Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[JacksonH]

26 minutes ago, pathb said:

I think the headline I saw on Twitter this morning was something like "Local commuters shocked and appalled they are expected to pay for parking at new BLE parking decks." 

Seriously?  I lived in DC for years and always took Metro.  Sometimes I drove to the station and parked in their parking lot.  And guess what?  I paid to park.  This is not a new concept.  If you don't want to pay to park, then walk, ride a bike, or if you aren't close enough to walk or ride a bike, have someone drop you off, or move to a location close to the station. 

[KJHburg]

^^^The problem is that the only 2 garages or parking lots in the entire LYNX systems that charge for parking are in the university area JW Clay and University City Blvd.   I know they are doing this to discourage UNCC students from parking there but it is inherently unfair to the thousands of University city area residents.   Start charging at every lot and garage then however I think another tech based solution can be found.  (Someone call Passport here in Charlotte)  Here is an idea how about the single ticket or pass as a chaser ticket to open the garage however a UNCC student pass would not allow them to exit for free.    (Call Passport this technology could be developed right here ijn Charlotte) 

Edited March 20, 2018 by KJHburg

[HighRiseHillbilly]

13 hours ago, JacksonH said:

Here's what that address looked like in April 2015 (Google image).  I trust that it's at least a little prettier now?  This looks nothing like the image in their literature, which shows a second story and a very handsome building.

Hardly. I was honestly thanking God my car was still there the other night. I did scare a trucker pulling into that empty lot, though.

But it was fun during the day!

[Scribe]

13 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

I know they are doing this to discourage UNCC students from parking there but it is inherently unfair to the thousands of University city area residents.

If it is the UNC Charlotte students that they are trying to take care of, that should be simple.

The students use their student id (RFID) as ticket/pass and to exit the garage. Change the terms for UNC Charlotte students that student Light Rail access does not mean parking garage access and problem is solved. When a student tries to exit the garage with a student ID, charge them the posted rate, everyone with a valid ticket or weekly/monthly pass gets to leave free.

[JacksonH]

1 hour ago, HighRiseHillbilly said:

Hardly. I was honestly thanking God my car was still there the other night. I did scare a trucker pulling into that empty lot, though.

But it was fun during the day!

 

[Third Strike]

9 hours ago, kermit said:

I was on that train too. However just about all of them got off uptown,  there are only about 20 people in the car after CTC.

Only one person  got on (my car) at any stop after 7th. Sugar Creek deck looked 95% empty (ground level anyway). 

Old Concord lot had about 50 cars in it (and one person boarded)

The Quick Trip looks great?

stopped at Waffle House and found this sign and a 98% empty deck and this sign (so free parking for most of the day? Doesn’t seem like this system would discourage UNCC students from parking in a deck)

JW Clay deck looked to be more than half full (when viewed from train)

 

This is interesting. I hope it stays this way for the University City Blvd Station. It’s the closest parking deck to my house. 

[kermit]

The 5ish train leaving UNCC had about 30 people on it (in my car) until 7th street (perhaps 5 people hoped on or off on the BLE) so it was neither crowded or empty. Trains going the other way looked to be fuller (close to seating capacity, nobody was standing). Park and ride lots and decks were shockingly empty (with the exception of JW Clay). I hope things pick up as the route becomes more established. Signalling and grade crossings still feels very sloppy -- Lots of 'speed-up / slow-down' for various signals. If they fixed that the 30 minute trip from UNCC to uptown could certainly get a few minutes faster.

It was funny to listen to a pack of UNCC students debate which brewery they were going to choose (I think they settled on Sycamore)

Edited March 20, 2018 by kermit

[nakers2]

42 minutes ago, kermit said:

The 5ish train leaving UNCC had about 30 people on it (in my car) until 7th street (perhaps 5 people hoped on or off on the BLE) so it was neither crowded or empty. Trains going the other way looked to be fuller (close to seating capacity, nobody was standing). Park and ride lots and decks were shockingly empty (with the exception of JW Clay). I hope things pick up as the route becomes more established. Signalling and grade crossings still feels very sloppy -- Lots of 'speed-up / slow-down' for various signals. If they fixed that the 30 minute trip from UNCC to uptown could certainly get a few minutes faster.

It was funny to listen to a pack of UNCC students debate which brewery they were going to choose (I think they settled on Sycamore)

 My friend and I were theorizing that a lot of people work uptown might have parking passes that they’re waiting on to expire, considering the line opened mid-month. For most people, especially a hybrid driver like myself, taking the train isn’t necessarily cheaper unless you have to pay for parking at the end of your trip. 

 Other factors might include that people are naturally slow to try new things out, or perhaps other computers assume that the line is gonna be busy because it’s new, and therefore avoiding it for a bit longer.  Or on the other hand might consider it risky, as things could still break and malfunction. 

I was curious, if anyone knows, about why the trains run the way they do, there seems to be a lot of breaking, and then accelerating, and there are some places with the trains slow down to a crawl unexplicibly, is the system automated? And the driver is just overseeing it? Or do the drivers actually have full control of the train?  I know spacing needs to be maintained, but I was on a train the other day they crawled into the station at like 5 miles an hour, seems a little ridiculous. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

It’s my understanding the train operators are in fact in complete control of the speed. Definitely room for improvement there...

[lit]

Where does the parking revenue from the new decks go, directly to CATS or is it managed by one of the parking companies? 

[nakers2]

2 hours ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

It’s my understanding the train operators are in fact in complete control of the speed. Definitely room for improvement there...

