Norfolk Light Rail and Transit

[varider]

This must be expanded ASAP or it will fail miserably. The majority of HR residents would have to go out of their way to make use of this train.. almost as if it's an amusment park ride or something. It must be expanded all across the region.

Edited June 22, 2011 by varider

[usermel]

I agree it has to expand with Va-Rider, the problem is the cities never work together. The way for the ENTIRE METRO to grow as Charlotte has in the last 25 years, is for cooperation within the metro area. Norfolk/Va Beach havent be able to do so nor has the other cities is 757! What's so bad is, if the cities would humble themselves as far as who is who and be honest, Norfolk would be the centerpiece city and VA Beach the 2nd city in the metro. Norfolk has the financial center other locales don't as of yet as well as history!!! That said, light rail has to at least cover Va Beach/Norfolk to work and on a larger scale. Its attractive to me as a car owner knowing i can park and catch the train like I did when i stayed in D.C's metro. It went to Northern VA and that helped alot as well as parts of Maryland! Light rail helps make a metro what it is and most large cities or medium sized cities have this type of transportation as well. Its part of the building blocks of what makes a metro! LGNM

[Telmnstr]

Virginia Beach oceanfront picking up town center really would be a winning move.

Flipper McCoys without paying parking. Man.

[zeppelin14]

"Flipper McCoys without paying parking"

This is why Va Beach will never expand the Tide to its city. They want people to spend their money in VB, not Norfolk. They also don't want light rail because they want all of the tourist to stay at the ocean front and not go to Norfolk on a train.

The best way to expand the Tide would be from Newtown Road to the airport. This is the most essential expansion they need to do. Second would be the obvious, to ODU and the Naval Base. To do this, they can't expand from EVMS because there isn't room to do so. The Tide has to have a separate line starting from Monticello, going northbound on Monticello and somehow getting to 35th Street (the widest street with the least traffic plus it is mostly business, not residential) then go north on Hampton Blvd. The final phase would be from the Naval base running along I-564 to I-64 to the airport.

[zeppelin14]

The best expansion to another of the 7 cities would be to Portsmouth. There should be a line from Harbor Park tunneling under the river following the path of I-264 and gong the length of I-264 making stops near the amphitheater, Frederick Blvd, Victory Blvd at TCC, and terminating in Chesapeake where 264, 664, and 64 all merge together with a large parking garage. This line would really help with the downtown tunnel traffic.

[virginia pe]

This is why Va Beach will never expand the Tide to its city. They want people to spend their money in VB, not Norfolk. They also don't want light rail because they want all of the tourist to stay at the ocean front and not go to Norfolk on a train.

That's only half the equation. Remember, the train runs both ways.

Virginia Beach also does not want to make it easy for locals from Norfolk to crowd their precious tourists on the beach. Locals who would ride the Tide to the beach probably will not spend much money at restaurants, and almost certainly will not be renting hotel rooms. If you are not spending big bucks at the beach, Virginia Beach doesn't want you there.

Virginia Beach is not opposed to light rain because of the cost of the train. They are opposed to it because of how it will affect their tourism-based economy, both coming and going.

[Telmnstr]

Wow! Very interesting points.

It would be interesting if Portsmouth jumped on the light rail thing quickly. They are kind of an underdog in the area.

It's been a few days with the train running. It was cute at first, but it's annoying now. DING DING DING DING DING DING DING. Ugh. I went into the office where I "work" which is right next to the station where the library used to be. You could clearly hear the thing in the middle of the building, as well as all of the offices.

Maybe they will turn it down once it's been running for a few weeks.

[Glassoul]

It was interesting to look back at this thread over the years and all the predictions versus the eventual outcome. Even I was overly optimistic.

[varider]

I like hearing the bells downtown. I love light rail. If ridership exceeds expectations (which have been set unbelievably low) then we will expand to the Naval Station/ ODU/VB.. If it doesn't, this may be our lone light rail line/

[zeppelin14]

A new video on the light rail. Basically, it shows how there was a near collision between a car and a train. The train went through an intersection looking at the green light and not the rail light. I must agree that the light rail stop/go lights are easy to confuse with either a vertical or horizontal white line. The 'stop' should be an X instead.

http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-light-rail-traffic,0,3658592.story?track=rss

[jeffconn]

And for the final end of the ODU monorail system. Tonight, July 19, i saw the monorail car towed down 44th Street, ready to move on to somewhere else soon. I assume, to be taken apart and scrapped.

[urbanlife]

sad to see, though I never really understood the point of the ODU monorail. It wasn't traveling that far of a distance, it wasn't crossing any terrain or water to make it a more direct route to take, it didn't seem like it went from the core of the dorms to the core of the classes. It sort of seemed like a big waste of money from the beginning. I would of thought a streetcar loop through campus that could connect itself with other neighborhoods and possibly downtown would of been more beneficial than this ever was. Sure it was a neat idea, just never saw the point in it beyond that.

[virginia pe]

sad to see, though I never really understood the point of the ODU monorail. It wasn't traveling that far of a distance, it wasn't crossing any terrain or water to make it a more direct route to take, it didn't seem like it went from the core of the dorms to the core of the classes. It sort of seemed like a big waste of money from the beginning. I would of thought a streetcar loop through campus that could connect itself with other neighborhoods and possibly downtown would of been more beneficial than this ever was. Sure it was a neat idea, just never saw the point in it beyond that.

