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Really now? That's the entire reason the US has problems with transit because some old rails are now bike paths? There really isn't any other reason you can think of?
That's the trouble in King County. Creating new right-of-way is terribly expensive and destructive. The old rail system used to provide mass transit, and it ran through the cities in the county. The County also goes to great lengths to spend as much money as possible. When digging a new tunnel, the excavated material was used to stuff the old tunnel, meaning there was no increase in capacity. In another instance, onc…
In the case you are describing I'd still say it is more of a symptom of an underlying issue to be honest. One you yourself do actually describe.
> The County also goes to great lengths to spend as much money as possible. When digging a new tunnel, the excavated material was used to stuff the old tunnel, meaning there was no increase in capacity. In another instance, once the tunnel was finished, the $$$$$$$ tunnel boring machine was sold for scrap instead of being reused.
To me this more or less seems to hint at an overall lack of vision on transit and traffic in general. Or rather, the unwillingness to do the investments necessary. Frankly, the fact that you even got biking infrastructure at all is sort of amazing and probably only happened because the investment needed was minimal.
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Delivery bots using pedestrian sidewalks are 1) limited to places that have pedestrian sidewalks, 2) are really, really slow, and 3) can very easily be stolen. If we’re talking suburbs, they are likely off the table. Now, armored aerial delivery drones… dissuading dronejacking with robust self-defense/self-destruction capabilities, adequately advertised to avoid potential lawsuits… that’s the future we’re waiting for…
If there are no sidewalks - building them will be cheaper and will benefit community more than building a tunnel. Robots in the tunnel are not fast either. Looks like a fun startup to burn some VC money.
If you think sidewalks would benefit an entirely car-based community, I’d wonder if you’ve ever been to suburbs. You’re suggesting building (and maintaining indefinitely) the length of sidewalks, along with road crossing markings, signs, street lights, and all the rest that walkability comes with, to cover a sprawling area where, crucially, people don’t walk, and you are seriously saying that this startup is the money-burner?
Sidewalks will either fall into disrepair and be useless in a few months, or continuously drain the budget just for the benefit of [slow as hell and easy to steal] delivery bots. At this point, one might consider just moving those bots underground, so that they have no obstacles, are harder to steal, can move faster, can handle really large payloads like furniture/boilers/cars, and you have much shorter distances to maintain because they can go direct instead of being limited to public roads. As you can see, perhaps someone has given it a bit more thought than you.
Of course, you might want to consider decent public transit and replanning the entire area more densely, that would lead to useful sidewalks and actually benefit the community (and probably remove the need for these delivery trains), but in the US it’s never going to fly.
The only alternative to underground trains is armoured aerial delivery drones, and I tell you that’s where it’s at. If you don’t do it today, Musk will tomorrow.
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If there are no sidewalks - building them will be cheaper and will benefit community more than building a tunnel. Robots in the tunnel are not fast either. Looks like a fun startup to burn some VC money.
> building them will be cheaper and will benefit community more than building a tunnel If you think sidewalks would benefit an entirely car-based community, I’d wonder if you’ve ever been to suburbs. You’re suggesting building (and maintaining indefinitely) the length of sidewalks, along with road crossing markings, signs, street lights, and all the rest that walkability comes with, to cover a sprawling area where, c…
Is theft a huge problem? Electric scooters are everywhere in the streets.
Underground tunnel which is capable to fit furniture and cars will be extremely expensive. The whole idea for last mile delivery via tunnel is not economically viable.
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> building them will be cheaper and will benefit community more than building a tunnel If you think sidewalks would benefit an entirely car-based community, I’d wonder if you’ve ever been to suburbs. You’re suggesting building (and maintaining indefinitely) the length of sidewalks, along with road crossing markings, signs, street lights, and all the rest that walkability comes with, to cover a sprawling area where, c…
Sidewalk fall into disrepair in few months? Here in my city sidewalks are keeping well intact for more than 10 years. Is theft a huge problem? Electric scooters are everywhere in the streets. Underground tunnel which is capable to fit furniture and cars will be extremely expensive. The whole idea for last mile delivery via tunnel is not economically viable.
They are not doing it all by themselves, especially if you live where there are seasons. If you don’t notice maintenance happening, it doesn’t mean maintenance doesn’t happen.
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That's because the old transit lines were redone as bike paths.
The second is the Washington and Old Dominion trail in Arlington and Fairfax Counties, which runs from Rosslyn to I don't know where--I've never been on it past Falls Church. That commuter line was shut down for many years before the bike path opened.
In general, the old rail transit lines around here have been long disused, unless they share the tracks with Amtrak and freight.
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That's because the old transit lines were redone as bike paths.
/waves in the general direction of Kirkland, WA.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's the trouble in King County. Creating new right-of-way is terribly expensive and destructive. The old rail system used to provide mass transit, and it ran through the cities in the county. The County also goes to great lengths to spend as much money as possible. When digging a new tunnel, the excavated material was used to stuff the old tunnel, meaning there was no increase in capacity. In another instance, onc…
Old unused railways being repurposed as bike paths actually can be good for general mobility, traffic safety, etc. In the case you are describing I'd still say it is more of a symptom of an underlying issue to be honest. One you yourself do actually describe. > The County also goes to great lengths to spend as much money as possible. When digging a new tunnel, the excavated material was used to stuff the old tunnel,…
The purpose of redeveloping the rail line into a biking path wasn't to improve biking infrastructure, or reduce Kirkland's dependency on cars. It was to hamstring any mass transit that might go into that space.