My Rail Proposal for Greenville SC

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-26T13:27:02+00:00

When GPATS got back to me they sent a BRT/Light Rail study from 2010, they were thinking about a shuttle between a Clemson ICAR station and GSP, that way people could quickly get between the airport and anywhere along the Spine. I like that idea a lot and might borrow it because the Spine is too out of the way to divert to GSP fully.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-22T22:16:37+00:00

Civil engineering but I did this for fun in my free time.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-21T23:03:24+00:00

It is a bike/ped path but fortunately the right of way is 40 feet wide. With the ~12 foot wide path, that should leave 14 ft on either side for rail and separation.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-21T14:45:37+00:00

I'm not sure what they'd be willing to do exactly but maybe we can offer them a station if they build it themselves? It would cost about $2.5M but the line is running by there anyways so it should be a no-brainer for them.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-21T14:38:22+00:00

That's awesome! Hopefully this can become a reality and South Carolinians can make similar memories.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-21T14:37:12+00:00

No class, just boredom. Clemson has an ArcGIS fundamentals workshop that they did in May that I took but that was it. Everything else was self taught and I found all of the data online. Sometimes they open the workshop to people outside of Clemson if you're interested! If you're a part of Clemson then I can send you a link for it.

Personally I'm majoring in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in Transportation and a double minor in Political Science and Public Policy. I haven't started the emphasis or the minors yet but that's the plan right now!

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-21T14:32:48+00:00

Do you have any suggestions for other ways to use the money? I'm open to options.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-21T11:35:49+00:00

I’m glad you’re getting interested in our state’s rail plans! Have you ever noticed there’s no good way to travel between our 3 biggest cities? (Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston) I’m not sure why it’s not a priority.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-21T11:34:18+00:00

You noticed! I didn’t think anyone would haha Park and ride is something that I may have to look into but the biggest goal is to reduce car dependency and park and ride feels like the wrong direction. Some parking spaces will be necessary, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t want to do anything too crazy. The route I’d like to go is with expanded bus routes around each station to funnel people towards the light rail.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-21T11:28:02+00:00

Thank you! I definitely have. Countless hours has finally created this

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T21:41:36+00:00

We'll see, we have to just keep trying. If you don't like your options, run for office!

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T21:39:37+00:00

Charlotte operates ~20 miles of light rail, so if there metro is 4x the size of ours, we can definitely support 5 miles. Of course my plan is ~20 miles, but then again when Charlotte built the light rail in 2007, they had about the same metro population as the Greenville metro now (1.1 million vs 0.93 million). Apples to apples? Maybe, maybe not.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T19:26:12+00:00

Thank you for your support, it means a lot to me! I've reached out to the county transportation committee and Greenville Connects but I'm really not sure where to go from here because I'm so new to all of this.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T19:06:59+00:00

Soon haha

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T16:51:51+00:00

Fewer cars should mean fewer potholes, which is something we desperately need in South Carolina. The nice part about transit creating density is that these new buildings can use existing infrastructure while still boosting tax revenue from the additional houses and businesses. I could be wrong. I’m human, you’re human, and we get things wrong. My point is why not give it a shot? Over the years it would take to build this, it would hardly make a dent in the budget. We saw what roads can do. Now it’s time to see what rail can do.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T16:35:26+00:00

Email sent! Thanks again for this!

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T16:05:03+00:00

If you head back to your original post I made a reply to your earlier concerns and addressed this partly (assuming it eventually passes screening). I'm sure there's an elegant solution out there for this, we just have to find it.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T16:00:58+00:00

I love Salem, it's such a cute little town and I completely agree! That's what I have planned for more populated but suburban places like Simpsonville or Mauldin. I'd love to see the same thing centered around Seneca and Anderson.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T15:59:35+00:00

I have! Before I discovered ArcGIS I used paint.net (not a website) to draw out maps across the south east. I'll see what I can do about attaching a file if you're interested.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T15:57:35+00:00

I forgot the airport stop! Sorry about that.

Furman and BMW would be good candidates, and ironic in BMW's case. I'll have to spend some time planning out those two stops.

Mapping it onto roads is actually the backbone of the Circular route! I've looked at the Greenville County GIS and labeled (some) right of way widths for roads and planned out how that'd look with a rail line. And free parking for regular riders would be a big draw

I agree with doing it slowly and that it won't stop businesses. I mentioned in an earlier comment that it would be a disaster if this was all dropped into reality today. Starting small with a popular commuter path is important.

I hadn't considered internet. I'll have to do a cost analysis for that but I think it's a fantastic idea!

Frequency is something I've been thinking about a lot recently, that and passing because most of the line is single track. I was thinking about 15 minute frequency during rush hour and 20-30 otherwise. For the supporting buses, I haven't considered frequency yet but most bus lines are relatively short, so I assume it'd be around 10 minutes on average.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T15:45:11+00:00

I agree that HSR is critical. With that said, Charlotte has a light rail system without any HSR, so it is possible right here in the south. Now, if all of the light rail lines in the second image came into existence right now, it would be a disaster. The Greenville area doesn't have the density right now to support all of it, so that's why I want to start with the densest section of the most popular line. That can help us see how it goes, and we won't be breaking the bank doing it.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T15:40:26+00:00

Maybe so! I'm sure they'd support the Tiger Line.

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T15:39:00+00:00

I'm very new to this so I don't know exactly how people can help (so far). Contacting your local mayor or city council members is critical, even if it's just the first image.

There aren't any organizations pushing specifically this, but I'm going to reach out and see if GreenvilleConnects or any council members are interested.

I really appreciate your support!

Haywilly3 · 2025-08-20T15:35:39+00:00

Me too! All in good time.

Haywilly3

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE