From: Dallas Observer Blogs
By: Robert Wilonsky // July 20, 2009
Jason Roberts -- a Happy Bullet, co-founder of the Art Conspiracy, Texas Theater-rehabber and, for the purposes of this item, Oak Cliff Transit Authority board member -- sends word that this morning's Dallas-Fort Worth streetcar item has (pretty much) nothing to do with downtown Dallas trolleys. Which is why Angela Hunt didn't know about the North Central Texas Council of Governments' joint grant application. Roberts says the Star-Telegram -- which noted that in Dallas, "the idea is to back streetcar circulator service downtown" -- got the story wrong as well.
Actually, Roberts says, the application for federal money is being filed on behalf of Fort Worth and the OCTA, which is trying to get dough to run a streetcar line between Union Station downtown and Oak Cliff (at this point, it would stop near Methodist Hospital before expanding throughout the O.C.). The request will be for $95 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants geared toward creating transit near workforce housing. Roberts says the 3-year-old OCTA, which doesn't have a formal relationship with Dallas Area Rapid Transit, needs help funding the project, since a good mile of the rail line would span the Houston Street viaduct and therefore not allow for the kind of cost-off-setting economic generators of which Hunt speaks in the earlier item.
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Sunday, July 26, 2009
DART Orange Line to connect with DFW Airport
From: ProgressiveRailoading.com
July 25, 2009
The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) board recently approved a route for the final section of the Orange Line: The light-rail corridor will connect to Terminal A at DFW International Airport by December 2013.
The board made the decision following a staff recommendation to provide direct terminal access from the future Belt Line Station, which will be located on airport property. The board also voted to add a future light-rail connection from the Orange Line to the Cotton Belt corridor, a DART-owned rail line that crosses the airport property, to provide additional rail access to the airport. The agency has proposed launching passenger-rail service on the Cotton Belt line — which crosses through the northwest Dallas-Fort Worth area — by 2013.
Earlier this year, DART launched construction on the first two sections of the 14-mile Orange Line, from the future Bachman Station in northwest Dallas to Las Colinas, and then to the Belt Line Station. The sections are scheduled to open in December 2011 and 2012, respectively. DART expects to award a contract for the final section to the airport next year.
July 25, 2009
The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) board recently approved a route for the final section of the Orange Line: The light-rail corridor will connect to Terminal A at DFW International Airport by December 2013.
The board made the decision following a staff recommendation to provide direct terminal access from the future Belt Line Station, which will be located on airport property. The board also voted to add a future light-rail connection from the Orange Line to the Cotton Belt corridor, a DART-owned rail line that crosses the airport property, to provide additional rail access to the airport. The agency has proposed launching passenger-rail service on the Cotton Belt line — which crosses through the northwest Dallas-Fort Worth area — by 2013.
Earlier this year, DART launched construction on the first two sections of the 14-mile Orange Line, from the future Bachman Station in northwest Dallas to Las Colinas, and then to the Belt Line Station. The sections are scheduled to open in December 2011 and 2012, respectively. DART expects to award a contract for the final section to the airport next year.
Houston Pavillions Off to a Good Start
From: Houston Chronicle
By: David Kaplan // July 18, 2009
Depending on where people view it, they could make a case that the 9-month-old downtown Houston Pavilions is either succeeding or hurting.
Stand on the corner of Dallas and Caroline, and you'll see a lively scene at the House of Blues.
But on the second level, between Fannin and San Jacinto, there are vacant retail sites.
Sixty-two percent of the massive Pavilions is leased, and about 50 percent of it is occupied.
Although it's still half-empty, the project is off to a very good start, retail analysts say, when you factor in the economic downturn and gloomy state of retail.
By: David Kaplan // July 18, 2009
Depending on where people view it, they could make a case that the 9-month-old downtown Houston Pavilions is either succeeding or hurting.
Stand on the corner of Dallas and Caroline, and you'll see a lively scene at the House of Blues.But on the second level, between Fannin and San Jacinto, there are vacant retail sites.
Sixty-two percent of the massive Pavilions is leased, and about 50 percent of it is occupied.
Although it's still half-empty, the project is off to a very good start, retail analysts say, when you factor in the economic downturn and gloomy state of retail.
But if the project were to fail, it would be a major blow to the downtown area near the George R. Brown Convention Center. The three-block-long Pavilions was designed to be that district's entertainment hub and make downtown Houston more of a nighttime and weekend destination.
The $170 million Pavilions is a mixed-used development combining retail, entertainment and office space.
MOREHouston - Groundbreaking marks MetroRail Expansion
From; TAMU Real Estate Center
July 13, 2009
Houston's light rail is expanding. METRO held groundbreaking on two additional light rail lines - one on the southeast side of town, and the other up north.
The newly built north corridor is expected to run more than five miles from University of Houston-Downtown to Northline Mall.
