Charlotte Center City Streetcar Network

[RANYC]

23 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

The streetcar shouldn’t have been built if 5 minute frequencies can’t be afforded. Because it’s not that useful otherwise (at least 10 minute frequencies) 
 

Who in the world wants to spend 30+ minutes (assume you walk to the station, wait 15 minutes. Then 7 minutes on the streetcar and then another few minutes to where you are going) when you could literally drive to your destination in 7 minutes From door to door.  Or you could scooter in about 10 minutes or Uber.... People wanting to hop to a place like Big Ben and in walking distance of streetcar definitely can afford Uber.

It took nearly 40 minutes to go from my friends place at 550 uptown to Blaze Pizza in SouthEnd using light rail. The Uber ride back was 7 minutes... 

The frequencies need to be better or ridership will not grow. The city should eat the costs. 

Understood.  So if we went out and strongly advocated for 5 minute or perhaps 10 minute frequencies, what would be required? Would that be a couple of additional street cars and new drivers?  Or would that mean shortening the current street car into a single vehicle instead of the dual-vehicle I've been seeing?  I suppose 5-min frequencies would mean Trade Street and Hawthorne would be perenially backed up because there's no lane for motorists to skirt around the street car at its stop.  I wonder how much time they're allotting for people to get on and off the train at each stop - 30 seconds?  60 seconds?  Could that number go down if train stops more frequent?

Edited August 30, 2021 by RANYC

[kermit]

16 minutes ago, RANYC said:

Understood.  So if we went out and strongly advocated for 5 minute or perhaps 10 minute frequencies, what would be required? Would that be a couple of additional street cars and new drivers?  Or would that mean shortening the current street car into a single vehicle instead of the dual-vehicle I've been seeing?  I suppose 5-min frequencies would mean Trade Street and Hawthorne would be perenially backed up because there's no lane for motorists to skirt around the street car at its stop.  I wonder how much time they're allotting for people to get on and off the train at each stop - 30 seconds?  60 seconds?  Could that number go down if train stops more frequent?

Not sure how many more vehicles they would need for five minute service. I believe they have enough to maintain 10 minute service (with one spare vehicle). 

They only use single vehicles on the Gold Line -- they do not have couplers to run 2 vehicles like on the Blue Line. The vehicles are double ended (driver cabins at both ends) since there are no turning loops. There is now way to disassemble these units and have them be operable.

I have not ridden the Gold Line yet but stop times on the Blue Line are generally about 20 seconds, I would think Gold Line would be equal or shorter.

[XRZ.ME]

Employers  are bring back people to office. 

CATS should return to pre-COVID schedule to prepare for this.

 

[nakers2]

Currently riding the full route. Not even done yet, had one “reset” where the train had to turn off and on again, as well as two vehicles on the tracks (will edit if we encounter another) dwell time was 15 mins at the terminus, at which we were forced to vacate the train. Currently some sleazy looking Channel 9 reporter is on here with his cameraman, so I’m curious as to what his report will sound like. 

[15895]

25 minutes ago, nakers2 said:

Currently riding the full route. Not even done yet, had one “reset” where the train had to turn off and on again, as well as two vehicles on the tracks (will edit if we encounter another) dwell time was 15 mins at the terminus, at which we were forced to vacate the train. Currently some sleazy looking Channel 9 reporter is on here with his cameraman, so I’m curious as to what his report will sound like. 

curious to hear more of your full experience. How long it was etc. what your thoughts are. 

[nakers2]

35 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

curious to hear more of your full experience. How long it was etc. what your thoughts are. 

I posted that prior to my phone dying in case I hadn't had the chance to post prior to my dinner obligations, but lucky me I have time for a write up for anyone who cares to read.

      I boarded at the French Street terminus versus Gateway (nearest my home) so I could ride the whole line, the streetcar was waiting there, but it did not wait at the platform as that would block traffic. Upon boarding the ride was very smooth and comparable to streetcars and trams I've taken abroad. At the Gateway Station the train reset itself. Apparently this has been an issue on the Blue Line too? After continuing up Trade the streetcar had to wait for a parked motorist through three light cycles before they ran out to move their car. The operator was on the radio and honking the whole time, unclear what the solution would've been if they hadn't moved.

      The train proceeded relatively smoothly through the rest of Uptown to CPCC and on across the Hawthorne Lane Bridge. The current terminus at Sunnyside is scenic and definitely brings the "streetcar suburb" feel back to Plaza. Makes me miss living there if I'm honest. As mentioned above, we had to vacate the train while they turned around. In hindsight the wait might have been closer to 10 mins, but in the hot sun that was rather miserable, and that's coming from a guy who works outdoors most of the day. The ride back was actually pretty swift until the turn onto Elizabeth. I do think the train has priority signaling, at least outside of Uptown because we only slowed down from time to time, but only once stopped at a light to my recollection. On Elizabeth a car was parked over the white stripe, fortunately a construction worker was able to find the offender inside a restaurant and had him come out. There was a driver swap at the CTC, some backup from limo/black cars onto the street from the Marriott, and a 10 min delay due to an ambulance on the tracks. Beyond CPCC the ride was pretty smooth, more than a few people boarded at JWU and expressed frustration having to disembark at French Street for the turnaround. Overall trip time was close to 40 mins. 

      

[CLT2014]

Looks like it was Joe Bruno on the train with you. Here is the article and video:

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/when-will-charlottes-embattled-streetcar-project-open/LI6DRDMUT5GP7A5W3GUCL5WONM/

[nakers2]

38 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

Looks like it was Joe Bruno on the train with you. Here is the article and video:

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/when-will-charlottes-embattled-streetcar-project-open/LI6DRDMUT5GP7A5W3GUCL5WONM/

Yep I think I  was the only other one on the train at that time, that was when there was a delay due to an ambulance. Great timing for the live shot. Surprised they didn’t ask for comment from me. 

