NPR: Light Rail Transforming Cities, Guiding Development

[marmar]

December 27, 2010

It's hard to find a city in America that isn't planning, proposing, studying or actually building a light rail system. Cities as diverse as Dallas, Seattle and Washington, D.C., all see light rail as part of their future — a way to reshape their development.

There are 35 light rail systems operating in the U.S. today. At least 13 metro areas are currently building others. Many more are being planned.

Perhaps the most ambitious light rail project in the country is being built in Denver. Downtown, behind Union Station, lies a cityscape that doesn't quite exist yet.

Much of the area is empty, fenced off. Construction crews are digging a huge hole in the ground in preparation for some of the final stages of a multiyear transportation project that is already changing the city. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.npr.org/2010/12/27/132283143/light-rail-transforming-cities-guiding-development

[Ron Green]

1. These projects should have been done 35 years ago

when it became apparent that the picture was changing forever on OPEC-supplied fossil fuels.

Right-of-way was much cheaper in 1975.

We had a presidential candidate in 1980 who called for a substantial tax on gasoline at the pump; not many people listened.

I don't think we've got the political will or economic strength to play the kind of catch-up that's now required.