The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[rookzie]

Downtown Circulator Play

 

 

-==-

Edited January 26, 2015 by rookzie

[volsfanwill]

That was the original plan back in the early 70s. But it was decided that auxiliary lanes  on I-24 would serve the same purpose with less expense.

that worked out well.

[CenterHill]

As a traffic Engineer, I was always preferred a roundabout to a traffic signal when appropriate. They are considerably safer as there are no right angle collisions, which are the most deadly. And traffic moves slower, so collisions are less costly. They are passive traffic control and require little maintenance and over-site, unlike traffic signals which are subject to outages and require constant maintenance and timing adjustments to keep up with changing traffic. However, they are limited in how much traffic can be moved efficiently and won't work at very heavily traveled locations. 

 

But it was a hard sell within TDOT to convince some management of the benefits of roundabouts and Tennessee has been slow to embrace the idea.

 

BTW, I drove through the newly opened roundabout on Murphy Road/46th the other day. It is a beautiful piece of design.

 

The talk about Stix got me thinking about this roundabout discussion again.   One location that I've always thought screams for a traffic solution is the Broadway/West End split at 16th.    If you've ever waited for a light there to go "across" traffic (who hasn't), it's a pretty long cycle and things can get backed up during rush hours.     With WES just a big hole in the ground and car lots on all other corners, it seems like now would be the time to undertake such a project, before new construction makes it impossible.   And yes, I'm aware who owns two of those car lots (Mr. Stop Amp).    But this would be a good use of the power of eminent domain, imo.   In fact, I think it would only enhance the value of all nearby properties.   

[rookzie]

The talk about Stix got me thinking about this roundabout discussion again.   One location that I've always thought screams for a traffic solution is the Broadway/West End split at 16th.    If you've ever waited for a light there to go "across" traffic (who hasn't), it's a pretty long cycle and things can get backed up during rush hours.     With WES just a big hole in the ground and car lots on all other corners, it seems like now would be the time to undertake such a project, before new construction makes it impossible.   And yes, I'm aware who owns two of those car lots (Mr. Stop Amp).    But this would be a good use of the power of eminent domain, imo.   In fact, I think it would only enhance the value of all nearby properties.   

 

You'd better become an activist, before Mr. Stop Amp pushes for an historic overlay on his property.

 

Of course few might say that anything about it qualifies as being historic, except perhaps that big ol' neon Pontiac sign, which he had moved onto the side of the building of a former automotive machine supply business, that he bought way back.

 

Of course, I'm just pokin' fun about the overlay.  But you can't put anything past him, can you?

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Edited January 29, 2015 by rookzie

[MidTenn1]

A good walk!

 

Because the feet are an important transportation mode, I thought it would be appropriate to post this subject here.

 

I have a fuzzy memory of a post, somewhere, years ago, in this forum about criticism of Nashville's lack of walkability as it relates to traveling through interesting neighborhoods. Some national spokesperson did a walk from I believe from Hillsboro Village to downtown and lamented the fact that you had to cross the 'urban desert' (my words) on Broadway where all the car dealers are.

 

A lot has changed in the decade since as the Gulch and Music Row have and are in the process of changing. I have prepared a map with a walk that I believe is a great improvement and will be a path to rival good walks in most cities. 

 

 

It would end/begin at Centennial Park where a very under rated project to restore a stream and a pond is underway. It goes down West End past Vanderbilt to the Broadway split. From there it will go around the music Row Roundabout and down Division to the Gulch. Then down lower Broad, through downtown and eventually to the Capitol Mall Park which is another highly under rated 'place' in this city.

 

You can now, and especially in a few more years, stroll through great urban parks, thriving modern neighborhoods, esteemed academic institutions, historic cultural centers and an under rated downtown area with plenty of places to eat, drink, shop and play. No urban deserts.

 

It's a big change for the good and only getting better.

Edited January 30, 2015 by PHofKS

[Nathan_in_DC]

Certainly would be a more interesting walk than what I usually do when I'm in town. If I'm walking from anywhere, it's usually Hillsboro Village, and I usually just go 21st/Division/Demonbreun to get to the CBD.  Unfortunately, the stretch down Demonbreun between I-40 and 10th is pretty desert-ish.  The long bridge over the rail yards needs some serious pedestrian-friendly improvements, as does the I-40 overpass. To be honest, just a good cleaning of weeds and trash would help it tremendously.

[captainwjm]

I walk daily from midtown to the capitol.  I go across on 19th to Church, then into downtown.  Takes about 40 minutes.

[rookzie]

Certainly would be a more interesting walk than what I usually do when I'm in town. If I'm walking from anywhere, it's usually Hillsboro Village, and I usually just go 21st/Division/Demonbreun to get to the CBD.  Unfortunately, the stretch down Demonbreun between I-40 and 10th is pretty desert-ish.  The long bridge over the rail yards needs some serious pedestrian-friendly improvements, as does the I-40 overpass. To be honest, just a good cleaning of weeds and trash would help it tremendously.