[Desert Power]

3 hours ago, nakers2 said:

Overall trip time was close to 40 mins. 

  

That is not going to be particularly useful

[a2theb]

14 hours ago, nakers2 said:

After continuing up Trade the streetcar had to wait for a parked motorist through three light cycles before they ran out to move their car. The operator was on the radio and honking the whole time, unclear what the solution would've been if they hadn't moved.

      

CATS needs to get together an army of tow trucks sitting around on standby for this. I noticed a handful of cars on the tracks saturday and sunday, most with their flashers on outside restaurants. 

[TGIBridays]

This photo from the Axios article about the Streetcar opening is a little depressing.  It's only been running passengers for one day and the route map is already peeling off?! 

Article: https://charlotte.axios.com/270664/the-long-awaited-gold-line-streetcar-is-here/

Edited August 31, 2021 by TGIBridays

[Yeahdoug]

We took it from gateway to plaza last night too. Train was arriving when we walked up so that was all good. Still took a good 30 mins to get to Sunnyside. The ride back was not good. First we waited 10 mins for the train to arrive. Then it stayed another 10-15 mins in the turn around area. On the way back it stopped at CTC for a worker change for 8 mins. Took us about an hour to get back to Gateway. Insert yikes face here. 

[CLT2014]

2 minutes ago, Yeahdoug said:

We took it from gateway to plaza last night too. Train was arriving when we walked up so that was all good. Still took a good 30 mins to get to Sunnyside. The ride back was not good. First we waited 10 mins for the train to arrive. Then it stayed another 10-15 mins in the turn around area. On the way back it stopped at CTC for a worker change for 8 mins. Took us about an hour to get back to Gateway. Insert yikes face here. 

An hour!!! Gosh.... could have almost driven to Winston-Salem or Hickory in the same amount of time. 

[JacksonH]

1 hour ago, Yeahdoug said:

Took us about an hour to get back to Gateway. Insert yikes face here. 

That's a distance of 2.2 miles, and about a 45 minute walk.  Better for your health and also quicker just to walk.

[kermit]

The Gold Line is clearly unconscionably slow, but keep in mind that almost no one, other than us nerds, are going to ride its full length or wait at the turn-around for the return trip.

[but yes, speed and frequency still suck]

[CLT>]

The pantograph has been down for quite a few of  the cars way outside  of the Poplar-College stretch where there is no overhead wire. Any idea what the vehicle's range is on battery power alone?

[RANYC]

12 minutes ago, kermit said:

The Gold Line is clearly unconscionably slow, but keep in mind that almost no one, other than us nerds, are going to ride its full length or wait at the turn-around for the return trip.

[but yes, speed and frequency still suck]

good point - I suppose we are all in a bit of a bubble here in these threads

[tozmervo]

Does the blue line still do driver changes mid-run? I remember that being really aggravating for a long time - not sure if they still do that practice though.

[CLT>]

3 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

Does the blue line still do driver changes mid-run? I remember that being really aggravating for a long time - not sure if they still do that practice though.

On the same note  how long are the shifts on the streetcar? I know a few people that rode it yesterday and all had driver changes at the CTC on at least one leg. We  all could have timed our rides in sync with the shifts, just seemed odd.

[kermit]

6 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

Does the blue line still do driver changes mid-run? I remember that being really aggravating for a long time - not sure if they still do that practice though.

Yup, crew changes are still happening at Parkwood Station. I have only lived through one in the 7 days I have been a commuter again, but they seem a little speedier than pre-pandemic 

[nakers2]

2 hours ago, kermit said:

Yup, crew changes are still happening at Parkwood Station. I have only lived through one in the 7 days I have been a commuter again, but they seem a little speedier than pre-pandemic 

I think the Blue Line is *run* in the same degree of efficiency as any other transit system. I think the Gold Line will still take some getting used to for the operators as well (many who are also light rail operators.) 

[Desert Power]

On 8/31/2021 at 2:13 PM, kermit said:

The Gold Line is clearly unconscionably slow, but keep in mind that almost no one, other than us nerds, are going to ride its full length or wait at the turn-around for the return trip.

[but yes, speed and frequency still suck]

People aren't going to be riding it much at all with the timings mentioned.

[southslider]

For anyone wanting to try transit between Uptown and Plaza, there's this great service running every 10 minutes at rush hour, every 15 minutes other times, and only a 10 minute ride between the Arena and Central Ave.  Of course, it's a bus, but it sure beats half the frequency and double the ride time of streetcar.

[Yeahdoug]

Rode it again. The 20 min wait at sunnyside with the train sitting in the turn around spot is so annoying. Like they are purposely slowing everything down. I feel like 10 min frequency is not that far away. Maybe only one extra car and going 5 more mph. I doubt we broke 25 mph on our way back at 11 pm.  It was still 50 mins total with the initial wait at sunnyside to go to gateway. 
 

we laughed because there were some runners we caught up to at the Tryon stop and they beat us to CPCC. Lmao 
 

 

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

We should have just made a very intricate system  all over uptown and surrounding areas of these things...no tracks to be laid and we could have a higher frequency.  BTW, this is blue font for the most part but kind of true lol.  Still optimistic the new gold line can be a catalyst for TOD development.  Also, am I the only one that thinks the Gold line should be slightly cheaper than the blue line ticket ($2.20 when they start charging)?  No set schedule, no ROW, you dont go as far, etc...feel like it should be a cheaper ticket.  

Edited September 2, 2021 by CharlotteWkndBuzz