Greenville Transit

[goodbye]

This discussion should be directed toward managing connectivity along Woodruff Road, not downtown. People will likely choose to ride into downtown and find a way to arrive at their destination, but navigating the region's busiest suburban retail corridor would be much more complex and inefficient.

[GvilleSC]

This discussion should be directed toward managing connectivity along Woodruff Road, not downtown. People will likely choose to ride into downtown and find a way to arrive at their destination, but navigating the region's busiest suburban retail corridor would be much more complex and inefficient.

Which would come down to appropriate zoning being established around ALL stations. While a different beast in many respects, Ballston-Rosalyn corridor in Arlington is great example of how zoning needs to work around fixed transit.

[goodbye]

This is precisely the reason I have longed for dramatic changes to the development of suburban retail districts. If we want mass transit systems to work in the Upstate (and we should because the area is growing steadily), then we need to encourage more sustainable growth in high density retail/commercial/residential clusters rather than the same low density sprawl that has increased automobile traffic congestion and discouraged pedestrian activity for decades. Woodruff Road is a perfect example of poor long-term planning. Widening is now very expensive and would not solve the traffic problem without a transition to higher density development.

[gvegascple]

Sorry, still seems weird to me.  It seems like that since 1975, throughout the entire planet earth, there has been 4 successful applications of this, and I am using successful liberally as some of these uses amount to an airport shuttle or limited to a college campus.  I love Greenville as much as anyone and truly believe it is a very special place, and with all the mojo we have, if no one else on the earth has been able to find a feasible use for this, I doubt it makes sense, even here.  I will be happy to be wrong, so more power to those behind it, I just wouldnt put my money behind it.

[Jet-set]

Taxi 2000 is the only one left:

 

http://gsabusiness.com/news/54765-one-automated-transit-company-makes-cut-for-greenville-county?rss=0

[gman430]

Taxi 2000 is the only one left:

http://gsabusiness.com/news/54765-one-automated-transit-company-makes-cut-for-greenville-county?rss=0

This project is officially dead.

[GvilleSC]

This project is officially dead.

That's rather dramatic. I think it's probably smart to step back and analyze things. We want this to be successful when it happens.

[Jet-set]

Article said what we all knew: they completely rushed it.

[Jet-set]

http://www.greenvillebusinessmag.com/View-Article/ArticleID/9517/PHF-unveils-transportation-study-results.aspx

• Greenlink lacks essential operational data, including how many riders enter and exit the buses, which is necessary to know which stops and routes are working and which need to be redesigned.

Hopefully this report will be a catalyst to reworking public transit in Greenville County.

[GVILLETRANS]

On 12/13/2015 at 2:49 PM, Jet-set said:

http://www.greenvillebusinessmag.com/View-Article/ArticleID/9517/PHF-unveils-transportation-study-results.aspx

• Greenlink lacks essential operational data, including how many riders enter and exit the buses, which is necessary to know which stops and routes are working and which need to be redesigned.

Hopefully this report will be a catalyst to reworking public transit in Greenville County.

Getting stop-level data should allow Greenlink to better analyze route performance.  Unfortunately, obtaining this data and analyzing it can be time consuming and very costly...

[Jet-set]

Is it not an investment that should pay for itself?

[GVILLETRANS]

On 12/31/2015 at 5:52 PM, Jet-set said:

Is it not an investment that should pay for itself?

Absolutely, but Greenlink needs the capital to initiate such a project.  From what I understand, all local funds go towards operating the Greenlink buses (salaries, benefits, insurance, etc.), so that leaves the federal & state governments paying for these types of projects.  Not sure that the money is there.

[SVL]

http://upstatebusinessjournal.com/news/greenville-applies-for-50m-transportation-grant/

This would be interesting.

[ausrutherford]

55 minutes ago, SVL said:

http://upstatebusinessjournal.com/news/greenville-applies-for-50m-transportation-grant/

This would be interesting.

There will also be another round of Tiger grants this year so hopefully we can finally get that. 

[SVL]

http://www.wyff4.com/news/Group-asks-city-to-expand-free-downtown-trolley-route/38803262

This proposal seems to make a lot of sense. Hope it works out. I like that the route would go by Universal Joint. Also, check out some of the comments left in WYFF's comment section of this article. They should seriously consider getting rid of the comment section on all their articles. 

