NYC Light Rail Discussion/Proposals Thread

[Jova42R]

3 hours ago, engineerboy6561 said:

That's the problem; the only way to do this in one jurisdiction would be to extend the Church Av Yard tracks down Ft Hamilton to Bay Ridge and then build actual subway to SI via a new Ft Ham-SI tunnel (which would also be hilariously expensive). Frankly, doing SI-Elizabeth with an extension of the S48/98. beefing up S89 service to Bayonne, and beefing up S79/93 service to Brooklyn may be as good as we can get.

 

4 hours ago, Deucey said:

You still have the problem of getting tracks on and off the VZ, or finishing the SI tunnel.

Although it could mitigate SI-Bk-LI traffic - like many light rail projects partially do, it’d have to:

1) Branch at both ends - NJ side to HBLR/Hoboken, EWR, and to Metropark; LI side to Jamaica/Mineola and via southern Bk to a LIRR station or Garden City. It’d end up looking like the TfL Northern or District Lines but with lower capacity and possibly a lower fare box recovery

2) Either be a new bi-state transit authority or do trackage rights to allow  to Metropark and  to Bk/LI. That’s when power struggles come into play.

3) Offset toll collections on the VZ and reduce induced demand on the SIE/BQE and the Belt.

Its a nice idea but if it were viable, the B&O would’ve built something for it and not closed the North Shore Line.

Here is my map of the ways that we could get LRT from Bayonne and Elizabeth to SI (both links lead to the same map, just some computers will not accept the first link):

https://www.google.com/maps/d/drive?state={"ids"%3A["1BdIm9Xz9zuHO4It8-UUcICA74nWR0dde"]%2C"action"%3A"open"%2C"userId"%3A"107668199648967475686"}&usp=sharing

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&hl=en&mid=1BdIm9Xz9zuHO4It8-UUcICA74nWR0dde&ll=40.644556853678665%2C-74.25874914888863&z=13

Which one is best, in your opinion?

 

 

[TheNewYorkElevated]

Cool YouTube finds showing footage documenting some of the long gone southern Brooklyn trolley lines. 

 

 

[eggballo]

Before any of this becomes a reality we need to learn from our past mistakes when it comes to building modern streetcar lines.

We need to build extensive lines that are built for transit and not development

We need to build the tracks in the center of the streets, that way that streetcars aren't dangerously close to bikes and parked cars or blocking large trucks.

They need to work well with the buses 

As much as I want to see vintage streetcars on these lines, they're no suitable for strollers and wheelchairs (That's the main problem with the streetcar lines in cities like Little Rock, El Paso, Kenosha, Charlotte, and Tampa.)  Therefore, we must have a large fleet of modern high-capacity streetcars.

The streetcars must flow with traffic and have their own right-of-way on large boulevard streets

 

[trainfan22]

I've been watching some light rail cab ride videos on YT, and man I want a light rail route in NYC so badly haha.

 

 

North Shore/West Shore light rail in Staten Island is the best bet, there's space for it and there could be a mix of street running and running on it's own ROW. Anything else is a pipe dream IMO.

 

 

As much as I love for the Bay Ridge branch to become an light rail, it IS an active freight line and you can't just tell NY & Atlantic railway to go f***k themselves so the MTA can have the ROW to themselves. IDK if there's enough space on the ROW for an isolated freight track and two LR tracks and an Island platform for stations. 

 

 

The Triboro RX as an light rail would have to terminate in Fresh Pond or Jackson Heights as sending it to the BX along with Metro North penn station access already being on that row there's no way there's space for all that.

 

I already have the vision of how the MTA light rail vehicles would look like... MTA light rail signs on the side like how our subway cars say MTA NYC Subway on the side, same countdown clocks that are in B div stations, FIND on the light rail trains themselves and wrapped in the same Cuomo scheme the buses are... Talk to text automated announcements to announce the stops.

Edited September 6, 2020 by trainfan22

[Deucey]

7 hours ago, eggballo said:

We need to build extensive lines that are built for transit and not development

And if there are no park and ride lots, without density and need, who's gonna ride them that aren't already on buses?

(In case you're wondering, that's why every light rail project outside the City of San Francisco has parking lots at stations away from the Civic Center or Biz District - they have to attract riders who would otherwise pay to park at their jobs.)

7 hours ago, eggballo said:

We need to build the tracks in the center of the streets, that way that streetcars aren't dangerously close to bikes and parked cars or blocking large trucks.

So we're turning one-way roads back into two-way roads? And eliminating parking to create passing lanes, or are they all to become two-lane roads to create queues that block intersections?

Because the NY solution would be to do like DC did and run the things curbside but with one track on each one-way street couplet so the stops are at the intersection and can be level with the sidewalk and have extenders at each door to cover gaps if there's a wheelchair or someone with mobility impairment.

7 hours ago, eggballo said:

As much as I want to see vintage streetcars on these lines, they're no suitable for strollers and wheelchairs (That's the main problem with the streetcar lines in cities like Little Rock, El Paso, Kenosha, Charlotte, and Tampa.)  Therefore, we must have a large fleet of modern high-capacity streetcars.

That would be either a full LRT system or the European tram (like in Croydon London or Paris).

7 hours ago, eggballo said:

The streetcars must flow with traffic and have their own right-of-way on large boulevard streets

If NYC had lanes 12 ft wide consistently and the 12-14 ft medians, sure. But narrow lanes and the high traffic flow with slim medians make that unlikely, unfortunately.

Plus, vehicles still need to turn left, and NYC has this stupid rule on Broadway, Park Av, and Grand Concourse (for example) that vehicles turning left have to wait in the median for the light on the street being turned left onto to turn green before completing the turn. So unless there's gonna be left turn lanes and signals to give protected turns, center-lane streetcars are gonna be stuck behind box trucks and gypsy cabs avoiding tickets.

(That's something I learned when I still had a car and had California plates on it. Hence why it's a stupid rule.)