Sky Watcher's Transit and Transportation Pages

Efficient and cost-effective transportation is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I have long been interested in the enormous and complex infrastructure that exists in today's cities in to move people and goods across the urban landscape, and how such infrastructure affects the very fabric of cities.

There is a lot of debate out there concerning what transportation modes are most cost effective, reliable, and friendly to the environment. On these pages, I choose not to speak to these issues for the most part but have instead just organized this page as a transit and transportation 'fan' page. The goal is to provide comprehensive links to information about the various transit modes: heavy rail (subway/metro/commuter), light rail, monorail, and Maglev, as well as some traditional surface transportation projects. I also include some links to transit modes (e.g. Personal Rapid Transit) that I think may eventually reshape America's cities.

This page last updated October 9, 2006: I created most of these pages back in 2001 or so, but have not done a good job at keeping them current. Recently I've tried to go through and do a bit of cleaning up. I made some updates to the Maglev pages.

Transit

Heavy Rail Information about Subways, Metros, and Commuter Rail in North America.

Light Rail Information about Light Rail in North America.

Monorail Monorail systems around the world.

Personal Rapid Transit This mode has lots of promise and may reshape tomorrow's cities.

People Movers These systems are typically automated and are often found in airports.

Maglev Maglev could be the regional transit technology of the future sooner than you think. (Updated Oct 9, 2006)

High Speed Rail This conventional technology has been widely deployed across Europe and Japan and is being considered for several corridors in the United States.

Surface Transportation

Urban Mobility

Texas Transportation Institute Seem like your wasting all your time in a traffic jam? Check out this organizations annual urban mobility report to see where your metro area ranks!

Northern Colorado Transportation Information

Northern Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization

Northern Front Range Transportation Alternatives Feasibility Study

SmartTrips This Fort Collins program manages transportation demand by encouraging use of alternative modes.

Other Transportation Projects and Info

Innovative Transportation Technologies -- Comprehensive links on PRT, Monorail, Maglev

Alameda Corridor Project This $2.4 project opened on time April 2002. The purpose is to improve freight train operations between Long Beach and Los Angeles by eliminating nearly 200 at-grade crossings and consolidating 90 miles of branch lines into one 20 mile corridor. This has improved motorist safety and was projected to eliminate 15,000 daily person-hours of delay, thereby contributing to improved regional air quality.

Lower Manhattan Infrastructure Reconstruction The September 11 tragedy not only toppled the World Trade Center and surrounding buildings, but took a tremendous chunk out of New York City's transit system. A vital transfer station between the city subway and the PATH commuter trains from NJ were both destroyed. The Federal Government has given $4.5 billion to help NYC rebuild and improve transit in lower Manhattan. (CNN news story)

Mid-Manhattan East Side Access This $4.36 billion project will improve commuter rail (Long Island Railroad) access into Mid-Manhattan over a 4 mile stretch by adding tunnels under the East River, as well as two stations. Serving the strongest commuter rail market in the nation, the new tunnels and stations will save 7.4 million hours of travel times savings to existing transit users. Nearly 700,000 jobs are within a half mile of the proposed stations. By 2020, it is estimated that there will be 351,000 daily boardings in the East Side Access. The project should be finished by 2011.

The Big Dig The Central Artery/Tunnel Project has a long list of superlatives attached to it: biggest, largest, most expensive highway project ever in America. This truly massive project involves the total replacement and relocation of the major downtown arterial in Boston: I-95. The six lane elevated expressway viaduct through downtown Boston is being replaced by a state-of-the-art tunnel. Interchanges are being improved, and several bridges and tunnels are being built as well. This project is on the same scope as digging the Panama Canal, building the Alaska Pipeline, and digging the Chunnel Tunnel, except that it's being done in the middle of a major city! Check out the web page for all the details.

Find out about the proposed solutions to the I-70 traffic congestion problem in Colorado. Here is some info on the I-70 Mountain Corridor.

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