Paris continues to rock it on transit construction. It takes decades to modernize and refurbish a tier 1 city's infrastructure and they're well ahead of schedule on supporting the city's needs with new metros, trams, biking, and pedestrianized infrastructure.

Viva la France!

https://web.archive.org/save/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.webuildvalue.com%2Fen%2Finfrastructure%2Fmetro-paris-subway.html

Granted they've not been able to completely get around short-haul flights just yet, but they're getting there.

It has 10-minute headway!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/30206481

As it turns out it doesn't actually cost that much on regular transit, there's an AIRPORT SURCHARGE because it's an "airport train".

No wonder Americans don't use public transit, even when the system exists it's ridiculously difficult and expensive to use.

Source

Yes, I know I'm inviting controversy with that title -- but the fact remains that Brightline has problems that make it very far from ideal. Criticism is warranted if the US is to have solid HSR at the level that Europe or Asia do.

Its about systematic underfunding of transit in big cities, especially by the trump admin.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23394148

...

Travel for this past Sunday’s rout of the New York Giants looked a bit different for Jackson and the Ravens, who improved to 9-5 on the season before returning to Baltimore ahead of Saturday’s marquee rematch with the Pittsburgh Steelers that could decide the division. They chartered a private Amtrak train out of Baltimore’s historic Penn Station. Turns out a lot of the players prefer it to flying — at least for shorter trips.

Moving trucks, likely carrying equipment, still left the team’s Owings Mills practice facility Friday afternoon. But the whole team, including trainers and staff, made the roughly two-hour-and-change train ride north, according to a team spokesman. Some players said that train travel is physically less demanding on the body, while others like that it’s easier to hang out with each other in a train car than in a plane cabin.

...

The MTA is expanding its automated camera enforcement of bus stops and double parking to 20 more bus routes across the five boroughs this month.

The rollout is happening in two phases, with 10 routes being added to the program at a time. Starting Monday, vehicles blocking bus stops or illegally double parked on 10 new routes will receive warning notices for a 60-day period. After that, violators will receive summonses starting at $50, with fines increasing to $250 for repeat offenders. Ten more routes will be added two weeks later on Monday, Sept. 30.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19378278

There’s a new train pulling into the station in San Bernardino, a southern California city about 60 miles from Los Angeles. From the outside, it looks like any other commuter train, with three passenger carriages, blocky windows and a colourful blue exterior.

But inside, it’s unlike anything the region – or the country – has seen before. The $20m Zero-Emission Multiple Unit, known as Zemu, uses a hybrid hydrogen fuel cell and battery system to propel the train and run other onboard electrical systems. The only byproduct of the fuel cell is water vapour, a welcome change in an area known as the Inland Empire that suffers from some of the worst air quality rates in the country.

The new technology will make Zemu the first hydrogen-powered, zero-emissions passenger train in North America to meet Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requirements when it goes into service early next year.

...

Many transit agencies have started to push for battery-powered transit as a way to advertise their "eco-friendly" public transit offerings, but this is a misguided way of thinking and a bad way to spend capital — let's talk about why.

In June, Governor Kathy Hochul made the bombshell announcement that she had ordered the MTA to indefinitely pause New York City’s congestion-pricing program, just weeks before it was set to begin. The governor had once been a major proponent of the first-in-the-nation plan to charge fees to drivers traveling at or below 60th Street, but when she announced the pause, she cited concerns about the $15 toll being too much of a financial burden for everyday New Yorkers. This week, Hochul is indicating that a replacement plan could soon be on the horizon.

The New York Post reported on Sunday that Hochul is mulling significant changes to congestion pricing, including a lower toll and potentially adding new exemptions to the fee. A source told the outlet that the governor is considering excluding teachers, police officers, and firefighters who commute from paying the toll. In July, the New York Times reported that state lawmakers, who would have to sign off on a new plan, were pushing for Hochul to consider a lower toll

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(I hope it's okay if I just keep posting stuff here)

This version of the multidirectional elevator is neat because it's not an exotic modern solution or just a concept, but an actual practical machine that's widely used. It's not quite fresh content but it holds up.

The comments say it can run a lot faster, as you'd expect for the added complexity, but they don't usually use the full speed for liability reasons. I wonder if a version could be made that's fully enclosed.

New York City’s transit system is launching a new type of subway train where riders can walk between cars and doors are wider, the first of its kind in modern US history.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Thursday ran the new R211T open gangway trains on the C line for the first time. The pilot program includes two such trains, with 10 cars each. While the more spacious trains are used on mass-transit systems in Europe and Asia, the MTA’s investment is the first for a US public transportation provider, according to the MTA.

“You can actually move seamlessly from one car to the other,” Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters before boarding the train for its first passenger trip. “You’re not trapped. You want to have a different experience? You can get up and move around. You don’t get claustrophobic.”