Dallas Area Rapid Transit Status Article

[Anonymous]

Here is an interesting article from the June 29th issue of the Dallas Morning News.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20140628-as-north-texas-transit-options-grew-bus-and-train-commuting-fell.ece

The article gives an excellent overview of the challenges facing public transport in North Texas. Two points caught my attention. Ridership has increased over he past decade, but not nearly as fast as the increase in the population. And the percentage of people in the service area who use public transport is even less than I thought.

[Firelock76]

Whenever I post a link after listing the pertinant information I hit "enter."  It always works for me.

 

[Anonymous]

Firelock76

Whenever I post a link after listing the pertinant information I hit "enter."  It always works for me.

I copied it from DMN, pasted it into the rich text box, and hit enter.  No dice!

[Firelock76]

Strange.  Maybe your supposition the article is restricted to premium subscribers is correct. 

[wanswheel]

Sam1

What is the secret to activate the link in Trains forums?

[U-R-L]http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20140628-as-north-texas-transit-options-grew-bus-and-train-commuting-fell.ece[/U-R-L]        

Type URL and /URL without dashes, of course.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20140628-as-north-texas-transit-options-grew-bus-and-train-commuting-fell.ece

[Anonymous]

wanswheel

Sam1

What is the secret to activate the link in Trains forums?

[U-R-L]http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20140628-as-north-texas-transit-options-grew-bus-and-train-commuting-fell.ece[/U-R-L]        

Type URL and /URL without dashes, of course.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20140628-as-north-texas-transit-options-grew-bus-and-train-commuting-fell.ece 

So where do you type the URL?  In front of the link?  I have never had a problem pasting a link into my email client.  In fact, I have pasted links in to Word documents and had them activate.  

Thanks for your help.

[wanswheel]

Sam1

So where do you type the URL?  In front of the link?  

Yes, in brackets, and also at the end of the link, in brackets and with a slash.

[ORL]www.for-demonstration-oh-equals-yew.com[/ORL]

Actually this is the old-fashioned method. Nowadays just paste the link directly into the reply box and hit Enter.  Be sure the cursor is lined up to the right of the link with no space.

[blue streak 1]

Sam1

What is the secret to activate the link in Trains forums?

First every operating system may  be different.

Have windows 8.1  and IE  11

All have to do is post or paste link.  Then space before link and if that does not work space at end.  Either or action will change color of link telling that link is activated.  That is how this poster activates other's links.

 

[Anonymous]

blue streak 1

Sam1

What is the secret to activate the link in Trains forums?

First every operating system may  be different.

Have windows 8.1  and IE  11

All have to do is post or paste link.  Then space before link and if that does not work space at end.  Either or action will change color of link telling that link is activated.  That is how this poster activates other's links. 

Thanks for the suggestion.  I have Windows 8.1 and IE 11, but I have been using Google Chrome.  Next time, I will use IE 11 when I want to post a link and see how it works.

[Anonymous]

The following is from an editorial in the Dallas Morning News dated July 3, 2014:

"In 30 years, DART has built North America’s longest light-rail system. And unless the transit fairy sneaks into DART headquarters to stuff millions of dollars under board members’ pillows, we have what we’ll have. Staff can tinker around the edges, but don’t expect new lines or significant extensions to the existing Red, Blue, Green or Orange trains anytime soon.

Similarly, the tracks go where they go. As DART has learned over the years, this too often means not exactly where the jobs might be. The light-rail network converges in downtown Dallas, still an employment hub but far from the only one. For instance, DART has been unable to tap much of the northern suburban growth, and as far as rail goes, that won’t change.

What could change, over time, is if DART could expand its bus offerings and develop more ways to connect its existing system with unserved cities. DART’s service growth the past decade is tied almost exclusively to opening new rail lines; bus ridership is down slightly over that period."

Early on I was an enthusiastic believer in the light rail solution.  Not so much today!  As the editorial makes clear, by implication, once the tracks are down, following shifting populations is difficult and expensive.  In many instances, although rail buffs don't like to hear it, buses (local, express, BRT) are better solutions, especially for the cities in the south and southwest that were built out along highways as opposed to railways.