Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[15895]

Only two people got off at UNCC at 9am, the JW Clay Station was probably 93%+ empty.

 

Its the last day of class at UNCC and a lot of professors don’t even have a class. 

Also. Are there any signs pointing to the park and ride along I85? I drove for the first time to University for a while and didn’t notice any. It seems they’re not making quite the effort to market to commuters up north because they assumed they’re conditioned like south Charlotte to use it. I also bet ridership would be much higher with a 485 station. Just my opinion 

[Scribe]

4 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

It seems they’re not making quite the effort to market to commuters up north because they assumed they’re conditioned like south Charlotte to use it.

Should they be making an effort to advertise given they still haven't figured out how to drive the trains at normal speed?

I would say get the line running smoothly (like 99.9999% smooth)  ready for August.

Edited May 1, 2018 by Scribe

[CLT2014]

5 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

Also. Are there any signs pointing to the park and ride along I85? I drove for the first time to University for a while and didn’t notice any. It seems they’re not making quite the effort to market to commuters up north because they assumed they’re conditioned like south Charlotte to use it. I also bet ridership would be much higher with a 485 station. Just my opinion 

Sign would read:
"Exit here to add 15 minutes to your rush hour commute. Pay to park unless monthly pass."

[tozmervo]

Can anyone point me to CATS advertising that showed shorter transit times than what is doing now, from UNCC to uptown

[kermit]

25 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

Can anyone point me to CATS advertising that showed shorter transit times than what is doing now, from UNCC to uptown

Its not advertising, but this is an official presentation from http://charlottenc.gov/cats/transit-planning/blue-line-extension/Pages/ble-service-update.aspx  and a couple of other city sites.

This was an example of the advertising on campus:

Link for above: https://lightrail.uncc.edu/resources

and here is a UNCC video which includes the 22 minute figure (at 0:10)

https://lightrail.uncc.edu/video-library/light-rail-connects-us-factoid-commercial-1

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2018 by kermit

[Matthew.Brendan]

Is there any way to identify a particular car/train? I need to make note of any markings. This particular driver is comically bad with random braking for absolutely no reason. It’s like a teenager learning to drive. 

[Desert Power]

19 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Is there any way to identify a particular car/train? I need to make note of any markings. This particular driver is comically bad with random braking for absolutely no reason. It’s like a teenager learning to drive. 

I assume the number on front marks the train.

As I ride the extension more I think it is less random braking and more just braking at specified points that make no sense.  The southbound train always crushes the brakes at 277.  Always.  For no reason.

[15895]

2 hours ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Is there any way to identify a particular car/train? I need to make note of any markings. This particular driver is comically bad with random braking for absolutely no reason. It’s like a teenager learning to drive. 

Omg.... Yes. There is a terrible driver. I had the absolute worst yesterday....

This bozo went sooo slow. Every station he stopped completely before it. Crept forward. Stopped. Crept forward and stopped and part of the train was still not at the actual platform (the 3 car platform along the extension.) Give me a break! 

Ive been lucky lately getting good drivers on the extension. 

[kermit]

^ There was lots of driver training happening this week.

[Cadi40]

According to WCNC, A person was struck by a LYNX Light Rail Train in the University City Area, That person was rushed to the hospital. I cannot find a link, I just got the notification on my phone. This is what I was scared of and why I assumed the train drivers have been driving at an abnormally slow speed.

[KJHburg]

10 minutes ago, Cadi40 said:

According to WCNC, A person was struck by a LYNX Light Rail Train in the University City Area, That person was rushed to the hospital. I cannot find a link, I just got the notification on my phone. This is what I was scared of and why I assumed the train drivers have been driving at an abnormally slow speed.

I can't find anything about that on the news websites or even twitter.  This is not about the girl who fell out of party bus window on N Tryon and was killed?  She was an UNCC student. 

[15895]

I got a UNCC alert a university student (sophomore) was in a vehicle accident and killed along Tryon Street. Not sure if related

[Cadi40]

https://www.wcnc.com/mobile/article/news/person-hit-by-blue-line-train-in-university-area/275-548239953

[Scribe]

@AirNostrumMAD that is the party bus incident.

But in regard to:

26 minutes ago, Cadi40 said:

A person was struck by a LYNX Light Rail Train in the University City Area

First, dumb people will do dumb stuff most of the time.  Some people will have accidents sometimes. That is inevitable and the system is designed to prevent as many scenarios as possible.

26 minutes ago, Cadi40 said:

This is what I was scared of and why I assumed the train drivers have been driving at an abnormally slow speed.

This is a misunderstanding of how the whole system works.

