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Re: WillD needs to learn more.

Posted by RonInBayside on Sun Jul 30 12:50:32 2006, in response to Re: Ron's Route Suggestion of the Old Abandoned LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch, posted by WillD on Sun Jul 30 02:45:08 2006.

Your basic point about light rail not being useless in general is a good one. However, you stumble here:

"Too bad the MTA shares your close minded outlook."

Your lack of experience and knowledge comes into play here. Why would MTA not build light rail?

1) NIMBY factor - why? Because politiciansd call MTA and and the Governor and if they out muscle the proponents MTA has to hesitate. That's deomocracy. In the Soviet Union and in China today, it was/is much easier to get things done. You just throw opponents in jail.

2) Introducing light rail: Unlike NJT, MTA has no in-house experience in light rail, nor support infrastructure. Supporting light rail means hiring engineers, administrators and operators who know all about it, if you want to avoid mistakes and pitfalls. One way to do that might be to ask NJT or SEPTA or MBTA to build and run it on contract while you get your own organization up and running. The legal, administrative and political hurdles are enormous (but it's not impossible to do).

That's why you really need to think this through. You think about the tracks and the wheels and the electricity, and forget that this is also about people. If people do not agree with you, they are closed-minded, morons or just incompetent. Do you know what they really think over at 2 Broadway? If MTA hired you tomorrow, would you be able to handle it?

I'm happy to see the Rockaway ROW turn into an expansion of a park. If light rail advocates were to succeed in getting a trolley up there, fine too. I'm not going to oppose it, even if I live there.

I'm not saying you are wrong about light rail. But successful engineers always think about people.

Kelly Johnson, Ben Rich and Ed Heinemann (look them up!) are legends in aerospace engineering NOT just because they knew their science, but because THEY UNDERSTOOD THEIR AUDIENCE AND UNDERSTOOD THE POLITICS and how to handle them. Hyman Rickover understood reactors and control rods and submarines and he seemed always to be able to get around people who opposed him not because he was so superior in science (he was superior, but so what?) but because he had patrons and he was careful never to cross them.

It takes time to pick up on that - and you're not there yet.

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