- Zero One
- Dec 30, 2004
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HAIL TO THE VICTORS!
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It's been mostly North American stuff so far but let me throw some Euro stuff in here.
I grew up in a rural village in Michigan which obviously had no public transportation and the nearest system (about 30 miles away) exists pretty much entirely to service college students. This is a town of 30k people with an additional 25k-30k students during the academic year. There are also shuttle buses that work like big taxis, you call 24 hours in advance to schedule pickup and dropoff and the bus designs its route based on who it has to get for the day. Obviously the bus can't always come at the time you want it so be prepared to wait. I knew a guy who used it to come to work since he couldn't afford a car and he'd sometimes have to show up two hours early for work or stay a couple of hours late.
About six years ago I moved to Rennes, France which is about 2.5 hours west of Paris by train, although more on that train later. The population of the city is about 210,000 and the metropolitan area is around 420,000.
The transit system serves Rennes Métropole, an intergovernmental organism designed to facilitate cooperation among communities. Here's a map. The map isn't 100% correct as a couple of years ago one of the towns neighboring Le Verger gave up some empty land in order to connect Le Verger with the rest of the Métropole.
All of these communities receive some degree of bus service, the network is pretty extensive. If you click on "lignes metropolitaines" in this link you'll get a map of the metropolitan lines which have less service and "lignes urbains" the "core" lines with better service.
http://www.star.fr/se-deplacer/fich...f3648a0669dd4ff
This, however, is my favorite part of the city's transport system.
The Rennes metro began service in 2002 and in 2012 had 135,000 daily riders. The line is 9.4km (5.8 miles) and takes about 15 mins to go from one end to the other. The Gares station, for those who don't remember their high school French, is the city's central train station.
It uses automated VAL 208 cars which are monitored from the central facility.
It has doors isolating the platform from the tunnel. There's also no real gap to mind which is nice for people in wheelchairs.
Last year the city began construction of a second line that's scheduled to begin service in late 2019 traversing the city from southwest to northeast.
Cesson-Sévigné to the east is a largely white middle class suburb and many residents see the new metro line as the last step before they're inevitably annexed to Rennes proper.
Now for the politically controversial stuff:
There's already a great deal of discussion as to where to go next once the B line is completed. There are proposals to extend the A line down to Chantepie and up to Saint Grégoire or perhaps all the way out to Pacé. It's not clear from this map but between the beltway and Pacé it's mostly farmland. Leftists in the city council oppose this because they want to confine Rennes' horizontal growth to the inside of the beltway and focus on greater density rather than sprawl. They also point out the relatively undeveloped areas in the eastern part of the intra-beltway area as better candidates for growth.
Some centrists and the few conservatives want to create a new outer beltway out of roads like D29, D288, D34 etc. and let Rennes sprawl out to fill in that area and incorporate communities like Saint Grégoire, Vezin le Coquet, and perhaps even out to Chateaugiron.
Map for reference:
Why are both sides so convinced of long term growth? Because of this:
A new HSR line between Rennes and Le Man is scheduled to be in service in May 2017, which will bring the total travel time from Montparnasse in Paris down to 1:26, a reduction of 37 minutes. It's thought that this will make Rennes far more attractive for Parisian businesses and for well off Parisians to commute from. The city is betting a great deal on this, including the construction of a large new train station and a number of new buildings intended to create "EuroRennes", a "Breton financial district" right around the train station.
Green on this map is new construction.
Here's how it looked last year before construction started.
And the weird ramp thing on the left of the new construction is supposed to look like this. The hole in the middle is the main entrance to the train station.
Of course, not everyone is entirely thrilled about the new HSR line, some are afraid that rich Parisians are going to price everyone else out and/or that Rennes is going to essentially become a suburb of Paris and completely subordinate to it's internal politics.
Since this is a Soviet Commubot post here's the obligatory Breton cultural activist bit: Some are afraid that a huge influx of Parisians is going to result in the complete debretonization of the city but the approach most cultural activists are taking the position that Breton culture is attractive enough that these new arrivals will assimilate well enough, which I think is correct.
I know culture is different from what I'm used to (and Paris is very expensive) but are enough Parisians really that willing to commute 1.5 hours there and 1.5 hours back daily?
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Apr 6, 2016 17:28
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May 9, 2024 23:21
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- Zero One
- Dec 30, 2004
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HAIL TO THE VICTORS!
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The average commute in Ile de France (the region where Paris is located) is 33 mins one way with 32% of people doing more than 45 mins already.
http://resources.grouperandstad.fr/les-temps-de-trajet-des-francais-pour-se-rendre-au-travail/
I'd imagine there are some people who'd be willing to either pay way less rent or live in a much nicer house in exchange for a longer commute.
My understanding is that most of the new investment is to try to draw new businesses from Paris that want to expand but can't afford to due to high prices. Most of that new construction by the train station is office space, with the thinking being that relatively affordable office space 1:26 from Montparnasse is going to be attractive to certain businesses. Getting to the center from some of the outlying suburbs
They're also spending 110M€ turning the old convent building downtown into a convention center. Currently, the closest thing to a convention center is at the airport on the southern edge of town and it's really just repurposed hangars.
Here's an article from the end of March that Google Translate might make readable.
http://www.letelegramme.fr/bretagne/eurorennes-un-quartier-neuf-sort-de-terre-27-03-2016-11008618.php
Ok, I understand trying to bring new businesses to the city.
Someone else mentioned Orlando earlier but there really has been quite a lot going on in Central Florida recently.
