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Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

dubone

By dubone
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Temeteron Burg

Temeteron

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5 minutes ago, mintscraft56 said:

Hello. Im from Norfolk, VA. We have a light rail called the tide here and they are desperate for an expansion but Virginia Beach is bullying us around on that. Anyways whats the light rail like in Charlotte? Iv been thinking of visiting but I just wanted down the basics of the city first before I go to explore. 

We have the Blue Line which is the more popular one. Goes from Pineville (South Charlotte) all the way through South End and Uptown north to the University City area.  The Gold line goes from west of uptown to east of uptown (Plaza Midwood area).  And now they are planning for the Silver line which will go from Matthews (SE) all the way to the airport and beyond.  There has been an astronomical  amount of development since the Blue Line debuted in 2007.  Like night and day.  

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GoldenEagle128
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Just some before and after photos of the view of uptown and the blue line from 11th street. Definitely a big difference!

kermit
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tozmervo
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mintscraft56 Hamlet

mintscraft56

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2 minutes ago, Temeteron said:

We have the Blue Line which is the more popular one. Goes from Pineville (South Charlotte) all the way through South End and Uptown north to the University City area.  The Gold line goes from west of uptown to east of uptown (Plaza Midwood area).  And now they are planning for the Silver line which will go from Matthews (SE) all the way to the airport and beyond.  There has been an astronomical  amount of development since the Blue Line debuted in 2007.  Like night and day.  

Wow. All we have is the tide lol. It reminds me of a subway system you all have. Oh and plus whats the best place to visit in the city in your opinion? Iv heard some say Downtown and others the outskirts.

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Windsurfer Burg

Windsurfer

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10 hours ago, Temeteron said:

We have the Blue Line which is the more popular one. Goes from Pineville (South Charlotte) all the way through South End and Uptown north to the University City area.  The Gold line goes from west of uptown to east of uptown (Plaza Midwood area).  And now they are planning for the Silver line which will go from Matthews (SE) all the way to the airport and beyond.  There has been an astronomical  amount of development since the Blue Line debuted in 2007.  Like night and day.  

Have dinner in either NoDa and ride it afterwards to uptown, walk around there, then either walk or catch it again and bar hop in The South End.  Buy a day pass so you can relax and hop on when you can.  Don't limit yourself to one area

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cltbwimob Burg

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14 hours ago, mintscraft56 said:

Hello. Im from Norfolk, VA. We have a light rail called the tide here and they are desperate for an expansion but Virginia Beach is bullying us around on that. Anyways whats the light rail like in Charlotte? Iv been thinking of visiting but I just wanted down the basics of the city first before I go to explore. 

Hey there...I used to live in Norfolk.  Really miss Handsome Biscuit, and although I do not normally like the fact that much of Charlotte’s food scene is just imports from other cities, I would welcome a Handsome biscuit satellite location with arms wide open.

As far as neighborhoods to visit, I’d say SouthEnd and Lower SouthEnd are musts along with NoDa and Plaza Midwood.  Uptown has a nice skyline, but little else to offer as far as I’m concerned.  Also, take some time to explore our outlying towns such as Concord, Gastonia, Belmont, Cramerton, Monroe, Waxhaw, and Kannapolis.  Because Charlotte for most of its history was a relatively small city, it did not dominate the entire region in the way other cities dominated their region.  This helped the outlying towns to form their own identities separate from Charlotte.  In fact I think our outlying towns are one of the most special parts of our metro area. 
 

edit: Don’t forget Mount Holly, Albemarle, and Salisbury on our list of special outlying towns

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JacksonH Hamlet

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On 9/16/2021 at 3:25 PM, elrodvt said:

I rate RTD in Denver, when I lived there, much higher fwiw. Used it all the time. Busses were better also.

