Rail in the Blizzard
Nothing proves we need more passenger and mass transit rail in America and Colorado than the Blizzard that hit Denver on Dec. 21 and Dec. 22. Everything in Denver, except the RTD light rail line seemed to shut down. The freeways and the side streets were snowed in, buses stopped moving and the airport shut down but the light rail kept running. The only problem light rail seemed to have was snow covering the platforms, something easily dealt with by RTD employees with shovels and snow blowers.
I was able to get to work using a combination of light rail, walking, the bus and bumming a ride from the light rail station to the office. My boss who drives an expensive new SUV wasn't even able to leave his driveway.
Backers of bus rapid transit should note that most bus service in Denver shut down even as the light rail kept running. I was able to use it to travel nearly thirty miles to work.
Elsewhere in Denver, the Amtrak train was able to reach Denver from points east even though Denver International Airport was shut down. Thousands of people were trapped at the airport many of them only twenty or thirty miles from their towns. They couldn't leave the airport because the main road to it Pena Boulevard was blocked by snow. There was no way to move all of the passengers out of the airport to shelters or hotels in Downtown Denver or elsehwere. No way to haul those passengers back to some point near their homes.
I couldn't help thinking that if they had a train to the airport like the one proposed in the FasTracks plan they could have hauled all those people out of the airport. The trapped passengers cooling their heels at the airport could have been downtown spending money at restaurants, movie theaters and hotels and contributing to our tax base.
The blizzard of 2006 proves how vulnerable our ground transportation system is to the weather. We need an alternative, the best alternative today is rail, it isn't a perfect alternative and it's an expensive one but it's the best one we have. The question is will we learn from this or not?
I was able to get to work using a combination of light rail, walking, the bus and bumming a ride from the light rail station to the office. My boss who drives an expensive new SUV wasn't even able to leave his driveway.
Backers of bus rapid transit should note that most bus service in Denver shut down even as the light rail kept running. I was able to use it to travel nearly thirty miles to work.
Elsewhere in Denver, the Amtrak train was able to reach Denver from points east even though Denver International Airport was shut down. Thousands of people were trapped at the airport many of them only twenty or thirty miles from their towns. They couldn't leave the airport because the main road to it Pena Boulevard was blocked by snow. There was no way to move all of the passengers out of the airport to shelters or hotels in Downtown Denver or elsehwere. No way to haul those passengers back to some point near their homes.
I couldn't help thinking that if they had a train to the airport like the one proposed in the FasTracks plan they could have hauled all those people out of the airport. The trapped passengers cooling their heels at the airport could have been downtown spending money at restaurants, movie theaters and hotels and contributing to our tax base.
The blizzard of 2006 proves how vulnerable our ground transportation system is to the weather. We need an alternative, the best alternative today is rail, it isn't a perfect alternative and it's an expensive one but it's the best one we have. The question is will we learn from this or not?
posted by great one at 6:38 PM
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