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Combed Thunderclap
Jan 4, 2011



quote:

If folks are curious, I can write more later about transit in Liberia. One thing I really wish I'd debriefed folk on for a paper, or recorded for YouTube, is that people flag down private taxis, "shared cars" via hand signs.

I'd definitely be interested in hearing more! I'm very interested in non-governmental/informal transit systems like those.

The New Yorker did a really awesome and in-depth story on the NYC dollar buses that's a must read IMHO.

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a patagonian cavy
Jan 12, 2009

UUA CVG 230000 KZID /RM TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE BENGALS DYNASTY

Badger of Basra posted:

California's insane 66% requirement is so stupid. I imagine they can pass easily, but does anyone think they'll be able to get 66%?

LA voted on extending a previous sales tax by 30 years in 2012... And it failed after getting a mere 65% of the vote in support. Opposition was pretty strong in parts of LA which don't have any plans to get mass transit service, like San Pedro and the South Bay cities.

The funniest thing, unquestionably, about the LACMTA expansion is the massive number of reasons opponents of the Purple Line (heavy rail subway) have come up with to oppose it. Like the idea that ISIS will use it to blow up OUR CHILDREN.

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

a patagonian cavy posted:

LA voted on extending a previous sales tax by 30 years in 2012... And it failed after getting a mere 65% of the vote in support. Opposition was pretty strong in parts of LA which don't have any plans to get mass transit service, like San Pedro and the South Bay cities.

The funniest thing, unquestionably, about the LACMTA expansion is the massive number of reasons opponents of the Purple Line (heavy rail subway) have come up with to oppose it. Like the idea that ISIS will use it to blow up OUR CHILDREN.
Aaand it's Bevery Hills, of course.

Combed Thunderclap posted:

I'd definitely be interested in hearing more! I'm very interested in non-governmental/informal transit systems like those.

The New Yorker did a really awesome and in-depth story on the NYC dollar buses that's a must read IMHO.
This is pretty cool, I had no idea NY had them. From TFA:
"The licensed vans operate under highly restrictive rules, which forbid them from picking up along New York City’s innumerable bus routes and require all pick-ups to be prearranged and documented in a passenger manifest."
:lol: that's not how these minivan taxis are supposed to work you silly taxi and limousine commission!

Combed Thunderclap
Jan 4, 2011



The post-mortem from Election Day is in, and it's a winner for transit! A total of over $187 billion in transit funding got approved thanks to voters in the following cities:

Los Angeles - VICTORY
Measure M
Required vote percentage to pass: 66%
Vote percentage: 69.82%

Seattle - VICTORY
Sound Transit 3
Required vote percentage to pass: 50%
Vote percentage: 55.04%

Atlanta - VICTORY
Vote percentage: ??? - Approved
Required vote percentage to pass: 50%

Raleigh - VICTORY
Vote percentage: 52.7%
Required vote percentage to pass: 50%

San Francisco - VICTORY
Vote percentage: 70%
Required vote percentage to pass: 66%

Indianapolis - VICTORY
Vote percentage: 57.8% (preliminary but definitive)
Required vote percentage to pass: 50%

:dance:

nm
Jan 28, 2008

"I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

a patagonian cavy posted:

LA voted on extending a previous sales tax by 30 years in 2012... And it failed after getting a mere 65% of the vote in support. Opposition was pretty strong in parts of LA which don't have any plans to get mass transit service, like San Pedro and the South Bay cities.

The funniest thing, unquestionably, about the LACMTA expansion is the massive number of reasons opponents of the Purple Line (heavy rail subway) have come up with to oppose it. Like the idea that ISIS will use it to blow up OUR CHILDREN.

Sacramento had one of those this year. Measure B had like 64.5+% yes voters. hosed.
Anyone wanna go piss on Howard Jarvis's grave with me?

Combed Thunderclap
Jan 4, 2011



nm posted:

Sacramento had one of those this year. Measure B had like 64.5+% yes voters. hosed.
Anyone wanna go piss on Howard Jarvis's grave with me?

Ugh, I'm sorry :( I didn't realize Sacramento was having a referendum this year :smith:

I will join you at Jarvis's grave and dump leaflets for Measure M and RR all over it with you, at least.

Ofaloaf
Feb 15, 2013

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/11/rta_proposal_results.html

The Metro Detroit/Southeast Michigan transit proposal failed. Detroit's home county of Wayne voted in favor of it, and my home county of Washtenaw voted for it, but Oakland County, to Detroit's north, barely voted no and Macomb County to the south very much voted no.


poo poo sucks, I've been yearning for a good commuter service for ages. :(

Evil Robot
May 20, 2001
Universally hated.
Grimey Drawer
LA is going to be utterly transformed when those changes go in.

suck my woke dick
Oct 10, 2012

:siren:I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!:siren:

Put this cum-loving slave on ignore immediately!

