Norfolk Light Rail and Transit

[brikkman]

I would not get caught up on those numbers, although I believe they are high. The last few weeks I have rode on the train, there were not counters on the train. And I've ridden plenty of times.

I was on last night as well, had a small chat with the police, ask if they gave out any tickets. She said she wrote two that day. And said she had caught with a few this week. One dismissed and two fined.

So it seems people are trying their best to cheat the system.

[vdogg]

I would not get caught up on those numbers, although I believe they are high. The last few weeks I have rode on the train, there were not counters on the train. And I've ridden plenty of times.

I was on last night as well, had a small chat with the police, ask if they gave out any tickets. She said she wrote two that day. And said she had caught with a few this week. One dismissed and two fined.

So it seems people are trying their best to cheat the system.

The counters are automatic. They count you as soon as you walk through the door. They had people counting the first week to verify the count of the automatic counters.

[brikkman]

ohhhhh, didn't know that was actually true. Seen some commenters on the pilot mentioned it, but I thought they were just throwing hissy fits.

Wow, that's cool.

I like the police presence on the trains, it adds a touch of seriousiness and it is reassuring.

I still think the light coordination at boush street is off. The train should not have to stop there.

The question for me is this:

How will it perform in cold weather months and what will they do about the parade?

Wonder if the train has a battery just incase an outage....?

[usermel]

Light Rail seems to be of good use. Very good way to save gas. Hope once the newness goes away the use stays steady so expansion is a must based on how good the 1st track does. Would love to see Light Rail regionally. LGNM

[vdogg]

ohhhhh, didn't know that was actually true. Seen some commenters on the pilot mentioned it, but I thought they were just throwing hissy fits.

Wow, that's cool.

I like the police presence on the trains, it adds a touch of seriousiness and it is reassuring.

I still think the light coordination at boush street is off. The train should not have to stop there.

The question for me is this:

How will it perform in cold weather months and what will they do about the parade?

Wonder if the train has a battery just incase an outage....?

Honestly, I think usage will increase up until after Christmas, since people will use it as an easy way to not have to find and pay for parking at the mall. Will prob level off until spring after that.

[BFG]

The light cycle at Boush and Bute needs work. I take Bute as a way to avoid parts of Brambleton, but there's times where all four directions have a red light for a while (about :15-30), but the train's not coming either.

[jeffconn]

Article from a few days ago, about the new Amtrak train station next to Harbor Park:

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/norfolk-starts-preparations-amtrak-train-service

[varider]

7640 rode on Saturday

[vdogg]

I was one of them. Tried (and failed) to catch the end of WineFest, got there just as it was letting out. It was a sight to behold too, those folks were LIT, lol. Anyway, all the trains were packed and the musicians and impromptu performances of Shakespeare really helped be a fun night. Also, this is the first time I've ever seen the military Hwy park and ride full. I think most of those folks were for WineFest. Almost everyone on my train got off at the Newtown stop (that's a hint Va. Beach ).

[Former Resident of HR]

Do the ODU/NOB route along the w side of the city and you increase ridership to about 20k+ trips a day.

I think saying it could "go around" West Ghent is a colossal mistake. Tellingly out of touch and typical of Fraim. It would be a better bet for the city to split the line at Monticello, sending that line up Monticello to about 20th then have it zig zag around the IHOP, follow 22nd Street and then jump over those tracks somewhere, meet up with Hampton Boulevard where it is five/six lanes/has a median and then go up from there.

The only way I can imagine it going around West Ghent means up the Elizabeth River Trail which is a highly used bicycle trail and a neighborhood with a fierce civic league or over the water. Both of which would mean no stops in areas that are desirable. I don't see a point in it going all the way up Granby unless there was a street car type link to go and do a loop down like 35th to ODU and 38th back?

And speaking of... it would be cool if Norfolk and even VB would start looking at streetcar links to the line that would have their own right of way as streetcars are much cheaper and possibly more likely to get federal funding.

[jeffconn]

How about a branch line going down Monticello, turn left at 35th to Hampton Blvd, then straight on to NOB?

[lil-bear]

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/norfolk-amtrak-schedule-will-allow-day-trips-dc

It's funny, $60 one way.....isn't that about the same to fly to DC?

Hmmmmmm....3 & 1/2 hours on train or 30 to 45 minutes by airplane? LOL

[brikkman]

Yeah, I think that will change as it comes near the date. It will be enough complaints and things like that to bring it down. Especially when you can go to NN for 40 bucks one way. I say make it 30 bucks, I think you will have more students opp to do that.

I do selfishly hope they make a real station, I really want to see harbor park become a destination.

[brikkman]

So as I predict, this will determine what numbers LRT will have overall as the cold starts in the area. For all its nice-ness, people who have truly converted will be the riders of LRT. The people who ride it because its a nice change, etc.. will switch back to their cars. If the numbers stay constant, I think we can consider LRT a successful investment into our area. Everyday, I'm hoping some investor swoops in to handle that macy's lot and fort Norfolk.

In order news, i'm a little disappointed of Norfolk's 2030 masterplan. Seems a little conservative, not much expansion of DT.

[lil-bear]

Not to hyjack this thread, but I hope that the 3rd anchor lot get developed with Macy's in play in some capacity. With the light rail station so close, the city and the mall need to agressively market that lot. Something like the first three floors a new regional flagship Macy's (close the Macy's at Military Circle), and offices and apartments above that. There could easily be a 30 floor tower there!

