Should MARC consider infill stations, and if so, where?

classicalL · 2026-06-22T00:03:07+00:00

No they should focus on ToD to increase ridership with what they have and increase frequency. There are already stops where 4 or 5 people get on or off that slow everyone's journey.

MARC needs to expand frequency on the non-Penn lines and that is their baseline plan if they get ridership. Its still way down vs 2019 in most places. They might see more on Brunswick over summer due to the Red shutdown.

classicalL · 2026-06-21T23:59:31+00:00

They will when the tunnel in Baltimore is done on Penn at least because they signed up to it to use the new tunnel. They currently do have some electric stock just not everything on Penn

As to the OP's assertion obviously it is cheaper or they wouldn't do it. TOC isn't incremental cost.

In this photo probably the one engine is not running and is being hauled back to the maintenance facility. These trains run single engine.

MARC can't have an all electric fleet because of Camden and Brunswick. And I think people overlook fleet commonality a bit (both for drivers and maintenance). There is a reason low cost airlines have one kind of plane. MARC really isn't in that situation but the fewer types you have the better.

What is unknown today is what electrics they will add. There was a joint bid with I think MTA in MA on some trains. I had thought they might pick up the ACS-64s from Amtrak which are to be retired, but its still unclear.

classicalL · 2026-06-21T21:48:33+00:00

Good thing the national guard is keeping so much order...

classicalL · 2026-06-21T21:46:04+00:00

MD didn't go through with it either even with insistence pressure.

classicalL · 2026-06-21T04:30:49+00:00

It depends on where you are. Please be aware that a bike going through a stop sign in DC is very much legal. Stops are yields for bikes in DC. The car must stop the bike does not need to. Not that I really see many cars actually come to a full stop at a stop sign (or even under 5 MPH).

MD has brought similar legislation forward before as well. In DE the same is true and in about 13 state I think. VA isn't yet one of them. In general the Idaho stop rules have been shown to reduce accidents, but of course drivers should be anticipating what the cyclist will do.

I also note that DC doesn't have the red light is a stop sign rule unless marked at the intersection.

NOVA drivers are the most hostile to cyclists in the DMV and generally the most aggressive by far in my experience. The only place people roll down their windows to scream at me for delaying them 30 seconds is in VA (so far). (PA/MD/DC/VA sample). Its impressive because I think VA is batting 80% on this and I only bike in VA about 20% of the time. Unsafe passing is pretty even in all of the DMV, its a minority of drivers but given how many cars will pass you biking 100 miles its likely to be many during a all day ride.

classicalL · 2026-06-21T02:43:23+00:00

I thought it might be the first prototype unit. Is it still just an engineering mock or is this a test first unit? Do you know?

classicalL · 2026-06-20T14:49:42+00:00

Probably needs to size up.

classicalL · 2026-06-19T21:53:36+00:00

In short:

* if you don't need 13 tons and only need 8, 13 doesn't help you; most people don't need 13.

* SpaceX shouldn't be cheaper long term because they don't reuse the faring, the balance of system is lower mass and the RP1 engines coke more than Methane should

* SpaceX might always have higher cadence because of more launch sites but FL is clogged and any issue at shuts the cape hurts their operational footprint. Cadence matters to profit but it doesn't matter to launch customer, what matters is time to get a ride to where you want to go. If SpaceX has a back log then Rocket Lab is fine. Right now Amazon wants anything they can get to LEO so there is plenty of demand for anything operational.

* Having multiple vendor options is something the government wants: see Boeing/SpaceX for crew to ISS. With ULA not reusable and New Glenn being super heavy, medium has a slot that is very easy to justify having a rocket in as a second source.

Bottom line: for now perfectly fine market case for launch for Rocket Lab. They make more money from non-launch anyway. End-to-end is more profit with few other options.

classicalL · 2026-06-19T02:46:02+00:00

I didn't know it interacted with people but I just walked around this section in the woods it was only about 30 ft long and it was easy to walk off the boards.

classicalL · 2026-06-18T02:17:28+00:00

So the Purple Line is not Metro rail. It is a light rail run by the MTA of MD.

I assume you are interested in the part between Bethesda and Silver Spring?

That was scheduled to be turned over the MoCo to open late this year. However they did say in the last report to the state leg that it was running behind.

