by Adron

Another Reason China will Overtake the US Soon

The speed record.

CNNs Coverage

A lot of what is stated in this spot on China’s High Speed Rail at CNN is off kilter.  For instance, the train doesn’t go “into the country”, but instead generally stays in the densely populated coastal regions.  It WILL create a huge industry, and even though there is something stated about the tickets being too expensive, that’s the case with airlines too.  It is almost as if the burgeoning middle class of the country is disregarded.  They all will be able to use this train.

Naysayers the lot, but just like the Great Northern and the original railroads of the US, it’ll prove invaluable for the nation.

Meanwhile, the US continues to spiral into incompetence and infrastructure neglect.  Where once the US was untouchable, we’ve lagged in development and capability.  Often not even able to build our own tracks anymore let alone reliable, high speed passenger trains.

by Adron

Tracked Hovercraft, More Routes

I just pulled up a quick route for going to Vivace Coffee from where I work near Pike Place.

In other news a few Portlanders I know of have a blog I stumbled upon a pretty cool blog by a group of Londoner’s called At War With the Motorist.

…and for the moment that’s all I’ve got.  I hope to find out more about the Seattle Streetcar, or “First Hill Streetcar” I believe they call it and the light rail extensions soon.  It seems things move slower than a glacier here in Seattle in relation to transit.

by Adron

Checking Out Seattle Neighborhoods

A friend is moving to Seattle and in addition my lease will be up in April.  To get ahead of the curve I’ve been checking out transit friendly neighborhoods around the city.

Ballard

Capitol Hill

Fremont

Any other suggestions on awesome transit friendly areas of Seattle?

by Adron

A Few Not So Great Shots of the Snow

…with of course a transit focused emphasis.  🙂

A Little Bit of Commentary

So almost every single bus line is either shut down, on snow routes, or almost non-operational.  Same thing happened to TriMet when it snowed and they got slammed for it.  A few people in the community even ranted and raved about how TriMet had done a horrible job keeping the buses running.  They noted that “Seattle didn’t have this problem and Seattle does way more to keep the buses running”.  I can officially say that is not the case.  The simple fact is, “BUSSES CAN’T RUN DURING THE SNOW!?!?!?!!!!”

Meanwhile in the reality of the realm of physics and serious infrastructure, Sounder and Link Light Rail are running just fine.  There was a small delay on a Sounder run this evening.  Thousands of people used this non-auto, non-bus based transport to get home without interruption or “alternate routes”.  In inclement weather (which it seems we’ll be getting more and more of over the next century) rail absolutely rules.  Rubber on road is an absolutely inferior technology for this type of situation.  Also to add, the streetcar in Tacoma and Seattle are running without interruption.  Seriously, American cities desperately need more rail.  Not BRT, not extended buses, not all wheel drive buses, but rail.  Hard care, large scale, massive infrastructure with trains and light rail on rail.  It doesn’t stop during snow, heat, or otherwise.  It is only minimally hampered in all but the most harsh weather.  But I digress, on to more winter wonderland fun…

…with two last links…

Some news about all the snow on the Capital Hill

…and some sledding/luging down Denny.

by Adron

First Week as 100% Urbanite

I’m 100% an urbanite again.  Amazing what that does to one’s psychological state.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting a few of pics related to my new commute.  Maybe if I’m luck I’ll even be able to start posting regularly again!

For now I simply am posting this photo I have from a couple years ago, while simply visiting Seattle and wondering what it would be like to live here.

A Space Needle

A Space Needle

 

…and one more…

Out...

Out...