Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[15895]

53 minutes ago, archiham04 said:

I think having a stop every 2 blocks is excessive.  If NYC trains stopped every 2 blocks no one would use them.

 

 

 

And about the blue line. I could see you point if people only walked from station to station. Then it would be excessive. But people are going to 300 south tryon, odell tower, Panthers stadium, etc.

 

 

And NYC is a bad comparison. People take whats convenient.

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by AirNostrumMAD

[CLT2014]

1 hour ago, archiham04 said:

I think having a stop every 2 blocks is excessive.  If NYC trains stopped every 2 blocks no one would use them.

NYC has tons of stops every 2 blocks. Average speed of a NYC Metro train is only around 15mph... so it isn't exactly rapid compared to the 70mph speeds we are used to driving around on interstates. Its just above the surface in New York, cars are crawling through the congested roads at 5mph pretty much 24/7 and there is nowhere to park... so 15mph is relatively fast compared to other modes of transportation and it becomes a preferred mode of transit.

Edited April 19, 2018 by CLT2014

[nmundo]

2 hours ago, archiham04 said:

I think having a stop every 2 blocks is excessive.  If NYC trains stopped every 2 blocks no one would use them.

In center city Philly they have stops every 2-3 blocks. 3rd, CTC & 7th are all heavily used, Stonewall is slowly getting there and I'm sure 9th will too once Levine gets off his ass. The platforms at 3rd St are already super crowded during rush hour and once all the construction down stonewall is done I'm sure it will be too. It takes 7 minutes to get from Stonewall to 9th St on the light rail. Right now Google Maps pegs that drive as 10mins on Tryon. I think the travel time through uptown is fine. 

[JacksonH]

2 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

 

 

 

And about the blue line. I could see you point if people only walked from station to station. Then it would be excessive. But people are going to 300 south tryon, odell tower, Panthers stadium, etc.

 

 

And NYC is a bad comparison. People take whats convenient.

 

 

What I'm more familiar with, DC and San Diego.  There are areas with metro stops every two to three blocks:

 

 

 

[teeg]

On 3/19/2018 at 8:39 AM, Windsurfer said:

I merely said "more". I didn't say every single car.  And, if a checker would earn $25 / hour then I'm in the wrong business.  Even at the full amount you calculated (6.5 million/ year)  compared to the billions spent on it, then, relatively speaking it isn't much more. 

And, as far as anecdotal experiences, the example of the college pranksters, while not untypical of drunken college students (I have my own stories), is an example where just having somebody walking through the train would've probably ended that. While my wife, daughter and I were being cussed out,  there was another family with young kids watching behind us. They were absolutely terrified. Do you think this one story will end with me?  I'm pretty sure it's become mythic among that family's stories of light rail and will travel.

It looks like one of our UP friends here has reviewed the Ride Cats app on the google play store, and I am wondering if anyone has used the app to contact security.  I have a friend who was in a very uncomfortable situation yesterday while riding in from the university area.  Not as bad as Windsurfer described, but still very unsettling.  Of course there was no CATS employee checking for tickets or anything, and it sounded like there were no other passengers around.  It might have helped matters if they could have discretely sent a signal to security that something wasn't right, but I do not know if that app would have done that or if that would have led to a response.

[Windsurfer]

12 minutes ago, teeg said:

It looks like one of our UP friends here has reviewed the Ride Cats app on the google play store, and I am wondering if anyone has used the app to contact security.  I have a friend who was in a very uncomfortable situation yesterday while riding in from the university area.  Not as bad as Windsurfer described, but still very unsettling.  Of course there was no CATS employee checking for tickets or anything, and it sounded like there were no other passengers around.  It might have helped matters if they could have discretely sent a signal to security that something wasn't right, but I do not know if that app would have done that or if that would have led to a response.

The security folks wanted me to load that app too.  I just never got around to it.  

[Matthew.Brendan]

This morning there were security guards checking tickets _after_ people got off the train at 3rd street. Hadn’t seen that before. 

[HighRiseHillbilly]

7 hours ago, archiham04 said:

I think having a stop every 2 blocks is excessive.  If NYC trains stopped every 2 blocks no one would use them.

They're also dealing with a different culture. When people are in NYC, they know they're going to be hoofin' it a good deal of the time. We're trying to create a car culture shift. We're dealing with people who think if they have to walk too far that they might as well drive.

