Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[Charlotte_native]

As I said before, I don't think we will have a true feel for how the trains are doing until the first 6 months are up.

Very true. That will allow people to decide this does, or doesn't, fit their schedules or commutes, allow for some of the residences that are being built along the line to be completed and occupied, and for nicer weather to entice those who might have been waiting to try. The ticket machines haven't helped with the early ridership, so it will be interesting to see if anything changes once they are performing better (or if they don't).

All in all it will be interesting to see (and it already has been) how things progress.

Edited February 19, 2008 by Charlotte_native

[staffer]

Round trips are now available! Got this release:

"Charlotte, N.C., February 19, 2008 - When customers board the LYNX Blue Line on Wednesday, February 20, they will find a new fare at the Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs.) Round trip tickets for the price of $2.60 will be available for purchase on a daily basis. "We heard from many of our customers who were looking for such a fare when making trips on light rail," said Olaf Kinard, CATS Marketing and Communications Manager. "Now passengers heading to work, destinations and events will only have to purchase one ticket." Round trip fare for seniors, individuals with disabilities and youth in grades K-12 is $1.30. Here is how the round trip fare will work. The first ride, the ride away from the station where the ticket was purchased, has to be completed within 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, a customer can no longer use that ticket to ride away from the station where the ticket was purchased. If a fare inspector finds a patron riding away from the station of purchase outside the 90 minute window, that person could be subject to a citation. The second ride, back towards the station of purchase, can be taken any time before the end of the service day in which the ticket was purchased."

Is the service day the same as the calendar day? Meaning can you use your return ticket on a 12:30 am trip? Daily passes seem to expire at midnight, if you read the fine print.

[uptownliving]

Next week will be the first test with a large group of Out of Towners using the LYNX during the CIAA tourney. CATS has planned to be proactive by taking the following steps:

• A brochure developed to inform CIAA fans of how to use CATS routes and the LYNX line from designated hotels. This is being distributed through the area's 400-member concierge association.
  

• Working with the Hospitality and Tourism Alliance (HTA), some hotels will provide shuttles for fans to LYNX stations along with setting up hotel concierges with the ability to pre-sell round-trip, day and weekly transit passes.
  

• Provide bus and rail pass sales services for the entire week inside the Bobcats Arena located at the ticket booth area.
  

• Providing pass sales agents at the I-485 LYNX station and the Charlotte Transportation Center.
  

• Provide Transit Ambassadors at key LYNX stations to assist customers with boarding, questions, etc.
  

• Operating the Gold Rush Red and Orange lines in center city until midnight and a CIAA shuttle serving the Convention Center, Bobcats Arena and the Afro-American Cultural Center during the day.
  

• Extended hours and extra vehicles on the LYNX line are planned prior to and after each game to handle crowds.
  

It is good to see CATS being proactive about the CIAA, however I still think we are going to have a lot of people frustrated with the SLOW SLOW SLOW TVM's and also just trying to figure out how to use them.

This will be interesting to watch and see how CATS handles it all.

[uptownliving]

Well we knew it was going to happen eventually. The first LYNX/Automobile collision. According to WCNC it happened near Remount Rd crossing. The train hit the car...and the driver speed off. Did some minor damage and minor injuries to people on board. When WSOC flew their helicopter over they were transfering people from one train to another heading in the same direction.

Even though WCNC reported the incident occured near Remount in their helicopter footage the LRT Vehicle looked to be closer to Scaleybark. Anywho I'm sure we'll get more details in the morning. Just glad that no one was seriously hurt.

[tozmervo]

Good lord, that's what all the helicopter activity was. I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on.

[dubone]

The fact that the car sped off likely means they had either jumped the gate and didn't want to get in trouble or were up to something else no good. Either way, I'm glad no one was seriously hurt.

Let's hope the reporting includes a public service reminder to not jump the gates, when clearly they are computerized and means that the train is coming very soon.

[monsoon]

....

Even though WCNC reported the incident occured near Remount in their helicopter footage the LRT Vehicle looked to be closer to Scaleybark. ....

This morning they are reporting that it happened at Clanton Rd. so your observation is correct. Earlier reports that the driver ran off were not correct as he/she was injured enough to be put into the hospital. This was a matter of gate jumping and the car got nailed by the train. Those trains are moving at a pretty good clip by that point so it's a wonder the driver wasn't killed. It looked as if the train hitch on the front of the train was damaged which should give an idea of the impact.

I am curious on how long the trains were disrupted by the accident.

[sax184]

Well we knew it was going to happen eventually. The first LYNX/Automobile collision. According to WCNC it happened near Remount Rd crossing. The train hit the car...and the driver speed off. Did some minor damage and minor injuries to people on board. When WSOC flew their helicopter over they were transfering people from one train to another heading in the same direction.

Even though WCNC reported the incident occured near Remount in their helicopter footage the LRT Vehicle looked to be closer to Scaleybark. Anywho I'm sure we'll get more details in the morning. Just glad that no one was seriously hurt.

Just a friendly reminder to encourage people to describe these types of incidents the way they actually occur. The train did not hit the car. The car drove into the path of the train. When there is a derailment and a car is hit, the train is not where it is supposed to be. When there is a collision at a grade crossing, the train is where it is supposed to be, and the car is out of place. By describing it as "car drives into path of train"- we help the media put the blame where it belongs, on the careless motorist.

