Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[Cadi40]

3 hours 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.

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.

 In a previous post I explained why I used the word Malfunction and in what context it was meant for. I apologize.

[nmundo]

My roommate who get on at UNCC to head to his job at the airport just sent me this. Signals going out doesn’t sound good at all.




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[KJHburg]

All I can say is eat your heart out  Nashville you won't have one of these anytime soon.  You may have gotten a company looking at us but don't worry we will get more than our fair share.  And I do think we will soon get these kinks out with the new line but pressure must be on CATS leadership for answers. 

Edited May 6, 2018 by KJHburg

[lit]

I posted this in the “Charlotte trying to be bike friendly” thread in the Coffee House but I thought I’d share it here too.

 

“STARTING TODAY, YOU AND YOUR BIKE RIDE FREE!” I can already see people trying to wrangle rent-a-bikes into crowded trains so they can save a buck.

 

edit: only lasts a week

 

Edited May 7, 2018 by lit

[11 HouseBZ]

I'll be honest @lit, the first thing I saw from your photo was your battery life being at 19% and it gave me anxiety. Good news about bikes though. 

[kermit]

I always knew that Pineville's decision to say no to the Blue Line back in 2005 was going to come back to bite  them. From the CBJ's story on Lending Tree's move:

Quote

Adding hundreds of employees to downtown Pineville would certainly have significant impact on town infrastructure, especially roads in and around downtown. Spitzer said a traffic impact analysis will be required as part of the process to determine what would be needed to accommodate the influx of people and cars to the site. The town also said that LendingTree will "explore opportunities to incentivize employees to walk and bike to work" and potentially provide a shuttle to the Lynx Blue Line, which terminates at the I-485/South Boulevard stop — about two miles from the Cone Mill site.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/05/07/potential-lendingtree-hq-move-to-impact-pineville.html

[JacksonH]

On 5/6/2018 at 9:31 AM, nmundo said:

My roommate who get on at UNCC to head to his job at the airport just sent me this. Signals going out doesn’t sound good at all.




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So what's up with this?  I keep reading these reports from you all about late light rail trains.  Last week I had two days of jury duty in downtown San Diego.   Both days I rode the light rail train.   The trains arrived absolutely on the dot.  I was looking at the posted schedule and they trains arrived right on the minute.  I boarded on time and got off on time.  It's a much bigger system here in San Diego, so if the trains can stay on schedule here, why can't they in Charlotte?  It doesn't make sense to me.  Also, I should point out that on every trip I made, the train was completely full.

 

[Desert Power]

34 minutes ago, JacksonH said:

 

So what's up with this?  I keep reading these reports from you all about late light rail trains.  Last week I had two days of jury duty in downtown San Diego.   Both days I rode the light rail train.   The trains arrived absolutely on the dot.  I was looking at the posted schedule and they trains arrived right on the minute.  I boarded on time and got off on time.  It's a much bigger system here in San Diego, so if the trains can stay on schedule here, why can't they in Charlotte?  It doesn't make sense to me.  Also, I should point out that on every trip I made, the train was completely full.

 

Frequently late inbound in the morning from Noda, I've found

[Matthew.Brendan]

Who is responsible for cleaning the stations? There is sadly already a lot of trash along the tracks at sugar Creek and this is going to spiral out of control without scheduled clean up.

[kermit]

Income report for station areas around Blue Line stations.  The biggest changes between 2015 and 1Q 2018 were:

• McCullough $6k
• Tom Hunter$6k
• 36th $14k !
• 25th $12k !
• Southend: Carson $5k, Bland $6.5k, East/West $16k ! New Bern $15k !
• Archdale $6k

No station area had its income change from below the county median to above the median.

For amusement only. Please no wagering. Data source is Popstats (which is what most grocery stores use for store location decision-making).

Edited May 8, 2018 by kermit

[archiham04]

Several misleading things about this... but it is what it is... neat data.  Worst misleading IMHO is that Stonewall,  3rd, Transportation Center, 7th and 9th have lots of overlap.

[southslider]

On 5/8/2018 at 7:58 AM, Matthew.Brendan said:

Who is responsible for cleaning the stations? There is sadly already a lot of trash along the tracks at sugar Creek and this is going to spiral out of control without scheduled clean up.

CATS has facility crews. Call 704-336-RIDE or email [email protected] to request targeted maintenance. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

Thank you!

[15895]

I swear on my soul I’m not exaggerating. All but 1 crossing on the extension past sugar creek we had to stop because the rail road crossing gate came down on a vehicle. Come on, people....  

[nmundo]

7:28 train from UNCC this morning stopped on the bridge before the tunnel and was restarted. Sat there for about 15mins, ended up having to get off at JW Clay and wait for the next train as they took that one out of service. Ended up getting Uptown around 8:10, train ended up about as crowded as SouthEnd rush hour ones.

