Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[Desert Power]

3 hours ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

Uptown is going to have 1000's of visitors coming in and out of the city that weekend.  Would it hurt them that bad not to operate under rush hour frequencies?  At least during a certain time frame. 

This is pathetic.  Wow.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Seriously. You ramp up service for events, not cut back and reduce. gg Charlotte. 

[Scribe]

CATS:  "we want to be your urban transportation choice, we're just afraid of large crowds"

[kermit]

I just heard from a co worker who gave up on the train largely because of the awful off-peak frequencies. She drives to work now...

Edited February 7, 2019 by kermit

[Brendv7]

I am a public transportation supporter, but CATS is an example of the institutional incompetence that people particularly to the right of the political spectrum are skeptical of when it comes to questions like “should we vote to increase taxes or borrow money to let CATS get even bigger.” It is pathetic.  Do they not pay enough to attract competent staff? Is there no accountability?  Bad culture?

[abttown]

Shoot CATS an email and let them know how you feel; if you're lucky maybe someone will actually read it .  Probably won't help this time around, but  maybe  service improves next time around 

[email protected]

[davidclt]

Today, 201 was operating as a single consist. That was ugly. Do cars 202 and 203 run anymore? I only see 201 and 204.

Additionally, why does CATS do such a poor job communicating service impacts? It's fascinating to me that they added SpokeHub (in addition to Twitter et al.) and yet, they still are not conveying much useful information. I won't harp on the crummy RideCats (sic) app.

[kermit]

On 2/12/2019 at 9:48 AM, davidclt said:

Today, 201 was operating as a single consist. That was ugly. Do cars 202 and 203 run anymore? I only see 201 and 204..

They got it fixed, I am on 201 and 202  right now.

Based on rush hour loads I do think CATS needs to add enough vehicles to run 5 minute peak service (and 10 minute remainder of day (and night) service).

Edit: there were a few deer grazing alongside Toby Creek as the train departed. Not sure their are many other transit lines that feature wildlife.

Edited February 14, 2019 by kermit

[davidclt]

21 hours ago, kermit said:

Based on rush hour loads I do think CATS needs to add enough vehicles to run 5 minute peak service (and 10 minute remainder of day (and night) service).

I'd be happy if they could just run the service smoothly and on-time based on their published timetables although extending peak service to 10 a.m. and from 3:30 to 8:00 with 5 minute headways would be lovely (and 10 minute headways until 11) would make transit just that much more palatable. Since they won't open their location data to developers, I want to see them use it to good effect - still not sure why they're clinging so tightly to control of the data.

It still feels like 50%+ of the drivers are in training based on the lack of smoothness (starting and stopping) and the fact trains seem to stop randomly (for green signals no less).

[Trickbot]

With security checks and all to ight the light rail was in complete disarray.  Two trains at UNCC went out of service for 30+ minutes to "wait on the checks being set up" at 4. Then at 8 waited 25 minutes for a train after just missing one at 7th. Charlotte was not ready for this transportation-wise

[Cadi40]

Hopefully in the future CATs can understand during big events when several key streets are shut down it might be a good idea to increase frequency, let alone keep one of your most important stations open.

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

Hope they iron out all the wrinkles tonight. Will be even more ppl tomorrow and Sunday. Weather appears to be shifting a bit. Let's hope!

[elrodvt]

3 hours ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

Hope they iron out all the wrinkles tonight. Will be even more ppl tomorrow and Sunday. Weather appears to be shifting a bit. Let's hope!

Don't bet on it. Excuses come easy and there are no public forums to discuss improvement. I'm a huge supporter of public transit but I would not support any future projects unless there's a staff overhaul. 

[southslider]

4 hours ago, elrodvt said:

...I would not support any future projects unless there's a staff overhaul. 

John Lewis doesn't even support future projects. He killed extending all existing Blue Line platforms for three-car trains.  He delayed finding a private partner for Gateway Station. He stalled telling the truth to Lake Norman. He won't even release data for a decent real-time app.  He enables the excuse-laden culture.

[kermit]

^ I believe the MTC bylaws state that they must replace a CEO if they recieve a majority no-confidence vote from Urbanplanet posters.

[Desert Power]

16 hours ago, Trickbot said:

With security checks and all to ight the light rail was in complete disarray.  Two trains at UNCC went out of service for 30+ minutes to "wait on the checks being set up" at 4. Then at 8 waited 25 minutes for a train after just missing one at 7th. Charlotte was not ready for this transportation-wise

I love to complain about all of this, but I found it smoother than expected.  Train back after the game was delayed getting to 7th, but the other two I took during the afternoon/evening were on time.  

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

1 hour ago, Desert Power said:

I love to complain about all of this, but I found it smoother than expected.  Train back after the game was delayed getting to 7th, but the other two I took during the afternoon/evening were on time.  

Ditto. Today was very smooth and on time. Light rail was packed around 1pm. Ton of ppl uptown and the mint musuem Jordan experience, line was out the door down tryon. Telling you guys, we need this permanently. 

Edited February 16, 2019 by CharlotteWkndBuzz

[Matthew.Brendan]

John Lewis doesn’t hold an elected position by any chance? I guess I really don’t know anything about CATS as it relates to city/county relationship....

[DEnd]

1 hour ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

John Lewis doesn’t hold an elected position by any chance? I guess I really don’t know anything about CATS as it relates to city/county relationship....

Nope.  CATS is a business owned by the city (like the airport). Ultimately the city manager can fire him, but that’s not likely to happen unless the board approves.

[Spartan]

John Lewis is also recommending to fully fund the transit system and get it built within a decade...

[southslider]

^Where's the funding to build anything in even two or three decades?  When do voters get to weigh in on this supposed "big bang"?

My safest prediction is that Lewis will easily find his next job well before anything is decided by area voters.

[tozmervo]

CATS can't just go to voters because of the NCGA cap on sales tax. They are having to look at other options for funding, such as value capture programs.

[Desert Power]

13 hours ago, Spartan said:

John Lewis is also recommending to fully fund the transit system and get it built within a decade...

He isn't running the system well.  Why would I trust he can run the massive PR campaign needed to make this happen?

[Hunted]

Can anyone give any anecdotes about their Blue Line experiences over the NBA All-Star weekend? Influx in ridership? Issues? Interesting stories?

[Matthew.Brendan]

Security sweeps were ridiculous and not needed imho.