[ale] [OT]atlanta beltway need this!!!

[Jeff Hubbs]

"Light rail" basically means "trolley" system.  MARTA is a heavy-rail 
system that uses standard-gauge track. 

Maglev has its benefits - chief among them speed and low noise - but 
it's tremendously expensive.  I'm a monorail fan, mostly because of the 
flexibility you get with respect to right-of-way; you can sling rail 
over, under, and through anything you want although grade crossings pose 
a challenge (though mostly you can design so as to avoid them).

You see a lot more heavy rail than monorail because more contractors 
make more money with heavy rail.  Great if you're a contractor or 
contractor-supported politician; crappy if you're a taxpayer and/or 
potential mass-transit user.  MARTA is for the most part a 
nearly-expansion-proof failure because it can't go where people live; 
it's hemmed in.  If the system had the freedom to economically pass over 
roads, thread through commercial property, etc. then it could go places 
- literally.

Geoffrey wrote:
> Greg Freemyer wrote:
>   
>> Jim,
>>
>> I'm not sure if it is the same project, but the Atlanta - Chattanooga
>> project got $14M in study money in Sept.
>>
>> See <http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-high-speed-rail-136662.html?cxntlid=daylf_artr>
>>
>> The first sentence says:
>>
>> "A proposed magnetically levitated rail line northwest from Atlanta
>> has just won a $14.2-million study grant from the U.S. Department of
>> Transportation, according to U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.)."
>>
>> Later it says:
>>
>> "It comes from $90 million that was set aside for magnetically
>> levitated — or “maglev” — rail a couple of years ago"
>>
>> Not that that the AJC is perfect, but it certainly doesn't sound like
>> light rail to me.  And of course they could change to light rail
>> later, but for now it sounds like maglev is where it is headed.
>>     
>
> So maybe someone can define the difference?  Or maybe simply define 
> 'light rail?'