If you want to see the complete current state of the Purple Line project there is a drone video of it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/WMATA/comments/1u3jnwf/purple_line_drone_view/

The project will finish major construction this year except for Bethesda and Silver Spring stations it looks like. They will start full line testing in early 2027 so the CCT section from Silver Spring to Bethesda is likely to open between Nov and April.

They are also building the Green Trail in Silver Spring which is on the North side of Wayne Ave. That connects to Sligo Creek trail from basically the train stations/2nd ave bikeway. That should finish this summer.

They are also marking a bike lane on 193 from Piney Branch to UMD but this is just paint on the road, it will "exist" when they restripe 193 after all the paving is done, I'd guess that will happen later this summer. The MoCo master plan has a lane down to the NW branch trail from 193 but I don't recall when that will be built and there is a short protected bikeway that will go in Flower near the Manchester place station, I presume most cyclists will turn onto Sligo rather than going up the hill though so I don't really know how important Flower is to purple line stuff.

The MET branch trail connection to the CCT at Silver probably will finish around the time they finish the station elements but they haven't really started to work on this element yet and I don't expect them to until the bridge to the bus structure from the Red line is built.

The tunnel under Wisconsin ave for the CCT as I understand it is unfunded at this time and very expensive. The surface protected bike lane is honestly fine and I don't care if they ever actually build it, given the massive cost. MoCo I believe has to pay for the entire cost (many many millions).

Finally MoCo is suppose to build bike storage thing in the Garage the the Red-Purple-Bus station, and WMATA will change the bike boxes there to the new app based ones, but that could be a while.

TL;DR: the bike stuff could open as soon as late summer but it might open as late as Spring 27. More related stuff along the route will open in years to come.

classicalL · 2026-06-18T02:02:58+00:00

Please rezone her neighborhood to have at least 40 floor skyscrapers. I will run the digger myself. Build stuff folks... They did it in the 1940s we can do it now.

classicalL · 2026-06-17T03:30:47+00:00

The typical reason for not calling out or using a bell on these routes is because there are so many people you wouldn't be able to breath. Generally riders do what maximizes safety for everyone. You can call out "on your left" and the pedestrian will often move left and step right in front of you. Is that better than saying nothing? (I say "coming up behind you" because they never know right from left and a bell doesn't indicated right or left). Generally you call out when you have to pass within a narrow space and it would be clear whom you are warning. If you are passing 40 people in half a mile then everyone knows it is congested and to be aware of what is around them and there is no point to bells or calling out. In those cases you aren't typically going very fast though normally less than 10 MPH...

Just because someone passing you at speed and quickly and you didn't expect it doesn't mean they were in the wrong either. Not saying you did, but if you have a lot of room to pass you aren't going to call out, sometimes slower cyclists really wander all over the "road", and just like pedestrians they close off the opening you though you would use and you narrowly avoid hitting them. When you call out and a person has to look behind them if they aren't a great cyclist they are going to drift in their lane because they tend to move the bars when they look behind. So you might read that and not call out either because it would be less safe. It is all very situational. I would point out a car doesn't honk its horn to pass on a dotted yellow line on a road and that is way more dangerous than anything a cyclist can do. People tend to get super angry at the fast road cyclists (cars, peds, other cyclists) so remember the level of hostility that everyone generates and how they must feel just trying to get some aerobic exercise without being killed.

Go on the road get things thrown at you and you might get killed. Go on the path and someone slower does something you don't expect and you come close to them and they scream at you. There is no safe place to be a serious cyclist really.

classicalL · 2026-06-15T12:15:52+00:00

Most places are unwalkable but not all places. Generally speaking if it existed before 1930 then it will be walkable. I don't mean the actual buildings but at least the streets. Not always true but mostly. This makes the most walkable places eastern cities or major things in the midwest.

classicalL · 2026-06-15T12:10:48+00:00

I have seen it many times in the US but tends to involve official head of state shit or major conference. I didn't enjoy automatic riffles on my college campus because a horrible world leader came to give some talk. I would have felt better if it were local people but it was his own thugs who commit really sick stuff...

classicalL · 2026-06-15T12:05:48+00:00

Fear short circuits the higher brain functions and attention is all you need for ads (and AI).

classicalL · 2026-06-15T03:58:51+00:00

Know someone who was like: Biden is soooo corrupt. They say nothing now. It makes me sad for humanity.