The driver does not control the crossing lights and arms anywhere along the alignment, this is done by sensors as a train approaches an intersection. These fail-safes have been in place on the existing light-rail alignment for over a decade without issue, so the issue is not in the system (even when they had the arms come down on all crossings on the alignment -- that is a fail-safe where the crossing arms in an unknown/emergency state are in the down position).

The horrendous driving is just that, horrendous driving.

Fun fact, the entire light rail system in Charlotte was supposed to be automated (without drivers) and from what I understand still can be (but in reality will never be).

Edited May 3, 2018 by Scribe

[Cadi40]

Update - The person struck by the train has minor injuries and was really just bumped by the train. Still a malfunction nonetheless. This occurred at the JW Clay Station around 8:15 PM.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Cadi40

[Scribe]

Just now, Cadi40 said:

The person struck by the train has minor injuries and was really just bumped by the train. Still a malfunction nonetheless.

Without knowing more details, how can you classify this as a malfunction?

[Cadi40]

13 minutes ago, Scribe said:

Without knowing more details, how can you classify this as a malfunction?

I was using that word in a way that is describing this event in a negative manner and adding that it could’ve been prevented. I apologize for the poor choice of vocabulary.

[Desert Power]

47 minutes ago, Scribe said:

This is a misunderstanding of how the whole system works.

The driver does not control the crossing lights and arms anywhere along the alignment, this is done by sensors as a train approaches an intersection. These fail-safes have been in place on the existing light-rail alignment for over a decade without issue, so the issue is not in the system (even when they had the arms come down on all crossings on the alignment -- that is a fail-safe where the crossing arms in an unknown/emergency state are in the down position).

The horrendous driving is just that, horrendous driving.

Ok.  So why does every train southbound slam the brakes after they cross 11th street and under 277?  There is an entire stop before they have to deal with another crossing.  It makes zero sense to do this right after you pass a crossing.

[lit]

10 hours ago, Desert Power said:

Ok.  So why does every train southbound slam the brakes after they cross 11th street and under 277?  There is an entire stop before they have to deal with another crossing.  It makes zero sense to do this right after you pass a crossing.

Could it be low visibility under 277? I’ve seen homeless camps set up under bridges in that area. Maybe they’re being extra cautious, trying not to kill people?

[Scribe]

12 hours ago, Desert Power said:

Ok.  So why does every train southbound slam the brakes after they cross 11th street and under 277?  There is an entire stop before they have to deal with another crossing.  It makes zero sense to do this right after you pass a crossing.

Unless the train is automatically braking, this is still a driver choice/decision...

[Hunted]

14 hours ago, Scribe said:

Without knowing more details, how can you classify this as a malfunction?

Without knowing any details, it's actually much safer to assume that the "victim" is at fault here. Not saying that's the case, but it's so much more likely than a train malfunction causing someone to be hit.

I mean, the only possible train malfunctions that could even result in hitting a pedestrian are exceeding speeds beyond the control of the operator or the train itself becoming a sentient being like something from a Stephen King novel.

[Scribe]

1 minute ago, Hunted said:

Without knowing any details, it's actually much safer to assume that the "victim" is at fault here. Not saying that's the case, but it's so much more likely than a train malfunction causing someone to be hit.

Agreed, the video on the linked, stated the person was standing on the track at the cross walk... There are cameras all over the stations and on the trains we will see soon enough.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/person-hit-by-blue-line-train-in-university-area/275-548239953

[Hunted]

2 minutes ago, Scribe said:

Agreed, the video on the linked, stated the person was standing on the track at the cross walk... There are cameras all over the stations and on the trains we will see soon enough.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/person-hit-by-blue-line-train-in-university-area/275-548239953

lol @ the Wal-mart employee lady shielding her face as the camera follows her.

Honestly, I don't even think there's much more a city can do to mitigate risk. It's up to the individual to ensure it's safe to cross. The trains have bells and lights. That's more than enough for a living specimen with innate survival instincts. In any species, those who lack die. It's no different with humans. I don't want to sound too harsh, but unless they are not able-bodied people, I won't ooze sympathy for them.

[go_vertical]

Bubble wrap everything.

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

1 hour ago, Hunted said:

lol @ the Wal-mart employee lady shielding her face as the camera follows her.

Honestly, I don't even think there's much more a city can do to mitigate risk. It's up to the individual to ensure it's safe to cross. The trains have bells and lights. That's more than enough for a living specimen with innate survival instincts. In any species, those who lack die. It's no different with humans. I don't want to sound too harsh, but unless they are not able-bodied people, I won't ooze sympathy for them.