Glassoul
-
Posts
408 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Project Database
User Guide
Store
Events
Posts posted by Glassoul
-
-
I see LRT ridership is climbing...
I think starting off it was around 3k right?
now it seems like its steading upward around 5500^^^
that's good to see and hear.
When they start adding in street level festivals, it should increase tremedously. They should be using those vacant lots for temporary stagings and let acts perform for free.. Many people would ride in to see that.
I quickly parsed the information off the HRT website. It's not 100% accurate b/c it was from a cut paste from PDF to Excel, so there were some issues with formatting, but it's pretty close. Ignore the chart title, it's daily ridership averages per month obviously, so the trend is definately that more people wereusing it for a given month in 2012 than in 2011 (ignoring the august 2011 outlier when it opened).
overall daily average is 4927
-
Lots of transit news lately. Now some entrepreneurs want to start a bike sharing program in the Portsmouth and Norfolk downtowns.
http://hamptonroads....-be-bikesharing
While the idea works in Europe, the company that launched the "movement" in North America (and where they've been exporting the ide, technology,and bikes), is struggling to stay afloat.
-
Well that is good news, I had a feeling the numbers would be higher than what was forecasted. Hopefully we will be hearing new talks of expansions soon.
I'll repeat a post I made on this topic 4.5 years ago:
As for the ridership numbers they're proposing? Pie in the sky. They say at a minimum 6k riders a day, I bet its 2/3 of that MINIMUM number. Sure it'll be a novelty at first for some people, but that will quickly wear-off. You will not get people standing in 85-100 degree heat and humidity for 10-15 mins on a daily basis 6 months out of the year to ride something that covers such a limited area; and having to pay something approaching $3 a round trip to boot.
So I correctly predicted the ridership numbers, and that's still 2/3 of what they said would be the minimum (6k) 4.5 year ago. It's wonderful when you can look like a hero by moving the goal posts a year before startup and then exceed that number cause you've reduced it to some ridicously low figure. As for my last sentence, well.... when you subsidize the cost of a pass to the tune $10/year then that has the effect of artificially bumping your numbers up and destroying your revenue. Wonder how the taxpayers of Norfolk are going to react when they start seeing the net annual operating costs come in each year and realize increased coffee and slurpee sales tax doesn't cover the difference. Wonder whether they would want 2500 paying full fare or 4000 paying next to nothing, $10/yr is a pretty amazing deal to businesses.
-
It was interesting to look back at this thread over the years and all the predictions versus the eventual outcome. Even I was overly optimistic.
-
We're coming up on the 1st year anniversary of our hacker space, that is a clubhouse that is for people interested in building things. Hardware and software. www.757labs.org for more info. We've got one of the best spaces in the USA, and finally getting some stuff going. But it's a struggle. Other areas have twice the membership. Of course we're going to be at risk of loosing the lease as well (30 days notice to get out.)
We've seen 5 GREAT people leave the area just because job opportunities here are weak, and better elsewhere. The truly good people aren't going to want to work for gov't contractors. They don't reward excellence, they don't really reward skills, they just want bodies to bill on. Even if you're good you're going to be stuck by people who aren't. It sounds cocky and mean, I'm sorry, it's the truth. So much time spent on BS and red tape and general moron stuff.
It's night and day between a vibrant startup and any gov't contractor. Been at both.
People wonder how the military can piss away so much money, and your example is part and parcel of a larger problem with how the US government operates. Hampton Roads is bound at the hip to the military, and at some point in the next 10-15 years defense spending is going to have to be on the chopping block. HR is not going to do well over this period.
-
so, seriously? No one is gonna talk about the fact that all of our stations look like Tipis!? Seriously? Do they plan on expanding these are do we need to say something about it? I have searched all over the net for similar styles and the only ones that come out looking like that are streetcar designs, maybe.
The project blew its budget by over 40% and is 2 years behind schedule, plus Norfolk just realized it's going to cost them $10M/yr to run it. Should be happy that the stations are being built at all...
-
Amtrak overall is not profitable, which is why it's run by the government. But Amtrak does make money on the Northeast Corridor services. And it loses a ton more in the rest of the country. That's not to say that passenger rail can't operate more efficiently elsewhere. I think there are some clusters of cities that could be served pretty well, and could be grown into sustainable services. The Great Lakes region, California, and possibly the Texas Triangle come to mind.
To be more correct, Amtrak isn't profitable because the government won't let it be profitable. It requires Amtrak to maintain & run certain routes at huge losses, especially the long-distance & cross country ones.
-
It would be interesting to graph the population growth of the major cities and compare them with Norfolk's. The census bureau has the population for the largest 100 cities in the US for each census back to 1790. http://www.census.go...7/twps0027.html It would be quite easy with an Excel spreadsheet, but it would be tedious. I assume the growth track of the cities would be mostly parallel, but at some point Norfolk's would diverge from the other major cities. If the divergence is sudden, we could probably pin down the cause - the yellow fever epidemic, the Civil War, the industrial revolution, etc.
Is anyone up for the challenge of gathering this data and entering it into a spreadsheet?
Norfolk was left in the dust before the yellow fever epidemic & the civil war. Compare Cleveland's rate of growth, for example, to Norfolk from about 1810-1850. I think Hollise provided sufficient explanation in general, but in Cleveland's case they were mid-way between the iron mines in Minnesota & the coal mines to the east. Once the Erie canal was completed linking it to the North East, its population exploded as it became a centre of steel industry and transhipment of goods.
-
I don't comment too much on this blog, I usually just read, however, I wanted to chime in on this discussion as to why Norfolk and Richmond never grew in the way NE Cities have. I was reading something several years ago which I think may answer this question....
Thank you.
-
The military may have something to do with it, and I agree. On the Spirit of Norfolk, when you pass the Naval Base and see all the carriers and submarines lined up.. it's amazing. But like.. I love Hampton Roads. But maybe it's because I've never lived anywhere else. I've been to plenty of major cities (New York, Phila, Baltimore, DC, Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, San Diego, etc.) but I love Norfolk the most (biased of course). I don't care that it's not a big city (although I'd love it to become one).. I love my Tides (matter of fact I'm listening to them on the radio as I type this)..I love our small downtown. Things can only get better from here. Especially with LRT.
The military had nothing to do with it. Hampton Roads was left in the dust to becoming a major metropolitan area long before the military setup shop. DPlease try harder.....
-
What kind of effect do you guys think oil drilling off of the coast of VA would have on Hampton Roads? Any likely hood that ships would shuttle the stuff here for refining and/or redistribution using our rail systems?
In the area that's been opened up for exploration it is estimated that, given current technology, Virginia has 500 million barrels and 2 trillion cubic feet of gas that are economically recoverable. This is a pretty rough estimate based on old geological surveys, as well as some minor exploration that was done in the late 60's, 70's, and early 80's by Exxon and Shell. However, to put those numbers in a bit of perspective, the GOM has approximately ~45 billion barrels and 250tcf, and the Alaskan Arctic waters have ~30 billion barrels and 150tcf. So it's a pretty modest amount by those standards. The real goal of today's signing, and Virginia is certainly a beneficiary, but the real goal was to get the Florida GOM opened up. That "little" triangle has a very high probability for pay and is already located near major infrastructure. In the future, I guarantee they'll push to have that 125 mile limit pushed closer inland, to say 50 miles.
The biggest benefit to Virginia will come in the form of revenue from royalties and taxes, with Virginia having committed most of those dollars to transportation. There will be some jobs for the guys on the rigs, as well as support services, but you're talking a couple thousand at most. How that gets divided up regionally, I don't know. The only refinery in Virginia is in Yorktown and it has something like a 135,000 bpd capacity, if I remember correctly. It would benefit from closer proximity to its feedstock, provided the quality of the crude is similar to what they're already setup to upgrade. However, I wouldn't expect an expansion to occur or any new refineries to be built. Most of the North American large integrated oil companies are either shuttering production or are selling off their refining operations and getting out of that business.
Crude is almost never transported by train, much cheaper to use a pipeline or ship.
-
I agree with your last point urbanlife my friend!!! Now moving on, someone from Calgary said Hampton Roads doesnt have the population nor corporate strength to support a MLB team. I cant say I agree with that statement but, respect it very much! I disagree with it humbly though. I feel that most of the locals in the metro are tired of being a farm system to major league teams and thats part of why ticket sells are lower than they could be.They feel why pay for a minor league team. I know they feel like VaRider and want a team to call there own. The luxury seats at harbor park arent expensive its just that charging for luxury seats for a minor league team is a hard sell in general when the highest price ticket at Harbor Park thats non luxury is $11!!! Most locals don't know its a luxury seating option, trust me I found out last week! Ironic its was mentioned today/yesterday!
