tickets sold on the day of the tour for $35, first come, first served.

This will be a guided tour in a climate controlled motor coach, lead by T and construction firm project managers.  (The tour will start at ~8:45 AM and end at ~2:45 PM.  Full details are on the registration form.) The motor coach will pick you up at either the Plymouth/Cordage (for train commuters) or Kingston (for auto commuters) train stations. Please note ­ train & subway fares to meet the motor coach and/or return to your starting point are not included in the pricing listed below.  (Subway / train fares will be an additional $3.00 to $6.00 per person.)  Although there will not be a lunch stop, you can bring your own as, it is too late to order a box lunch in advance.  Soft drinks will also be available for purchase on the motor coach.  Please use the form from the URL below to order tickets.  For further information, please contact APT's Barry Steinberg by phone: 617.773.7495, or e-mail: bmsteinberg@earthlink.net .  Further information will also be on the APT website:  www.car-free.com.      ALL ABOARD!!!

Click on the following URL for a downloadable registration form for the tour:  http://www.car-free.com/apt/Greenbush_Tour2006.pdf

          NSRL Spider Map with 9 line pairs.      On another topic of interest, APT has placed on its website www.car-free.com a hard hitting position paper on "An Integrated Regional Rail Network for New England".   One of the most significant advantages that the Northeast has over other parts of the country is it rail network.  However, this rail system is working at only a fraction of its potential as it desperately needs certain critical investments.

The keystone for this vision is the construction of the North-South Rail Link.  The NSRL, by connecting North Stations and South Stations in Boston, will extend the Northeast Corridor Acela service northward and will facilitate commuting and transportation throughout the region.  This road map, which has been lead by former Amtrak Vice-Chairman, Massachusetts governor, and democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis is likewise supported by elected officials, business leaders, and advocacy groups, including the Association for Public Transportation.  Please read it and give us your comments.

Click on the following URL to download the report:  http://www.car-free.com/papers/NSRL_Exec_Summary.pdf

Best regards,

Richard Arena
President
The Association for Public Transportation

*************************
Richard J. Arena
President, The Association for Public Transportation, Inc.
P.O. Box 51029;  Boston, MA  02205
rarena@car-free.com    www.car-free.com
APT Hotline: +1.617.482.0282   Direct: +1.732.576.8840   Fax: +1.732.576.8839

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cynus on October 25, 2006 - 9:05am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Many of the old rail lines are being converted to bike paths in New England.  But I guess it wouldn't be too hard to convert them back to rail lines if need be.
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AlanfromBigEasy on October 25, 2006 - 11:57am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Unfortunately, trail to rail never happens.  Experience has shown that once the hikers & bikers get a corridor (even with a proviso that it is "reserved" for future urban rail use) that they are unwilling to share (most US RR ROWs are 100 feet wide, plenty of EU examples of narrower shared rail & hike/bike ROW) with a new rail line.

Thus, the advice among rail advocates is let weeds grow and not allow development of hike & bike trails.  Else the future  rail line will have the added burden of dealing with activist hikers & bikers which may kill the entire project.

Poor state of affairs, but that is the US reality.

Best Hopes,

Alan

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Kalpa on October 25, 2006 - 12:48pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Unfortunately rail to trail never happens.

That's because we've had trucks running and we haven't needed to, yet.  Cynus is right that those lines are being preserved by being bike trails for when we need to convert them back to rail lines.  The reality is that the lines that haven't been preserved have gone back to the farmers/private landowners and will be very difficult to ever convert back to rail lines.  I'm an avid "Rails to Trails" member and railroad supporter as well.

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AlanfromBigEasy on October 25, 2006 - 1:26pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The advice I have heard from others is, if the transit authority or other gov't organization can buy the old RR ROW,is to NOT convert it into a hike/bike trail.  There are several cases where long range plans for light rail lines on old RR ROW could not be converted into actual plans because of hiker/biker resistance.  For all intents and purposes, the ROW was lost for transportation due to recreational demand.

Urban Rail lines were not built due to the unwillingness of hikers & bikers to shars the ROW (there was and is room for both).

In New Orleans, I try hard to keep good relations with the bike groups.  For my Desire Streetcar plan, we replaced 4 traffic lanes with 2 traffic lanes, 2 bike lanes and 2 streetcar tracks.

Best Hopes,

Alan

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19 comments on DrumBeat II-10/24 (and the "are you going to Boston?" coordination thread as well)

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