Friday, November 17, 2006

Let the sun shine in

One of the things the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist says he hates most about Personal Rapid Transit is that it is up in the air. He thinks 3-4 ft. wide PRT guideway will blot out the sun, that guideway spaced at half-mile intervals will be a "forest of concrete and steel support piers," the stations will "form a 'lid', with the street below virtually placed in a tunnel." And he regularly fear-mongers about PRT cutting down trees, and giving riders "a clear view into our bedroom windows." He's still at it.

With that background, I promise a complete absence of sarcasm* as I present the realities of K@n Labridor's preferred light rail alternative:

The Urban Suncatcher
Because light rail streetcars are so divine they need to be high up near god (or goddess, or flying spaghetti monster as the case may be), and bathed in golden sunlight so that all below may worship.

The Suncatcher goes up in Tukwila (Seattle Times)


The Suncatcher is so tiny, sometimes it's easy to miss; oh, there it is. Note porta-pottie; that counts as an amenity. (Seattle Times)


Light (rail) will shine on Rainier Valley (Seattle Times)


The $45 million McClellan Suncatcher Station is but a little brown church in the urban dell (Sound Transit)


McClellan Station is just down the hill from $220 million Beacon Hill Station (above), which will extend deep, deep into the ground--yea, even bringing the Suncatcher's light unto Hades already (Sound Transit)


Growing an attractive grove of concrete and steel on MLK Jr. Way (Seattle Times)

Remember, here at "PRT is a Joke is a Joke" we're for transit--and we're against hypocritical anti-PRT propaganda!



* Made you look!

gPRT
Ken Avidor, a drop of golden sun
at

1 comment:

  1. A Transportation EnthusiastNovember 17, 2006 3:11 PM

    This reminds me of the irony of the Seattle PI transportation board. You have rabid anti-PRT nuts like "Soul not sold" and Ben Schiendelman who claim that PRT is ugly and expensive - but have no problem spending $billions to erect this monstrous light rail infrastructure. Are they completely blind to their own hypocrisy?

    I could understand people who have concerns about PRT ridership and capacity (even though I fundamentally disagree with them), but to object to PRT on the grounds of aesthetics, even as these gigantic piers are being erected in their backyards, is truly ridiculous.

    I also find it funny that these are the very same people who bashed the monorail as being too expensive, yet they don't seem to have a problem with elevated light rail at $200M per mile.

    But then again, the Seattle PI forums have never been a bastion of intellectualism...

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