5 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I swear on my soul I’m not exaggerating. All but 1 crossing on the extension past sugar creek we had to stop because the rail road crossing gate came down on a vehicle. Come on, people....  

Last week I saw a guy that got out of his car and was holding up the bar so it wouldn't hit his car. How hard can it be to stop behind the white line..?

[Desert Power]

Guy driving the 10:12 train from NoDa (which was 5 minutes late) doesn't seem like he should even have a driver's license.  Jerky like a teenager driving a car for their first time.

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

No sympathy for those people...they'll eventually learn (there are even train approaching notifications at each light too), so they have time to back up or get out of the way.  Same with the crawling into stations, just reinforcing bad behaviors in my opinion.  You don't see NYC subways slowing down for stupid people at platforms.  You learn real quickly there to stand at a safe distance or you will be hit.  To Desert Power's point, the discrepancy between driving confidence/ability of each driver is concerning.  I wish a part of the ride was automated.  This could maximize efficiency and would improve arrival/departure timings.  I have no idea how the system works now, but i would think there is something saying "hey, you are too close or too far" from the train ahead of you.  Then the human aspect of it ie the driver will either speed up to make up time or slow down.  Just seems like automation could make that a lot more efficient and calculated.  Probably too complicated lol, I just want more consistent/reliable rides. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

Best part is the system is already in place for automated driving. We only have a human at the helm because of.... reasons?

[Scribe]

19 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

We only have a human at the helm because of.... reasons?

Politics... and then once you got into the mess, you cannot cut city funded jobs. So, I have a feeling this will be impossible to run automated again. I swear I had saved an article when the original Blue Line was being tested in fully automated mode (no driver), I'll need to find it or if someone has a link to it please share.

[15895]

 

Video of Blue Line Extension running over someone 

Edited May 10, 2018 by AirNostrumMAD

[elrodvt]

Love it although I would like him to be in a land rover, navigator, escalade or other ridiculous (for CLT) gas hog vehicle.

[kermit]

BLE speeds are improving. Trains felt faster this morning and this afternoons train got from UNCC main to 7th street in 26 minutes (rather than 31 last week).

Its still not the 22 that was promoted, but I am very glad to see some improvement. 

Ridership on the BLE was also pretty good this afternoon.

Now about those promised 10 minute midday frequencies.....

Edited May 10, 2018 by kermit

[grodney]

18 hours ago, kermit said:

BLE speeds are improving. Trains felt faster this morning and this afternoons train got from UNCC main to 7th street in 26 minutes (rather than 31 last week).

Its still not the 22 that was promoted, but I am very glad to see some improvement. 

Ridership on the BLE was also pretty good this afternoon.

Now about those promised 10 minute midday frequencies.....

I went up to NoDa for lunch (and Heist beer) earlier this week, and it really sucks having those 15 minute headways and no real-time location app.  I mean, one or the other, please?   We have real-time school bus locations with Here Comes The Bus app, but we can't have real-time train?  Come on.

 

 

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

2 hours ago, grodney said:

I went up to NoDa for lunch (and Heist beer) earlier this week, and it really sucks having those 15 minute headways and no real-time location app.  I mean, one or the other, please?   We have real-time school bus locations with Here Comes The Bus app, but we can't have real-time train?  Come on.

 

 

Exactly why some ppl will take Uber/Lyft over the Light rail.  People want accurate ETA's so they know when to leave or to stay longer at wherever they are.  People don't want to sit for 15 plus minutes hearing the intercom say your train is 5 minutes away ten minutes ago.

*Does anyone have/use the $.99 light rail app?  I believe I read a review that the BLE stations aren't added yet (why I haven't purchased yet)?  Is that updated?  Would be a massive fail if not. 

Edited May 11, 2018 by CharlotteWkndBuzz

[pgsinger]

1 hour ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

*Does anyone have/use the $.99 light rail app?  I believe I read a review that the BLE stations aren't added yet (why I haven't purchased yet)?  Is that updated?  Would be a massive fail if not. 

CATS has a real time app that is free.  The user interface is awful, but it seems to work.  I have not paid attention to the reliability, but I think Google Maps pulls from the same data source.  If that is the case, it seems pretty reliable (with no investigation).  Google Maps has been my go to for timing, particularly because you can set up arrival and departure times for work.  On Androids, the notification bar indicates the next three arriving trains automatically for the 30 min +/- the relevant time.  For example, I arrive at my office around 8:30am, so beginning at about 7:45am, my notification bar indicates the next three trains arriving at the nearest station, generally New Bern Station for me.  At about 8:45am, the notification disappears.

On problem is that the directions of the trains are described as "Outbound" and "Inbound."  This worked just fine until the extension opened.  Why in the heck would they not simply call it Northbound/UNCC or Southbound/485.?