Combed Thunderclap posted:

The post-mortem from Election Day is in, and it's a winner for transit! A total of over $187 billion in transit funding got approved thanks to voters in the following cities:

Los Angeles - VICTORY
Measure M
Required vote percentage to pass: 66%
Vote percentage: 69.82%

Seattle - VICTORY
Sound Transit 3
Required vote percentage to pass: 50%
Vote percentage: 55.04%

Atlanta - VICTORY
Vote percentage: ??? - Approved
Required vote percentage to pass: 50%

Raleigh - VICTORY
Vote percentage: 52.7%
Required vote percentage to pass: 50%

San Francisco - VICTORY
Vote percentage: 70%
Required vote percentage to pass: 66%

Indianapolis - VICTORY
Vote percentage: 57.8% (preliminary but definitive)
Required vote percentage to pass: 50%

:dance:

Yuuuuuge gains that Trump hopefully won't destroy bigly?

Cicero
Dec 17, 2003

Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.
Measure B in Santa Clara County (south sf bay area) also passed. While it also included money for freeways/expressways, it had more money for transit, and a good chunk for bike/walk improvments.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2016/11/09/measure-b--winning-measure-a-just-squeaking-by

boner confessor
Apr 25, 2013

by R. Guyovich

blowfish posted:

Yuuuuuge gains that Trump hopefully won't destroy bigly?

these are all state/local level referendums, the federal government can't do anything about it. this is why it's so slow to implement good mass transit in the US, the feds have traditionally been extremely averse to funding any kind of local mass transit because it's firmly in conflict with the 10th amendment - unless transportation has something to do with interstate or international commerce, it's none of the fed's business. so in the absence of consistent federal funding, most mass transit is left up to the locality, with widely divergent effects. portland, oregon enjoys broad state level support for both urban planning and transportation authority, and so has a very muscular transit system for its size. atlanta, georgia is traditionally poo poo upon by the state government and so faces a number of disadvantages, long headways and high fares, but they manage to keep the system running in decent repair despite a hostile state government and NO state funding

the department of transportation can provide grants to individual projects (expect those to disappear) but if the city of atlanta wants to vote for extra taxes to fund transit, there's nothing the feds can do to stop them

HorseLord
Aug 26, 2014

TapTheForwardAssist posted:

Are there any cities in the world with an extensive subway system that's totally free for the riders? I can't imagine it happening in the US since the massive screaming about unfairness from non-riders would drown it out. On a weird level, I could see DC being vaguely able to argue it since their ridership is spread out over multiple states even for "locals" plus huge numbers of temporary riders for gov/biz/tourism. DC clearly can't afford it alone, but it could be allotws funds in a way similar to how DC gets a federal disbursement for all the tax-free federal land it has that it has to indirectly support and can't raise revenue from.

Just fantasy in the US, but does anyone have non-pay rail systems? Any easy to find numbers on what percentage of the costs in a system is tied up in managing a fare system?

none are 100% free that I know of, but as of the last time I checked the price of riding the Minsk Metro is about $0.22. That's an unlimited journey, across as many trains as you want until you leave the system. If you get a monthly pass then it's so cheap the price means nothing. This is of course remnant of the soviet planned economy so you can never reproduce something like this.

Soy Division
Aug 12, 2004

HorseLord posted:

none are 100% free that I know of, but as of the last time I checked the price of riding the Minsk Metro is about $0.22. That's an unlimited journey, across as many trains as you want until you leave the system. If you get a monthly pass then it's so cheap the price means nothing. This is of course remnant of the soviet planned economy so you can never reproduce something like this.
The Mexico City Metro costs about 25 cents.

Badger of Basra
Jul 26, 2007

boner confessor posted:

these are all state/local level referendums, the federal government can't do anything about it.

USDOT does fund some transit through grants or low interest loans. If they pull a bunch of that money it won't derail (haha) these projects but it could make them a lot smaller.

Quorum
Sep 24, 2014

REMIND ME AGAIN HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE?
Debate & Discussion: voted facho › Transit Politics: The Little Engines That Couldnt Get Federal Funding

DoT grants to help urbanism, sustainability, walkability, all that fun stuff are completely dead for the time being. It's unfortunate, because I know my city's weak-rear end new BRT line is relying on some federal grants; I sincerely hope that stuff is all allocated and can't be revoked by the new administration. New projects will have to rely on state and local funding at best.

maybe we can convince Republicans that transit systems are actually militarily useful?

boner confessor
Apr 25, 2013

by R. Guyovich

Badger of Basra posted:

USDOT does fund some transit through grants or low interest loans. If they pull a bunch of that money it won't derail (haha) these projects but it could make them a lot smaller.

yeah i said that in my post

Quorum posted:

DoT grants to help urbanism, sustainability, walkability, all that fun stuff are completely dead for the time being. It's unfortunate, because I know my city's weak-rear end new BRT line is relying on some federal grants; I sincerely hope that stuff is all allocated and can't be revoked by the new administration. New projects will have to rely on state and local funding at best.

not a whole lot has changed though - while dot transit grants will certainly dry up it's not like there was a deep pool of them to begin with what with the federal government dysfunction and aversion to funding useful things

Panfilo
Aug 27, 2011

EXISTENCE IS PAIN😬

Quorum posted:

Debate & Discussion: voted facho › Transit Politics: The Little Engines That Couldnt Get Federal Funding

DoT grants to help urbanism, sustainability, walkability, all that fun stuff are completely dead for the time being. It's unfortunate, because I know my city's weak-rear end new BRT line is relying on some federal grants; I sincerely hope that stuff is all allocated and can't be revoked by the new administration. New projects will have to rely on state and local funding at best.

maybe we can convince Republicans that transit systems are actually militarily useful?

