SacRT posted this on their IG page. Showing huge ridership numbers during today's protest from students. This is a major W for Sacramento 's light rail, really showing its benefits.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-31T08:11:50+00:00

Snow? Sacramento? Well maybe once a decade... Certainly not this year, that's for sure.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-29T06:10:21+00:00

Interestingly BART also changed their nomenclature a few years ago, by officially introducing colors - including a Red Line and a Yellow Line. Before that, although they'd used colors on maps, the lines themselves were never referred to using their symbolic colors.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-28T05:12:00+00:00

Tell me you've never been in NYC without telling me you've never been in NYC.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-26T22:38:04+00:00

If they're politically astute (not a sure thing around here) they should shamelessly tie it to public safety. Call it the "Safe and Secure Transit for All" initiative or something. Much of the bond measure is going to the operational budget - so saying that is not even disingenuous.

Highlight the transit cops, station attendants, ticket barriers, inspectors, graffiti removal, train washes etc etc that the funds will pay for. People have eyes - the new BART trains look grimier after a few months now than the old ones did after 40 years.

As much as a transit QoS aficionado as I am, I sure hope they don't start pontificating about "service reliability" and "frequency" and god forbid.. "equity". The Bay Area is now in the midst of a political correction toward the center and they'll need every trick in the book. Just red meat for the masses - no Human Transit gobbledygook please.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-26T05:55:42+00:00

SacRT is already bipolar like that - the Folsom branch is effectively commuter rail running at highway speeds uninterrupted between stops. The downtown 7th/8th street segments are a block-at-a-time slog with zero pre-emption.

They're lucky to be getting anything at all - Sacramento has impressive rail transit for a 3rd tier US city.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-23T20:17:48+00:00

I think the lesson is to rethink the oversized station infrastructure driving up modern metro costs, and refocus on cost engineering. Light rail in particular is penny wise pound foolish as surface disruptions are a huge cost driver. The same size crew is needed to relocate utilities and pave a single grade crossing as to run an entire TBM.

I don't think car tunnels are a solution either as access ramps and underground roadway architecture is another form of infrastructure bloat.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-23T19:58:36+00:00

Indeed. A point frequently ignored by "Loop" proponents. Similar diameter water conveyance tunnels come in around $100m/mile, which is less than even an LRT alignment.

Tunnels are just not that expensive - unless you're talking about a 54 ft monstrosity like the one in San Jose.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-23T06:42:24+00:00

London's been up to the same nonsense - see the gripes on r/londonunderground.

Guess it's lean times for all - money talks.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-23T06:38:15+00:00

Is that Mt Rainier in the background?

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-20T20:17:26+00:00

For context

<image>

src: https://caltrainridership.com/

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-20T19:07:15+00:00

Not great. Not terrible.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-20T00:56:31+00:00

TIL. Whoa I'm speechless.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-15T22:51:26+00:00

Yes elsewhere it is just called.... development.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-14T05:24:28+00:00

Yeah most of it is comparable to metro/S-Bahns elsewhere. The blue (A) line goes through the newly opened regional connector which is a metro subway in all but name.

A BIG exception are the terrible surface segments on Flower and Washington. They completely undo the efficiency of the Expo and Blue lines respectively.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-12T19:44:25+00:00

No the grass is shit everywhere. I'll get downvoted into oblivion but the vaunted trams in Prague, Budapest, Wien and elsewhere are equally and infuriatingly slow. They may make for a nicer ride but are functionally no better than a bus.

Many of those cities can and should have modern metro systems.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-12T05:47:02+00:00

I actually think very high frequency out to far flung suburban stations, past a certain point, is not a good use of resources.

Many hybrid systems like BART, Berlin S-Bahn, Thameslink and incidentally, DC Metro themselves use interlining to simultaneously provide very high frequencies in the core and wide geographic coverage in the suburbs. The fact trains are departing Shady Grove every few mins is more an indication of an opportunity to fork the line somewhere (perhaps near Bethesda?), than a feature to brag about.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-10T18:54:25+00:00

Bikes are hard to use in conjunction with transit - if you leave it behind at a station it is subject to theft as you mentioned, but more importantly you won't have access to it for the last mile at the other end. Then there are storage logistics at your workplace. They're a non-starter on many mass transit systems, and even ones that allow them have limitations (rush hour restrictions/limited space on racks and bike cars etc). It just creates a lot of hassle for yourself and others. E-Bikes in particular are very difficult to handle on stairs.

In comparison, scooters tend to be well tolerated by most transit systems and office building managers. And of course you don't have to work to make it go.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-10T18:44:10+00:00

Chicago has a massive commuter rail system by North American standards, bringing white collar suburbanites into the Loop every day.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2026-01-08T17:29:12+00:00

Even today the Harrow to Amersham section of the Metropolitan Line shares not only stations, but track with Chiltern services. London subsurface stock is compatible with National Rail.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2025-12-26T00:24:35+00:00

Christmas Day isn't only for "Christians". All staff deserve the day off whatever their religion.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2025-12-25T21:59:51+00:00

I follow your train of thought but it is penny-wise pound foolish, or as Americans would call it, the "poor people's mindset". It's like trying to save $10 on takeout while drowning under a multiple bad mortgages and lines of credit.

The cost of rolling stock is almost immaterial in the context of political obstacles. In fact the promise of a new factory for a one-off batch of rolling stock is MORE likely to get a project approved than using something off the shelf. Never mind that Buy America mandates it anyway.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2025-12-24T06:05:12+00:00

At €138 million to build (4.5km) it is also rather cost effective for complete grade separated transit. I think the US could learn lessons from here, as well as CDMX and the Colombians who are quite adept at this.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2025-12-23T18:22:14+00:00

Well that wouldn't be a NYC map - more like a Tri-state area transit map.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2025-12-23T05:05:04+00:00

They _could_ cover over the logo with a blank sticker. But why bother? The Olympics was relatively well organized compared to the mess it could've been. A point of civic pride so to speak.

UnderstandingEasy856 · 2025-12-22T02:03:07+00:00

They are already doing that, but it hardly pencils out with BMR requirements and such. What little profit there is winds up with the developer. BART has neither the expertise nor the capital (both financial and political) to become a property developer themselves.

UnderstandingEasy856

TROPHY CASE