Why isn't there a Metro Stop at Taylor's Run?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's still a long walk to the metro even if it is a mile. How come they cant put a station there?

One mile is no a long walk at all, OP. Do you ever exercise?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really need to put one in. Thoughts?

My thought is they needed to put a very large parking garage at the King St metro.
If there were parking, people who live there would drive and park at the metro station and take metro.

I hate, hate, hate the magical thinking of "people will use public transportation to get to public transportation despite that adding anywhere from a half hour to an hour to their commute!"
There is no evidence that people in this area are going to abandon their cars even to go 1 mile.

No. The King/Callahan/Russell intersection is bad enough as is. There is nothing difficult about the 15-20 minute walk or 5 minute bus ride from Taylor Run. Talk about privileged.

How often do the buses come? I had this discussion with someone about Bethesda. I live more like 2-2.5 miles from the metro and drive in. It is too far to walk daily and the bus comes every half hour even in rush and would transform an 8-10 minute ride into 20+. Unless the buses came very frequently, which isn't realistic, there is just no way I am going to take the bus despite the cost of parking. This is particularly true since I have to get kids and get them to activities and the chance of bus routes lining up is very low.

It's simply a fantasy that some have that people will turn to public transportation to get to metro and restricting parking, as some advocate, is fool hardy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's still a long walk to the metro even if it is a mile. How come they cant put a station there?

One mile is no a long walk at all, OP. Do you ever exercise?

PP here, guessing the OP doesn't and expects everything to be handed to them on a silver platter.

[Anonymous]

This thread is so weird. “Why doesn’t my random small neighborhood of single family homes 1 mile from a Metro Station have its own Metro station?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really need to put one in. Thoughts?

My thought is they needed to put a very large parking garage at the King St metro.
If there were parking, people who live there would drive and park at the metro station and take metro.

I hate, hate, hate the magical thinking of "people will use public transportation to get to public transportation despite that adding anywhere from a half hour to an hour to their commute!"
There is no evidence that people in this area are going to abandon their cars even to go 1 mile.

No. The King/Callahan/Russell intersection is bad enough as is. There is nothing difficult about the 15-20 minute walk or 5 minute bus ride from Taylor Run. Talk about privileged.

How often do the buses come? I had this discussion with someone about Bethesda. I live more like 2-2.5 miles from the metro and drive in. It is too far to walk daily and the bus comes every half hour even in rush and would transform an 8-10 minute ride into 20+. Unless the buses came very frequently, which isn't realistic, there is just no way I am going to take the bus despite the cost of parking. This is particularly true since I have to get kids and get them to activities and the chance of bus routes lining up is very low.

It's simply a fantasy that some have that people will turn to public transportation to get to metro and restricting parking, as some advocate, is fool hardy.

If you live 2-2.5 miles from the metro, you are in Seminary Hill, not Taylor Run. I am in College Park, which is west of Taylor Run, and the walk to the metro is 1.3 miles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really need to put one in. Thoughts?

My thought is they needed to put a very large parking garage at the King St metro.
If there were parking, people who live there would drive and park at the metro station and take metro.

I hate, hate, hate the magical thinking of "people will use public transportation to get to public transportation despite that adding anywhere from a half hour to an hour to their commute!"
There is no evidence that people in this area are going to abandon their cars even to go 1 mile.

No. The King/Callahan/Russell intersection is bad enough as is. There is nothing difficult about the 15-20 minute walk or 5 minute bus ride from Taylor Run. Talk about privileged.

How often do the buses come? I had this discussion with someone about Bethesda. I live more like 2-2.5 miles from the metro and drive in. It is too far to walk daily and the bus comes every half hour even in rush and would transform an 8-10 minute ride into 20+. Unless the buses came very frequently, which isn't realistic, there is just no way I am going to take the bus despite the cost of parking. This is particularly true since I have to get kids and get them to activities and the chance of bus routes lining up is very low.

It's simply a fantasy that some have that people will turn to public transportation to get to metro and restricting parking, as some advocate, is fool hardy.

It is absolutely foolish to have parking rather than high density housing at any Metrorail stations.