Sadly federal grants to improve air quality are also used to help fund mass transit, particularly express bus lines. If the EPA gets gutted i imagine the funding goes away as well for those lines, leaving them to either eat the difference or discontinue /reduce lines.

Quorum
Sep 24, 2014

REMIND ME AGAIN HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE?

boner confessor posted:

yeah i said that in my post


not a whole lot has changed though - while dot transit grants will certainly dry up it's not like there was a deep pool of them to begin with what with the federal government dysfunction and aversion to funding useful things

All I know is that on my local level there were a bunch of federal grants involved. Virginia was supposed to be a model for transit and rail, since it's a) close to DC b) had a number of projects ready to go and c) had a cooperative state government. And all those projects are at risk now.

Neon Belly
Feb 12, 2008

I need something stronger.

axeil posted:

Oh my god we have a transit thread?

Prepare for an incoming mega-post in the next few days about how hosed WMATA is. I've been following it very closely since 2010 and want to share all my thoughts on it.

Bring it!

its no big deal
Apr 19, 2015
http://denver.streetsblog.org/2016/11/15/some-streets-will-get-a-guerrilla-safety-makeover-with-the-citys-blessing/

The city is going to let residents modify some streets in safer, more pedestrian/bike friendly routes. Hopefully this helps show that the improvements we need aren't crackpot expensive things and just smart minor changes.

They're not going to pay for any of it, though.

Edit: ignore the dead link. I'm hoping it's still true as I know of some areas on my bike commute that could use some guerrilla action

its no big deal fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Nov 16, 2016

The Maroon Hawk
May 10, 2008

Link's dead, looks like they may have removed the post

CopperHound
Feb 14, 2012

here is the cached version:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...n&ct=clnk&gl=us

The Maroon Hawk
May 10, 2008

There we go, thanks.

That sounds pretty cool, as I'm all in favor of whatever makes this city more pedestrian- and bike-friendly. However, there's a part of the article that mentions the projects won't actually receive any funds from the city, just help in navigating regulations and whatnot; That stuck out to me because Denver's City Council approved the 2017 city budget on Monday, and one of the biggest missing elements was funds for sidewalk repair. Apparently we have a sidewalk problem "valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars across the city".

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/11/14/denver-city-council-budget-vote/

The Denver Post posted:

The 2017 operating budget, unveiled by Hancock in September and approved 12-0 on Monday, will pay for four dozen new police officers and an expanded affordable housing program. It also sets aside $2.5 million for new or fixed sidewalks on city-owned property, such as parks and golf courses.

But while that sum is a new offering from the Hancock administration, it won’t address crumbling or missing walks that front homes, businesses and other private property across the city.

The council has focused heavily on the topic this year, with a working group probing potential ways to help low-income property owners address sidewalk gaps. Under city ordinances, the onus now is on private property owners to install and maintain their sidewalks.

That distinction has resulted in deteriorating pavement and persistent pathway gaps, even in well-off neighborhoods. And enforcement, which would saddle homeowners with the cost of repairs or installation, has been lax.

its no big deal
Apr 19, 2015

The Maroon Hawk posted:

There we go, thanks.

That sounds pretty cool, as I'm all in favor of whatever makes this city more pedestrian- and bike-friendly. However, there's a part of the article that mentions the projects won't actually receive any funds from the city, just help in navigating regulations and whatnot; That stuck out to me because Denver's City Council approved the 2017 city budget on Monday, and one of the biggest missing elements was funds for sidewalk repair. Apparently we have a sidewalk problem "valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars across the city".

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/11/14/denver-city-council-budget-vote/

Yup, they're putting the onus and cost directly on residents, which seems there modus operandi. On the part of Colfax near the Bluebird, the sidewalk has a bunch of ash trees that need to be treated against a type of bug (I think). The city is requiring that the store owners with trees in their boundaries either treat them or remove them. This is even the case despite the store owners not putting the trees in. I'm hazy on details, as I've only heard snippets from my boss.

There seems to be a trend of "analyze city problems, outsource solutions without paying for them" going on here.

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The Maroon Hawk
May 10, 2008

I'm going to one of the city's General Obligation Bond meetings on Thursday. I don't know what I hope to learn or say, but I at least want to start getting involved in making things better here. Maybe I'll run for RTD's board of directors someday!

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