Transit

Author:	Dean Hall

Taxonomy

I would like to propose the following logarithmic scale and taxonomy when speaking about mobility and velocity:

Velocity [mph]	Verb	Use
2	Crawl	N/A
4	Walk	Walking
8	Run	Exercising
16	Bike	Bicycling
32	Drive	Driving, Streetcar, Light rail (typ.)
64	Cruise	Highway driving, Light rail (max.), Commuter rail
128	Rail	Standard passenger rail, Sport pilot
256	HSR	High Speed passenger Rail, Private pilot
512	Fly	Passenger jet

The power-of-two scale is very useful because the change from one level to the next is always twice as fast (or half the time); making the system easy to remember and appropriate for the modes of transit. For example, if we expect to get drivers out of their cars, a good incentive is a mode that is at least twice as fast as driving in the city or cruising on the highway. Furthermore, the two slots used by Rail and HSR exemplify the significant gap in velocity between driving and flying.

Terminology to Deprecate

For the sake of clarity and honesty, some terminology should NOT be used during discussion about high-speed rail. For example, "bullet train," is misleading because at around 2000 fps, a bullet travels an order of magnitude faster than the fastest trains. Also, one should not use the term "high speed rail" when referring to velocities below 200 mph. To do so exhibits ignorance of the state-of-the-art in train travel.

National

The D Loop is my contribution to this refinement of the National High-speed Rail plan. The D Loop would replace the Dallas-Texarkana-Little Rock line with a loop that connects 3 major metro areas, 3 minor metro areas, and many universities. The name, D Loop, is because Dallas, the largest metro area on the loop, serves as the anchor and the shape of the route is roughly that of the letter 'D'.

Texas

I prefer the Texas T-Bone over the Texas Triangle for HSR in Texas.
However, I prefer the Texas Mini Triangle over the T-Bone.

Houston

Houston MetroRail's light rail system includes 1 completed line and 3 lines under construction and 2 lines still under design (as of 03/2010).
The Hobby Line is a potential light rail alignment connecting the furthest endpoint of the South East Line to Houston's Hobby Airport.
The Southwest BRT Line is an alignment (for BRT or light rail) that uses 6 miles of an electrical power easement to complete a 9 mile route between the Westwood Park and Ride in SW Houston with the southern terminal of MetroRail's Red line.
The Southwest Commuter Line is an alignment mostly along existing rail lines that connects Sugar Land, Stafford and Missouri City to the southern terminals of the Red Line and the South East Line. The Missouri City station is located near the Sam Houston Tollway and would be ideal for a park and ride lot.
A bicycle connector route between the Brays Bayou bicycle path (@ Gessner) and the Southern end of the bicycle lane on Corporate Dr in Southwest Houston. Be extra careful along Bissonnet, especially near US-59.
The Reliant Park CPT is a gondola-style cable-propelled transit connector between parking, Reliant Stadium and the Red Line.
The Northwest CPT is a gondola-style cable-propelled transit connecting the NWTC (the northern terminal of the Uptown LRT line), the IMAX theater and the IKEA store.