You can get the same ridership (or higher) building very dense housing and not only does the housing not need to be subsidized like parking does it actually generates tax revenues and reduces car ownership rates, none of which is accomplished with the park and ride model.

It should not be that hard for jurisdictions to find ways to reliably feed people into suburban Metrorail stations who live close but just beyond walking distance.

The big benefit to the region, and to riders, is when public transit enables people to own and use (and store) fewer cars and the park and ride model does nothing to advance those goals and you don't get the alternate feed to the stations via bus (and bike) when everyone is driving because the scale doesn't make sense but bus routes suddenly become feasible if the 4000 people who have been driving to a station suddenly no longer have that option and biking and walking to the stations is also better if they aren't surrounded by traffic and noise and pollution.

And yes lots and lots of people in this region with highly scheduled kids (our family is among) them get to and from work every day without using a car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really need to put one in. Thoughts?

My thought is they needed to put a very large parking garage at the King St metro.
If there were parking, people who live there would drive and park at the metro station and take metro.

I hate, hate, hate the magical thinking of "people will use public transportation to get to public transportation despite that adding anywhere from a half hour to an hour to their commute!"
There is no evidence that people in this area are going to abandon their cars even to go 1 mile.

No. The King/Callahan/Russell intersection is bad enough as is. There is nothing difficult about the 15-20 minute walk or 5 minute bus ride from Taylor Run. Talk about privileged.

How often do the buses come? I had this discussion with someone about Bethesda. I live more like 2-2.5 miles from the metro and drive in. It is too far to walk daily and the bus comes every half hour even in rush and would transform an 8-10 minute ride into 20+. Unless the buses came very frequently, which isn't realistic, there is just no way I am going to take the bus despite the cost of parking. This is particularly true since I have to get kids and get them to activities and the chance of bus routes lining up is very low.

It's simply a fantasy that some have that people will turn to public transportation to get to metro and restricting parking, as some advocate, is fool hardy.

If you live 2-2.5 miles from the metro, you are in Seminary Hill, not Taylor Run. I am in College Park, which is west of Taylor Run, and the walk to the metro is 1.3 miles.

PP lives in Bethesda

But it doesn't matter because 1 mile is too far for people to walk to take the Metro or a bus everyday if they have the option of driving. You can say it's not and argue over and over but the reality is born out every single day. So if planners just actually took into account reality, and planned and implemented that way, then things would improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is so weird. “Why doesn’t my random small neighborhood of single family homes 1 mile from a Metro Station have its own Metro station?”

Agree. Hilarious.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of this neighborhood but according to Google maps the eastern edge of the neighborhood hits the intersection where the King Street Metro is.

And the furthest point in the neighborhood is maybe 1.5 miles from the station but much of the neighborhood is much closer than that which is to say very walkable.

It also appears to be a very low density neighborhood - this isn't Del Ray with all its row houses and homes on small lots.

I suppose you could argue for a stop halfway between King Street and Eisenhower Avenue that would be near the east edge of this neighborhood but no way is the density there to justify spending $300 million on such a station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

PP lives in Bethesda

But it doesn't matter because 1 mile is too far for people to walk to take the Metro or a bus everyday if they have the option of driving. You can say it's not and argue over and over but the reality is born out every single day. So if planners just actually took into account reality, and planned and implemented that way, then things would improve.

It's not too far to walk. It is farther than many people are willing to walk, if they have the option of driving and parking. Which is why it makes sense to limit that option. Parking occupies space that has better, more active uses; streets full of cars dissuade people from walking and biking; easy driving and free parking induce people to drive distances that are walkable/bikeable. Those are the realities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It's simply a fantasy that some have that people will turn to public transportation to get to metro and restricting parking, as some advocate, is fool hardy.

A. People use buses to get to metro every day. Have you ever BEEN to King Street Station at peak hour? Try counting the people getting on and off buses there and going to and from the trains. At a place like the Pentagon there are even more.

B. It is a huge fantasy to think the City of Alexandria wants MORE people driving into the congested streets near King Street Station, at rush hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
But it doesn't matter because 1 mile is too far for people to walk to take the Metro or a bus everyday if they have the option of driving. You can say it's not and argue over and over but the reality is born out every single day. So if planners just actually took into account reality, and planned and implemented that way, then things would improve.