On the southeast side, the new line will stretch 6.5 miles, running from downtown, past Texas Southern University and University of Houston to Palm Center.
The $150 million tab is being picked up by the federal government.
METRO Chairman David Wolff says Houstonians should celebrate that. "In the president's budget, there are only five light rail projects in the U.S. that got into that budget. Of those five, two of them are ours,” Wolff said.
The $1.4 billion vision for Houston's light rail is to add the east end, university and uptown lines by 2013.
The addition of the north and southeast rail lines will give 60,000 Houstonians jobs.
July 13, 2009
Houston's light rail is expanding. METRO held groundbreaking on two additional light rail lines - one on the southeast side of town, and the other up north.
The newly built north corridor is expected to run more than five miles from University of Houston-Downtown to Northline Mall.
On the southeast side, the new line will stretch 6.5 miles, running from downtown, past Texas Southern University and University of Houston to Palm Center.
The $150 million tab is being picked up by the federal government.
METRO Chairman David Wolff says Houstonians should celebrate that. "In the president's budget, there are only five light rail projects in the U.S. that got into that budget. Of those five, two of them are ours,” Wolff said.
The $1.4 billion vision for Houston's light rail is to add the east end, university and uptown lines by 2013.
The addition of the north and southeast rail lines will give 60,000 Houstonians jobs.
Does Dallas Need a Streetcar System?
From: Dallas Morning News Transportation Blog
By: Rodger Jones // July 16, 2009
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Interests invested in downtown are pushing for them, and the city is asking Washington for $80 million for them. But I wonder if there is time or interest in questioning the value, in light of the investment needed. I think it's a good debate. That is, would the huge investment in a fixed-rail streetcar system benefit the city more than a system of beefed-up crosstown buses to serve downtown?
If you have an open mind on the subject, it's worth reading a blog posting from one transportation consultant who hails from Portland, the city of the much-ballyhooed streetcar system. He writes in part:
Streetcars are in vogue, however, and local transportation and city planners can smell the money from Washington. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently went to Portland to admire the streetcar system there and offer encouragement to such undertakings.
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By: Rodger Jones // July 16, 2009
-thumb-200x143-49913.jpeg)
Interests invested in downtown are pushing for them, and the city is asking Washington for $80 million for them. But I wonder if there is time or interest in questioning the value, in light of the investment needed. I think it's a good debate. That is, would the huge investment in a fixed-rail streetcar system benefit the city more than a system of beefed-up crosstown buses to serve downtown?If you have an open mind on the subject, it's worth reading a blog posting from one transportation consultant who hails from Portland, the city of the much-ballyhooed streetcar system. He writes in part:
Streetcars that replace bus lines are not a mobility improvement. If you
replace a bus with a streetcar on the same route, nobody will be able to get
anywhere any faster than they could before. This makes streetcars quite
different from most of the other transit investments being discussed today.
Where a streetcar is faster or more reliable than the bus route it
replaced, this is because other improvements were made at the same time --
improvements that could just as well have been made for the bus route. These
improvements may have been politically packaged as part of the streetcar
project, but they were logically independent, so their benefits are not really
benefits of the streetcar as compared to the bus.
Streetcars are in vogue, however, and local transportation and city planners can smell the money from Washington. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently went to Portland to admire the streetcar system there and offer encouragement to such undertakings.
MORE
Austin - Emissions, ozone could be problematic for city
From: The Daily Texan
By: Syeda Hasan // July 15, 2009
The Clean Air Force of Central Texas, an organization that promotes improving air quality through educational programs, is continuing its efforts to inform citizens about the harmful effects of ozone emissions in the region.The group designed its “Big Push” campaign this year to keep Austin in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation standards this “ozone season,” the period from April 1 to October 31, when ozone levels are highest.
Bryan Lambeth, spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said at the group’s presentation at Green Pastures Restaurant on Tuesday that while Austin’s ozone levels have been in decline, they still do not meet the new EPA standards which lowered the amount of emissions permitted.
Austin Capital Metro -- No start date yet for Red Line
Austin-American Statesment
By: Ben Wear // Friday, July 17, 2009
Capital Metro has just released its latest passenger rail update and the bottom-line still hasn’t changed: No start date yet for the Red Line from Leander to downtown Austin.
And, as has been the case since May, a promise to report back in a month.
And as has been the case with the other monthly reports, the jargon-heavy release from the transit agency reports progress on getting the track’s control systems nailed down and training completed, and in each case indicates that more is left to be done.
MORE
By: Ben Wear // Friday, July 17, 2009
Capital Metro has just released its latest passenger rail update and the bottom-line still hasn’t changed: No start date yet for the Red Line from Leander to downtown Austin.
And, as has been the case since May, a promise to report back in a month.
And as has been the case with the other monthly reports, the jargon-heavy release from the transit agency reports progress on getting the track’s control systems nailed down and training completed, and in each case indicates that more is left to be done.
MORE
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