I was very impressed with what I saw in Denver.  I was there on business, staying downtown.  I took the train from the airport to the train terminal downtown where I was able to catch a connecting bus to my hotel.  It was so easy.  My hotel was located near that entertainment district (I forget what it's called) which has a dedicated bus line down the main strip and back to the terminal.  It was fantastic.  I understand there is now lightrail all the way out to Boulder (another of my favorite places).  The Denver metro system is so far ahead of the game.

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a2theb Whistle-Stop

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13 hours ago, JacksonH said:

I was very impressed with what I saw in Denver.  I was there on business, staying downtown.  I took the train from the airport to the train terminal downtown where I was able to catch a connecting bus to my hotel.  It was so easy.  My hotel was located near that entertainment district (I forget what it's called) which has a dedicated bus line down the main strip and back to the terminal.  It was fantastic.  I understand there is now lightrail all the way out to Boulder (another of my favorite places).  The Denver metro system is so far ahead of the game.

Boulder service is still just the Flatiron Flyer which is great but just express bus service

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kermit Megalopolis

kermit

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To my surprise and delight there was actual mask wearing enforcement on the Blue Line this morning. This was the first enforcement of any kind I have seen since returning to daily rides in mid August. The fare inspectors were both graceful and effective. Hats off for this, keep it up CATS.

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CLT2014 Town

CLT2014

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27 minutes ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Damn thats terrible frequency...

With lighter traffic still than pre-pandemic, it makes the comparison to driving even worse too.

It is 6PM right now on a Tuesday.... estimated drive time from Center City to UNCC is 18 minutes. Drive time from Center City to Fort Mill is 20 minutes.... one could be at their destination via car before the next train even arrives.

Edited by CLT2014
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15895 City

15895

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51 minutes ago, SouthendSnoop said:

It’s honestly terrible at this point. I live about a 5 minute walk from the rail, and even I just take ubers sometimes because waiting an extra 20 mins for the next one is just too damn long. 


I live in DC and during the worst of the pandemic, we had those frequencies. If I missed a train, I didn’t care what the Uber fare was. 15+ minutes is 100% unacceptable for commuting. 
 

Despite that, there are real-time maps https://gis.wmata.com/metrotrain/index.html and you can see how many minutes until the next train allowed you to at least plan around a low frequency schedule. If Lynx at least had that.... it would be much better...

IMO cats is tripping over dollars to save pennies. People won’t come back with terrible frequency. 

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InTheYear2000 Unincorporated Area

InTheYear2000

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On 8/9/2021 at 11:49 AM, tozmervo said:

I can tell you with certainty that every call and email is given attention and consideration. Especially if you know about offices reopening, etc, CATS really wants to know that information to stay ahead of the changes. They are actively surveying employers for this info.

704-336-RIDE / [email protected]

@dylansukkert& @SouthendSnoop please utilize the contact information provided by one of our fellow UP members. Your feedback counts.

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Windsurfer Burg

Windsurfer

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On 11/3/2021 at 11:05 AM, kermit said:

Despite the struggle to hire enough drivers to run reasonable service, fare checking is now being done with five person teams. 

why?

(yea, I realize that security is a contracted service)

(only one farelsss person in my car of 20ish riders)

Maybe they've run into some belligerent folk. I've seen a few that would require five to pin down or throw off.

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kermit Megalopolis

kermit

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1 hour ago, Windsurfer said:

Maybe they've run into some belligerent folk. I've seen a few that would require five to pin down or throw off.

I dunno. Initially (pre BLE) fare checking was done by one, unarmed guy (and he was super professional). Then they switched to two armed guys. And the crew of five from yesterday appeared to be unarmed. None of these folks appeared to be at all interested in wrestling anyone. Since one (armed) CMPD officer appears to be sufficient for nearly all enforcement activities, I don't really see why the Blue line would be a more complicated environment than that.

I really wouldn't think there would be many safety issues with this job. Its just a $2.20 fare. If someone is combative then shrug and walk away -- if you feel the need, radio for CMPD to be waiting down the line,

Perhaps the big crew was for training purposes? (but its the second time I have seen the heard at work this week).

Edited by kermit
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