3 Day Transit Only Trip to Los Angeles

A job interview in Los Angeles on December 20th meant I had to travel down there and get around the city. My choice was to use transit and avoid the use of a car for the entire trip. I could have taken Amtrak from Portland and it would have been about $50 cheaper than flying if I had to pay but I cashed in my frequent flyer miles and got a free round trip ticket to Los Angeles which included a free upgrade to first class on the trip back – bonus! My first preference would have been to fly into Burbank which is more convenient and has better transit access but it would have been 15,000 more miles for the ticket which is beyond what I had or wanted to spend so LAX would be the spot I flew into.

Red Line Train Arriving At Pioneer Courthouse Square with Siemens S70 cars

Seattle, Portland, and Dallas Open new Light Rail Lines

Image by Oran Viriyincy via Flickr

While I have been away over the last couple of months two cities have opened light rail extensions and my favorite city Seattle has finally opened its first light rail line.

Both Portland and Dallas opened new light rail lines last month and ironically their both referred to as the Green Line.

In Portland the new line goes from Clackamas Town Center to downtown and shares right of way with the existing Blue and Red Lines from the Gateway station to the Rose Quarter. From Rose Quarter through downtown the Green Line shares right of way with a rerouted Yellow line along the former bus mall.

For more information check out the Tri-Met website.

Dallas also opened their new green line and more information can be found on the DART website.

Dallas, like Salt Lake City is working on several new light rail lines and extensions that were approved by the voters a few years ago.

Finally light rail has come to Seattle. Some thought it would never happened but it has finally opened. Ridership has not been what it should be but it will be extended to SEATAC by the end of the year and that should boost ridership. Work is now progressive on the extension to the University of Washington.

For more information check out the Sound Transit website.

County Approves Money for Airport Line

Image via WikipediaFunding for airport TRAX approved

County signs off on funding for airport TRAX line

The Salt Lake County Council formally approved the funding for the Airport TRAX line. It looks like all the pieces are finally coming together after our state legislature decided to give in to the blackmail from Delta.

Jeff Allen was the only dissenting vote saying that he didn't think the airport line was an important enough project.

Now we only have to worry about the FAA. The FAA was instrumental in keeping the Green Line in Los Angeles from actually approaching the airport and could try to kill this project also.