Too much rain, humidity, and then came the hurricane

[highfigh]

Yeah, I'm kind of surprised at the number of issues with people crashing on the streetcar tracks. It's pretty logical and it's something I learned somewhere around age 6 or 7. My motorcycle course made us ride over a 2x4 and covered train tracks so I know what to do. But it's amazing the number of people that don't. Darwin award is pretty close to the truth.

I read that someone launched their car when they drove over one of the ramps at a trolley stop- the concrete is raised about 8" and the lower end is a ramp, so people who can't step up to it can get on and be out of traffic. This was months ago.

This thing is a tragedy waiting to happen and it will never support itself. I could see adding a good system if a city is doing the initial planning for transportation, but MKE got rid of the original trolley system in the early-'60s because it's not flexible WRT routing. Also, the overhead cables are ALWAYS going to be in the way.

 

[Midwesthonky]

I read that someone launched their car when they drove over one of the ramps at a trolley stop- the concrete is raised about 8" and the lower end is a ramp, so people who can't step up to it can get on and be out of traffic. This was months ago.

This thing is a tragedy waiting to happen and it will never support itself. I could see adding a good system if a city is doing the initial planning for transportation, but MKE got rid of the original trolley system in the early-'60s because it's not flexible WRT routing. Also, the overhead cables are ALWAYS going to be in the way.

I've seen systems in places like Portland and Minneapolis. But they are more of a light rail than a trolley. I see this as just like the high speed train that was proposed between Madison and Milwaukee. Yes, there are federal dollars to get it built. But once those are done and spent, it will be a money loser and the tax payers pick up the tab. It's a novelty, not a realistic transportation piece. Money would be better spent adding some buses and police to cut down on crime.

I can't wait for winter with heavy snow and ice hanging on the wires. Or a plow truck with the bed raised to get the salt out snagging a wire. Or some idiot doing 40 mph on an icy street plowing into the trolley. It will interesting. I like calling it the Barrett Folly Trolley. "Ignore the issues of car jacking, drugs, and armed robbery. What this city really needs is a Trolley! That will bring people back."

 

[Drunkpenguin]

Sheldon Cooper might move there.

 

[highfigh]

I've seen systems in places like Portland and Minneapolis. But they are more of a light rail than a trolley. I see this as just like the high speed train that was proposed between Madison and Milwaukee. Yes, there are federal dollars to get it built. But once those are done and spent, it will be a money loser and the tax payers pick up the tab. It's a novelty, not a realistic transportation piece. Money would be better spent adding some buses and police to cut down on crime.

I can't wait for winter with heavy snow and ice hanging on the wires. Or a plow truck with the bed raised to get the salt out snagging a wire. Or some idiot doing 40 mph on an icy street plowing into the trolley. It will interesting. I like calling it the Barrett Folly Trolley. "Ignore the issues of car jacking, drugs, and armed robbery. What this city really needs is a Trolley! That will bring people back."

With everything that comes with Winter weather, I expect the system to go down for large parts of that season. I would prefer that parents raise their kids to not be a menace to society and for judges to make sure the turds go to prison when they're clearly unable to avoid violence but I guess I may as well hop on my unicorn and go for a ride.

Barrett is an idiot. My property tax bill is over $5K and my house isn't anything special- MPS is a debacle, Tony Evers wants to dump another $600M into the schools and we all know that MPS is the most expensive district in the state with their budget of $1.2B for the current school year for somewhere between 76K and 80K students- the budget for the whole city of MKE is $1.4B. The new superintendent seems to think MPS has 80K, when attendance has been dropping- not sure how that would happen when people are heading to charter and private schools. If he can turn it around, I'll be impressed.

Say it with me- Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!