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[quote user="desertdog"] An extension from Plano  to Allen, Fairview and McKinney along the U.S. 75 Central Expressway would be a good start towards growing ridership. Population is growing rapidly in that corridor, and I doubt that planned additional highway lanes will be able to handle the traffic. The ROW for light rail is already there, waiting for development. John Timm [/quote] You may be correct. John Stilgo, Train Time, argues that building light rail along former heavy rail lines, which is what DART did, may turnout to have been a mistake.  His view, as I remember it, runs like this.   As the nation's population grows and locates in a relatively small number of mega population centers, i.e. Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, etc., - its already happening - many people, contrary to the so-call mass movement back to the cities, will go further and further out to find housing, schools, entertainment, etc. But most of them will still need to go to work along employment corridors. Because of equipment, station, and track constraints, DART's light rail system, as an example, has a top speed of 65 mph, with an average speed of 30 to 35 mph.  Thus, on a typical weekday, it takes 45 minutes to get from Plano's Parker Road Station to Union Station in downtown Dallas, which is approximately 20.2 miles. Lets say, for illustrative purposes that the DFW Metroplex eventually builds all the way out to Sherman, which is a possibility. It is 63.9 miles from Sherman to Union Station Dallas.  In that case, according to Stilgo, heavy rail running at 110 to 125 mph would be a better option. But the light rail system in Dallas, as well as other locations, has gobbled up the rights-of-way of many of the former lines that could have been used to build a heavy, high speed rail system.  An interesting perspective, if nothing else. Over the top?  I  understand that some people in France use the TGV to commute as much as 100 to 150 miles per day to get to and from Paris.  Maybe I will bone up on my French and check it out.
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