Rail On Its Knees, Or Just Delayed?
Someone else reports, you decide.
Whatever the case, for my part, I just want to see real transit - that is, quality transit, dignified transit. So, by this definition, traditional bus travel cannot be considered real transit.
Some transit folks have talked about the need for a ‘transit champion‘ - meaning, someone in politics. For my part, I would like to see more advocates step up in support of real transit.
We’ve been going through the same thing in the bicycle world, and we’ll continue the process for the foreseeable future — that is, getting bicycle advocates to advocate for real bicycle infrastructure. Part of the problem we’re dealing with is just getting bicycle advocates to believe that we actually deserve quality infrastructure. I’m not talking about advocates making what they believe are shrewd political decisions - that’s fine as far as it goes - but I’m far from convinced that we are convinced, as a community, of where we want to go. Thanks to the internets and the spread of bicycle culture and expertise from places like Copenhagen, American bicycle advocates are starting to sense what might be possible. But I think even more important in our learning from overseas, is that we can see that the bicyclists of Copenhagen and Amsterdam feel like they deserve the best. The institutional learning and all that is important, of course, but seeing the cyclists of those places stepping out is helping us American bicycle advocates to think, ‘Why not us?’
Seattle Transit Blog brings up some good talk about heated switches. I’m not sure if we need them here in SF, but it looks like colder climates might be able to use them.
The railroad switches wiki page has some cool images and descriptions, including the picture below, of a rail switch kept clear of ice and snow by gas heating:
[Image: Wikipedia / Fabian Grunder (FabiBerg)]
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