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Mass Transit in Reno?

04-22-09 - The City of Reno is moving forward with putting the ground work in place that would allow for the construction of a mass transit system ranging from bus rapid transit to street cars to light rail. They system would run along Virginia Street connecting the Convention Center to downtown Reno. 

In addition to approving the concept, Council approved an action plan for a "Virginia Street Transit Corridor" directing Community Development, Redevelopment and Public Works staff to move forward with implementing new streetscape, code and other design requirements that would allow for mass transit along Virginia Street. 

The plan requires the design of the new Virginia Street Bridge to accommodate streetcars or light rail.  It also allows staff to set up a group of stakeholders to make recommendations on lane reconfigurations, street parking changes, free transit zones, operational costs and other necessary implementation steps.

There is a powerpoint presentation associated with this concept approved, but it's so large Terri at the city can't email it, so we're working on a way to get it over to me.

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Posted by: Wiley_n_Reno - 4/22/2009 8:24:37 PM
Good. The way to build up cities now is to have mass transit hubs and stations and build nearby. Denver is doing it, Northern Virginia is doing it. Our car lifestyle is not infinitely sustainable and is killing the environment. Anyone else see 'Frontline' last night? The Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound are getting killed from pavement runoff. Maybe Reno /Sparks can be ahead of the curve with this?

Posted by: Mark W. - 4/23/2009 8:15:15 AM
This is great, and I mean GREAT! I recently visited Portland, OR and I was really impressed with their systems - efficient, clean, punctual buses, light-rail to and from major points of collection(PDX, Downtown, suburbs), clear signage and payment systems. It was great and it meant that as a visitor, I could see anything worth seeing without having to rent and drive a car. Way to go Reno, this is a step in the right direction.

Posted by: Justin - 4/23/2009 10:00:24 AM
I really wish they would build an efficient light rail system not just in Reno, but also serving areas of Sparks. Imagine if we had light rail from UNR to Mt. Rose Hwy., along the entire McCarran loop, and eventually Pyramid Hwy. Light Rail/BRT along these 3 major transportation hubs would make it easy and convenient for 80-90% of the regions population to use. Heck, I can't tell you how many times I've wished we had a more efficient system in place so that I could quickly get downtown, enjoy the winewalk/pub crawl, etc., and then go back home. But since it takes an hour to get there by bus I usually just take the car and end up being the designated driver. :/

Posted by: johnfree - 4/23/2009 11:19:56 PM
this will synergize very nicely with retrac and the downtown train station. I hope it happens!