Planners are quite aware that not many people walk over a half mile to transit. They are also aware that many people in our region use buses to get to metro. That building lots of parking in a place where the street network has limited capacity is a poor idea. That you can't build a new metro line to serve a small neighborhood of SFH's.

As for the option of driving - watch out, DC is considering a congestion charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard of this neighborhood but according to Google maps the eastern edge of the neighborhood hits the intersection where the King Street Metro is.

And the furthest point in the neighborhood is maybe 1.5 miles from the station but much of the neighborhood is much closer than that which is to say very walkable.

It also appears to be a very low density neighborhood - this isn't Del Ray with all its row houses and homes on small lots.

I suppose you could argue for a stop halfway between King Street and Eisenhower Avenue that would be near the east edge of this neighborhood but no way is the density there to justify spending $300 million on such a station.

If you built a stop on say, Mill Road (but WMATA would have a conniption fit on the impact that would have on service to Eisenhower and Huntington) they would STILL have to cross Duke to get to Taylor Run. It would hardly be shorter than the walk to King, and would be lot less pleasant. I can't see anyone doing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really need to put one in. Thoughts?

My thought is they needed to put a very large parking garage at the King St metro.
If there were parking, people who live there would drive and park at the metro station and take metro.

I hate, hate, hate the magical thinking of "people will use public transportation to get to public transportation despite that adding anywhere from a half hour to an hour to their commute!"
There is no evidence that people in this area are going to abandon their cars even to go 1 mile.

No. The King/Callahan/Russell intersection is bad enough as is. There is nothing difficult about the 15-20 minute walk or 5 minute bus ride from Taylor Run. Talk about privileged.

How often do the buses come? I had this discussion with someone about Bethesda. I live more like 2-2.5 miles from the metro and drive in. It is too far to walk daily and the bus comes every half hour even in rush and would transform an 8-10 minute ride into 20+. Unless the buses came very frequently, which isn't realistic, there is just no way I am going to take the bus despite the cost of parking. This is particularly true since I have to get kids and get them to activities and the chance of bus routes lining up is very low.

It's simply a fantasy that some have that people will turn to public transportation to get to metro and restricting parking, as some advocate, is fool hardy.

If you live 2-2.5 miles from the metro, you are in Seminary Hill, not Taylor Run. I am in College Park, which is west of Taylor Run, and the walk to the metro is 1.3 miles.

PP lives in Bethesda

But it doesn't matter because 1 mile is too far for people to walk to take the Metro or a bus everyday if they have the option of driving. You can say it's not and argue over and over but the reality is born out every single day. So if planners just actually took into account reality, and planned and implemented that way, then things would improve.

What's *not* "too far?" .8 miles? .5? .25? There is no set number - lazy people will find any reason to continue being lazy. If it's not distance, it'll be complaints about Metro noise, or any number of other excuses.

The fact that anyone finds 1 mile "too far" is such a sad American fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where would you even put a metro station to serve Taylor Run. Look at a map. West of King Street, the metro runs along a rail line south of Duke Street. If you can't walk to King Street Station, you aren't likely to walk across Duke.

Are you suggesting a brand new metro line to serve your little neighborhood of Single family houses?

Time to invoke Poe's Law. I know some annoying people in Taylor Run, but none so crazy as to suggest this.

Well, according to Google Maps, The furthest point of Taylor Run (where Lindsay Lexus is) is 2.1 miles and a 45 minute walk. That said, take a look at the metro track, it goes from NE to SW and the King St metro stop is the only place where the neighborhood intersects the metro line (zoom out to see the metro track). If you wanted to build the metro line that 1 or 2 miles into the neighborhood, it would be like $100K each way for a passenger to ride to make up the cost of putting in a side track just for the entitled neighborhood residents. Plus, they would block it because of NIMBY. No one wants their yard dug up and they'd fight tooth and nail to avoid it.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Taylor+Run,+Alexandria,+VA/@38.8157055,-77.0842964,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b7b10db2c67ebd:0x3f1a195ae190ec!8m2!3d38.8105951!4d-77.0765927