[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: My First Ride on the Hiawatha Line

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
My First Ride on the Hiawatha Line
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1202004999.shtml


   To be honest, I might have passed on attend the Minnesotans for Global
   Warming rally except that it was an opportunity to travel the route of
   the proposed Central Corridor. Yes, I took the bus. I took the 94B
   express from downtown Minneapolis to the Capitol, and the 16 along
   University coming back.
   Actually, the rally ended well before the scheduled 2 pm finish, so I
   decided to go the extra mile and take my first ride on the Hiawatha
   Line, end to end. Total time was 38 minutes, 2 over the scheduled 36
   minutes for this 12 mile, 16 station run.
   Aesthetically, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the experience. The cars
   seemed rather plain and the seating awkwardly laid out to make room
   for bicycles. There were bumps and jostling, and some screeching and
   clanking almost every mile.
   So how long will the Central Corridor take, specifically to the
   Capitol? Part of that depends on the final route, the bridge, a
   possible tunnel and so on, so the best guess from various web sites is
   from 24 to 29 minutes. Judging from my run to the Mall of America, I'd
   say even 30 minutes is fair.
   The 94B express made this trip in 21 minutes, including one stop at
   Snelling. Of course, the train will make several stops, but the 16
   local took 49 minutes. Downtown to downtown, the express bus wins. If
   you want to stop along the way, the train is faster but with fewer
   stops, you'll likely have to walk or transfer. In other words, it's
   pretty much a wash. Oh, and car travel beats them all.
   Another billion dollars, probably $1.5 billion in fact for a Central
   Corridor line that won't save time, that won't reduce congestion. It
   almost certainly will increase congestion, like the Hiawatha Line does
   now to east - west traffic. And, sadly, it will kill a few people,
   like the Hiawatha Line has. It will run large operating deficits, just
   like the Hiawatha Line. As I've heard, while I had a valid transfer in
   my pocket, I could have as easily simply walked up and got on without
   paying. Nobody appeared to be checking.
   For a lot less money, we could rework University to be more
   bus-friendly, and we could buy some deluxe motor coaches to provide a
   smoother, quieter ride.