 

 

And as new as the current Demonbreun St. viaduct is, I would have imagined a much more pedestrian friendly conveyance across that thing, than what is now affords.  Oh, it's all Art-Deco and Art-Moderne and whatnot fancy.  The north-side walkway is so-so, but the south-side?  Well that's hell, IMO, because it's narrow to the extent of not permitting two decent sized pedestrians to pass each other, without turning edge-wise (or one of them stepping down onto the traffic lane).  To me, designing that replacement bridge, as it is, was a rather backwards move for this day and age, to say the very least.

 

I did a walk across that thing back last November early a few weekday mornings, as I was hoofing it to work, and I recall the first time crossing it, dodging traffic just to J-walk my way from the south walkway to more room on the north side.  And as I recall, even the bridge which got replaced had been "safer" to traverse by foot than the current one.  This would be a municipal issue rather than a State responsibility, I would think, and that alone to some would be a justification for that dedicated pedestrian bridge of late, although that one would take me out of the way from my target path.

 

As far as weeds are concerned, that, too, could be better dealt with by the city as a whole, not just on that path.  I see that even at underpasses below roadways and the train tracks, even to the extent of vines and "stink" trees evolving from retaining walls and sidewalks.  Again, I believe that this is a Metro concern to remove uncultivated vegetation regularly.  Pedestrians should not be expected to get on the phone and report some unanticipated encounter with a vine slapping them in the face.

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Edited January 31, 2015 by rookzie

[Nathan_in_DC]

You are correct, the city as a whole does a terrible job of keeping sidewalks and other pedestrian areas clear of vegetation. It's little stuff like this that can go a long way to making the city a better place to live.  You can have the nicest, newest, roads, civic buildings, public transit, shops, etc., but if your streets and sidewalks have grass and vines sprouting from every crack, you end up looking like a rust-belt town that no one ever walks through.  Probably one of the easiest little fixes metro could make, but one of the least likely to actually happen I fear.

[bwithers1]

You are correct, the city as a whole does a terrible job of keeping sidewalks and other pedestrian areas clear of vegetation. It's little stuff like this that can go a long way to making the city a better place to live.  You can have the nicest, newest, roads, civic buildings, public transit, shops, etc., but if your streets and sidewalks have grass and vines sprouting from every crack, you end up looking like a rust-belt town that no one ever walks through.  Probably one of the easiest little fixes metro could make, but one of the least likely to actually happen I fear.

The Metro Parks and Metro Public Works departments taken so many consecutive staff cuts in the Metro budget year after year after year that there are scarcely the employees on the payroll to keep up with cutting grass on Metro-owned right-of-way.  In fact, quite a bit of the grass cutting that does take place on public right-of-way is via the Sheriff's Department labor.  It sometimes seems that only NES is trimming trees.  Many of the attractive parks and well-manicured public spaces in Nashville rely on volunteer "Friends" affinity groups or Hands On Nashville projects to make transformations or to remove invasive plants.

 

This situation is part of the irony of Nashville:  our city has invested fairly heavily in sporting arenas as well as other new municipal buildings, and those certainly have their place, but the neglect that continues in the city as a whole certainly contributes to a "down-and-out" feel for residents and even visitors despite those very high-profile projects.  

 

I am heartened to hear several of the mayoral candidates speak about wanting to prioritize general "unglamorous" but very necessary infrastructure improvements in their administrations. 

Edited February 2, 2015 by bwithers1

[grilled_cheese]

When did they put parking meters on Gleaves St and why are they COIN operated?  What year is it?

[smeagolsfree]

They have been there almost a year. They coin meters are still in use most places. I will say it is getting harder to find free parking anywhere now without walking a number of blocks. For me that's not a problem.

[grilled_cheese]

They have been there almost a year. They coin meters are still in use most places. I will say it is getting harder to find free parking anywhere now without walking a number of blocks. For me that's not a problem.

 

Walking is not a problem.  I was just used to that street being free and was on a bit of a time crunch, didn't have time to go looking for a free spot.  Meters should have the option of paying with that parking meter app, I used one in Asheville and it was awesome.

[rookzie]

Walking is not a problem.  I was just used to that street being free and was on a bit of a time crunch, didn't have time to go looking for a free spot.  Meters should have the option of paying with that parking meter app, I used one in Asheville and it was awesome.

 

I do agree in this day and age, since such appliances are not that new of a novelty.  The "It" city has a mountain of catching up to transform its infrastructure to contemporary, de facto practices elsewhere.  You might not have realized that the illuminated green-and-white street-name signs (for which it is acknowledged that they do require added funding), found in a number of intersections within downtown Nashv'l, had been abound in a number of larger and even much smaller cities much earlier than they had been showing up in DT Nashv'l.

