Postby angrysuburbanite » June 2nd, 2024, 3:25 pm
I'm starting to think that the project delays are a blessing in disguise. It gives Metro Transit time to hire more security/trip agents and fix any of the current issues on trains. It also gives them time to hire more operators for both the new LRT service and also for any new bus routes that may be implemented. If it opened today, ridership would suffer because, by the nature of its alignment, SWLRT will be pretty dependent on bus transfers for ridership (similar to the Blue Line, though maybe with more bicycling to stations). With the driver shortages, very few bus connections would be realized. Additionally, it gives time for development around some stations to be completed before service starts rather than after, so its day one ridership prospects are better--it will give people who want to live by the train time to move in to new apartment buildings. Some stations that are pretty garbage as they are today, like Golden Triangle, City West, Bassett Creek Valley, etc. may become much more transit-ready in the coming years. As that article Anondson shared showed, lots of development has already occurred and transformed the areas around stations from pretty bad to decent (looking at you Opus and Wooddale Ave stations).
Basically, SWLRT will probably grow to become popular over time rather than be immediately popular like the existing lines, but the delays will allow the connections and development along the route to be more suited for transit. In a lot of ways, there are some parallels to SWLRT and some of those build-to-spawn-development tram lines in Europe.
"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation."
Note: Many of the thoughts expressed above may be pretty stupid or ill-informed, with some rare good ideas interspersed.