South Station Tower | South Station Air Rights | Downtown

Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

gravedigger4444 said:
Not really Transporatation practical, but I always pictured a gondolla ride between North and South Station.
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I've always liked the idea of a high capacity tram from the two points. If you had a bunch of tram cars, would it be that unfeasible?
The ride over the greenway, views of the harbor, Fanuel Hall, downtown would be awesome.
And god knows it would cost a lot less then connecting the two via an underground tunnel.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

are you kidding?? with the shadows that would create!! I'd much rather spend $15 billion digging to get around the shadows
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

Wouldn't light rail straight through the Greenway make the most sense? It would probably be a short enough trip that you could probably run one train on a single track, meaning there would still be a reasonable amount of green space left over. At the very least they should have a silver line going that way.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

You could do a streetcar in one of the existing lanes that just goes in a loop between the two stations.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

Streetcar or lightrail would be a nice tourist attraction, but probably of little value for transportation between North and South Stations. Tourists unfamiliar with the actual walking time between destinations along the corridor might use it for transportation, but anyone trying to connect between the North/South stations or travel from the financial district to commuter rail would be turned off by the likely slow travel times.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

Every time someone suggests this, I ask how the trolley will get through the three Greenway parcels that contain on- and off-ramps. Nobody has yet answered this.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

On the sides?
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

Close down one (or even two) of the superfluous traffic lanes on each side of the Surface Artery.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

Street Cars or trolleys seem gimmicky to me. and its hurting the masses to help a few. More touritsts would use that than anyone. Take a taxi, take the red line to the green/orange line, or walk, its not that far. Taking away greenspace or a lane of traffic isn't worth it to me.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

The trolleys down Market St in San Francisco are packed by tourists and locals alike, even though the subway runs right under Market. The cable cars, however, are just a tourist gimmick nowadays.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

Are they? I noticed some locals using the Cable Cars when I was in SF (though they were in the definite minority)...there's no other rail transportation to the neighborhoods just north of downtown, which are just north of the city.

There's a novelty trolley along the main shopping street in one part of Istanbul that's much like the SF cable cars...it gets decent use by locals as well. Provide a route locals find convenient to travel along and they'll use it, no matter how gimmicky the rolling stock.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

Agree with czsz that mode doesn't matter. But no locals will use a transit service that has to cross through 15 (some quite heavily trafficed) intersections between South and North Station. And while streetcars won't repel locals, they do draw tourists in, and that group's inevitable confusion with an unfamiliar service and the time it will take them to board a vehicle will slow the trip even further. Unless a trolley is operated like the Rail Link plans with only one intermediate stop, I can't see travel times being less than 20 minutes, which is about the travel time by foot, and almost twice the Red to Orange travel time when trains are operating at rush hour frequency. Any trolley service in this corridor should only be thought of as a tourism/economic development investment, not a transportation one.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

I always wondered if a route along Atlantic Ave and Commercial St would be better than along the Greenway.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

There used to be an elevated transit line from South Station along the old route for Atlantic Ave., not that I'm suggesting a rebuild!
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

belmont square said:
Agree with czsz that mode doesn't matter. But no locals will use a transit service that has to cross through 15 (some quite heavily trafficed) intersections between South and North Station. And while streetcars won't repel locals, they do draw tourists in, and that group's inevitable confusion with an unfamiliar service and the time it will take them to board a vehicle will slow the trip even further. Unless a trolley is operated like the Rail Link plans with only one intermediate stop, I can't see travel times being less than 20 minutes, which is about the travel time by foot, and almost twice the Red to Orange travel time when trains are operating at rush hour frequency. Any trolley service in this corridor should only be thought of as a tourism/economic development investment, not a transportation one.
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Intersections can be dealt with by giving trolley signal preemption. The tourist objection is a complete red herring, unless said tourists have just been airlifted from the backwoods of Papua; most people know how to ride trolleys, and I don't see them clogging up the existing transportation system.

That said, I agree that the a Greenway trolley will rank among the medium-importance bus lines. It certainly is in no way comparable with NSRL.

justin
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

Boston Elevated Railway streetcar along the Greenway, AKA as the Embarcadero. The car is headed toward Market St. from the direction of Fisherman's Wharf.
1215_03_27---Car-1059-Boston-Elevated-Railway-Co--San-Francisco--California_web.jpg


The nostalgia streetcar routes are successful in San Francisco because the routes are much longer than in Boston, they link tourist destinations or public venues, and it almost never ever snows in San Francisco at sea level.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

^^Also there are few cross-streets, since the Embarcadero runs right along the headhouses of the piers...and they're also inexpensive to ride...in 2003 they cost only $1 per ticket.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

Probably the cheapest and most likely possibillty is BRT that makes a loop along the Greenway between the two stations.

I like the Gondola idea, probably not fast but what a great view and fun trip, plus not that expensive to build.
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

This is what DC operates between tourist sites and two major endpoint destinations. It is quite successful. The buses are Belgian.

The two routes are longer than a Greenway route between North Station and South Station.

http://www.dccirculator.com/index.html

circulator.jpg
 
Re: South Station Tower - Full Steam Ahead!

If they can't fix the leak in the Tip -- we're talking submarine transit not a gondolla ride

Wety
 
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