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rfolland
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| Joined: | Wed Mar 25th, 2009 |
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Posted: Fri May 22nd, 2009 12:21 am |
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Mr. Ryan overlooks a few points in his reactionary rant about urban light rail. He doesn't factor in the number of cars that are not and will not be on the road because people are riding the service, he doesn't acknowledge that areas of Phoenix are approaching gridlock and need to get cars off of the streets, he doesn't consider that electrically powered trains are "cleaner" than cars, and lastly he overlooks the fact that the voters approved an initiative for the funding project through their sales tax.
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RustyBradshaw
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Posted: Fri May 8th, 2009 08:39 pm |
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Editor’s note: Copied below is a letter to the editor submitted to the Sun City West Independent. You can post your opinions by clicking on “Reply.”
More money wasted
It looks like more millions of tax dollars are going to be wasted here in Arizona on a very dangerous and inefficient transportation system.
The greatest danger is from the added pollutants the system will directly and indirectly create — not the folks who will be injured at grade-level crossing. Apparently, the American Planning Association ignores relative costs, what the light rail infrastructure does to the air quality by forcing non-users to drive more miles and to wait as the trolley approaches.
During the construction of the light rail infrastructure, Deloitte and Touche must have turned their heads away from the city of Phoenix’s balance sheet. Well over 100 miles of perfectly good street lanes, carrying traffic smoothly in all four directions, were destroyed. If an elevated system were built, those assets would not have ben eliminated. And the planning association forgot to consider the policy of most transportation planners — safety first.
Also, not factored into the effect of the Valley Metro operation upon hundreds of thousands of motorists who are being made less productive and who will create more air pollutants. The streetcars are going north, south, east and west across the paths of street traffic. Many taxpayers’ dollars were spent creating a computerized traffic light control system. Valley Metro has spent many taxpayers’ dollars purchasing more computers and more software that will override the ITS system and give the trolley operators a green traffic light at all times, even when the doors are closing at each station (assuming the trolley does not overstay its scheduled station stop time).
The American Planning Association ignored the fact the heavier the vehicle, the more fuel it takes to produce a given amount of available ton miles or revenue passenger miles or any other unit of production, compared to the same production of a lighter vehicle. They apparently forgot vehicles that do no make grade-level crossings can be of lighter construction. Furthermore, the lighter vehicles accelerate faster with a given amount of energy.
When this old transportation planner tried to outline a few factors before the Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Council, I noted some of the mayors were talking among themselves before the chairman announced, “Mr. Ryan, your three minutes are up!”
Joseph B. Ryan
Sun City West
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