[lil-bear]

I remember when it was reported about Norfolk officials looking into expanding the Tide within city limits, they were throwing out many senarios. Here is my idea for expanding the Tide in Norfolk.

Begin at the Military HWY station and head north. Flying over I264 and over Military HWY. Wrap around to the back of Military Circle Mall. (where the bus transfer station is. (MILITARY CIRCLE STATION)

Continue north over VB BLVD to JANAF. (JANAF STATION)

Continue north on Military HWY, fly over Princess Anne Rd / Northampton BLVD intersection. (LAKE WRIGHT STATION)

Continue north on Military HWY under I64, right turn to Robin Hood Rd. Road turns into Airport Rd. (NORFOLK INT STATION)

Head West on Norview Ave, over Military HWY, over I64 to Five Points (NORVIEW STATION)

Head north on Sewells Point Rd. from Five Points to Little Creek Rd. (SOUTHERN SHOPPING STATION)

Head west on Little Creek Rd under I64 (WARDS CORNER STATION)

Head west from Wards Corner running next to I564 to the Exchange complex just outside main gate.(NORFOLK NAVAL STATION)

I know it is very ambitious, but it will stop all all major commercial districts in the city outside DT/Ghent, plus stop at the airport and Naval Base! Also, the city could make a complete loop within the city with expanding the line down Hampton BLVD to the Fort Norfolk station.

[brikkman]

Not to hyjack this thread, but I hope that the 3rd anchor lot get developed with Macy's in play in some capacity. With the light rail station so close, the city and the mall need to agressively market that lot. Something like the first three floors a new regional flagship Macy's (close the Macy's at Military Circle), and offices and apartments above that. There could easily be a 30 floor tower there!

Actually, I would prefer a more of entertainment/apt there. We have to bring back classic things to dt, like bowling, jillians, unique urban bars (like a piano bar, sky bar/observation bar, etc...) and just a place were people can gather. I think the mall being adjacent to that is a great way to explode that area into something people want to venture to. The federal building and Dillard's cuts off so much potential on that leg of monticello, the land must be used accordingly. That should be prime land right now more so than waterside. They some how have to create something that keeps activity prevelant on monticello to showcase the actual numbers in DT during anytime.

[ronsmytheiii]

Tidewater Community College is the latest institution to pay Hampton Roads Transit a set fee for its students and staff to ride light rail, buses and ferries for free.Close to 30,000 students, faculty and staff can ride transit at no charge Jan. 1 through June 30 next year.TCC will pay HRT just over $92,000 for half the year.

TCC joins Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk Southern Corp., Portfolio Recovery Associates and Glasser & Glasser as participants in HRT’s GoPass 365 program.In all 63,674 people are covered in the program. In exchange, HRT collects $426,490 in revenue.

Virginia Tech has a similar deal with Blacksburg Transit, and helps to provide steady income for transit operations and provides easy access to and from campus, win-win in both cases.

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/11/tcc-pay-hrt-cover-rides-students-and-staff

Edited November 3, 2011 by ronsmytheiii

[brikkman]

HRT has a new site and label's ridership for all services now.

Over this past weekend, 12000 rode the tide (friday through sunday)

not bad, not bad at all.

87k bus

2k ferry

I can't wait to see the jan, and feb numbers.

Ridership has increased by a couple of hundred as well. I suspect more with TCC agreement.

[jeffconn]

Ridership has increased by a couple of hundred as well. I suspect more with TCC agreement.

I'm looking forward to this agreement. I'm a TCC student (thank you, GI Bill) and so are my 2 sons. This saves us $150 each month.

[urbanvb]

I'm very much surprised no one has posted this yet.

Public on board with expanding light rail

The VB council won't decide anything until late 2013 so we have a long wait in front of us.

[ronsmytheiii]

Rode the Tide for the first time to and from Downtown for the Grand Illumination parade. Going in the seats were full but only a couple people standing at about 4:30. Leaving the parade, there was a mad rush for the trains. Took about three trains to get on, all stuffed to the brim. My family and I were the last ones on the train, and did not allow anyone else to get on as it went back to Newtown. The Newtown parking lot was filled over capacity, some cars were even parked beside the curb.

[BFG]

12,000 rode yesterday, per Philip Shucet.

[jeffconn]

12,000 rode yesterday, per Philip Shucet.

Yep, according to HRT's facebook page, 12,567 people rode the Tide on Saturday to see the Grand Illumination Parade, the biggest day since the freebie weeks. HRT is expecting a big crowd on Black Friday as well.

FYI, the ferry had 4,859 riders on Saturday. Normal ridership on Saturday is less than 1,000.

[urbanlife]

Those are some damn good ridership numbers for a line that really doesn't connect to much..heck, even Seattle's light rail line when it first opened in 2009 was showing about the same numbers and have now risen to about 24000. The best thing Norfolk can do is to put together a team that main focus is expanding the rail within the city and to its neighbors.

Norfolk should be focusing on extending this to NOB, ODU, and the airport, and leave it up to VaBeach to pull their heads out of the sand to do their part in expanding the line to the oceanfront.

Edited November 22, 2011 by urbanlife