The Oil Drum

233 comments on DrumBeat: August 23, 2007

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AlanfromBigEasy on August 23, 2007 - 10:47am

According to Ed, the Columbia Pike Light Rail Line should be extended past Skyline to Tyson's Corner (also served by the Metro Silver Line and Virginia Beltway Light Rail Line).

From my memory, he said that Fairfax County had not yet bought into the extension from Skyline to Tyson's Corner.

However, having two strong anchors on either end of the line (Tyson's Corner & Pentagon/Crystal City) with Metro connections at each terminus would guarantee strong ridership and high density (i.e cheap $/pax-mile).

It is part of creating a strong inter-connected web of Urban Rail.

Best Hopes for fewer VMT,

Alan

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dinopello on August 24, 2007 - 7:03am

It would be nice to connect a lot of these density centers, I agree. But, I thought this was a list of likely projects in the next, say 25 years. Skyline is poorly designed but actually has quite a lot of office, residential and retail and the whole Baily's Crossroads area will redevelop as a dense node before Tyson's gets connected to this line (is my bet). Ridership will not be an issue on the Pike. The line would be replacing probably the most heavily used bus corridor in the system.

There is still unmet demand for public transport in many places. For example, the owners of much of Skyline (Vornado) runs private shuttles (although anyone can get on) on 20 minute headways from Ballston to Skyline all day due to the demand.

Also, I'll say Tysons has a long way to go before it can be a successful transit-served area. You could put the line in, but the design of the place does not support arriving by transit. You can't walk anywhere easily or comfortably. People say transit to Tyson's because the traffic is such a mess, they think that will help. But the traffic is a mess because of the

1)culture of driving,
2) large amounts of free parking
3) Everything is so spread out
4) roads have been widened making hostile walking enviro.
5) Uses are not integrated
6)... there are more variations on these themes

In short, good luck.

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AlanfromBigEasy on August 24, 2007 - 7:59am

Although I have only been in Tyson's Corner once, I agree with your points. IMHO, Tyson's Corner would be comfortable in Phoenix. It was developed in the age of the automobile served by sprawl.

Three inter-connected transit lines will form a basis for a TOD redevelopment of the complex.

And I would hope to have all lines on the list open by 2018 to 2020. We will be deep into post-Peak Oil when the last line on this list opens, regardless of how fast we build them.

I would hope that this transit web with associated TOD would allow many the option of living w/o a car or with a single low use auto for a couple.

Best Hopes for Lower VMT,

Alan