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Re: Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait & OCTA kill Anaheim streetcar
Author: mook
Date: 06-28-2016 - 21:40
Minor quibble: streetcar is not light rail.
Anaheim was looking at a streetcar - slow, many stops, eventually would reach Disneyland but a bus with signal priority or override could get there far faster. Light rail in street running is like an old PE car in street running - it can do it, because the tracks are the same gauge, but it's out of its element which is really separated r/w.
Separated r/w that's not on a structure or in a subway is hard if not impossible to add to an existing street system without removing houses and/or businesses. There's a reason why many if not most "new" (built since 1980 or so) light rail lines in California use former rail lines even though more direct routes might be available along streets.
Anaheim was probably correct to abandon the streetcar idea - they need to either do buses right or do something separated. Now if Disney were willing to pay for it, a monorail line might have potential ... and should probably go not only to the train station but also to the airport ... but not if the public has to pay for it.
Anaheim was looking at a streetcar - slow, many stops, eventually would reach Disneyland but a bus with signal priority or override could get there far faster. Light rail in street running is like an old PE car in street running - it can do it, because the tracks are the same gauge, but it's out of its element which is really separated r/w.
Separated r/w that's not on a structure or in a subway is hard if not impossible to add to an existing street system without removing houses and/or businesses. There's a reason why many if not most "new" (built since 1980 or so) light rail lines in California use former rail lines even though more direct routes might be available along streets.
Anaheim was probably correct to abandon the streetcar idea - they need to either do buses right or do something separated. Now if Disney were willing to pay for it, a monorail line might have potential ... and should probably go not only to the train station but also to the airport ... but not if the public has to pay for it.
