Comments on: News Roundup: Distracted Driving Edition

By: Oran Viriyincy

Oran Viriyincy — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:43:37 +0000

For a fun book critiquing suburban sprawl, I recommend James Howard Kunstler’s “The Geography of Nowhere”.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:22:40 +0000

This low density is most definitely sprawl, as if everyone did this, you would need vastly more land than we currently take up, and to get that land you would need to sprawl outwards into currently untouched territory. If you did have enough land, this would be fine as long as you wanted a subsistence-farming based society without any further human employment. But for all other types of employment than agriculture, you need dense cities where everyone can work together.

By: Tim Whittome

Tim Whittome — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:18:48 +0000

Sorry I should have said that this relates to the AWV project because Metro will have to shuffle its buses around various bases as work continues on both the viaduct replacement and that huge maze of bridges crossing 4th Ave South and between Quest and Safeco Fields.

By: Tim Whittome

Tim Whittome — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:17:01 +0000

Yes, I heard that too – it badly needs some work done on it to make it both safer for children walking along it and more aesethetically pleasing. I hope they do something with the brambles and jungle facing Commencement Bay on the east side of Stadium Way.

By: Blue Swan

Blue Swan — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:00:19 +0000

Low density can work…it can be green…it can provide many more jobs, lower cost rents, lower crime, more healthful living.

People should not just associate low density with sprawl.

You should read my proposals for “Agraria”:

http://you-read-it-here-first.com/viewtopic.php?t=3227&highlight=agraria&sid=07e34689f4efe87cc4865c985d12f74c

By: Brian Bundridge

Brian Bundridge — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:42:45 +0000

Typically, most LRT stations only cost $2 to 8 million dollars for a surface station and $10-20 million for elevated stations. I would love to have a station there at Graham and at South 133rd to serve the industrial district there. Not to mention AMR, BECU, and several other medium sized companies and server farms there. It would make the most sense as well to build a new park and ride here if there are going to be any built along the line that is next to a freeway/highway.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:04:57 +0000

I heard that when they reconstruct Stadium Way in the next couple years they will include streetcar tracks, so we’ll be getting service to the Stadium District pretty soon! Then there’s also ST2 money to pay partly for further extension to Tacoma General.

By: Tim Whittome

Tim Whittome — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:38:16 +0000

I noted in the above Governor Gregoire’s remarks on the tunnel to replace the viaduct and obviously I am engaged to her way of thinking on the subject.

By the way, related to the tunnel, but there was an interesting piece in the Daily Journal of Commerce this past week on Metro putting out to bid for a new Central/Atlantic base, Read it – it is quite interesting. Nice design and ‘Green’ features etc.

By: Tim Whittome

Tim Whittome — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:35:19 +0000

I like it – I say go for it, not that I have much impact. I’d like to see Tacoma help to extend Link all the way to the lovely Stadium High School at the top of the hill there – at least to the Stadium District and to Wright Park.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:24:17 +0000

…doesn’t a gas tax roughly equate to an efficiency-adjusted VMT?

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:57:26 +0000

If PAYD insurance catches on in the future, does that mean I could get exempted from the gas tax and instead pay VMT?

By: Wesley

Wesley — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:56:47 +0000

Try looking at http://www.distracted.gov

I dont think that was listed in any of the hyperlinks above. It is a government campaign to inspire fear among us…

http://www.twitter.com/wesleyzhao

By: Karl

Karl — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:13:47 +0000

Yes, i was referring to Tacoma Link, my apologies.

By: Gordon Werner

Gordon Werner — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:43:57 +0000

shouldn’t be a real issue if you are referring to Tacoma Link (like the Seattle Streetcar) …

By: NJL

NJL — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:30:04 +0000

It will make transferring between Tacoma Link and the busses on Commerce easier, which has been a frustration of mine in the past.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:27:04 +0000

It sounds like an alright idea, and costing very little for a pretty good benefit for people around there. Maybe in conjunction with this they could move the Convention Center station across the street to the south so it’s actually right in front of the Convention Center?

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:24:31 +0000

I’m guessing more like $30-40m.

Really, more than that. You can’t just slow down the airport users.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:22:31 +0000

It’s a streetcar. I don’t see a problem with it.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:09:40 +0000

In addition, I think Sound Transit needs to add a Link stop at Graham and MLK Way as well. However I think the Graham station would probably cost in the range of $10m and not the $100,000 this small station would cost.

By: Karl

Karl — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:01:08 +0000

As a Tacoma resident, and a transit user and supporter, I think that the additional link stop that is proposed (only two blocks away from another stop) is pretty silly. I would be happy to here the perspective from the STB contingent.