Charlotte Center City Streetcar Network

[kermit]

1 hour ago, go_vertical said:

That's mildly annoying but at least it's finally happening. If Amtrak won't be able to use phase one and no commuter rail to speak of then what will phase one be utilized for? Also, will phase two start immediately after or should we expect a pause in construction?

Originally there was talk of building a temporary station with phase 1 which would allow Amtrak to move, earlier this week I heard from the NCDOT station program manager that the temporary station may not happen so the track improvements and platform would just sit unused until the real station is completed by developers in Phase 2. This was the first I had heard this so perhaps I misunderstood (and perhaps we will be boarding Amtrak trains downtown in two years).

The city hopes phase 2 will start soon after the completion of phase 1, but RFPs to developers have not yet gone out so until developer proposals and contracts are in hand Phase 2 has a very uncertain start date.

[KJHburg]

Here on Easter Sunday a Charlotte trolley jumped the tracks or derailed whatever you want to call it near the Spectrum Center today.  It was human error according to WSOC TV  https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/cats-gold-line-back-on-track-after-brief-derailment/725221182

Edited April 2, 2018 by KJHburg

[Desert Power]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

Here on Easter Sunday a Charlotte trolley jumped the tracks or derailed whatever you want to call it near the Spectrum Center today.  It was human error according to WSOC TV  https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/cats-gold-line-back-on-track-after-brief-derailment/725221182

Quote

Crews are still working to figure out why the streetcar came off the track. There were no passengers onboard and no injuries.

Of course

[videtur quam contuor]

Hard to tell but one rule of trolley operation is NEVER enter switch or curve under power. Coasting only. With power the wheels are driven hard against the rails and with no load (without passengers) the momentum can push the wheels up and over the rail, curve or switch. Even if derail is not the result the pressure against the wheels (or trucks, as it may be called) causes much greater wear and damage. Powering through a switch or curve can be identified by grinding, friction and vibration. 

[tozmervo]

https://m.facebook.com/cityLYNXGoldLineConstructionUpdates/photos/a.612980262123072.1073741828.610399499047815/1795181987236221/?type=3 

Edited May 4, 2018 by tozmervo
Won't embed, giving up for now

[Scribe]

I got it for you...

[15895]

50 minutes ago, Scribe said:

I got it for you...

It should be a gold stripe... maybe it would be ugly gold. 

[UPNoDa]

Yeah, thats not gonna work for most folks.  Out of towners will probably think they are riding the Blue Line....reallly CLT?

[Synopsis101]

1 hour ago, Scribe said:

I got it for you...

Ugly. What a letdown.

[Scribe]

Just now, Synopsis101 said:

Ugly. What a letdown.

It is NOT about pretty or ugly at this point.

The 3 (three) replica cars are causing so much problems with maintenance that it would be good to replace them with buses at this point, to relieve the load on the train car maintenance team.... there was even a Charlotte Observer article ( which makes it legitimate /sarc )

[15895]

People aren’t confused when they board different color lines in other cities and they’re all the trains all look the same.

 

[jtmonk]

Yeah, I don't see a problem with it.  I actually like it.  

[Synopsis101]

I wouldn’t hate it if I didn’t see the Siemens proposal.

[orulz]

Sorry, but CATS needs to completely go back to the drawing board with regards to absolutely 100% of its branding. Gold and black lettering on a blue, silver, and black train? Where on earth did they dig up the font they use for logos? The whole logo looks like they modeled it off of something they found on a web ring using Netscape Navigator some time around 1996.

Do they do all graphic design in house? If so, they need to hire a consultant. If they already have a consultant, they need a new one.

[Crucial_Infra]

27 minutes ago, Synopsis101 said:

I wouldn’t hate it if I didn’t see the Siemens proposal.

Yeah that looks pretty sweet. Then again I do wonder if there's something to having a unified looking brand. 

[Nolan]

Maybe the color scheme is similar to the regular LRV because the streetcar can be used on the Blue Line, CATS mentioned or something similar that the streetcar can be operated on the Blue Line if they have a capacity issue. 

[nakers2]

Saw a rather large crowd of suits getting on the streetcar outbound at the CTC, honestly for all the flak it gets, I don’t foresee any ridership issues come Phase 2. 

