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SeriesRandomNumbers t1_jbh9urw wrote

If it’s such a obvious simple solution please tell me where you would have it go and both primary and secondary stops.

I’ve lived places with great public transit and would love to have it here, but the layout around here doesn’t make a good argument for it. I should also add that I would happily pay more tax to make it happen. Public transit always looks easy from the outside and the bus system here isn’t really that bad, not great but alright.

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xCaptx t1_jbhabt8 wrote

For real. There are a million reasons a metro is not a cost-effective mass transit for Springfield. I wish we had a metro or hell even if the OLD trolley system was never removed.

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ar9750 t1_jblbv97 wrote

> the bus system here isn’t really that bad

What's the bar for "bad"? My 10+ mile commute was faster by bicycle than by bus, and I was avoiding roads above 30mph.

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VaderTower t1_jbmhh25 wrote

Hard comparison, I could ride my bike 4 miles at an old job in 20 minutes, or I could drive myself there and it take 15 minutes.

Riding a bike if you live and work in Springfield, is actually really efficient.

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Dakkendoofer t1_jbha2l8 wrote

I feel like long stretches along battlefield, sunshine, kansas exp, Glenstone, and National would be a great start. Those are the first roads I think of that have awful traffic at basically all hours

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SeriesRandomNumbers t1_jbhbwsi wrote

But then where would that go? Where are people going? If you have it along one long street say Sunshine are you willing to build a huge park-n-ride next to the Sam’s Club and close at least one lane along all of Sunshine so that someone from Nixa can drive up, park, and then pay cash to get the last couple miles to Bass Pro.how much would you pay for that ride?

Everybody wants to get to their work which is why good public transit goes from population center to work center and back. A light rail from Nixa to the medical mile to MSU/downtown to government plaza might work alright, but if you’re not interested in any of those places you still need to jump on the bus or your bike. In Springfield I usually choose my bike as Ozarks Greenways has made this place one of the better bike commuting places I’ve lived.

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VaderTower t1_jbmi375 wrote

Best comment here by far, and actually opened my eyes a bit. In my opinion you're probably right, only viable option I can think of is a Nixa to Springfield pipeline. Major stops at Cox, Mercy, MSU.

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the_honeyman t1_jblevgb wrote

You had me, up until the point where you said our public transit system isn't really that bad. It's awful. When riding a bus takes 45 minutes to go from National and Division to National and Sunshine, there is absolutely no way to stretch that into "its not that bad."

Let alone the fact they don't run at night, and certain stops are only active at certain times.

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Doubleucommadj t1_jbhqlzz wrote

I feel like y'all have the right thing in mind, but aren't thinking about a flexible system. If a tram were functioning in a predictable pattern, folk could get to stations in order to move 20 mins down the street. Just because the current locations for transit don't make sense, due to folks in charge, that's not a reason to completely deny public transit.

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Necessary-One-3713 OP t1_jbjoi4o wrote

Depends if you’d prefer it above or under ground…..there also could be a simple streetcar system too

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Strange_Ad_6206 t1_jbhiy0w wrote

How many major crossings and miles without a sidewalk would a person have to walk to get to the nearest metro station, and how many again to get to their destination?

Make the city more walkable, then we can talk about metros, monorails, and what have you.

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Doubleucommadj t1_jbhktkm wrote

You've discovered the answer to your own problem. The less interaction you have between peds and traffic, the walk is null.

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Lukeyboy1589 t1_jbhacpj wrote

We could traverse through the cheese caves.

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Doubleucommadj t1_jbhmytp wrote

I'm bout this! If we could sample whatever TF is down there. Geezus, that roulette could drive tourism...

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duckthebuck t1_jbhdy2q wrote

Man you could chuck a tram line down the big five lane roads. That would be a big start

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Doubleucommadj t1_jbhfsg8 wrote

THIS. It can be an at grade solution. It wouldn't even take many trams. Top 10 surface roads traversed. Commuter parking lots would be necessary, but still beneficial in lessening traffic.

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duckthebuck t1_jbhicn5 wrote

The dirty wish would be to develop on parking lots and fill in on these empty parking lots.

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Doubleucommadj t1_jbhjpgy wrote

It'd truly drive them mad to have even a few charging stations there.

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VaderTower t1_jbmivo5 wrote

Honest question, is traffic really an issue many people face in town?

Like I get it if you're travelling home to Nixa at 5pm. But I've lived here many many years in all different parts of Springfield and I've never had to deal with more than 15 minutes by car.

Compared to major cities around us, STL KC, our traffic just isn't that bad, in my opinion.

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Longjumping-Ice-8814 t1_jbkuqip wrote

I think it starts with opening the hours WIDE OPEN on the current system for long enough and PR’d enough that people can actually use it. We’ll never know how many people would benefit from a better system when the one we have now has banker’s hours. Wee exaggeration there, but the point is true.

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WendyArmbuster t1_jbhq54l wrote

For me to use mass transit it’s going to have to be faster than driving, cheaper than driving, and more convenient than driving. I think I have a plan to make a system that’s all three of those things. We’ll build a light-duty overhead monorail style track system that special light electric cars hook to from ground level and there will be entrance and exit points all over town. You just drive down Glenstone until you get to the Barataria entrance point, merge into the entrance lane, and seamlessly hook onto the system, and the motorized hook on the top of your car powers you down the track at 60mph. Each entrance only has one exit, and the Barataria entrance exits on Chestnut near Drury. It’s like teleportation portals.

The cars would be inexpensive and electric, designed for cross-town trips, and very small.

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WendyArmbuster t1_jbj3uh9 wrote

I don't know why I get downvoted for this idea. I think it's at least as feasible as an in-town rail system, and has all of the benefits of cars without the drawbacks. Just because nobody has ever done it doesn't mean we can't be the first.

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WendyArmbuster t1_jbm84tq wrote

Again, downvotes without any comments. Is the downvote button just a disagree button?

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