 They seem to break at odd times though, surely there is something computerized telling them at least to slow down or speed up, because if I had complete control of the speed, I would go as fast as I could between each station. Then perhaps wait at the station until my time point is reached. 

[EllAyyDub]

Will there be transportation options like a shuttle bus from end of extension line stops (JW Clay makes most sense I think) to PNC and back for concerts?  or is Uber best bet?  

[nakers2]

Riding the south line and it’s notably smoother, like butter smooth. So I’ll chalk up the rough ride, and longer commute time to the newness of the extension. I just wish it could’ve been smoother for opening day. 

[grodney]

37 minutes ago, EllAyyDub said:

Will there be transportation options like a shuttle bus from end of extension line stops (JW Clay makes most sense I think) to PNC and back for concerts? 

I was thinking IKEA should have a shuttle.   I thought I was kidding, until I googled [ikea shuttle]: https://www.google.com/search?q=ikea+shuttle&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6oJaM7_3ZAhUCYK0KHfq5DIgQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1920&bih=949#imgrc=_

 

[nakers2]

14 minutes ago, grodney said:

I was thinking IKEA should have a shuttle.   I thought I was kidding, until I googled [ikea shuttle]: https://www.google.com/search?q=ikea+shuttle&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6oJaM7_3ZAhUCYK0KHfq5DIgQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1920&bih=949#imgrc=_

 

I could see them doing it from University Station. I remember eating at the IKEA cafeteria and the view reminding me of the IKEA at Wilrijkt in Belgium, access to transit despite its more suburban location along a large boulevard. 

[JacksonH]

On 3/18/2018 at 6:29 PM, AuLukey said:

2. The area between Sugar Creek and Old Concord Road is yeeeash. I actually overheard a few people mention “no way would I ever get off at this (Sugar Creek) stop!” I know a lot of areas on the original line weren’t developed at the time, but this portion of the line looks pretty hopeless.

Adding to my reply yesterday ("If you had seen the area now known as South End thirty years ago -- and you look too young for that -- you would realize that nothing is hopeless.  That was no man's land!  There are actually big projects either proposed or under development for the Sugar Creek area."), I was thinking last night about being a student at UNCC three decades ago and frequently going to restaurants around this area, and also the mall there.  I get them mixed up in my mind because at both the Eastway/Tryon intersection and the Sugar Creek/Tryon intersection, there are similar-sized malls that, 30 years ago, were rather active places.  And also some restaurants like Shoney's.  One of those malls had a dollar movie theater (I think that was the mall at Sugar Creek).  Dollar movies were very popular with college students!  In short, the Sugar Creek area was perfectly fine.  There was nothing scary or undesirable about it at all.  And in fact, these guys made Sugar Creek cool -- nationally!  

 

[nmundo]

1 hour ago, EllAyyDub said:

Will there be transportation options like a shuttle bus from end of extension line stops (JW Clay makes most sense I think) to PNC and back for concerts?  or is Uber best bet?  

Looking at the draft map for the system redesign CATS has a bus (Rt.229) going from UCity Blvd station to PNC. It seems to stop at 7 though so I don't know how useful it would be for concerts.

[HighRiseHillbilly]

59 minutes ago, JacksonH said:

And in fact, these guys made Sugar Creek cool -- nationally!  

 

You have made my week with this. Thank you.

[JacksonH]

4 minutes ago, HighRiseHillbilly said:

You have made my week with this. Thank you.

Haha!  I'm glad to know that.    I recall that the band went pretty far in that competition.  In fact, they're still around!  https://www.facebook.com/sugarcreekbandnc/

 

[KJHburg]

Why aren't the parking lots and garages full?   The Charlotte O answers their own question in the last part of this article and this is one reason.  I think this is one of the reasons not the entire reason.  As people said wait until the end of the month and more monthly parking users will consider these lots.  

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article206221569.html  The user like me who goes into my office uptown a few times a month but is convenient to these stops and does not have a pass nor would it make sense for me to get one.   As @Scribe said below this problem could be easily solved. 

In addition, the parking decks at JW Clay Boulevard and University City Boulevard aren’t free. Parking in the decks cost $10 – unless you have a daily, weekly or monthly pass.

[elrodvt]

The UNC Charlotte stop needs a shuttle to Halton (basketball) arena. I've asked the university about this but no response.

[kermit]

39 minutes ago, elrodvt said:

The UNC Charlotte stop needs a shuttle to Halton (basketball) arena. I've asked the university about this but no response.

There are circulator buses that run well into the evening

[southslider]

6 hours ago, nakers2 said:

I could see them doing it from University Station. I remember eating at the IKEA cafeteria and the view reminding me of the IKEA at Wilrijkt in Belgium, access to transit despite its more suburban location along a large boulevard. 

There are three CATS routes between IKEA and UCB Station-- Routes 11, 50, and 54.

 

[JacksonH]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

There are circulator buses that run well into the evening

Exactly.  UNCC's Green and Gold line bus routes both go by the light rail station.  Here's a diagram of the Gold Line route.  #34 is the light rail station.  #18 is the bus stop closest to Halton Arena (indicated with the red arrow).  It's a short walk.

 

[elrodvt]

33 minutes ago, JacksonH said:

Exactly.  UNCC's Green and Gold line bus routes both go by the light rail station.  Here's a diagram of the Gold Line route.  #34 is the light rail station.  #18 is the bus stop closest to Halton Arena (indicated with the red arrow).  It's a short walk.

 

How often do they run? That's not bad but my 89 y/o mom might not like going around and around down that ramp.