Raleigh "R-Line" Downtown Circulator

[ChiefJoJo]

I was eating some lunch out today (Armadillo) and the buses are already catching peoples eyes (kind hard to miss with the bright green paint!). I watched a bar employee get on at the Tucker/Glenwood South Stop and many of my fellow patrons seemed captivated by the new service. While there will be periods when it's mostly empty, the buses are very visible and as people get used to the stops and the frequency of the service--not to mention the price (free)--ridership will increase steadily. Oh, and the stops are very visible too.

They might have to make some minor adjustments to the stop locations and stop bars though. For example, the left turn from WB Tucker St to SB Glenwood is a very tight one, and as I sat there eating, each time the bus turned, the cars at the NB Glenwood signal had to back up to accommodate the bus (cars parking both sides, making it even tighter). Then there is a stop directly in front of Hibernian. At first, this may seem like a plus being in the middle of the action, but I did not see an adequate bus loading zone provided to accommodate the bus while not obstructing traffic on NB Glenwood.

I think the route is fine. Not going through the Transit Center is OK, since all you have to do is stop at R-16 Moore Square and walk through the deck to the station, about 200 feet.

[Justin6882]

I rode this today from the City Center Deck near my house to Seaboard and back after I got some stuff at Ace Hardware. I only waited a couple minutes at both stops - it was pretty cool. There were a few families on the bus riding it around the entire route just to check it out. The buses are very nice and the driver was very cordial as well. I hope this works out!

[Captain Awesome]

We did the same thing this evening. From the Moore Square Deck stop to Seaboard (to go to Ace). The total trip took and hour, including the time to walk from the Seaboard stop to Ace and go in a buy a paint brush and back to the stop.

We waited around 10 minutes at the first stop and just over 20 minutes on the return trip. Probably just bad timing on our part. We're going to go on another adventure later to see what it's like with 2 buses running.

[castong]

I wonder if it would make sense to have half of the circulators run the opposite direction?

[DPK]

Wolfline is launching a new route called the "Prowl" this Thursday that will tie into the R-line route. Route only runs Thurs-Sat nights:

WolfProwl - NC State's connection to downtown Raleigh

=======================================

For years, students have been seeking a way to access the incredible

entertainment district that is downtown Raleigh. Starting this

Thursday, WolfProwl will make that connection for thousands of NC

State students.

Service will run 9pm-3am every Thurs.-Sat. and tie into the "R-line"

downtown circulator serving:

-Glenwood South

-Convention Center

-Fayetteville Street

-Moore Square & more

Tapping existing Werewolf routes, service will include:

-Main Campus

-Hillsborough St.

-Greek Village

-Wolf Village

-Avent Ferry Rd.

-Gorman St. & more

Service will run approximately every 30 minutes. Until more

definitive arrival/departure times are known, riders can use the

online Transloc service to find their bus. For more info, maps, &

rules, click here:

http://ncsu.edu/wolfline

[ncwebguy]

R-16 is close enough to Moore Square Transit station, and the one near Sitti is a good compliment for the after 6:30 pm route. But I was hoping for some kind of wayfinding to indicate the CAT/R-Line transfer. And a sign at the R-16 stop indicating the circulator *won't* stop there after 6:30, but will over on Hargett.

I wonder how they'll alter the route for Downtown Raleigh live, since Martin is closed between Blount and Person for those events. I guess they could go down Davie, or stay on the "daytime" route.

Out of all the West to Glenwood cross streets, Tucker is the flattest, which probably helps with the bus, but making that left is crazy. It will be interesting to see if anyone will give up a couple of parking spaces on the west side of Glenwood to get the Hibernian's stop. I know there is a bench further south on the block across from 518, but that isn't as convient to many restaurants or shops.

I thought I was imagining the Wolfline's stop in front of Char-Grill the other day, but I am glad to see it is real. It will hopefully reduce parking demand in downtown, specifically Glenwood South. It does put yet another nail in Hillsborough Street's bar scene's coffin, but that will make NC State's neighbors to the north happy.

When I get off pager duty, I plan on trying it out!

