Metro will be "cheap" ja ja ja ja

[A.Hidalgo]

Originally Posted by Funnyyale26

Mirador:

The case of the Santo Domingo metro is an exception because of all the problems that were not addressed before it was constructed and the lack of an organism that would give proper maintenance to this metro.

Construction is ongoing and not finished yet. Jury is still out albeit critics.

The operators of the rail system is--- Oficina para la Reorganizacion del Transporte (OPRET)

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by A.Hidalgo

Construction is ongoing and not finished yet. Jury is still out albeit critics. The operators of the rail system is--- Oficina para la Reorganizacion del Transporte (OPRET)

Wrong! the construction may be ongoing, but at huge cost overruns and unforeseen technical contingencies due to lack of planning and inadequate (or according to recognized professional sources, lacking) geological, soils, and seismicity analysis. The jury is out, of course, after having been bribed, bought off, and no longer responsible to the people they are supposed to represent. And, by the way, OPRET is the acronym for Oficina para el Reordenamiento del Transporte.

[Celt202]

Like it or not the Metro will open up two hidden jewels to tourism, Villa Mella and los Guaricanos.

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by Celt202

Like it or not the Metro will open up two hidden jewels to tourism, Villa Mella and los Guaricanos.

Just in case some unwary and naive tourist takes your words seriously, it is important to point out that Villa Mella and Los Guaricanos have the highest homicide rates in the entire country (according to official police and district attorney's office sources).

[Rick Snyder]

I think Celt was saying that tongue-in-cheek but I could be wrong.

[Celt202]

Originally Posted by Rick Snyder

I think Celt was saying that tongue-in-cheek but I could be wrong.

Tongue firmly in cheek but Mirador 's point is well taken. The unwary and naive get their heads handed to them every day.

They would be well advised to avoid Capotillo, Cristo Rey, la Fe, Villas Agricolas and Villa Juana; in fact any neighborhood abutting Máximo Gómez above John F. Kennedy unless they have a compelling reason to be there.

In fact they should keep their wits about them in any neighborhood anywhere in Santo Tápon.

The metro will expand the transportation possibilities for the majority decent people in those neighborhoods to get to jobs and to free higher education at UASD.

Will the jobs be created?

Look at the map of the London Underground.

London Underground Map

You can live anywhere in London and get to a job across the city easily .

The London system was started with two underground lines in the 1860's and look at it today. Where will the SD system be in 2150?

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by NALs

.... The respected College of Dominican Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors (spanish acronym: CODIA) has concluded that the construction of the metro is being done within the engineering requirements for such type of proyect. CODIA's conclusion is based on technitians from such organization reviewing the the studies that were conducted for the building of the metro. ... -NALs

Diandino Peña admits he does not have the documents requested by Huchi Lora, and that technical studies were not made for the construction of the SD Metro....

From Today's EL DIA

"SANTO DOMINGO.- El director de la Oficina para el Reordenamiento del Transporte (OPRET), Diandino Peña, admitió ayer que iniciaron la construcción del Metro de Santo Domingo sin realizar una serie de estudios, entre los que se encuentran los pedidos por el periodista Huchi Lora."...

[aegap]

However great the Metro turn out to be in the future, this stuff is and will always remain inexcusable, ..criminal too, I'd say.

Not that I sponsor the idea, but can the courts order a pause/halt 'till, say, the government produces the adequate studies?

[Rick Snyder]

In the ongoing conversation concerning the pros and cons of a metro I think it only proper to point out a few facts as they relate to studies that have been carried out around the world over the years.

There has been no proven evidence that a metro system, extension of mass transit, upgrade of public transportation or any of the other transportation plans have reduced the amount of vehicles on the road or have caused vehicle owners to leave their vehicle at home for the purpose of using public transportation. Therefore it seems to be a fallacy held by many that a new, (any form of public transport), system will reduce congestion, smog, amount of vehicles on the road or any other ailments as it has to do with transportation.

So the next question that arises is what can be done to reduce smog, congestion and possibly the number of vehicles on the roads? When talking about congestion, the many stops and starts associated with transportation, studies have shown that there are a number of things that can be done to help ease the problem. The two major fallacies associated with congestion is, “extra road space will just congest as well” and “you can’t build your way out of congestion”. If you implement HOV lanes and toll roads along with a means to determine who is using the specific lanes for payment purposes you will have the vehicle owners paying for the privilege of using same. It has also been proven that private vehicle owners will pay for the ability to reach point B from Point A in a faster and timely manner without the many stops and starts associated with congestion. These means of additional income will help subsidize other areas of transportation also.

When discussing the SD Metro in the scheme of costs it should be understood that in the construction of any such project around the world the original costs quoted has always been well under the cost realized upon completion. Over time all such systems will in fact pay for themselves if they continue to operate long enough. Aside from the fact that the construction costs end up being extremely high that is not where the problem with such systems rests. The problem with all such systems is in their operating costs each year and it has been proven that only one such system in the entire world comes close to meeting such costs without major subsidization. As an example in the US the government subsidies about 80% of all public transportation system operation costs yearly. What makes anyone think that the DR will be any different? It is this continuously needed subsidization from Dominican paid taxes to operate that makes me say that everyone will be forever paying for the operation of this system regardless as to whether a person uses it or not.

Having lived here a couple days I am continuously reminded about how bad things are for Dominicans and how things like crime are on the rise. Knowing the general layout of Santo Domingo and having ridden many metros throughout the world certain images come to mind as they relate to here. I envision a nicely laid out below ground station with people waiting for the next train. Overhead there may or may not be sufficient lighting to enable a person to see his surroundings clearly. Being familiar with the Dominican way of providing maintenance and preventive maintenance along with the quality, or lack thereof, in purchasing replacement parts I am assured that at no time, except on opening day, that there will be sufficient lighting in the underground stations. With such conditions you are in fact inviting the criminal element to come to practice their profession. Do not even attempt to state that the PN will have a handle on this scenario because to date they don’t even have a handle on that which happens above ground. How many Dominican Bernhard Goetz do we have?

Putting all of that aside then the latest statement by OPRET, (oxymoron?), that prior studies in fact weren’t done should bring fear into the hearts of all Dominicans that think they would use this system or have relatives who would use it. This should be proof positive that the Dominican people can’t have any confidence in that which is expressed by those in power. If you place that in conjunction with the possibility of even one prediction of Osiris de Leon happening ……………………….

Rick

[Funnyyale26]

I am probably going to get banned from saying this but I will say it anyway.

I wonder why Diandino carried on with this drama over the past two weeks...if they didnt have the geological studies, he should have said it.

Anyways

Rick:
Not to ofend, but I dont understand why you keep repeating everything in every thread. We all know by now that it was wrong to build the metro of SD!For God's sake!

Anyways....I dont agree with some parts of your accessment. In NYC, only a third of the population owns cars..everyone knows that the subway here is very important, NYC wouldnt be NYC without it. The metro is not intended to eliminate the smog and trafic congestion, it works as a COMPLEMENT to the transportation system. Its for the citizens to have OPTIONS regarding their choice of movement.

Dominicans havent learned (in what? 186 years?) that those in power do very little to foster improvement of their lives...are they going to learn it now from this lie from the government? I wish...but you know that it aint happening.