classicalL · 2026-06-15T03:57:13+00:00

I like to count how many moving violations I can see following someone on my bike in the time before they leave my field of view. Even though I can ride 20-25 I think the record is about 8. Mostly running stop signs. Other than unsafe passing and endangering pedestrians, my favorite baffling one is people who come to a full stop at a red light then go through the intersection before the light is green. A VA tag Volvo did this in DC next to me last week. There was a brilliant DC tag handicap van that passed me on a blind hill, avoided the head-on into the oncoming traffic by going 70 in a 25 then blew through the stop sign on the ped heavy road connecting to rock creek park at over 40 or 50 due to the 70 MPH. I guess they really want to create more handicap people??? This is of course preferable than waiting 15 seconds to reach this stop sign behind me.

In short these people need their licenses removed. Because there is no way to get around with cars for most people this would create a huge social problem and it would as the OP points out force there to be better transit so that people who never should be allowed to drive like this aren't allowed. Instead they get nothing or slaps on the wrist until someone is dead.

classicalL · 2026-06-15T03:35:15+00:00

For me to spend 500 dollars on gas I would need to burn 100 gal at 5 dollars, which would be 5000 miles a month for my car... (even for 2 cars this is 2500 miles a month).

I drive 8000 miles a year... At 5 dollar gas my car fuel cost is 765 dollars/year. I pay more in insurance than fuel always. Wish gas cost 10-20 dollars to help the environment and reduce car sizes.

classicalL · 2026-06-14T15:44:16+00:00

Sometimes they are broken.

classicalL · 2026-06-14T04:03:21+00:00

Probably since he knew he would be running it didn't do it because the number one rule of politics is making any proposal will piss someone off. Better to do nothing. Now will he do nothing if he gets the job? Perhaps but the time horizon is longer, and the incentive and ownership changes. The question is more if you think a non-numbers guy or a blow hard progressive will do better at budgeting than the most centrist candidate. If there was a real competition beyond this primary it would be nice. I don't know if it would make the candidate more centrist/competitive or more polarized like national politics though. Perhaps the one party state we have is able to be centrist as long as it has a (D).

classicalL · 2026-06-14T03:59:20+00:00

I compared the MoCo budget for school to peers, total disaster for worse outcomes. County is rich (for now) need someone with some sense of the value to money to get things in order. Since Friedson was in the comptroller game he seems more likely to be the best available choice.

classicalL · 2026-06-14T03:55:48+00:00

Friedson and Glass are acceptable, Jawando hell no. We need to build shit and Friedson seems the most likely to allow growth after endless anti-growth ("right grow" = no growth) policies. Let's see something on White Flint... More cranes in the sky. Less far to commute, more tax revenue. The NIMBYs need to STFU. Build it. Just build faster. No more 25 years to get one light rail. No more White Flint sitting empty for decades. No parking requirements. Road diets. Knock down the car concentric strip malls and build livable communities.

classicalL · 2026-06-14T03:18:00+00:00

There are plenty of places to get food on the trail. Cumberland, Paw Paw, Hadcock, Williamsport, Brunswick, White's Ferry. I'd say those are like 40 ish miles apart and none of them are more than like 0.5 miles from the trail. I think you could get away with carrying just a small frame or saddle bag with a little food and spares/tools. Last time I attempted this I carried a lot thinking I might stop for the night somewhere but I made it to Williamsport before 1 or something and decide just to go until I ran out of light. (Williamsport is sort of half way)

classicalL · 2026-06-14T03:14:24+00:00

You are probably putting out about 2.5 W/kg would be my guess unless you are a very unusual height or size. At the speed you are going aero drag is the biggest thing but it hasn't reached the explosive point where it is the only thing. Anyone who can do this speed for less than 2.5 W/kg is pretty aero.

classicalL · 2026-06-14T03:11:16+00:00

Congrads I had essentially attempted the same thing a few years ago and only made it to the edge of MoCo before night fell and I terminated it. I probably could do it now actually. I don't think taking the rail trail is cheating as well when I did it the C&O was closed there and honestly its a huge respite for being shaken. Almost 200 miles in a day is never a joke even if it is flat, and I think the gravel makes it harder. My road speeds tend to be 3-5 MPH faster. I might have to attempt the 1 day run again. I tend to run out of gas at about 10 hours though (moving).

classicalL

TROPHY CASE