166 replies to this topic

[RShack]

Mexican engineers develop a way to get another 50 years out of old pipes...

 

http://www.pddnet.co...-city-pipelines

[NewMarketSean]

Yeah I didn't even know there's a garbage wheel where Gwynn Falls empties into the harbor. Solar powered. Pretty neat.

[KWebz]

There's one in harbor east as well and it's cuter. It even has a Twitter https://twitter.com/mrtrashwheel

[NewMarketSean]

There's one in harbor east as well and it's cuter. It even has a Twitter https://twitter.com/mrtrashwheel

 

That's the same one I mentioned.

[RShack]

Seems like a great idea to me...

 

http://www.autonews....-autonews-daily

[Matt_P]

If a critical mass of Congressional staffers lived in BAL, that could happen...  just like it happened there... everybody whining at the boss about traffic and parking, so the bosses finally voted to pay for it, just to get them to shut up...

 

Add hundreds of thousands of govt employees that get to ride Metro for free plus hundreds of thousands more that get tax-subsidies from employers.

[PatrickDougherty]

Mass transit is never going to be mainstream here. That's the thing. Outside of O's and Ravens games, when the LR and metro still have long, ongoing issues handling crowds, it won't work here. So why force billion dollar projects on a population so against it? The people who rely on mass transit (low income people) get along with buses as is and the revisions will serve them well. Commuters in Bmore will never leave their cars to hop on a train unless it's super cheap, super fast and super safe. And this city can't deliver on either. So what we get is what we deserve. And I say this as a transit nerd who wished we had much better transit in this city.

They won't, or not really, at least. Major job centers outside of the city are nearly impossible to reach - it takes 90 minutes+ to reach some, which doesn't work for people trying to cover two or three jobs. More buses on tighter schedules is good, don't get me wrong, but buses still get caught in traffic and make twice as many stops as rail lines do.

 

FWIW I would ride a rail line if one became available to me. I don't care if it would add 5 minutes or 10 minutes to my morning commute, because that's 5 or 10 more minutes that I could spend reading, not being alert behind the wheel. But then again, I traveled all over Europe on public transportation (including buses, which sucked), so I've got a history of use.

 

The biggest issue with any of the proposed or implemented plans is connectivity. Cool, I can get to work on a bus. Can I get to my gym and then to work on a bus? Can I make it to work on time and then every scheduled meeting with a bus? Can I go from work to a retail center to go grocery shopping with a bus? The answer for most people in Baltimore is no, so nobody in Baltimore is willing to rely on public transit unless they have to.

[NewMarketSean]

It comes back to the ability of the city to build a system that works. They can't do it. They've failed twice already. They would have likely failed with the Red Line.

 

Make the buses better...that's all they can do.

[NewMarketSean]

I think what they city should do -- and the CityLink is working toward this -- is make these bus routes feel like a metro route.

 

Build some bus shelters for major stops with GPS expectancy signs and give the buses signal preemption censors to shorten wait times at intersections. Use high capacity-buses for the blue and red routes -- which are currently the QuickBus routes. Build park and ride lots at the ends of these lines to reflect what the light rail has at its terminals.

 

Baltimore's goal should be to have the best bus system in the country. They might not meet that goal but it's something to strive for.

 

I think they'll need more than $135 million to do this, but it's a start.

[RShack]

Mass transit usage is tied to Employment Density, not Population Density...

 

In other words, it doesn't matter if people live tightly packed together... what matters is whether the jobs are tightly packed...

 

https://www.washingt...t-room-to-grow/

 

http://www.ppic.org/...rt/R_211JKR.pdf

[DJ MC]

The Sun: Hammerjacks to replace Paradox near the stadiums

[NewMarketSean]

This what, the 3rd or 4th incarnation of Hammerjacks? I was only ever at the location by 83...but the city could use another decent concert venue.

[Mike in STL]

I was too young to ever go to Hammerjacks. But I remember they go there in "Serial Mom."

[DJ MC]

The Sun: Some riders aghast at Hogan's proposed bus changes

[BSLMikeLowe]

There's always bound to be unhappy people when you make significant changes to something when it's been done a certain way for so long, even if that change represents an overall improvement. That said, you would think such a comprehensive plan would enhance, or at least keep, stops along the most heavily travelled routes.

[RShack]

There's always bound to be unhappy people when you make significant changes to something when it's been done a certain way for so long, even if that change represents an overall improvement. That said, you would think such a comprehensive plan would enhance, or at least keep, stops along the most heavily travelled routes.

 

Making people transfer more is not an improvement... it makes trips be longer, colder, and wetter...  buses are plenty slow as it is, standing around in the weather waiting to transfer more times just makes it all worse...

 

Plus, renumbering longstanding main routes is just asking for mass confusion... it's kinda-equivalent to changing all the street names for people who have cars... hard to see how them messing with the #8 is an improvement...

[NewMarketSean]

There are too many bus stops as is. I understand that people enjoy having one at the end of their block but it's what also slows down buses and causes them to bunch up. Walking 2-3 blocks shouldn't be an issue...4-5 is a lot. But this will be a difficult undertaking, to improve the system which is long overdue for reform, and pleasing people. The fact that the bus routes are still based on streetcar routes is proof that they need to be updated. Either that, or bring back streetcars

[DuffMan]

http://gizmodo.com/b...le-b-1741438268

[NewMarketSean]

Pretty cool to see that get a lot of attention...the city needs to do more innovative things to clean up the harbor and its image.

 

It's also hard to talk about spending millions and billions on arenas and light rail lines when our sewer lines are a major part of the problem and need to be replaced.

[PatrickDougherty]

Mr. Trash Wheel's AMA was so good. So many are adverts and they did a good job of just having fun and joking around and letting people ask for information and offer support rather than trying to draw it out of them.