Are your civic leaders pushing for more public transit?

[Doctor Cynic]

How hard are your mayors/city councils/state legislators/governors/members of congress pushing for more public transit service in your community? Denver has the impressive rail/LRT plan, the Houston council decided late last year to build five LRT lines by 2012, LA is proceeding with building two LRT lines with the Wilshire Subway pending, and many US cities are pushing forward with LRT plans. Politicians are at last starting to understand the importance of transit.

I'm feeling a bit high right now since the BC government has promised a massive expansion on Vancouver's rapid transit system (for a city that prides itself on being green, it has embarassingly low transit usage) and 1500 new buses around the province, with the megaproject complete by 2020. It's refreshing that the most right-wing government in the history of British Columbia is making such a huge promise (though now they've set the bar so high, we'll be waiting for them).

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=f3218ef4-c4fb-413f-bebb-cb8fea512570&k=47746

Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, January 14, 2008

VANCOUVER - The B.C. Liberals laid out an ambitious plan Monday to double the number of transit trips in B.C. over the next 12 years at a cost of $14 billion.

The provincial transit plan outlined by Premier Gordon Campbell adds detail to long-discussed rapid transit line extensions, including a commitment to finish the 11-kilometre Evergreen Line between Lougheed Town Centre and Coquitlam Centre by 2014, a 12-km extension from Vancouver Community College to the University of B.C. by 2020 and a six-km extension of the Expo Line to Guildford in Surrey by 2020.

Meanwhile, the Waterloo Region, with a population of 400,000, is powering ahead with the proposed light rail line and final design will be complete within the next year. I'm hopeful on this aspect of our landscape. :)

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. Our system is good, and getting better everyday...

http://trimet.org/projects/index.htm :)

[swag]

2. It's very impressive, indeed.

Did you see that interview with Francis Ford Coppola in the Oregonian the other day where the first thing he said to film critic Shawn Levy was, "I've always wanted to come to Portland. I've heard you have a great bus system. I want to come there and ride the buses."

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. I had to look it up... that's great!

how you doin'? :hug:

[NNadir]

3. Yes. There is talk of opening the West Trenton line to passenger traffic to NY.

One can already take this line to Philadelphia.

New Jersey has an outstanding mass transit system already, although regrettably it also has the famous turnpike and a shit load of other car culture routes.

A rail route runs through the woods beyond my backyard and within walking distance of my home is an old train station that has, regrettably, been converted to a private residence.

Many of our communities here are walkable and there is a tremendous effort in this area to open bicycle paths.

http://www.lhtrail.org/pr20070412.html

It's easy here in New Jersey, though. We are one of the most densely populated, if not <em>the</em> most densely populated state in the Union.

Paradoxically we have the largest number of millionaires in the country.