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WAVE/Project dead; no streetcars for Fort Lauderdale


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#1 Sloan

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 11:30 AM

http://www.sun-senti...0,2816992.story


I'm glad to see Fort Lauderdale moving forward on this project. Planning for The WAVE has been underway for more than five years. Original schedule called for streetcars to start rolling in July 2013; but as the article notes, proposed start-up would be in September 2015.

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#2 KevinKorell

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 11:46 PM

Always on the lookout for errors...

After years of planning, Fort Lauderdale is on track to join cities like Portland, Ore., Denver and Tampa with its own fixed-rail downtown electric streetcar system.

Denver doesn't belong with this group. We're talking modern streetcars. Denver has a light rail system, and there is a tourist trolley downtown as well, but not a streetcar.

Any east-west transit service that intersects with TriRail would be welcome. Aside from Miami, TriRail connects with nothing, and because it was built to relieve traffic on parallel I-95, it doesn't necessarily run near the passenger generators in each town and county it passes through and it's too far inland to get the beach crowd. A connection to the beach area would be great; perhaps Palm Beach/West Palm Beach could do the same.

Interesting it would be called the Wave - the name sort of complements the name Norfolk chose for their light rail.


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#3 KevinKorell

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Posted 20 March 2013 - 12:12 PM

The 2.7-mile Fort Lauderdale electric streetcar system, called "The Wave," will operate in part via overhead electrical wires in some areas and by battery power in others. View the full article


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#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 20 March 2013 - 01:07 PM

South Florida Business Journal, 3/13/13:

Broward County gave final approval Tuesday for The Wave streetcar, which is expected in the streets of downtown Fort Lauderdale by 2016.


Full story


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#5 KevinKorell

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Posted 20 March 2013 - 01:10 PM

Some negative opinions, in South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 3/19/13:

Will The Wave streetcar line be a wipeout?


Hey, good news. The price of a looming boondogle seems to have gone down. The Wave, a downtown Fort Lauderdale electric streetcar/light rail loop, was pegged to cost $150 million when I wrote a column lampooning it in 2008.

Continue reading


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#6 KevinKorell

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Posted 20 March 2013 - 01:11 PM

Official website for The Wave: http://wavestreetcar.com/


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#7 Sloan

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Posted 20 March 2013 - 01:24 PM

Q: Will the Wave have a dedicated lane in traffic or can I drive in the same lane?
The Wave will function just like a vehicle does. It will abide by traffic signals and the rules of the road. Vehicular traffic and the streetcar will share the same lane of traffic.


Boo! Hiss! No traffic signal pre-emption. <_< The streetcar will need that advantage in order to offer a timely ride. Creeping along at the mercy of traffic flow will deter ridership except for those who are transit dependent and not bound by time constraints.

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#8 KevinKorell

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Posted 20 March 2013 - 02:11 PM

Boo, indeed. More than likely they went and observed streetcar operations in other cities such as New Orleans, and were wooed more by the excellent ridership by locals and tourists alike, rather than also seeing that they make far too many stops (both at station stops and red lights) to be an effective alternative to driving or buses.


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#9 KevinKorell

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Posted 20 March 2013 - 03:37 PM

A traffic signalization package is also part of the Wave, which will help maintain headways (how long you will have to wait at a station for a streetcar vehicle to pick you up) of 7.5 minutes during peak periods and 10 minutes during off peak periods.

I found this, although I'm unsure whether it means traffic signal pre-emption --- or the opposite, which is intentionally delaying streetcars with red signals to maintain space between them so that they don't bunch up.

Importantly, fellow railfans, the WAVE will not go anywhere near the TriRail line, nor the Fort Lauderdale Amtrak station. It will run near whatever develops along the Florida East Coast route, including a potential All Aboard Florida station and commuter rail if it materializes in this corridor. There is another proposal for a BRT or other type of express bus along Broward Blvd. connecting the TriRail/Amtrak station and where the WAVE will be.


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#10 KevinKorell

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Posted 07 April 2013 - 10:53 PM

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 4/6/13:

The Wave won't be a free ride for downtown business owners and residents. It'll cost them even if they never set foot on one of the electric streetcars anticipated to start operating in 2016.


Story


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