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Transport Subsidies Lead to Bad Decisions

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[quote user="gardendance"][quote user="Samantha"] One of the problems with rail is its inflexibility.  Once the tracks are tacked down, it is difficult to move them.  Thus, in Dallas, the areas that took off just about the time the first light rail trains began to operate are not served by light rail, as per my previous post.  There is no way to get a train to them.  Had Dallas opted for rapid bus technology it could have easily changed the bus routes to serve the new high density neighborhoods.  [/quote]Samantha, had Dallas opted for rapid bus technology how were they to have easily changed the bus routes and still have retained the rapid bus aspect on the new routing?[/quote]Rapid bus technology, which was in its infancy when Dallas opted for light rail, requires at least three conditions:  dedicated lanes, at least for part of the route; relatively infrequent stops; and operator traffic signal control.In the Dallas central business district, buses have had dedicated lanes for as long as I can remember.  Only buses, as well as cars turning right, can use them.  East and West Transit Centers were opened in the mid 1990s, if I remember correctly, but the buses still stop at every corner as they work their way through town, so the opportunity to take advantage of limited stops was lost.  Dallas did not give the buses, or light rail operators for that matter, the opportunity to control the traffic signals for cross street traffic.  As an example, rapid bus technology could be implemented to serve Uptown and Oak Lawn with through service to Love Field.  These are two of the "in communities" in Dallas that are not and will not be served by light rail.  Only a few changes would be necessary.  First, the drivers would have to be given the ability to change the traffic signals.  Second, parking would have to be banned along McKinney Avenue and parts of Cedar Springs where it is permitted.  Third, the buses would only stop every three blocks, which means that passengers, in the extreme, would have to walk no more than 1.5 blocks if they lived on the route or add 1.5 blocks to their normal walk.  DART could give it a go.  If it did not attract enough passengers, it could place the buses somewhere else, and change a few signs telling passengers where the buses stop.  But it cannot move the light rail lines.
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