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CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines


monsoon

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There is something like that already just with not enough funding or authority. CATS is already thinking about commuters into Charlotte and within Charlotte. CATS isn’t just thinking about Charlotte. It is looking at the travel patterns in the surrounding counties looking at ways to provide mobility where people are traveling to especially where they are commuting. From what they have spoken about, it is a moving target and as ideas pop up travel trends change. The commutes of people in the area are dynamic and it is hard to play the catch up game. Especially recently where not everyone has to be in the office 5-days a week. I don’t think the region is ready for that kind of agency or doesn’t work to build it. CATS probably shouldn’t be dissolved as that is unnecessary when you look abroad you could have a conglomeration of transit systems working together which is probably best in this case in this region. I don’t think the wants of the surrounding counties align with their present needs.

(I was going to post this earlier in response but I had forgotten as a saved draft.) Dissolving CATS would put us steps behind as a city and county. There is a lot of commuting within the county that is yet to be addressed.

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On 3/18/2022 at 1:48 PM, ajfunder said:

 

Respectfully, plenty of systems run at much higher frequencies at grade through downtown cores. RTD in Denver runs 4 light rail lines at grade in its downtown loop and the city functions just fine. The Blue Line is even more separated then the RTD loop as the RTD one runs in dedicated lane along traffic lanes. RTD also run 4 car trains.

Thanks. Like I said, I could be wrong.  Though it sounded like CATS hasn't planned the signaling (at least aren't currently planning the Silver Line signaling) to handle that high of frequency.  That could change though or maybe Andy Mock just misspoke.

On 3/18/2022 at 1:48 PM, ajfunder said:

Sub 5 minute headways spread across 2 lines should be easily doable through Uptown, especially considering half of the intersections, and busiest (3rd/4th, Stonewall, Moorehead) are grade separated). 

When you say 5 min headways here, that means a 5 min wait for either a blue line or a silver line train (so a 10 min headway for each line respectively), right?  That seems relatively doable, but I still think a 2-3 minute headway is pushing it with at grade crossings.  But again, I am not at all an expert and don't know much about the mechanics.  I'm just basing that on my experience seeing the gates come down in South End for the blue line.  Since each rail line has trains going in both directions the crossing gates go down twice as often as the headway would suggest (or something near to that). With a buffer for the gates to start coming down before the train gets there and then for them to lift after it's passed, that would only allow for the crossing to be open for an extremely short time. This would not only impair vehicle traffic at the crossing, but pedestrian and bike traffic as well. 

The pictures you posted are more of a streetcar/tram setup, which is a whole different thing, But I could see that working better since the trains would just be mixing with the traffic instead of stopping the traffic (if I understand it right). Many of those pictures remind me of the LRT/trams I used in Nantes, France when I spent a semester there in college.  If only I had had an interest in transit at the time. 

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On 3/19/2022 at 2:56 PM, RANYC said:

Are you advocating to dissolve CATS and transit bodies in these other places (like Concord Kannapolis Area Transit) and replace it with a Regional Authority?  To expand existing CATS with a regional scope and regional funding sources, and just dissolve the other small transit bodies throughout the region?  Or to add a new bureaucracy with regional coverage and regional transportation assets which would operate alongside the other existing yet smaller bureaucracies? 

Is your goal that 75% of all trips by residents in the 4-6 county area that you named above take place with transit?

Do you think regional transit planning and implementation can work without regionally-aligned land-use, zoning, and transit-oriented development all interlocked and considered as a unified whole?  

I'm advocating for something like the former, especially for the communities bordering Mecklenburg County. We can't build and drive our way out of the traffic snarls we've created. I realize once you get past Mooresville, Concord, Waxhaw (maybe Monroe), Rock Hill, Gastonia, it gets really sparse and cars are more necessary. We need some sort of regional unifying body with the power of the purse to knit together the region and invest in the infrastructure and connections as well as forward-thinking land-use policy to ensure a sustainable transportation model. 