In the case of parking meters, they are rather an amenity relating much more to convenience than to roadway navigability.  They do come with an initial high-cost infrastructure overhead, and my hope is that more attention will be directed to funding at least trial installations of these things in the CBD, as a measure of encouragement and assurance for the many of those who likely would use them.  An added benefit would be giving parking customers the ability to make an initial payment at the meter via credit card or coin and then to be able to extend their time by mobile payment, up to the maximum allowable time, and additionally to offer remote payment capabilities for extending parking "sessions", without parkers having to be physically present at the meter.  And as if that weren't enough, some systems can be set up as nodes to permit compatibility with either the vendors' mobile apps or those of third-party, to allow users to more easily locate vacated parking spaces, the vendors' apps having this real-time GPS mapping integrated with parking sensors. (of course, crowd-sourcing apps independently assist with seeking open spaces with mixed results)  Gleaves Street might be on the other side of the tracks, so to speak (and literally), but it is located right smack in the middle of some major diverse activity.  Parking patrons in that little zone would be high game for such an enhancement.

-==-

 

Edited February 7, 2015 by rookzie

[PruneTracy]

Of course, there is a low-cost solution to regulate on-street parking that requires neither street furniture nor fancy smartphone apps—

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_parking

 

—But while that fills the original role of metered parking, i.e., to increase turnover of spaces and discourage long-term parking, it doesn't serve as a revenue stream, and we simply can't do without that, now can we.

[Hey_Hey]

I recently rode the Music City Circuit, and I wanted to write a small report about how much I liked it. I don't regularly ride public transit in Nashville. My work schedule and location really precludes any type of public transit use for commuting. However, in the past I have not used public transit to get around my neighborhood or downtown which is primarily due to lack of frequent service and not knowing where buses are (I think I would use it more frequently if I had an app that showed locations of the buses). 

 

A few things:

1. Public transit downtown is actually used quite heavily. While waiting for the Green Line I saw several busses pass that were standing room only. I was pleasantly surprised.

2. Having the route on the sign at the pickup spots helps know where I am and where Im going. It makes it feel different than riding the regular bus. 

3. Free is good, but I wouldn't mind paying a small to ride a bus that got me somewhere quickly and efficiently.

4. Having regular, short interval service is critically important for getting people like me to use transit regularly. I don't ride for economic purposes. I ride for convenience purposes and it must be convenient to draw me onto the bus. The Music City Circuit achieves this.

5. Music City circuit needs to have a loop that extends to Midtown. Running a loop from 4th and Broadway down broadway to Edgehill and then up 16th/Demonbreun to 4th Ave would connect Midtown to Downtown. 

6. Having an app that has locations is critical for convenience riders. I think we'd see many once a week riders turn out if the app was available. 

[MidTenn1]

1. They need to have better designated loading points.
2. Build a platform just off the sidewalk with room for the vehicle to pull out of the street.
3. Make it architecturally unique and immediately identifiable (something with a guitar?).
4. Put digital signs with schedules and route number and good, simple maps.
5. Make it simple so you can get anywhere in the core (G'town, Downtown, Mid Town, the Gulch, So-Bro) with no more than one transfer.
6. Charge a dollar.
7. Make transfer stations at the extreme points so suburban MTA users can transfer and have more flexibility in there morning commute.
8. Use electric vehicles, ala Chattanooga.

[grilled_cheese]

6. Having an app that has locations is critical for convenience riders. I think we'd see many once a week riders turn out if the app was available. 

 

I have brought this up several times before.  I know that Memphis and Nashville, pre-flood, were using the same firm to build out a smart phone bus app.  It was not going to have GPS location at this time but it would assist in providing the user with route and stop directions.  When the flood hit it cause the firm to stop work and the project basically fell apart in Nashville.  Memphis was able to keep moving forward and I believe their app is live now (someone correct me if I'm wrong).  As of today Nashville has had to get new bids on the contract due to the previous firm dropping out due to the long delay the flood caused.

 

I also wish there was another option for payment.  Having to deal with cash is a hassle as the fee is not a round number.  We are able to swipe change or multi pass cards, why can't they build out the buses to accept debit/cc swipes?

[rookzie]

I have brought this up several times before.  I know that Memphis and Nashville, pre-flood, were using the same firm to build out a smart phone bus app.  It was not going to have GPS location at this time but it would assist in providing the user with route and stop directions.  When the flood hit it cause the firm to stop work and the project basically fell apart in Nashville.  Memphis was able to keep moving forward and I believe their app is live now (someone correct me if I'm wrong).  As of today Nashville has had to get new bids on the contract due to the previous firm dropping out due to the long delay the flood caused.