I timed my walk from Levine land to Bechtler the other day & although it wasn't far, I can see people not used to transit & walking to their destination calculating that time in their heads & saying "F--- that. There's a parking deck right over there". I think the stations are a little much, but useful now.

...and not that they would, but I could see the potential to move a station or two in the future once people get used to using thier legs.

[kermit]

more tongue in cheek that scientific but the UNCC campus police have said that the busiest train of the day is the 1:29am arrival.

Actual ridership information should appear soon.

Edited April 21, 2018 by kermit

[15895]

8 minutes ago, kermit said:

more tongue and cheek that scientific but the UNCC campus police have said that the busiest train of the day is the 1:29am arrival.

Actual ridership information should appear soon.

If Jayvee isn’t dead or he’s using an alter ego as KJHburg, we need a Charlotte Agenda or a Charlotte 5 article on whether business on Center City hoods have seen an increase in business due to the extension or university.

 

The talk on campus used to be about Flyer Saucers and University City places. Now it’s all about NoDa and uptown (I never hear any talk of poor SouthEnd. My preferred hood’ outside of uptown). 

Edited April 19, 2018 by AirNostrumMAD

[HighRiseHillbilly]

4 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

The talk on campus used to be about Flyer Saucers and University City places. Now it’s all about NoDa and uptown (I never hear any talk of poor SouthEnd. My preferred hood’ outside of uptown). 

In my mind, which was once young a long time ago, Southend gives off more of a slightly older, more pretentious vibe while NoDa & Uptown have more places to just party, plop down for a while, or browse without much money. 

Honestly, for all the hype that Southend gets, whenever I drive through at night to see how things are "popping", it's always so quiet and seemingly dead. 

[SgtCampsalot]

12 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

If Jayvee isn’t dead or he’s using an alter ego as KJHburg, we need a Charlotte Agenda or a Charlotte 5 article on whether business on Center City hoods have seen an increase in business due to the extension or university.

 

The talk on campus used to be about Flyer Saucers and University City places. Now it’s all about NoDa and uptown (I never hear any talk of poor SouthEnd. My preferred hood’ outside of uptown). 

If Common Market was still there, they would.

[KJHburg]

KJ is an independent man about the town no alter ego here I am the real deal!

Glad the students are getting the use of transit passes.  My nephew will join them this fall. 

[videtur quam contuor]

KJHburg IS your alter ego. Your actual 3d life is different from your existence here. 

[go_vertical]

^^ I liked this so your count wouldn't be 666. 

[nmundo]

Any ideas why this might be?





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nmundo]

I just caught the tail end of a NPR report on blue line ridership as I turned my car on. They were talking as if CATS had issued a press release but I can’t seem to find anything online.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kermit]

On 4/20/2018 at 5:49 PM, nmundo said:

I just caught the tail end of a NPR report on blue line ridership as I turned my car on. They were talking as if CATS had issued a press release but I can’t seem to find anything online.

Here is the Observer version, the early returns are not good. (averages appear to about 7,500 riders short of projections)

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article209453269.html

They mention strong Saturday ridership, I hope they read those numbers as a sign that frequency should be increased. I have been very disappointed with off peak frequency, it really has not been what CATS said it would be (its often every 15 minutes rather than every 10). I don't think they have run 7 minutes at peak either.

They also need to get speeds on the extension dialed in, its running much slower than they had intended.

 

Hat's off to John Lewis for having the good sense to dump this news on a Friday night. He's gotta fix it before any discussion of a big bang can begin. There are an easy additional 2,000 riders to be gained just by throwing open the parking decks to all comers.

 

Edited April 22, 2018 by kermit

[KJHburg]

Here is it says ridership is not as they projected it:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article209453269.html

as for the parking garages of course Sugar Creek is not busy with the bridge closure.  As for the University City Blvd deck I think it is the parking charge as I have mentioned before. 

[navigator319]

I don't think it is fair to judge ridership until 6-12 months after opening.  

There are major issues with speed and crossing gates though.  Trains literally crawl and the gates come down with 25/30 seconds before the train is ready to cross.  INFURIATING. 

CATS needs to fix/explain the above ASAP.

[kermit]

4 hours ago, navigator319 said:

I don't think it is fair to judge ridership until 6-12 months after opening.  