1.7 million people isnt what I would call not enough people to support a MLB team. For a metro like Norfolks with the money(old) in Va Beach and Williamsburg and Portsmouth,heck all the metro we can get season tickets sold and of course regular priced tickets. This areas money that the residents have is under estimated. I have a number of friends and we all earn over six figures(well over)! Most like us are looking for that thing we can participate in like pro team!! I respect the fact the fellow member from Calgary thinks its a no,no for Norfolk with the MLB but, again think our area is under estimated! L.G.N.M
MLB won't work in HR for a variety of reasons.
- Population: With 1.7 million people, HR would be tied for smallest market team in MLB with Milwaukee, and significantly smaller than all existing NL/AL East teams.
- Corporate support. HR doesn't have it. Yes, there are a few companies around that can pony up the money, but you need 55-60 that can do it year end and year out. I don't see it.
- MLB logistics: There's 16 NL teams and 14 AL teams, with the AL only having 4 teams in the West division. The next expansion in MLB has to be an AL franchise and preferably in the west. If HR were to be awarded a team, they would have to compete in the AL East against the Yankees and Red Sox. HR cannot be consistently competitive with $120-200M+/year payrolls (see Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Toronto). If fans don't feel like their team have a legitimate shot at winning, they won't turn up at the ballpark or watch on TV. Second, it would cause a reshuffle of the AL where it would be difficult to get consensus (Toronto would be the likely beneficiary of a move to the Central, but there would likely be push back from KC or Minnesota on moving to the AL West).
- So HR's best shot for a MLB franchise was the Expos, because it was a NL East team looking to relocate. However, even then they would have been a small fish in a big pond, competing against NY, Atlanta, and Philly.
I'd love nothing more than for MLB to succeed in HR, but the economics aren't there to support it, especially compared to what other cities can offer. I see a team in San Antonio, Portland, or Sacramento before HR. It's interesting for me, because where I live it's the opposite. We have more than enough corporate support, but not enough people in the city.. yet.
- Population: With 1.7 million people, HR would be tied for smallest market team in MLB with Milwaukee, and significantly smaller than all existing NL/AL East teams.
-
The Orioles played the Nationals in front of a sold-out Harbor Park last year.
The next MLB team will be in the American League and out west. Hampton Roads cannot support an MLB team. It's too small in both population & corporate support.
-
I saw on ESPN that Blaine Taylor (coach of ODU) was the most underrated coach in the NCAA.
&& I walked down Monticello last evening and can remember how crowded Kincaid's was from the window.
The whole downtown was hoppin'. Admirals jerseys eveywhere. Felt like a real city for a moment. && I agree. The NHL might be able to have a successful franchise in Norfolk. 6,100 for a mid-major hockey team. Build a 18,000 person arena for hockey and I'd say it'd be filled to capacity.. and then since we would already have that arena built, the NBA might even start to look at us again.
The NHL has to sell out every one of it's games. They don't have a big TV contract, so gate receipts account for >50% of revenue. There's a lot of teams struggling there right now. NBA would be a better fit for Hampton Roads, but the same is true for them as well, though for different reasons. As one prominent sports columnist put it, it's the No Benjamins Association.
-
I've said it a thousand times. People here are among the most uninformed individuals west of Baghdad. IMO, the blame rests with the Virginian Pilot. They make no effort at all to clarify things or give readers the full facts. They're more interested in stirring up controversy. I believe as long as they get a hundred posts on line, even if the comments are stupid and irrelevant, they feel they're valid.
Clearly, you've never read the comments on Youtube.
-
Goood news. I was expecting a jump closer to $400M.
How is coming in over budget by 45% good news? Gee sir, the infection is going to cost your leg, but the good news is I just saved a ton of money on my car insurance!
-
I think Phil Shucet is the right man. I do not know him personnally, but he has an impressive resume. When he took over as Commissioner of VDOT under Gov. Warner, the I-64 / Mercury Blvd. project near the Coliseum in Hampton was under construction and was a mess. After he came on board, the remainder of the project stayed on budget and on schedule. The "mixing bowl" project at I-95, I-395, and I-495 i n Springfield was even worse, and he turned that project around, too. Most recently, he was the lead person for the private consortium that is going to build the replacement toll bridge for the Jordan Bridge between I-464 in Chesapeake and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth. He resigned that position to take the HRT job.