 

I also wish there was another option for payment.  Having to deal with cash is a hassle as the fee is not a round number.  We are able to swipe change or multi pass cards, why can't they build out the buses to accept debit/cc swipes?

 

Well, now that you mention the "ante/post-diluvian' period (2010) of Nashv'l, that probably has had a related impact on the MTA and its priorities as a whole, since at one time after the migration from open-air Deaderick Street to MCCentral, bus fareboxes did allow credit/debit cards, on some of the 2009 delivered NABI "artics" (60-ft articlated) buses and the newer 40ft Gillig hybrid-diesels.  I recall that the set-up had been rife with failures, including some reported discovery that some patrons may have contrived a means of fare evasion due to some card-reader exploit ─ I really cannot be certain ─ but evidently MTA permanently tabled that provision, as well as the real-time app.

-==-

[Hey_Hey]

I thought MTA received a grant allowing every bus to have real time GPS available. Once that is in place MTA can open up the data to developers who will construct the app. That's the way it works in most cities. In all honesty, they could probably hack-a-thon it.

[rookzie]

I thought MTA received a grant allowing every bus to have real time GPS available. Once that is in place MTA can open up the data to developers who will construct the app. That's the way it works in most cities. In all honesty, they could probably hack-a-thon it.

 

Evidently there has been a whole lot going on behind the scenes with the MTA that have not been transparent. (you think?)

 

All its buses already have been utilizing AVS (automatic vehicle location) using GPS (combined with other technology when GPS "illumination" is poor) in operation for few years now, and that's how dispatchers know where a bus is w/r/t at the time-point locations. designated for a particular route assignment.  In addition to continuous monitoring of bus performance, it has allowed automatic remote notification of extended stop periods such as during an incident when my bus had just been involved in an accident.  And I believe that the real-time data already has been made officially available to app vendors.  This is the reason that a number of us have openly aired our discontent about the local transit system, and all its purported improvements (a few of which have been agreeably beneficial).  But for Nashv'l as a whole with its burgeoning attraction and international visibility, it's been like wearing a tuxedo with undersized tennis shoes inside a Plymouth Fury station wagon (not to step on anyone's toes).

-==-

Edited February 9, 2015 by rookzie

[drewbert]

There's already a pretty good iPhone app I use that gives me the scheduled data and draws a dot on the map for where the bus *should* be. For cities that have GPS on their buses, that same app updates live. Presumably there's an Android equivalent. As far as I'm concerned, there's no need to build a new app, just release the data.

 

I'd be happy with ticket kiosks at MCC that actually take my credit cards, or RFID cards like Metro students have.

 

I do think some things are slowly beginning to change, by the way. I've noticed that MTA is finally regularly using Twitter to announce delays and detours as they happen. That sounds like a little thing, but it's big if you're wondering where the heck your bus is.

Edited February 7, 2015 by drewbert

[rookzie]

There's already a pretty good iPhone app I use that gives me the scheduled data and draws a dot on the map for where the bus *should* be. For cities that have GPS on their buses, that same app updates live. Presumably there's an Android equivalent. As far as I'm concerned, there's no need to build a new app, just release the data.

 

I'd be happy with ticket kiosks at MCC that actually take my credit cards, or RFID cards like Metro students have.

 

I do think some things are slowly beginning to change, by the way. I've noticed that MTA is finally regularly using Twitter to announce delays and detours as they happen. That sounds like a little thing, but it's big if you're wondering where the heck your bus is.

 

While Twitter is better than nothing, a user should not have to know how to rely on crowd-sourcing apps to find out where her/his bus is located, especially with still a need to extrapolate a probable location and expected delay before a bus' arrival at the user's location away from a real-time display, that only shows the "scheduled" arrival points (as do those in the main terminal).

 

Even though one does not need a Twitter account to read Tweets, it is a far cry from having true usability to attract and to retain dumb clucks like me, when I unknowingly already missed by just 4 minutes, a bus on a 40-minute headway, and that's its best frequency during rush periods.  This being small and invaluable to some (for whom it may afford sufficient "telemetry"), the current Twitter and Google Maps apps (the latter of which I do use occasionally for going to the doctor) will not even come close to matching the efficacy of those tailored apps found for Seattle, DC, ad infinitum.

-==-

Edited February 10, 2015 by rookzie

[grilled_cheese]

^

Agreed.  They should have an official app that sends push notifications with data like that.  Also, you could select lines that affect you and it only lets you know about those.

[drewbert]

I absolutely agree that an app should exist, and not everyone is going to use Twitter... but in the absence of that it's the absolute least they could do to communicate in the case of extreme delays, and until recently they weren't even doing that.

Edited February 8, 2015 by drewbert