[stiluvclt]

Here's a good Street Car route: Gateway Station, South on Mint to BOA Stadium, East on Stonewall to Metropolitan, South on Kenillworth , East on East Blvd , North on Kings Drive and reconnect with that same line at Metropolitan. Think of it : Gateway, Stadium, HOF and residences, Metropolitan, Freedom Park and CMC all on one line.

[15895]

I can’t find the map of the streetcar vision plan that used to be in the 2020 plan or whatever.

 

there was a streetcar that ringed uptown with a route following stonewall, Graham I believe 

[dubone]

5 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I can’t find the map of the streetcar vision plan that used to be in the 2020 plan or whatever.

 

there was a streetcar that ringed uptown with a route following stonewall, Graham I believe 

That concept was extremely short-lived.   it then somewhat morphed into a couple spur lines, like down Seigle.   

[Spartan]

The only streetcar plan, currently, is the one on Trade Street. I think it would be cool to run one up Church and down the median on 10th to Graham Street and then north to Camp North End and Lockwood, etc. or maybe down Oaklawn to the Gold Line on Beatties Ford. Church and 10th are historic routes... the old streetcar being the primary reason for the median on 10th St.

[kermit]

Charlotte was awarded an Urban Circulator grant to build phase 1 of the Gold Line (1.5 miles, $37 million) back in 2010 along with three other cities:

• Fort Worth: aborted their downtown loop streetcar before starting construction
• Cincinnati: their downtown to Over the Rhine line (3.2 miles and $102 million in total costs) opened  nearly two years ago and has struggled with disapointing ridership and operational difficulties. IMO the city is  more likely to shut the line down than expand it.
• St Louis:  Construction on their 2.2 mile ($51 million) streetcar on the Delmar loop finished over a year ago but delays in getting  vehicles deliverd has prevented it from opening yet (the last official opening date was “Spring 2018”). The route is basically for entertainment purposes only, its planned to operate from 11am to 6pm every day other then Friday and Saturday when it will run until 11pm. 

It might be hard to believe but, in hindsight, Charlotte’s starter streetcar segment was relatively well managed despite the vehicle reliability problems that have plauged it since opening. Unlike the other grant reciepient cities, the Gold Line should become a useful element of our transit system in 2020 thanks to  phase 2 paid for with a small starts grant (total costs of phase 1 and 2 should be $163 million for 4 miles, construction costs to city should be roughly $63 million).

Edited July 2, 2018 by kermit

[Hushpuppy321]

I agree that the Goldline will be a good useful element in Charlotte once it's phase II and beyond are completed but I am a firm believer in Light Rail.  I'd like to see the Silver line and Extension to the Airport funded prior to any other Streetcar Legs and/or Phase 3/4 of the Goldline 

Having a dedicated ROW really speeds up transit times and also spurs Private Development.

[kermit]

It appears that Trump's FTA is intentionally not distributing money that was already awarded to projects and not awarding any new New Starts or Small Starts grants. Despite the agency being well funded this year they appear to be stonewalling awards.

Quote

The FTA wrote in its 2019 recommendations (emphasis theirs):

For the remaining projects in the CIG program, FTA is not requesting or recommending funding…

Future investments in new transit projects would be funded by the localities that use and benefit from these localized projects. [interesting that they believe all highway projects are of national interest while transit is thought to only be of local importance]

In other words, the Trump DOT wants to stop federal funding for transit projects. It’s a threat this White House has made before.

Quote

DeFazio, the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the memo “looks like the Koch [ /kak/ ]Brothers sent DOT their instructions.”

This may be a developing problem for the Gold Line. The article discusses the largely complete Albuquerque BRT project which received Small Start funding (like the Gold Line) and speculates that the FTA is delaying paying obligated funds for that project in order to "embarrass the project's backers." I don't know enough about the contractual agreement between Charlotte and the FTA but this threat applies equally to the Gold Line.

This is an even bigger problem for DOLRT, a project which seems to get stuck by lightening several times a year.....

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/07/18/slowly-but-surely-trumps-dot-starves-transit-expansion-projects-of-federal-funds/

Edited July 19, 2018 by kermit

[southslider]

^Full Funding Grant Agreement