Category Archives: New York

Bus and Rail Mantras

Posted on 2012/05/21 by

Bus is cheaper than rail. Paint is cheap. Rail only made sense a hundred years ago when construction costs were lower. Trains have no inherent advantage over buses. It doesn’t cost more to operate a bus than to operate a … Continue reading →

Posted in Incompetence, New York, Transportation, Urban Transit | 56 Comments

High- and Low-Speed Rail Coordination

Posted on 2012/05/17 by

The debate about what kind intercity rail to build tends to be either/or. On one side, there’s HSR-only advocacy: this represents the attitude of SNCF, especially in the earlier years of the TGV, and such American HSR proponents as John … Continue reading →

Posted in High-Speed Rail, New York, Transportation | 83 Comments

Quick Note: How Much Tunnels Really Cost

Posted on 2012/04/20 by

New York is currently building a 3-kilometer tunnel between Brooklyn and Staten Island, using the same EPB method that Madrid uses to build subway tunnels. The cost of the single-bore tunnel is $250 million, and the project will be completed … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction Costs, New York, Transportation | 55 Comments

What’s a Subway/El?

Posted on 2012/04/16 by

The rapid transit built in New York beginning with the first els codified two characteristics that spread to the rest of the US, and are often seen in other countries’ rapid transit networks as well. First, it is separate from … Continue reading →

Posted in New York, Regional Rail, Transportation, Urban Transit | 60 Comments

One-Way Pairs: the Bad and the Ugly

Posted on 2012/04/08 by

One of Jane Jacobs’ prescient observations about bus service in The Death and Life is that one-way pairs, as practiced on the avenues in Manhattan, are bad for riders. Her argument was that one-way pairs require people to walk too … Continue reading →

Posted in Incompetence, Israel, New York, Transportation, Urban Transit | 19 Comments

Transportation-Development Symbiosis

Posted on 2012/03/31 by

The RPA’s Regional Assembly has included the following idea submission: expand reverse-commuter rail service. The proposal calls for surveying city residents to look for the main available reverse-commuter markets, and for expanding reverse-peak service on the model of Metro-North. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Development, Good Transit, New York, Providence, Regional Rail, Transportation, Urban Design, Urbanism | 36 Comments

Why Long Island Should Get An HSR Spur

Posted on 2012/01/31 by

Having looked into why high-speed rail from New York to Boston should go through Providence, I want to explain why it should go through New Haven, rather than through any of the fanciful Long Island routings proposed most prominently by … Continue reading →

Posted in High-Speed Rail, New York, Transportation | 28 Comments

Little Things That Matter: Railroad Junctions

Posted on 2012/01/09 by

One underrated difference between countries is how multi-tracked railroad junctions look. In France, double-tracked regional lines have grade-separated junctions that ensure no crossing oncoming traffic. For a plethora of examples, consult the RER track map and look at any bifurcation. … Continue reading →

Posted in Good Transit, New York, Providence, Regional Rail, Transportation | 45 Comments

Transit Alternatives to the Tappan Zee Widening

Posted on 2012/01/02 by

Cap’n Transit is virtually alone in the transit blogosphere in opposing the Tappan Zee Bridge widening and replacement. Unfortunately, merely opposing a highway project, expensive as it is, is not enough; as we’ve seen in the failure of the ballot … Continue reading →

Posted in Cars, New York, Regional Rail, Transportation | 17 Comments

Why Moynihan Station Has Negative Transportation Value

Posted on 2011/12/30 by

Amtrak has been making noises again about the need for Moynihan Station as a replacement concourse for Penn Station for Amtrak travelers, but makes it clear it does not want to pay almost anything for it. While former Amtrak President … Continue reading →

Posted in Amtrak, Development, Incompetence, New York, Transportation, Urbanism | 35 Comments