The ODU monorail was never intended to be a means of transportation. It was a test track to test new technology. If it had been successful, it would have put ODU on the map in some engineering and research circles. Originally, all or most of the funding was to come from the developer, not the university. It was a good opportunity for ODU. Unfortunately, they were not able to overcome problems with the new technology (the train gyrated too much for passenger comfort as it moved down the rail using magnetic levitaiton), and the project failed.

[urbanlife]

The ODU monorail was never intended to be a means of transportation. It was a test track to test new technology. If it had been successful, it would have put ODU on the map in some engineering and research circles. Originally, all or most of the funding was to come from the developer, not the university. It was a good opportunity for ODU. Unfortunately, they were not able to overcome problems with the new technology (the train gyrated too much for passenger comfort as it moved down the rail using magnetic levitaiton), and the project failed.

Well that is good to know...well not the failing part, but the being an engineering project. I only remember vaguely hearing about this when I moved away, so I never saw it in action of knew much about why it was being built in the first place.

[757Duke]

Students and faculty at Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University and Eastern Virginia Medical School will be able to ride light rail, buses and ferries for free. So can Norfolk Southern Corp. employees.

Hampton Roads Transit leaders are making deals around town: Pay us a lump sum and your people don't pay.

http://hamptonroads....-rides#comments

[varider]

With exactly three weeks until the grand opening..anybody up for ridership predictions?

Does anyone plan on riding the rail on a regular basis?

[jeffconn]

With exactly three weeks until the grand opening..anybody up for ridership predictions?

Does anyone plan on riding the rail on a regular basis?

Absolutely. I live near Larchmont, and i'll take #2 or #16 to the EVMS stop, then ride the Tide to TCC 5 days a week.

[usermel]

There going to have to expand The Tide. Im hearing alot of people saying they will use it. This Tide light rail clearly needs to be expanded southside to Portsmouth,Chesapeake,Virginia Beach! Eventually, The Peninsula needs its own version and one day over the water so those on the southside and peninsula can go back and forth over the water. My lady is going to use it and she is excited like its Christmas! This is looking like something the city of Norfolk did right. LGNM

Edited July 30, 2011 by usermel

[jeffconn]

New bus service starts this Sunday! Most of the new bus routes are posted on http://gohrt.com now. Norfolk routes are going through a big change. Route 310 is a goner. Route 4 becomes an hourly ODU/downtown shuttle. Route 17 (the NET) will start charging the normal fare and goes all the way to the Fort Norfolk Tide stop during rush hours and weekends. And the new Route 16 gives service between ODU, Colley Avenue and the Fort Norfolk Tide stop. Five buses will stop at the Fort Norfolk station, so it looks like Norfolk has a new bus transfer station.

Edited August 3, 2011 by jeffconn

[jeffconn]

Two articles in today's V-P about the Tide.

On Friday, there will protesters and supporters of the Tide at the Newtown Road station, and also in downtown Norfolk.

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/08/rallies-against-va-beach-light-rail-mark-debut

And, surprisingly, the Tide's construction costs will end up being $20 million LESS than the last prediction.

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/08/tide-construction-end-about-20m-below-revised-budget

Do yourself a favor. Ignore the comments after the stories. It's just too dang depressing.

[urbanvb]

Anyone plan on riding on opening day?

[urbanlife]

Very cool, and I never really waste my time reading comments at the end of an article cause it always seems to be the same batch of people writing the same comments, and when you break it down to how many people actually commented on an article you would realize it is only just a very, very small fraction of people that read it.

[BFG]

Negativity on the Pilot site is nothing new. They've got to be the most miserable bunch of people I've ever seen in my life. They hate anything related to moving toward the future...I found it interesting that the Pilot recently wrote an article comparing The Tide to Charlotte's system, which had the same exact startup problems, and runs just fine now.

The only thing is, Norfolk has to extend their line immediately.

[jeffconn]

I'm not riding on opening day, but my wife wants to ride the whole distance (and back) on Saturday, just to say we did it.

[urbanlife]

Negativity on the Pilot site is nothing new. They've got to be the most miserable bunch of people I've ever seen in my life. They hate anything related to moving toward the future...I found it interesting that the Pilot recently wrote an article comparing The Tide to Charlotte's system, which had the same exact startup problems, and runs just fine now.

The only thing is, Norfolk has to extend their line immediately.

Negative comments on newspaper sites are always entertaining. If you read the comments that get posted on the Oregonian here in Portland, you would think Portland was the biggest conservative city in Oregon, but it is the complete opposite. I am really excited about this LRT for Norfolk and I hope they really run with it as the system expands. As I pointed out in a thread I started, I think the smart move for Norfolk would be to go it alone and turn their own city into a transportation city, making it easy to commute by bus and rail, and if any of the other cities wish to join into it then they can. It would make it much easier for Norfolk to lobby for money without having to deal with the politics of the other cities, and it would allow them to focus attention on making their own city better within the region.I always like to point out that land wise, Norfolk is roughly the same size as San Fransisco and Boston, so there is no excuse for them to act more like those two cities when it comes to transportation.