Elevated portions could minimize traffic disruption. This is only a paragraph about the idea, not a plan for design. Certainly this city has the engineers to consider the HOW's, and to address feasibility. It does have the potential of being useful.

The shuttle system has it's problems, to be sure. Traveling the length of Huntsville,from the A&M area to south Huntsville could take hours.

With a north-south axis such as this rail line, the shuttles could provide east-west transit along it's length.

I agree that a rail system of some sort would be beneficial. The shuttle service is not a quick alternative to driving. A system that connects the outside city to the city would be a benefit. We could save money on gas and vehicles. I'm all for it. We have discussed this type of travel for years where I work saying we don't understand why they don't try something like that.

Public transportation in Huntsville would be difficult to implement. Yes, we have the shuttle, but it is underused. Mainly because it is less convenient that just driving. It is necessary for people without transportation, but for everyone else, it just doesn't make sense. The rail system would be just as underused. The most common use for mass transit is for the work commute and this simply isn't practical for the large percentage of our population that works on the arsenal. Also, our city has too much sprawl. Public transportation hubs need to be within walking distance to a person's residence before they will see much use, otherwise they will just drive themselves. We would need a much more densely populated city before this would become practical. However, if this rail would encourage less sprawl and a more centralized population, then I'm all for it. I personally love public transportation. I just don't see a rail line happening here. What I could see is a Bus system similar to the one in Honolulu.

This sounds like an excellent idea. It might not work today but--think ahead. As gas prices keep going up don't you think people will be looking at alternative transportation (if there is any available)?

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