There are major issues with speed and crossing gates though.  Trains literally crawl and the gates come down with 25/30 seconds before the train is ready to cross.  INFURIATING. 

CATS needs to fix/explain the above ASAP.

Agreed all around.

We won't have 'typical' ridership data until at least late August. Unfortunately this news is fuel for all the haters until then.

CATS also needs to rethink the parking deck fees ASAP. UNCC is done with their Spring semester in mid May so they can experiment all summer (summer school crowds are pretty light). They really went the wrong direction with the parking, thy should have erred on the otherside. 

Edited April 21, 2018 by kermit

[kermit]

Big improvements at Sugar Creek deck, the lower level appeared to be close to full this morning.  Old Concord was same as it ever was however.

Interesting (to me) was that I rode northbound on a single unit train at 10am. Upon arrival at UNCC Main their was another single unit train waiting on the tail track. Both were coupled up before their next trip South. I am surprised that they combine (and possibly separate) trains in locations other than the service yards.

Edited April 23, 2018 by kermit

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

On 4/20/2018 at 9:10 AM, nmundo said:

Any ideas why this might be?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The Vice President was at the Westin and in and around other parts of Charlotte that day.  A lot of road closures near Uptown bc of this.  I was on the train around 5ish headed towards 485.  Tons of traffic, glad to be on the light rail during rush hour, that's for sure.  These are my most recent observations as of  4/20:  There were several announcements the train conductor had to make over the intercom speakers on my ride.  One was a medical emergency at the Parkwood station...basically told us that it would be a quick open/close door stop.  The next was when we were close to Uptown talking about how Stonewall station would be closed.  Idk if it was the guy or the speakers, but it was VERY hard to decipher what was being communicated.  Both announcements were important and everyone on the train was asking if we knew what was said.  On the lines of the station closures, is it communicated on the scrolling screen or announced at the stations that it is closed?  For ex, on Friday when Stonewall station was closed, there were several ppl standing at the station and our train just rolls by them and they all have wtf expressions as I would too.  I would hope that stuff is communicated on the platform tho.  Lastly, as mentioned before...these crawling to the platforms is just plain annoying.  My guy friday would also stop super short/too early at each platform and would have to scoot up every time.  Wish these drivers would start driving these things like they had a pair (this includes going through crossings and over bridges).

Edit: I forgot to mention that for the first time in a very long time, I had security tickets checkers on board.  However, they were not checking our passengers.  I did see security checking random ppl at CTC station once ppl got off though.  I think their presence is beneficial and I hope to see more on board later on in the evening for safety/security reasons (past 10pm).  

Edited April 23, 2018 by CharlotteWkndBuzz

[jjwilli]

18 minutes ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

Edit: I forgot to mention that for the first time in a very long time, I had security tickets checkers on board.  However, they were not checking our passengers.  I did see security checking random ppl at CTC station once ppl got off though.  I think their presence is beneficial and I hope to see more on board later on in the evening for safety/security reasons (past 10pm). 

Security checked my tickets yesterday afternoon. First time in a long time that it has happened. Then again, I don't ride that often.

[CLT2014]

Walk around your floor in an Uptown office building and ask people where they live. For people living along the I-85 corridor north of Uptown you'll probably hear a lot of "Highland Creek, Mallard Creek west of I-85, Harrisburg, and Concord." You likely won't hear many people saying they living in University City (typically college students or Innovation Park employees), Eastway, Hidden Valley,  etc... that are close to the light rail stations. There will be some NoDa people, but the concentration of 8 - 5 office / banking folks in NoDa is far lower than SouthEnd as many NoDa residents do non-bank jobs. 

The station locations are not appealing for park and ride commuters coming from Highland Creek, Mallard Creek, Harrisburg, and Concord either. Even at the worst of rush hour, it is going to likely be faster to just drive rather than get off I-85 (which usually is moving), drive to a park and ride, and switch to the train for a 30 minute ride.

Over time I think the light rail will get more units than attract residents (like SouthEnd) that work in Uptown. Once the development comes, ridership will rise, but unfortunately the line runs through a lot of dead zones that don't have many Uptown workers residing within a 1 to 2 mile radius of the station. The connection to UNCC is great for providing options for college students to get out and about on the weekend or at lunch time, but it isn't going to drive core commuting for work. 

Edited April 23, 2018 by CLT2014