 

[NBNY2GRNVL]

I wish they would come deeper into the West End as well. Eventually I think they should go all the way into the village.

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[gman430]

Wishful thinking but we will see how it goes: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2016/07/01/clemsons-transit-agency-seeks-more-electric-buses/86550524/

[gman430]

Good job CAT. As usual, terrible job by Greenlink: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2016/08/01/greenville-rejected-again-bus-funding/87914396/

This doesn't help matters either: https://connect.clemson.edu/tcommute2016/output/video.mp4?session=breezbreezkvcvx7iu63sw8e2i#Tiger Commute Changes 2016

Edited August 2, 2016 by gman430

[SVL]

http://greenvillejournal.com/2017/01/17/proposed-new-trolley-routes-cover-cleveland-park-village-west-greenville/

 

[NBNY2GRNVL]

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Looks like lyft is on the way.

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[bikeoid]

New trolley routes are now running.

[gvegascple]

49 minutes ago, bikeoid said:

New trolley routes are now running.

Something strikes me about the expanded routes and the routes in general now that I think about it.  There are plenty of stops downtown and a good amount on the expanded routes, with one caveat, that they are in affluent areas.  When the route goes through areas that are not affluent, those stops are few and far between to pretty much non existent.  If the goal is to provide a free means for consumers (most likely white affluent ones) to get to different parts of the city where they can shop, that makes sense in a "we dont care about how obviously discriminatory this is" way.

[GvilleSC]

15 minutes ago, gvegascple said:

Something strikes me about the expanded routes and the routes in general now that I think about it.  There are plenty of stops downtown and a good amount on the expanded routes, with one caveat, that they are in affluent areas.  When the route goes through areas that are not affluent, those stops are few and far between to pretty much non existent.  If the goal is to provide a free means for consumers (most likely white affluent ones) to get to different parts of the city where they can shop, that makes sense in a "we dont care about how obviously discriminatory this is" way.

Interesting take. What areas do you suggest that it should serve? Not a lot of poorer areas around downtown are even within the city limits. In many ways this is the right step for Greenville, because if you want to have a viable transit system, you need to recruit those individuals who have the choice of using a car. If you can't get the general population to buy in, you're never going to have the support to grow the bus system or the trolley lines. 

Not to mention, The city needs people coming in and spending money in order to operate this free system. This is a non-PC answer in our sensitive society, but it's true and perhaps unfortunate. 

Edited August 4, 2017 by GvilleSC

[gvegascple]

1 hour ago, GvilleSC said:

Interesting take. What areas do you suggest that it should serve? Not a lot of poorer areas around downtown are even within the city limits. In many ways this is the right step for Greenville, because if you want to have a viable transit system, you need to recruit those individuals who have the choice of using a car. If you can't get the general population to buy in, you're never going to have the support to grow the bus system or the trolley lines. 

Not to mention, The city needs people coming in and spending money in order to operate this free system. This is a non-PC answer in our sensitive society, but it's true and perhaps unfortunate. 

I was going to say just look at the routes and where there are long dead spots without stops, but as I was thinking this, I took another look and I suppose the route equally discriminates against both West Greenville and McDaniel Ave.  It seems to connect shoppers from one area to another mostly.   Which I am all for, I like the idea of the Trolley. I was hoping for more of a connection between residential and shopping areas.  Once I am in a shopping area, I have already either made a long walk or taken my car.  I was hoping for something to allow me to use my car less and its a hard sell, walk five blocks, wait for a trolley, hope there is room, then be dependent on same variables on the way home with another five block walk at the end vs just hopping in my car.  For me I think for that reason its still more of a novelty than a utility.

[bikeoid]

3 hours ago, gvegascple said:

I was going to say just look at the routes and where there are long dead spots without stops, but as I was thinking this, I took another look and I suppose the route equally discriminates against both West Greenville and McDaniel Ave.  It seems to connect shoppers from one area to another mostly.   Which I am all for, I like the idea of the Trolley. I was hoping for more of a connection between residential and shopping areas. 

There could be a more ordinary explanation - new stops for the new trolleys require a concrete landing pad for the wheelchair ramp, as well as enough space to place it.   That is probably why there are fewer stops on new areas of the new routes.   As they evaluate requests and ridership, they will adjust things.