[HopHead]

I go down past that crossing a few times a week and have seen numerous people go around those gates as they are lowered. I just don't understand it? What could possibly be that important that you can't wait a minute or two like everyone else... It's bad the driver got hurt, but at the same time I hope they learned a lesson.

[Neo]

There are contradicting stories here about the driver fleeing the scene. I will assume that since the driver was hospitalized that he did not in fact flee the scene as was initially reported. Aside from this, the accident brings good publicity that people should NOT try to drive around the downed gates. It's akin to getting electrocuted by opening a door on a running generator that says "caution, extreme high voltage."

I'm sorry that someone got hurt, but CATS is completely not at fault here and you can't do much for those individuals who wish to disobey the law. It is typically there for our safety, apparently some don't believe that notion however.

[monsoon]

I am not passing out excuses at all, but I think that a lot of people have gotten into the habit of jumping the tracks mainly because of how poorly the freight lines operate in this state and elsewhere, where the crossings will close and there are no trains anywhere. I've seen this happen many times in Charlotte including on major roads like N. Tryon and Sugar Creek. People get impatient and cross the tracks with the signal arms down.

Doing this with the LRT trains is another matter entirely as it is much more likely to result in your car getting hit by a train. Despite the fact the driver got injured, the police should hit them up with some pretty severe charges as this could have hurt a lot of people. I am not familiar with this particular intersection, but I wish that CATS would just go ahead and invest in double arms for these crossings.

[geekUSA1981]

When something like this happens, does CATS hit up the driver's insurance company for all repairs to the train? I guess same would go for when a car hits a CATS bus. If CATS is as fault in an accident, surely their insurance takes car of damages to the motorist. Does it work the other way when a CATS vehicle is damaged by a motorist?

[dxartist]

I may be in the minority here and it sounds insensitive, but I honestly feel no simpathy for the driver since he/she is at fault. I feel for his/her family members. That person should have know better than to try to cross with the gate arms down. Simple concept. "When the gate arm is down, you do NOT cross the tracks."

[HopHead]

I may be in the minority here and it sounds insensitive, but I honestly feel no simpathy for the driver since he/she is at fault. I feel for his/her family members. That person should have know better than to try to cross with the gate arms down. Simple concept. "When the gate arm is down, you do NOT cross the tracks."

I don't disagree with you... I was just trying to be PC. I thought about being harsh

[AuLukey]

I place these people in the same category as a driver who decides it's a good idea to drive across a bascule or drawbridge while it is lifting.

I do agree though that, in order to avoid this issue, CATS should incorporate more double arms on these crossings. If they wanted to completely stop them, then they would also incorporate retracting poles or single sided spikes like those in some parking garages. Those might make people think twice about trying to get through. Then again, I could see those causing more issues too.

[Mobuchu]

As much bad press and sensational articles that have been written about the SLRT, I hope they give alot of coverage of something like this. If this driver is found to be at fault I hope CATS goes after them hard and gets every penny for damages, not to mention any passangers that may have been injured. If the media puts alot of coverage behind something like that it will certainly deter others from making the same stupid mistake. Make an example of this driver!!

[uptownliving]

WCNC is reporting that the motorist fled the scene after they collided with the LYNX vehicle. Police then tracked them down and they were taken to the hospital to treat non life threatning injuries. Obviously this motorist knew they were in the wrong here....otherwise they would not have fled the scene. Now they just made things worse for themselves, in addition to being charged with jumping the crossing arms and being at fault for the collision they will be charged with hit and run

[UrbanFuture]

A teacher of mine retired when he sold the patent to his rail crossings to the state of new york, I don't know if they've implemented them anywhere but the idea was to prevent this sort of thing. When a train was approaching, the lights would go but there would be no unsightly arms, going up and down. A steel plate/grid would rise vertically out of the ground (much like the barricades around loading dock entrances in urban settings) and block the entire crossing.

[wheatie]

A teacher of mine retired when he sold the patent to his rail crossings to the state of new york, I don't know if they've implemented them anywhere but the idea was to prevent this sort of thing. When a train was approaching, the lights would go but there would be no unsightly arms, going up and down. A steel plate/grid would rise vertically out of the ground (much like the barricades around loading dock entrances in urban settings) and block the entire crossing.

I've seen these implemented at a few Hertz rental car facilities.

[monsoon]

People on tracks are a problem everywhere I guess.

[MZT]

It *is* true that the Norfolk Southern arms come down for no apparent reason sometimes. I've seen this before at Archdale and at Arrowwood. I guess it does make people complacent (and irritated to be stopped for "nothing".)

Edited February 21, 2008 by MZT

[Raintree21]

People on tracks are a problem everywhere I guess.

Yes, there are stupid, unobservant people all over the world. If only our trains traveled that quickly.

[Appetite for Construction]

Just got this info from CATS on upcoming NE Corridor meetings:

Blue Line Extension Preliminary Engineering Kick-Off Meetings:

March 3, 2008

Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church

101 West Sugar Creek Road

Fellowship Hall

6:00 pm

[davidclt]

In Der Spiegel today there was an article about Siemens' boom times manufacturing rolling stock for light rail systems. Houston's system was mentioned but not Charlotte's. Still there were some interesting facts in the article available here: http://www.spiegel.de/international/busine...,536892,00.html

Edited February 23, 2008 by monsoon
Deleted cut and paste material per the rules.

[CltFlyer]

Eventually when they do make the line to Charlotte Douglas Internatonal airport it will be light rail not street car/trolly.....i sure hope so.......y did they take the mooresville station and the one after that off north line?