[PRCo] Fw: Charlotte's CATS Article in Mass Transit

[Jim Holland]

wrote in message news:...
 >
 > For what it is worth, there was a significant article in Mass Transit
 > Magazine this month about the Charlotte Area Transit system, which will
 > soon be opening its first light rail line.
 >
 > Since we have heard so much about this transit system on these 
newsgroups
 > from a certain poster it may be interesting to gain a different
 > perspective on what is going on.
 >
 > Now, here's the bad news: Mass Transit Magazine makes it impossible to
 > view articles on their web site unless you have the absolute latest
 > browser, flash media player and all that. This means that when I try to
 > view the article online I only get a message saying "You need to upgrade
 > your browser to the latest version" or some such (99% of web sites work
 > fine - so I'm not going to spend money on a new computer that will 
run the
 > latest browser just to view those last remaining 1% of web sites).
 >
 > However, be that as it may, the article should be located here, if web
 > search engine indications are worth anything:
 > http://www.masstransitmag.com/print/Mass-Transit/Growing-Pains/1$4399
 >
 > I have been able to obtain the print version of the magazine, 
however, so
 > I really don't need the web site version that much anyway.
 >
 > + The article describes how Charlotte had some horrible problems because
 > this is their first light rail line, and the inflation of building
 > materials was quite a bit higher than they expected it to be. For 
what it
 > is worth, when I was participating in Portland's light rail planning
 > process, the assumption they used in the early 1990s was 12% 
inflation for
 > the cost of materials for the westside MAX line. There were several
 > people on the citizens advisory committee that said this seemed an 
insane
 > assumption based on the consumer price index inflation, but TriMet
 > justified its numbers because those were based on the price increase 
seen
 > in steel and concrete over previous years. It isn't clear how Charlotte
 > developed its numbers, but apparently they didn't work.
 >
 > + The article, as the title "Growing Pains" implies, describes a 
number of
 > interesting problems that arise when making the transition from a bus 
only
 > transit agency to one that includes rail lines.
 >
 > --
 > -Glennl
 > e-mail hint: add 1 to quantity after gl to get 4317.

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Jim  Holland
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Studying Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo)
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..............................From 1930 -- 1950
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Pennsylvania  Trolley  Museum  (PTM)
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http://www.pa-trolley.org/
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N.M.R.A.
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http://www.nmra.org/