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On 3/21/2022 at 10:44 PM, davidclt said:

I'm advocating for something like the former, especially for the communities bordering Mecklenburg County. We can't build and drive our way out of the traffic snarls we've created. I realize once you get past Mooresville, Concord, Waxhaw (maybe Monroe), Rock Hill, Gastonia, it gets really sparse and cars are more necessary. We need some sort of regional unifying body with the power of the purse to knit together the region and invest in the infrastructure and connections as well as forward-thinking land-use policy to ensure a sustainable transportation model. 

Charlotte will likely end up with some kind of 'coordinating authority' that can deal with fare and route planning and ticketing, and leave the capital projects to each individual transit authority for the near term. That would then avoid what happened with MARTA happening here. As things start to move forward then land use planning would come with a further phase.

The best first step is to figure out how to combine the MPOs combined first.

 

IMG_3390.JPG

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Cabarrus County is inching closer in silence below the radar of most naysayers towards putting a possible transit referendum in the next few years. I know for a fact that C-K (Concord-Kannapolis) Rider Transit and Cabarrus County Dial-a-Ride service are initiating the possibility of merging operations. The emerging demographics trends, pockets of development density, and employment/activity centers are forming along the I-85 and US 29/Concord Parkway corridors to support high capacity transit improvements.

The Connect Beyond regional transit study refers to this as proof that Cabarrus and Gaston counties will be the next two to support more higher capacity transit improvements in the next 5-10 years. 

Once that happens, CATS will likely be the legacy regional rail operator due to its institutional knowledge and capabilities. That will necessate a public authority versus a city department existence of CATS to be able gain the support and trust of outlying counties.

Edited by kayman
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St Petersburg FL is rolling out a new BRT service.  I will check it out next visit to the Bay area.  From downtown St Pete to the beach and their downtown which I was at a few years ago is quite vibrant lots of apartments condos and retail. 

https://www.psta.net/about-psta/projects/sunrunner/

opening this year

https://psta.mysocialpinpoint.com/sunrunner_construction

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Vague but interesting tweet of the day:
image.png.daeee279ab58e071612b58c23397dda4.png
Wonder what it will be used for?
EDIT: CBJ sez: 
"This federal investment will help the Charlotte Area Transit System — CATS — continue to modernize its fleet, lower emissions, protect bus drivers and employees, and shorten ride times," she [Alma Adams] said. 
So according to Alma this is mostly going to the operations budget. If we don't see much better Blue Line frequencies I am gonna be ticked!
https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/04/06/charlotte-region-receives-34m-in-transit-funding.html

More cars for the gold line would help frequency… CDOT just needs consider transit like it considers car traffic : (
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21 hours ago, kermit said:

Vague but interesting tweet of the day:

image.png.daeee279ab58e071612b58c23397dda4.png

Wonder what it will be used for?

EDIT: CBJ sez: 

So according to Alma this is mostly going to the operations budget. If we don't see much better Blue Line frequencies I am gonna be ticked!

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/04/06/charlotte-region-receives-34m-in-transit-funding.html

This could be seriously good news for the Gold Line too.

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NC only got $176 Million for Transit???

DC Got $1.2 Billion 

VA got $1.2 Billion

MD got $1.7 Billion

+ a special provision in the infrastructure bill for $150 Million annually through fiscal year 2030 to WMATA (the DC Metro that all three states pay money towards)

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-details-money-going-to-dc-maryland-virginia-fact-check/65-9afb2a39-1f28-4c8b-a212-30b65449dd77

Is it correct NC only got $176M? If that is correct, how was this determined? Did elected representatives purposefully not seek much Transit $'s? Presumably for more Highway & road dollars, I assume.

Edited by AirNostrumMAD
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Virginia will have to spent $2 billion for a single rail bridge (Long Bridge Project). So it's relatively a drop in the bucket. NC lacking major waterways and terrain should make major interstate rail projects relatively affordable...if only the state would invest. 

I think intercity rail needs an improvement within the state more so. Anyone know how people move inside nc? Business/leisure travel between cities? I can’t find any data on intercity travel.
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Is the real time Bus tracking finally arrived?

Quote

Have you downloaded the new and improved CATS-Pass app yet? If not, you are missing out! - Trip Planning in the palm of your hand - Digital ticket purchasing - Real-time GPS bus tracking - More! You can download the app now at: https://bit.ly/2KBJ4gL

 

Edited by XRZ.ME
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