[PRCo] Re: OT__MAX

[Joshua Dunfield]

Jim Holland wrote:
>  > Joshua Dunfield wrote:
> 
>  > (Actually, I'm not all that big a fan of MAX,
>  > but for completely different reasons.)
>
> Hi Josh  --  What are your reasons?

As usual, this is my semi-informed amateur speculation, but in a word:
underbuilt.  It's not that they were crazy -- I think there's a good
chance it's actually the best that was politically "feasible" -- but
it shows some of the problems with trying to develop a transit
network incrementally.

It was reasonable and coherent for the original Eastside line to run
at grade through downtown, because that was the end of the line.  Any
time savings from a subway would be marginal.  And if you were going
downtown, the closely spaced stops were as likely to help you as not;
if you weren't, it didn't matter.

Once the Westside line opened, this was no longer true.  It took
forever to get from, say, NE Hollywood to Beaverton.  Just skipping
some of the downtown stops would have helped a little, but the only
big improvement would be a subway...which would also help with
capacity: MAX is 2-car trains because anything longer would block a
street when it's stopped in downtown.  (Outside downtown, you'd just
have to lengthen the platforms.)

But again, politically feasible?  Who knows.  There was plenty of
handwringing over the tunnels through the West Hills as it was.

> Incidentally, your emails come through to me Blank  --  have to go to 
> website and copy and paste.

Sorry, don't know what that's about, unless something at your end can't
handle my ancient mail program (I've used 'mh' for the last 14 years;
Derrick might find that amusing).

-j.