My only reservation about Mr. Shucet (pronounced "Shoe-KET") is that he is to run all of HRT. I think he is the man to get the light-rail construction right. But as I said in my earlier post, mananging a large-scale construction project is much different that managing an up-and-running bus company. Townes ran the bus company but was over-whelmed by the construction project. It may be the opposite for Mr. Shucet.
Those concerns might justified over the long-term, but HRT doesn't need an operations guy at the helm right now. They need someone with significant PM experience, and based on the resume you posted it sounds like Shucet will be a step in the right direction. I'm sure there's a wealth of managers there that know how to run a city bus schedule. Let them take care of that piece, and he take care of getting LRT completed without any additional slippage and cost overruns.
-
Unfortunately it says in the article that the developer is looking towards mixed "industrial" uses, so nothing like what you see above will be built here.
What is unfortunate is that no other heavy industrial company could be found to take it over, especially given its proximity to transportation and overall condition. If the US is to ever rebalance the economy, it needs to start producing stuff again.
The green energy bit is total fluff and marketing.
-
The first line always takes longer than expected.
and the next one after that, and the next one, and the next one and t...
-
The exterior shots of the new library are okay, not sure it will be that noticed, but it wont stand out in a bad way either...but those interior renderings look absolutely amazing. This is really going to be a great building, especially from the inside.
The exterior image above is wrong.
-
Get rid of the President, institute some transparency and better cost controls, promise to do better, yadda yadda. This is the easy part of the sell. The hard part will come 2 years from now...
-
Also,Riddick is dropping hints that the LR costs are about to rise again!
HRT sucks. Any more $$ spent will push us over Charlotte's $$/mile. Some of this $$ must have been wasted some where. Charlotte's system is so much more advanced/complex than our's. How can it be more expensive?
For the same reasons I said 3 or 4 years ago on this forum. A: The project was low-balled from the get-go. B: No expertise
Let's say folks on this forum were a consortium of somewhat successful but small time home restoration and apartment conversion companies. If I were a responsible investor, would I suddenly give you $130M to build a 34 story residential building? You neither have the expertise, experience, or systems in place to carry out such a significant undertaking within budget and on time. Even if you hire a couple of folks to lead the project, your entire way of doing business is not geared towards a project of that scale. You will have to contract out almost most of the work, including the project development and oversight. Things like project business controls, engineering controls/TQA, execution, and procurement, are all for the most part a foreign language to you. Same goes for HRT. Nothing is in place to manage a project of this scale. Since you have no experience in running a large scale project or managing large numbers of contractors, you are going to be eaten alive.
-
Also, see how Mr. Townes doesnt leave his position until September 2010!!! Trust that it was negotiated to keep him in his job until then which is 8-9 months from now! If he is completely the blame why is he still in his position(not that I want him in or out) for another 8-9 months from now! Just a thought, no big deal but, I think its alot more to this story that WE ALL in the public aren't being told and I'm sure Mr. Townes isn't the only one who knew of the budget issues but, is the scapegoat!!! Now, lets hope light rail isnt up to $400,000,000 in cost! These projectsions don't tend to be $100,000,000 over budget ladies/gents, I smell a rat!!! And the rat wasnt Mr. Townes, he just got ALL the BLAME( he should have some because he was/is the president of HRT but, Norfolk city leaders were involved as well)! L.G.N.M
I think your understanding of "rat" in this context needs clarification. Anyway, leadership starts at the top. It's not just the $$$ & executive bathroom that come with accepting the top job at an organization. You also are implicitly accepting responsibility for the both successes AND failures of that organization. And it absolutely is the responsibility of the HRT President to communicate cost overruns in a public and forthright manner. If I were the city council of VB, his dismissal represents only one of a number of important changes I would require from HRT before agreeing to an extension.
-
While I agree it is a bad situation for businesses to be effected, I have to wonder about the statement that the city ought to "Give" money to struggling businesses to prop them up. Is the book store owner going to "give" taxpayers of Norfolk a book afterwards as a "thank-you " for helping him stay afloat? I don't think so. Sorry.....off topic.
Well, instead of giving "money", how about the city give "tax breaks" to the affected building/business owners who use it to lower rents during the period of disruption.
Norfolk Light Rail and Transit
in Norfolk
Posted
I plotted monhtly averages from HRT website data back in Feb. Check a couple pages back.