Posts about North Carolina

Transit

Charlotte agrees with DC on streetcar technology

by David Alpert   •   June 11, 2010 10:46 am

Charlotte, NC has been conducting a thorough analysis of streetcar power technologies for their planned streetcar system. Their final report is out, and essentially agrees with the conclusions from the recent APTA technology seminar: overhead wires are best for now, but alternate technologies show promise for the future.

Image from City of Charlotte.

The report thoroughly identifies and evaluates each of the alternative power technologies on the market or under development. After discussing each, they conclude:

The market for railcar technology and technology development is in continuous change and improvement. ... Advancements in power distribution technologies are being made by virtually all major railcar builders, with some having developed technologies to the point of having systems in revenue operation, while others are only in early stages of development.

Generally the technology that is the furthest along in development, by the most manufacturers is the battery / capacitor. ... Embedded "third rail" system appear to be significantly far along in development however they are more capital intensive, have higher operation and maintenance costs and require more substantial safety certification. Additional concerns exist regarding the proprietary nature of the technology and the potential to become dependent on a single supplier.

Overall, the implementation of a technology to replace an overhead contact system in whole or in part will represent an increase in the cost of construction and operation of a streetcar system, albeit some technologies have promise to be nearly cost neutral; and may someday even prove more cost effective. ...

[I]t is recommended that the City further investigate the use of battery and/or capacitor type propulsion for any new streetcar vehicle procurements. ... [Th]e City should continue with the conventional OCS design, while monitoring the progress of the development of battery and capacitor systems for application in future phases. It is noted that the battery / capacitor systems can subsequently be utilized for limited distance application to address low clearance
obstructions, areas of high visual significance and capturing regenerative energy resulting in operation savings.

With the battery and capacitor type of system, portions of the line could utilize OCS while others do not. Initial segments of the system may be better candidates to use conventional OCS technology, while subsequent extensions may be better suited to implement wireless zones.

Politics

Trains and the election

by David Alpert   •   October 6, 2008 2:10 pm

For the liberals on this blog, check out this train-related election humor several people forwarded me.

Kdoug on Daily Kos.

However, I must point out that this isn't actually fair to Palin, nor was I in my snark last week. As commenter Mike Silverstein pointed out, Alaska relies heavily on trains. And tipster Daniel Goldstein forwarded me this statement by Palin extolling the importance of Alaska's railroads.

Meanwhile, in other elections, Matt Yglesias notices that Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan—who, in recent weeks, has jumped from way down in the polls to quite competitive—is a strong supporter of transit. From her energy plan:

To lower the amount of carbon emissions in transportation, Kay supports increasing fuel efficiency standards and increasing investments in public transportation. ... Since investments in public transportation have many indirect benefits on the economy, Kay also supports investments to increase public transportation systems.

Every $10 million in transit capital investments creates 314 jobs and $30 million in sales for businesses, while $10 million invested in transit operations creates more than 750 jobs in the short term, and $32 million in increased sales for businesses. Every $10 million invested saves more than $15 million in transportation costs to highway and transit users.