[DPK]

It will hopefully reduce parking demand in downtown, specifically Glenwood South. It does put yet another nail in Hillsborough Street's bar scene's coffin, but that will make NC State's neighbors to the north happy.

[Jones_]

Using the Prowl and the R-Line to get the party crowd to the party spots downtown should help give Hillsborough a chance to become a place for more Fraziers type places, which I think the neighbors and the University would both like.

[RaleighRob]

Rode Saturday night. I liked it overall, great access to everything! Very convenient too.

But I was annoyed when a group of really loud, rowdy drunkards were angrily shouting at the driver "why didn't you stop at our stop!?!?". Um...cuz you didn't pull the yellow wire indicating your stop, you retards. (Pay attention people....if you're in a group of 7 people, at least one of you ought to be sober enough to know where the heck you are, IMHO.)

All I can say is I hope they pay their evening drivers well...they put up with a lot from what I saw!

Also, I think the city definitely needs to rethink the on-street parking on some parts of the line if they want to be able to fit those big things on some of those small streets during peak times. My driver had some major trouble squeezing through at a few points, particularly Glenwood South and Warehouse District areas. I'm never a proponent of decreasing available parking downtown, but on a few of those streets, it was ridiculously tight.

[Jones_]

^That's the suburban "I don't know how a bus works" crowd for you. Its not the Couch Trip bus you idiots. I say either make the turn onto Glenwood from Peace or else reverse the direction of the route and use the right from Morgan onto Glenwood and then take Glenwood all the way to Peace.

[RaleighRob]

I say either make the turn onto Glenwood from Peace....

[orulz]

From what I'm told, that couldn't happen cuz of the Railroad bridge over Peace is too low...so they turn on West then Tucker to Peace. Though compared to the Warehouse/Depot area, that wasn't too terribly bad.

[dmccall]

I think the rear of this R line bus is taller. The bus is 40' long, too. Is that longer than the buses used for the #12 line?

[orulz]

Most of Raleigh's buses (everything except the CAT Connector buses) are 40'. Checking Gillig's web site, the Hybrid R-line buses are 132" tall. Some of the city's conventional low floor buses are only 116", so it's definitely taller than that, but the city's older GM RTS buses are actually 134" tall and those had no trouble on Peace Street.

FYI the clearance of the bridge is 148".

I really do think the issue is just that left turns from WB Peace to SB Glenwood are not allowed.

[RaleighRob]

I see now. Well it's probably for the best...that West Street stop is probably their most spacious one....plenty of room for the bus to stop without blocking traffic. As more things are built up West Street moving north from Powerhouse Square, that stop may increase in use.

[Jones_]

If people were smart enough and not too lazy I would say just run it up West anyway and let people walk over from Glenwood, but running it up Glenwood is part of the marketing I suppose....

[dmccall]

If the Glenwood left turn is the problem, then why not go straight and turn left on the Boylan, left on the Johnson, and Right onto Glenwood. It's still 3 turns and it picks up the Peace Street area well. I will say that the left turn onto Boylan is riskier with that stupid camel hump in the road.

This is the good thing about buses. If they get the route wrong, they can always make easy modifications.

You also may notice that "Capital" has been replaced by "Capitol" for R1. Thank Councilor Isley for this.

[DPK]

It appears that the NCSU WolfProwl line is doing quite well:

Wolfline Service Halts for Spring Break; WolfProwl Ridership Huge

=================================================================

-All evening Wolfline bus service ends Friday, February 27 at 10 p.m. This includes Rt. 2 North Campus Reverse.

-No Werewolf (late night 10 p.m. - 3 a.m.) service Friday, February 27 and March 2 - 6. Werewolf service resumes Monday, March 9.

-No Wolfprowl (evening entertainment bus service/9 p.m. - 3 a.m.) Thursday, February 26, Friday, February 27 and Saturday, February 28. Wolfprowl resumes Thursday, March 12.

WolfProwl ridership last weekend was BIG - over 487 riders on the prowl! To learn more about the Wolfline, visit http://ncsu.edu/wolfline