The Regional Rail Line could be a key compenent in attracting business, jobs(50,000), and residents to rellocate to the city of Memphis. This would connect dowtown Memphis to the Airport, Collierville, Millington, Desoto County, and all areas in between. The bus routes could be coordinated to take passengers from one rail line to the next. Memphis could gain a leg up on other surrounding southern cities by getting this project moving. The Regional Rail Line could have a positive impact on the economy. This should be the number 1 priority on Mayor Herenton's agenda for his final term. The project could become reality if half of the funds are coming from the federal government and the remaining portion coming from local and state funds

The three selected corridors are:
North: Serving Downtown, North Memphis, Frayser, and
Millington
North $304 – 388 Mil Length 17.4 miles Cost Per Mile $17.5 - 22.3Mil

Southeast: Serving Downtown, Midtown, East Memphis,
(formerly East) Germantown, and Collierville
Southeast $443 - 521 Mil. Length 25.2 miles Cost Per Mile: $17.6 - 20.7 Mil.

South: Serving Downtown, South Memphis, Whitehaven,
Southaven and Horn Lake, including a spur to the
Memphis International Airport.
South/Airport Cost:$330 - 367 Mil. Length: 17.6 miles Cost Per Mile: $18.8 - 20.9 Mil.

http://www.matatransit.com/dotnetnuke/Po...rt2001.pdf

TigerDieHard Wrote:The Regional Rail Line could be a key compenent to the tourism and redevelopment efforts in the city of Memphis. This would connect dowtown Memphis to the Airport, Collierville, Millington, Desoto County, and all areas in between. The bus routes could be coordinated to take passengers from one rail line to the next. Memphis could gain a leg up on other surrounding souther cities by gettig this project moving. This should be the number 1 priority on Mayor Herenton's agenda.

The three selected corridors are:
North: Serving Downtown, North Memphis, Frayser, and
Millington
North $304 – 388 Mil. Length 17.4 miles Cost Per Mile $17.5 - 22.3 Mil.

Southeast: Serving Downtown, Midtown, East Memphis,
(formerly East) Germantown, and Collierville
Southeast $443 - 521 Mil. Length 25.2 miles Cost Per Mile: $17.6 - 20.7 Mil.

South: Serving Downtown, South Memphis, Whitehaven,
Southaven and Horn Lake, including a spur to the
Memphis International Airport.
South/Airport Cost:$330 - 367 Mil. Length: 17.6 miles Cost Per Mile: $18.8 - 20.9 Mil.

http://www.matatransit.com/dotnetnuke/Po...rt2001.pdf

Our metro population isn't nearly dense enough to support any sort of light rail mass transit system.

It's too expensive to put in place, costs too much to maintain, tracks are fixed in one place, etc.

If we want to reduce vehicle emissions, have MATA introduce electric/hydrogen powered buses/vans...far less money than outmoded track-based transportation, routes can be changed quickly and fleet size can adjust up or down on the fly based on consumer demand, etc.

Bottom line, "Light Rail" is a taxpayer boondoggle of epic proportions.

i'm all for light rail, but there are so many factors standing in its way around here. i would totally take it out to work - make a line basically following I 40, and i'm there.

tigergreen Wrote:i'm all for light rail, but there are so many factors standing in its way around here. i would totally take it out to work - make a line basically following I 40, and i'm there.

The idea of light rail is terrific, but you have to have incredibly high population densities to make it financially viable (New York, London, etc.)...we're just too spread out for it to make any monetary sense whatsoever...the Internet is chock full of websites that give you a reading lifetime of information about this very topic.

what if we had a super speed light rail that could connect memphis to nashiville with a stop in jackson. The commute time being a little under an hour. I think that this would proliferate a business boom in all three communites because you would be able to pull talent from three big cities.

The number one issue with low income residents in Memphis is transportation. Memphis does not have a public transportation system that permits workers to travel to jobs at varying hours of the day and night.

TigerDieHard Wrote:The number one issue with low income residents in Memphis is transportation. Memphis does not have a public transportation system that permits workers to travel to jobs at varying hours of the day and night.

I can't say I disagree with you on that, but light rail doesn't solve that problem.

I'm no logistics expert, but I think that smaller buses/vans in greater numbers may be a start to a better solution that relying on the oil tanker-sized buses currently employed.

newtiger Wrote:what if we had a super speed light rail that could connect memphis to nashiville with a stop in jackson. The commute time being a little under an hour.

Isn't that about how long it took John Ford to drive between the two cities?

GermantownTiger Wrote:

newtiger Wrote:what if we had a super speed light rail that could connect memphis to nashiville with a stop in jackson. The commute time being a little under an hour.

Isn't that about how long it took John Ford to drive between the two cities?

You're not kidding-I was overtaken by him one day about 4 yrs ago on I-40 right about at Sycamore View and I was doing no less than 80. Flew by me with a white guy in the car-then about 2 weeks later there was an article in the Flyer by I cannot remember who and his interview was while in the car coming back from Nashville-I assumed it was him b/c he mentioned going really on the way home. That's the closest to a David Letterman brush w/ greatness I've got.