Capital Area Transit (CAT) Bus System

[ncwebguy]

If parking was expensive in the Triangle's downtowns, more people would take the bus. Taking the bus would make sense from a fiscal point of view. As it is now, people would rather pay to park in the decks (often subsidised by employers) or park in the surrounding neighborhoods and walk vs. taking the bus and be "away from their cars."

To say nothing about RTP, where I can't think of a single parking space that costs money to park in.

If inbound traffic is "dumped" on the trolley/circulator system, will it be able to handle the load of the current system plus moving downtown workers around?

[Gard]

I wanted to add as well that I think the city should probably do a study on what people "think" of CAT. This could shed some light on the perceptions people have that could give them a reason not to ride. From there, they could address those concerns and by doing so, it would show people that the city really is listening to their concerns as well. I know some people, for instance, that won't ride CAT because they find it confusing. Maybe if the city posted a map at every stop showing where the bus that stops there goes, it may make it more user-friendly. Another obvious problem is seating, which the city really needs to step it up on.

[orulz]

Bringing back an old thread.

raleighrides.org is up now: you can track the location of CAT buses and the R-Line.

Check it out here! It's pretty cool. Chapel Hill and the Wolfline have had similar systems for a couple years now.

Now Triangle Transit and DATA need to implement similar systems. Unfortunately each of the three agencies above uses a proprietary system. It would be better if they could integrate all the agencies' tracking systems into one web interface.

I'd also like to see the systems integrated into Google Transit. Their proprietary route planner is a huge improvement over the old one, and it has one thing Google lacks (drag-drop of origin/destination) but it's still nowhere near as bulletproof as Google's, and the stops aren't plainly shown on the maps as they are with Google.

[staffer]

Bringing back an old thread.

raleighrides.org is up now: you can track the location of CAT buses and the R-Line.

Check it out here! It's pretty cool. Chapel Hill and the Wolfline have had similar systems for a couple years now.

Now Triangle Transit and DATA need to implement similar systems. Unfortunately each of the three agencies above uses a proprietary system. It would be better if they could integrate all the agencies' tracking systems into one web interface.

I'd also like to see the systems integrated into Google Transit. Their proprietary route planner is a huge improvement over the old one, and it has one thing Google lacks (drag-drop of origin/destination) but it's still nowhere near as bulletproof as Google's, and the stops aren't plainly shown on the maps as they are with Google.

also there is a separate R-line site for the downtown circulator that includes smartphone access

"The Downtown Raleigh Alliance and the City of Raleigh have also introduced AVL and projected real-time arrivals for the R-LINE. Citizens can go to http://www.yourhere.com/rline to view an online interactive map of the R-LINE route along with actual bus locations displayed in real-time. The live map, which relies on a GPS feed from an R-LINE bus, is updated every 5 to 10 seconds. The website also provides projected arrival times for the next approaching R-LINE bus and the following bus at two key stops: R13-Raleigh Convention Center and R4-West and Peace. These projected arrival times can also be viewed on mobile devices, such as iPhones or Blackberry smartphones. To access the mobile site, visit www.yourhere.com/mobile from your mobile browser and click on "R-LINE" from the top navigation."

[orulz]

N&O is reporting about a $13.9 million "BRT" Proposal for New Bern Avenue. They're hoping for a federal grant to make it happen.

Right now the #15 is CAT's busiest bus route. The proposal would improve headways to 10-15 minutes, and set up express buses with signal priority. The express buses would stop at 6 new special stops, about a mile apart. The existing #15 would keep stopping at all local stops.

The proposal would also repave New Bern and add sidewalks between Poole Rd and WakeMed (both badly needed.)

[staffer]

N&O is reporting about a $13.9 million "BRT" Proposal for New Bern Avenue. They're hoping for a federal grant to make it happen.

Right now the #15 is CAT's busiest bus route. The proposal would improve headways to 10-15 minutes, and set up express buses with signal priority. The express buses would stop at 6 new special stops, about a mile apart. The existing #15 would keep stopping at all local stops.

