A very powerful ending. I always love reading your articles and this was no exception!!
One point I would like to ask about. You state that "If stations are too far apart, then the automobile comes in play as a competitive mode". Could you perhaps expand on this? My understanding is that if the stations are too *closely* packed, then a train ride becomes slow compared to driving. Hence, people would prefer cars if stations are too close, but how does far apart stations affect things?
Observation #5 is the one that always kills me. Local planners and city governments can struggle for years to do what, in many cases, a national level policy/decree/funding splurge can do much faster and on a broader scale. Sometimes makes me wish we had some kind of equivalent Transit Czar in the US!
I will come back to study more, but train length depends a lot on the location and demand too. Hong Kong trains are so long that it can take 3 or more minutes to walk the length of the platform, but train frequencies are never more than 8 minutes long, and most of the day run under 5 minutes, with peak times of about 1 minute. One can argue that more tracks are needed but the narrow zones of development make it difficult except maybe in the N.T. area.
A very powerful ending. I always love reading your articles and this was no exception!!
One point I would like to ask about. You state that "If stations are too far apart, then the automobile comes in play as a competitive mode". Could you perhaps expand on this? My understanding is that if the stations are too *closely* packed, then a train ride becomes slow compared to driving. Hence, people would prefer cars if stations are too close, but how does far apart stations affect things?
Observation #5 is the one that always kills me. Local planners and city governments can struggle for years to do what, in many cases, a national level policy/decree/funding splurge can do much faster and on a broader scale. Sometimes makes me wish we had some kind of equivalent Transit Czar in the US!
Very helpful. Thanks!
Thoughtful post, thanks for writing it (and jealous of your vacation!)
excellent as usual
I will come back to study more, but train length depends a lot on the location and demand too. Hong Kong trains are so long that it can take 3 or more minutes to walk the length of the platform, but train frequencies are never more than 8 minutes long, and most of the day run under 5 minutes, with peak times of about 1 minute. One can argue that more tracks are needed but the narrow zones of development make it difficult except maybe in the N.T. area.