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Roanoke Transportation


vdogg

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Trolleys (without the track) will probably be coming to the Jefferson Street corridor soon. City Council endorsed the idea of having a streetcar circulator in place by the end of next summer. It would run from the market to Rke Memorial, Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 7 pm. Eight stops will have pick ups every 10 minutes, and every 5 minutes from 10 am to 2 pm. It will take 10 minutes to travel from one end of the line to the other. full story

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Trolleys (without the track) will probably be coming to the Jefferson Street corridor soon. City Council endorsed the idea of having a streetcar circulator in place by the end of next summer. It would run from the market to Rke Memorial, Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 7 pm. Eight stops will have pick ups every 10 minutes, and every 5 minutes from 10 am to 2 pm. It will take 10 minutes to travel from one end of the line to the other. full story

I think this is fantastic. There are some saying this makes no sense with real streetcars in the works. I COMPLETELY disagree. This will get people working in the medical campus used to using public transportation because it is free. If successful, it will further justify funding for the rail corridor. This connects Riverside with downtown much more conveniently and visibly than the bus sytem NEXT YEAR instead of 6-7 years from now. That is VERY wise. I know I will use it to grab lunch dowtown from time to time. The Clinic and the medical school will both break ground in the next few months so this will help potentially increase the downtown lunch customers significantly. To me, this is good news.

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I agree. It will provide immediate benefit in solidifying a link between the two areas and will establish the route for the trolley. Additionally, once the 'real' trolley line is established, these nonrail cars could be used to supplement trolley service at peak times.

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Also, I think it is wise to provide the service for free, at least at first. Eventually, after at least 1 year, once the system is extremley saturated with riders, a modest fee, such as a QUARTER (are you reading this Burt?) could be charged to offset some of the cost/help fund the rail streetcar project. Unlimited day,week and monthly passes could be provided at bargain prices. E.g. $1/day for unlimited, $4/week (7 days), and $10/month. And finally, unlimited rides for a year for $50. Maybe I'm thinking about this a little bit too much.

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While I agree its a great idea, I must say its not exactly orginal. I must have been to 10 cities this year that had rubber trolleys. New Idea please?

Original is good, but in this particular case practical trumps it. I'll take these shuttles in whatever form they come in if they come every five minutes over a state of the art, nothing like it berfore, rail car that comes every 1/2 hour. This may pave the way for something cooler if it is heavily used and for that to happen, it HAS to be something people can use easily and conveniently.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ive checked out some rubber trolleys up north recently.

The problems I encountered: Not consistent, only drops off at designated areas, not the smoothest ride, and seasonal.

but it might be different if it comes here.

My guess is that different cities have widely different levels of service provided by rubber trolleys. Fredericksburg, for example, has a trolleys for its historic trolley tour. Trolleys take visitors on a tour of historic sites in old town Fredericksburg with the driver narrating the entire route through an intercom. These trolleys only depart about every half hour, sometimes less frequently or not at all in poorer weather. They are stricly for siteseeing.

The funny thing is that Fredericksburg never had real trolleys.

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Weill, it sounds like you rode stuff geared to tourists. If this is implemented as proposed, it won't be for tourists primarily. It will be for people who live and work in the Jefferson street corridor which is expanding steadily. This will help it expand even more. A FREE ride that come every 10 minutes during work hours and every 5 min from 11-1pm for lunch would make the commute from dowtown to the medical campus VERY easy. If they follow through as proposed, it will make living and working downtown without daily car use a real possibility. This is really nothing but a dressed up bus. As such, I am sure it will be enclosed for winter weather. It's the service frequency that beats the heck out of Velley Metro.

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This service is likely to cause a construction/rehab boom along the Jefferson St. Corridor. Imagine being a young adult with no kids working for Carilion. Now imagine you can live close to the trolley, meaning free transportation to and from work and free transportation to downtown. Even if it is just a fancy looking bus, the frequency/convenience and cost (none) will attract lots of riders. I predict a huge success for this venture. And no matter what the design or which location the 'amphitheater' ends up in, the trolley will serve it well.

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