SunRail is a heavy rail commuter train that runs North/South roughly parallel to I-4. They built along existing rail (expanding single to double track) and opened to a lot of good press and tons of riders during their free preview but when they started charging ridership dropped. It still isn't profitable (and probably never will be) but they are planning expansions. The southern expansion (which will connect with the airport) just got approved a few days ago but the northern end is in limbo and probably won't happen. A good example of local government supporting transit.
Also in SunRail's favor is the mess caused by the multi-billion dollar 10 year construction project underway called I-4 Ultimate . This highway rebuilding project hopes to fix a lot of old problems with the I-4 that runs through downtown Orlando including crumbling bridges, poorly designed interchanges, and capacity issues. They are also including toll lanes the length of the project (which runs from Universal Orlando to Longwood) with variable tolls that go up during rush hour. I-4 was the last non-toll highway in Central Florida.
After that wraps up in 2021 (hahaha) they'll start on I-4 Beyond the Ultimate which will feature the same type of work north (halfway to Daytona) and south (past Disney and off to Polk County) of Orlando.
One interesting feature of Beyond the Ultimate is that they are planning on building right of ways for the Tampa-Orlando High Speed Rail tracks and stations. This is the project famously paid for fully by Obama and then cancelled by Governor Rick Scott.
I guess they are just thinking ahead with the right of ways because this is unlikely to happen soon. I'm not sure how popular it would be anyway. I-4 is a busy corridor but the original plan bet big on a lot of passengers coming from the Airport to Disney World. But now Disney launched a free bus service from the airport so I don't think they'd get many fares that way. Maybe people who want to fly into Tampa can take the train to Disney?
But fret not, high speed rail fans! There is another HSR project on Florida's other coast. All Aboard Florida/Brightline is a 100% private project to build a high speed train linking Orlando with Miami. Construction is already underway with service between West Palm and Miami to start in 2017 using existing rail lines. Eventually it will connect up to the Orlando Airport with a new rail line that will link to the existing rail at Cocoa Beach. If it works out they may also be the ones to build the line to Tampa.
I've mentioned that all these rail projects meet at Orlando International Airport and for good reason. It's the 13th busiest in the US and 29th in the world. Last year it had more than 38 million passengers thanks mostly to Orlando's tourism industry. The last expansion was in 2006 but with the current facilities over capacity they are already building the next phase.
Currently under construction is an intermodal terminal which will be at the hub of the new terminal, connect with an automatic people mover to the old terminal and link Sunrail, the Brightline, and the Orlando-Tampa line (if it ever happens).
Oh and it will also connect the mag lev.
Yes, you heard that right. The Orlando Mag Lev.
Another 100% private project, the Mag Lev phase 1 will connect the airport to the Convention Center (the second largest in the world) which is also in the middle of the I-Drive tourist area. The eventual plan is to have it also link south to new business developments and maybe to Disney World. Some people aren't convinced that this is a realistic plan but I have hope. MAG LEV!
Finally I would be remiss if I didn't mention the original Orlando mass transit system: The Monorail.
Originally opened in 1971 and expanded to Epcot in 1982 it's probably the most well known monorail in the world. Although originally Disney planned to have it expand to all their parks and resorts it was deemed too expensive and now Disney fanboys can only dream of riding the monorail from the All Star hotel and to Downtown Disney. Currently Disney has been automating the monorails with ATO systems. This work has been going on for a couple years but seems to have picked up steam recently with reported testing during business hours.
The hottest rumor in town, however, is that Universal is planning their own monorail system. It will connect their existing two parks with a new park that will be located on land they just purchased next to the convention center. Maybe it can connect to the airport too! 
Bonus transit map of Disney World (click for big):
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Apr 7, 2016 01:15
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- Zero One
- Dec 30, 2004
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HAIL TO THE VICTORS!
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Detroit has seen a lot of companies moving back into the city recently.
General Motors bought the Renaissance Center in 1996, kicked out all the tenants, and moved their World Headquarters into it. (The Warren Tech Center mentioned in that article is still there and much the same).
Compuware (once a major automotive software company) built a new headquarters building in the center of downtown in 2003.
Quicken Loans closed their suburban offices and moved everyone into that same building in 2010. Dan Gilbert (QL's owner) has been buying up a bunch of downtown buildings now and trying to get lots of local companies to move in:
quote:Quicken Loans moved its headquarters and 1,700 of its team members to downtown Detroit in August 2010, where Gilbert and the company are helping lead a revitalization of Detroit’s urban core.[3] Today, Gilbert-owned businesses employ 12,000 people in the city.[26]
In 2011, Gilbert's Rock Ventures group purchased several buildings in downtown Detroit, including the historic Madison Theatre Building,[27] Chase Tower and Two Detroit Center (parking garage),[28] Dime Building (renamed Chrysler House),[29] First National Building[30] and three smaller buildings on Woodward Avenue.[31] In 2012, Rock Ventures (the umbrella entity formed to provide operational coordination, guidance and integration of Gilbert’s portfolio of companies, investments and real estate) purchased the former Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch Building,[32] One Woodward Avenue, 1201 Woodward (Kresge Building), and five smaller buildings on Woodward Avenue and Broadway Street, totaling 630,000 square feet of commercial space in downtown Detroit.[33] In 2013, Rock Ventures purchased the 1001 Woodward office tower, several smaller buildings in the downtown area and announced, along with The Downtown Detroit Partnership and the Detroit Economic Growth Group, a placemaking plan for revitalizing Detroit's urban core.
Rock Ventures' downtown Detroit real estate investments include more than 60 properties (buildings and/or store fronts) totaling 9 million square feet. Four million square feet is commercial space; another 3.6 million square feet is parking (10,096 parking spaces).[34]
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Apr 16, 2016 02:43
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Apr 6, 2016 17:28
