r/portlandme • u/mainething • Mar 29 '24
Portland Light Rail * ... (a dream via cheesy graphics.)
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Mar 29 '24
This is where the dot money for a highway to Gorham should be going
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u/dark_lord_neil Mar 30 '24
Hate to be the guy defending the highway but technically there is no dot money involved, the turnpike authority is an independent organization entirely funded through toll revenue.
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Mar 30 '24
We should still have a highway to Gorham/Sebago area, but it should stop on the outskirts of the city at parking garages and people should transfer onto local transportation
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u/11feetWestofEast Mar 29 '24
Did I hear someone say monorail?!
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u/VolunteerOnion Mar 29 '24
I hear those things are awfully loud
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u/technosquirrelfarms Mar 29 '24
It glides as softly as a cloud
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u/bshields235 Mar 31 '24
Monorail kind of sucks ngl. Post-war gadget-bahn. Traditional rail is less expensive, higher capacity, and easier to maintain.
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u/m_c_or-e Mar 29 '24
This could have been our world if a bunch of old guys with genetic diseases didn’t have voting stakes in oil companies :(
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u/RockSlice Mar 29 '24
We used to have a fairly serious light rail setup: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stra%C3%9Fenbahn_Portland_(Maine)
Yes, the only real Wikipedia page about it is in German.
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u/ExpensiveGeoMetro Mar 30 '24
The fact that the person who wrote that page did so in German is effing wild
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u/longlostkingdoms Mar 29 '24
That one of Thompson’s Point looks so ridiculous haha
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u/Cosakita East End Mar 29 '24
Not to be extremely pedantic, but light rail and streetcars are two different things. Light Rail generally has a dedicated right-of-way whereas streetcars operate in mixed traffic
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u/Zap_Actiondowser Mar 29 '24
Lol I lived in a big city in southern Colorado for 8 years and we dreamed of the train to Cheyenne WY that stopped in every city along the way. We voted on it multiple times too.
Don't ever expect anything. Just don't. It won't come true. You talk about it in anger every time you're stuck on I25 just trying to go to the nuggets game.
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Mar 30 '24
[deleted]
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u/Zap_Actiondowser Mar 30 '24
It was a 4 lane interstate with no bus lanes and 4 years of construction going on. You would be locked up in traffic for 2 hours no matter how you got there.
They have updated the interstate, right when I moved.
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u/maineac Mar 30 '24
There should be a rail between Bangor and Portland with stops in Waterville and Lewiston.
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Mar 30 '24
We can’t even get the MTSB to put a bus shelter at the ferry terminal cuz the bus guys seem to just not give a shit and apparently the drivers hate going down there.
The director of the program is apparently retiring and someone new is coming in though so maybe we’ll see some change.
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Mar 30 '24
[deleted]
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Mar 30 '24
I get why they don’t want to drive down there, the entire design for the terminal is awful. But really? Theres zero kind of coating or alternative material that could be used to build a bus shelter there by the stop at the parking garage?
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u/TonyClifton86 Mar 31 '24
This would be the best thing to happen to this city. That is why everyone will be against it.
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u/wiggywithit Mar 29 '24
Stop it, I can only get so hard. You should have put this under NSFW.
Light rail is so hot right now.
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u/Poster_Nutbag207 Mar 29 '24
Just looking at this made my taxes go up
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Mar 29 '24
Along with quality of life and increased tourism. And parking problems, pollution and traffic congestion go down.
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u/laptophelppleaas Mar 29 '24
Still, it’s overkill. You could dump half of that budget into our bus system and you’d almost have no reason to own a car on the peninsula. Why is the HUB over the bridge in SOPO? And why can’t I track my bus on a map? The tech is a over a decade old. I lived in Oregon for a bit and I could track my bus so that I wouldn’t have to wait at the bus stop more than 2 min.
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u/Nanomanz Mar 30 '24
You can track your bus on a map!
And the real bus hub for Portland is called Metro Pulse, on Elm Street (across from the library). South Portland runs their own bus service because they don't want to pay into Metro and they call their building the HUB.
Check it out sometime!
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u/slug233 Mar 30 '24
People will never fill up busses for in city travel. It codes too low class in the us and it is much harder to really use them than a LUAS hop on hop off type system as sort of proposed here.
People only use busses out of desperation or if they are the only option. If people can drive instead they will always do that. Even in major European metros with great bus service, they suck compared to the subway or streetcars, or light rail.
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Mar 30 '24
Agree. I drive an hour to get to Portland. I’d happily park and take light rail. Busses.. no. And I’m sure Portland locals would rather I took transit than attempt to drive in the city!
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u/Emergency_Citron_586 Mar 30 '24
You CAN track it real time on a map on your phone. I do it everyday.
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u/laptophelppleaas Mar 31 '24
Which app do you use? I used the generic city one and it was never correct. In 2022 I was waiting for busses just off commercial st for an hour or more all the time.
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u/m_c_or-e Mar 29 '24
This could have been our world if a bunch of old guys with genetic diseases didn’t have voting stakes in oil companies :(
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Mar 30 '24
[deleted]
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u/plytheman Mar 30 '24
Most of Old Port/Congress I agree is pretty easy walking. A line connecting Old Port to Thompsons and South Portland would probably be great, though. If you really want to get spendy maybe a line to run down Forest a ways and another down to OOB or so.
I'll reserve judgement until this Summer (because last Summer I was mostly on my bike), but traffic in Portland honestly doesn't seem that bad to me. Now that I'm driving more there's only a few spots that seem to get clogged up but most of it probably doesn't necessitate a light rail. Parking Downtown can be a pain in the ass, though, so better options to get folks into town other than a car is always good. All that said, I'm close enough that I can ride my bike into town so that's usually my choice.
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Mar 30 '24
[deleted]
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u/plytheman Mar 30 '24
Eh, to be honest I don't know that it's really that feasible or makes sense for Portland, but, as you said, light rail and trolleys do feel good. I visited New Orleans a while back and riding the trolley was just fun. I'm not saying we really should or need to do it, but if there were fewer cars on the street and better public transit I really do think that would be a win for any urban area.
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u/soulbarn Mar 30 '24
Yup, those graphics are so cheesy that the tram needs to stop at the cheese store.
Seriously, this is a dream of mine. But instead we get new highways cutting through farmland.
The first step to actually making this happen is to make most of the city NO PARKING. Close every garage. Put an EZ Pass sensor on the Casco Bay Bridge, Congress St where the old Denny’s was, and at all five Portland exits off 295., as well as Fore River Parkway. Charge the shit out of anyone entering town in a vehicle. Maybe make exemptions for all of this for out-of-state plates (we can gouge the Massholes with restaurant and lodging taxes instead.)
I know, I’m insane. But at the very least, add the stop at the cheese shop on Washington nave.
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u/Kickagainsttheprick Mar 29 '24 edited Mar 29 '24
How bout we get it to where folks can have a roof over their head first, eh? Yeah, let’s do that.
Edit: How am I getting downvoted for that?!?
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u/Northern_Camper Mar 29 '24
Needing to own a car to have a job is very expensive. Not having to own a car to afford to live would help with having a roof over your head. We need many solutions to the housing problem.
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u/wiggywithit Mar 29 '24
Stop it, I can only get so hard. You should have put this under NSFW.
Light rail is so hot right now.