The proposal would also repave New Bern and add sidewalks between Poole Rd and WakeMed (both badly needed.)

Is this the same pot of federal grant money that Charlotte has asked to fund roll out of the streetcar line?

[ChiefJoJo]

Is this the same pot of federal grant money that Charlotte has asked to fund roll out of the streetcar line?

Yes, though the pots are split between streetcars and bus services. See this link for more details. $3.1B in applications for $280M in funds. There is a huge demand out there, so this will be a highly competitive process.

[vitaviatic]

Yes, though the pots are split between streetcars and bus services. See this link for more details. $3.1B in applications for $280M in funds. There is a huge demand out there, so this will be a highly competitive process.

I wouldn't get my hopes up for this one, guys. By your math, Chief, that's about a buck forty for buses and the same for rail. $140M doesn't go very far for rail projects of any kind, so I would expect no more than four or five recipients on that side. It doesn't really go far for BRT either, considering you're essentially into a highway project there. What's more, there are some really big fish in that small pond. Denver just put in for a streetcar line to replace buses within the city limits on the 15 & 15L bus lines on East Colfax -- daily ridership = 24,000. Albuquerque has been waiting in line as well for its own busy Central Avenue line to connect with the RailRunner. On the BRT side, from my understanding, you have intense competition from metros in big voter states, i.e., Florida, Texas, New Jersey -- the usual suspects. Being a swing state might help, but unless you have some brave politicos out there willing to storm the castle for this project, I would not hold my breath.

All that having been said, I wish CAT luck. But in the end, I think proposals like these would be far more sellable for a consolidated transit agency for the entire Triangle, whether it be under TTA's umbrella, or whatever. Bigger agency, more clout.

[miamiblue]

I noticed a new bus shelter at the stop that is on the southbound side of Wake Forest Rd at Hardimont/New Hope Church Rd. I don't know if it's been there for a little while and I have just been on autopilot on my way home from work, but I only noticed it today, since it was raining and someone was waiting underneath it. This is a heavily used bus stop, so I'm really glad to see a shelter there. Hopefully there are more to come.

[Gard]

^

I noticed they are also putting one up just north of there at the Wake Forest Rd, Old Wake Forest, Falls of Neuse Intersection as well. Maybe they have the city sectioned up to install them in phases?

[citiboi27610]

I noticed a new bus shelter at the stop that is on the southbound side of Wake Forest Rd at Hardimont/New Hope Church Rd. I don't know if it's been there for a little while and I have just been on autopilot on my way home from work, but I only noticed it today, since it was raining and someone was waiting underneath it. This is a heavily used bus stop, so I'm really glad to see a shelter there. Hopefully there are more to come.

I've seen more and more popping up around the city. I haven't personally used one yet, but they do look nice and sturdy. I'm think they're putting them up in areas that are most needed first, or maybe ones that have been requested.

[kdub1]

Up until about the halfway point of CAT's 2003-08 Five Year Plan, the agency was very good about letting know which routes interlined with each other. The schedules don't do that now. On weekdays, #2 could very easily be linked with either #8 or #21 while #5 could be linked with either #1 or #11 while #10 & #12 seem to be natural links (the same thing with #3 & #16). On Saturdays, the interlining situation is more of a mess as several routes could potentially be linked to two others. It's only on Sundays that things are really clear as only #1 & #5 and #6 & #8 are interlined.

My suggestion is that CAT riders know which routes interline with each other on either its system map, in its schedules, or a route guide. 

 

Part 2 is what could happen once Moore Square is overhauled and the new bus station near Union Station is up and running. Perhaps, CAT could have certain routes start at one station but end at the other. For example, #3 Glascock could originate at Moore Square and terminate at Union Station as #16 Oberlin and vice versa. I wonder how many other transit systems in major cities have such an arrangement.