City Council Votes to support Light Rail

EL PASO – A light rail train that would bring Juárez commuters to Downtown El Paso could be in place as early as 2013, Mexican authorities said on Tuesday….click to read more

This is a step in the right direction and if it gets off the ground, then I am optimistic that El Paso could see a light rail system in place in the next 10 years.  The one advantage that Juarez has is the availability of tracks…which El Paso doesn’t. 

Will  a connection between Juarez-El Paso-Las Cruces come to fruition in the near future?  Who knows, but I do know that it is long overdue. 

 

My name is David and I am living El Paso.

Light rail on I-10 and US 54?

It is a crazy question, I know, but an idea I wanted to throw out there.  I would ride this for sure.  Travel times from the East side to West Side  can be a pain some days.  It would be great to have a system in place where we could hop on BRT that would take us to changing facility where we would then jump on (input your choice of mass transit) to take us to different stops along the interstate.  After that, we would jump back on BRT to our destination.  You could do the same thing on 54 when headed out to Fort Bliss or the neighborhoods out there.  Check out this video I found on youtube on what they want to in Nevada.

I know El Paso doesn’t have a subway system, but check out how CBS Outdoor is getting ready for advertising in the future in the London underground.  I would embed the video, but the uploader has disabled this feature.  Please click on the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Ri9rBdnAQ&feature=related

Here is a discussion on future of mass transportation.  We might be able to do this here.  Please click link to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bkVbaEeGTA

 

My name is David and I am living El Paso.

I’m late…I know…but read this

Today was a really busy day for me.  So busy that I didn’t get a chance to write a post on the borrowed computer.  However, as late as it is right now (8:39), I do have something to talk about.  I read an article a few days back about Senator Elliot Shapleigh pushing a city rail based-transit plan.

“The proposed project would use the railroad tracks that Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains already use in El Paso for trolleylike mass transit.

Shapleigh’s vision would create an international transit system, by using the abandoned Ferromex tracks in Juárez and connecting them to El Paso via the black bridge across the Rio Grande near Downtown El Paso.” 

The above quote is what I have been saying too.  There needs to be international rail based between Juarez and El Paso.  Enough people travel from city to city to make this a viable option.   It makes me happy to this conversation gaining traction and I hope international rail/light rail becomes a reality in the city of El Paso.

 

 

My name is David and I am living El Paso.

El Paso/Juarez light rail border crossing

I was speaking with a friend last night and the topic of the humpback bridges came up.  The humpback bridges being the border crossings downtown.  He thinks the bridges are cool looking, and I tend to have the opposite opinion.  However, we got on the subject of trains/light rail.  The question of “why don’t we have train service between Juarez and El Paso?”  

Taking a page out of the European handbook, we decided that trains would be a great way to lessen pedestrian and car traffic coming across the border.  

possibilities

 

 

What you would have to do is create a large train station able to handle an undetermined amount of trains and have customs officers from both countries checking papers when going in or out of the country.  From there, the rail service would travel to certain locations around town where riders could then get on a rapid transit bus to their desired location.  

Think of all the cars that would be taken off the road and the streamlining that would take place at the crossings.  I think the border crossings would become a lot more efficient.  They could even contact siemens to do some of the work.

How do you finance this project:  

• Taxes (from both cities)
• Federal grants (from both countries)
• Private investment (not sure how well that would work)
• ?

Europe has a great model to learn from and I think it’s about time that this should happen. 

I know I am not the first to come up with this idea, as I am sure it is already in the process, but I wanted to share it with you to get your thoughts.

 

My name is David and I am living El Paso.

Vision for El Paso Transportation

So I attended Beto O’Rourke’s weekly meeting this morning at the Village Inn near UTEP.  If you haven’t gotten a chance to go, I highly suggest it.  He brings in great speakers who talk about what is currently happening in the city.  Over the past two weeks I have learned a great deal on where the city is headed economically and today I found out about the future of El Paso public transportation.

So where is El Paso headed?

Mobility services has identified 5 key areas that will targeted for the mobility plan. 

• International to Glory Road
• Mesa to New Mexico
• Montana to George Dieter
• Dyer (Ft. Bliss)
• Alameda/North Loop (inlcuded is Thomason Hospital and the Texas Tech Med Center)

So what does all of this mean?

I hope light rail comes to El Paso

As the city has grown over the years, traffic has slowly gotten worse.  So Mobility Services came up with a plan/vision to address current and future problems that are and will arise from a growing city. 

Here is their vision taken from the packet

” Sun Metro’s new vision is to make transit a more accessible, attractive, and viable travel option and to make El Paso the least car dependent city in the nation thereby leading to economic development and improving the quality of life for our community.”

What I love is their foresight.  They know that they have to act now to prevent problems in the future. What can you expect from this over the next 3 years?

• Newer, cleaner buses including 25 para-transit vans
• Implementation of SMART ( Bus Rapid Transit) in limited areas and then expanded over time
• Potential new bus terminals near UTEP, the West side, and Mission Valley
• Enhancements  to bus stops and pedestrian walkways.  (more covered areas)
• Wifi availability on buses, web based scheduling & trip planning
• Light rail will hopefully be making its way here in the next 10 years

These are just a few of the items that will hopefully be done over the next three years.  However, some projects do require funding.  Funding is such a touchy subject and usually turns into a fight so most people try and stay away from it.  However, this plan deserves all the funding it needs.  I would glady donate money to help them out…if I had any. 

The only problem with this vision?

The only problem is that not enough people in El Paso know about it.  I was really happy that Beto O’Rourke had Ms. Shang come by and speak or else I wouldn’t know about it either.  I think a public awareness campaign would do well to help this vision truly become reality. 

There is so much information in this packet that I think it would be a good idea if the City made it available for download.  If that is not possible, then I would recommend contacting Jane Shang and ask her if she would be able to e-mail it to you.

My name is David and I am Living El Paso.