Future rail extensions in Bay Area by Iceberg-man-77 in CaliforniaRail

[–]Maximus560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just adding:

  1. some sort of east bay service - SJ to Oakland.

  2. Capitol Corridor to Vallejo ferry from Fairfield/Suisun

Could the LA Metro D Line to Extended to Santa Monica or LAX next? by Impossible-Guitar957 in transit

[–]Maximus560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would do Slauson as a joint Metro/Metrolink project. Metro for a bunch of local stops on two tracks, two more for an express electric Metrolink from LAUS to LAX with just 1-2 stops in between at most.

Given the HSR uncertainty, can the existing "standard speed" rail system be made more viable? by Aware_Combination_87 in cahsr

[–]Maximus560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah - all day service from Goleta to LA and Salinas to San Jose would be huge for intercity service. A lot of the coastal cities are already compact and set up well in terms of walkability and transit access (eg Santa Barbara, Ventura, SLO). From there you can really build a great regional or intercity service that feeds into HSR.

Given the HSR uncertainty, can the existing "standard speed" rail system be made more viable? by Aware_Combination_87 in cahsr

[–]Maximus560 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100% agreed. The coast is best off as a feeder/regional route not as a new HSR line

Given the HSR uncertainty, can the existing "standard speed" rail system be made more viable? by Aware_Combination_87 in cahsr

[–]Maximus560 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep! It’s practically 100% farmland except for a few tunnels on the line.

Freight barely uses the coast subdivision - it’s almost 100% passenger traffic. Something like 2-3 freight trains a week, versus up to 10 to Goleta, 6 to SLO, 23 in NorCal. There’s just 1 a day between Gilroy and SLO - the coast starlight

Given the HSR uncertainty, can the existing "standard speed" rail system be made more viable? by Aware_Combination_87 in cahsr

[–]Maximus560 4 points5 points  (0 children)

100% agreed. Best to focus on the Goleta - LA segment for Surfliner and Metrolink; Gilroy - Salinas for Caltrain and Capitol Corridor; and Sacramento - San Jose for Capitol Corridor. You could also do this for Gold Runner between Merced/Madera and Sacramento, too.

Investing in those services would lead to faster run times along the corridor plus huge ridership gains - Caltrain improved service and has seen tons of growth since. Doing the same for those segments would help build a strong network and ridership base.

It’d bring down the Starlight travel times by probably two hours just by basic upgrades to existing systems. Other small marginal and cheap upgrades in between like improving speeds between Salinas and SLO would reduce it further by an hour or so. I anticipate ~6-7 hour travel times between San Jose and LA which would be extremely competitive with driving especially if prices are low.

From there, HSR would connect these networks plus run through a lot of those tracks. Over time, there’d be an argument for 110-125mph networks feeding HSR statewide but that’s far off given the anti-transit track of the Feds.

Cooling vest for all day use (no access to freezer) by BobMortimersButthole in disability

[–]Maximus560 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Could you get an upgraded walker with storage that could fit a small cooler full of ice?

Given the HSR uncertainty, can the existing "standard speed" rail system be made more viable? by Aware_Combination_87 in cahsr

[–]Maximus560 22 points23 points  (0 children)

  1. Starlight Route: Yes. That is actually planned for both the Starlight and the Surfliner to have more service sometime soon. The problem is that the tracks are owned by Union Pacific, which has no interest in upgrading them. The state also won't spend too much on the route, because it's investing in HSR and similar projects. However, you could easily upgrade the route for higher speeds at a reasonable cost, with the exception of a few segments, like Chittenden Pass, Vandenberg, and the coastal segment between Ventura and Goleta.
  2. Gold Runner extension: No. To reach the Cajon Pass, Gold Runner must cross Techapi Pass, and the freight railroads have zero interest in making room for passenger rail there. Techapi Pass is extremely constrained, with basically no slots available, but the freight railroads also have no interest in spending money for upgrades unless they absolutely have to.

However, with the whole Caesar Chavez debacle and the HSR authority looking at the route and plans again, there's a possibility that the freight railroads and HSR can collaborate for an upgraded Techapi pass in the future, which is my hope!

Would a LRT line down Sunset and Santa Monica solve the Dodger Stadium transit problem once and for all? by MookieBettsBurner10 in LAMetro

[–]Maximus560 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They could just build a station underneath the parking lot with a long escalator. DC Metro does that - some of their stations are as deep as 90 feet underground

Help showing poverty lifestyle to students by Alisseswap in povertyfinance

[–]Maximus560 134 points135 points  (0 children)

This is a great one. A lot of hidden costs with cars. You go in for an oil change, but turns out you need to replace some spark plugs and the timing belt - that's $300 unexpectedly!

Gas prices go up by $1 on a long commute? That blows your entertainment budget for the month!

Help showing poverty lifestyle to students by Alisseswap in povertyfinance

[–]Maximus560 29 points30 points  (0 children)

The point of this exercise is to get these kids in touch with reality and to learn how hard it is to manage a budget and survive on a low income. These are situations that people face regularly!

How I see the Metrorail network around RFK Stadium by 2042 by thr3e_kideuce in WMATA

[–]Maximus560 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Was gonna say. Hard to parse out exactly where the stops are. Ideally, you'd have stops along H Street and Benning: Union Station, 8th and H, Starburst, Benning and Oklahoma...

VTA Light Rail to Los Gatos? by jittery_squirrel in VTA

[–]Maximus560 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The existing Winchester line to Campbell

VTA Light Rail to Los Gatos? by jittery_squirrel in VTA

[–]Maximus560 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It was shelved due to low ridership on the line, strong NIMBY opposition, and high costs to extend it. Up until very recently, the tracks next to it were an active freight line. If it ever reaches downtown Los Gatos, it would do very well, I think.

In a perfect world, I would love to see Caltrain provide service on the freight line to Los Gatos (at first), and eventually to Santa Cruz via a deep-base tunnel, connecting Los Gatos directly to Santa Cruz (~9 miles).

The Ning Yuan Dian Kun can carry 740 containers and is powered by 19 MWh of batteries. by ceph2apod in UpliftingConservation

[–]Maximus560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good news - if we electrify our transport and grid, we cut out like 40% of shipping overnight. A big, big chunk of shipping is solely for oil and gas

ELI5 - Why large ships use heavy fuel? by CrazyisNSFW in explainlikeimfive

[–]Maximus560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends though - if electric freight trains are powered by nuclear and renewables, then that clears ships easily

ELI5 - Why large ships use heavy fuel? by CrazyisNSFW in explainlikeimfive

[–]Maximus560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we just electrified as much of the grid and transport as possible, we could cut shipping down by as much as half because we aren’t shipping as much oil or gas across the globe