CATS | Sprinter

[tozmervo]

I wonder if the message boards (especially the one at Ashley Road, mid point on the route) will track the buses real time or just show pre-programmed times - ie, the scheduled bus time. Hopefully the former. That would also indicate that the door is being opened to CATS creating something like Chicago's CTA Bus Tracker.

[WestCoastNC]

This is great news. I normally take the #5 to the Airport so having a faster bus route there will be great. I'd happily pay more $1.50 for a faster route.

[southslider]

I always take the #5 TO the Airport. It's FROM that's often the problem. I've run like a crazy man through the concourse before from an arrival just so I wouldn't miss a bus running only at one-hour headways. But even worse still, if you just missed it, you can't go back through security to sit in one of those comfy rocking chairs or even use a BofA ATM for cab fare. And while there's a bench for the employee shuttle that comes every 10 minutes or better, there's no place to sit for the hidden CATS stop behind the bushes.

Will the Sprinter finally have a decent stop at the Airport that treats CATS patrons as nice as those waiting for employee shuttles, rental car shuttles, and taxis? And will there be signs that list that among the "Ground Transportation" options?

[tozmervo]

They've launched a Sprinter page - http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/CATS/R...TS/sprinter.htm - with a start date: Monday, September 14.

[tozmervo]

Anyone tried the big green bus yet? Was wondering how the service is going.

[Norm2]

the bus looks nice.....i know that much lol

[uptownliving]

Anyone tried the big green bus yet? Was wondering how the service is going.

Rode it for the first time tonight. It is very nice compared to a regular CATS bus...and the extra isle width makes it a lot easier for rolling luggage. It is a little bit quicker getting out there since there is less stops...plus having it go through Gateway Village is a big plus. Since it is brand new the bus ride is smoother and the hybrid engine is quiter than the normal diesels.

They still have some work to do:

- They moved the #5 Airport bus in the CTC from Bus Bay F to Bus Bay V. However their online CTC maps still show the old location. I had a short 5 min connection time at the CTC so when I saw that the #5 was not in Bus Bay F like I was expecting I checked the monitors and it showed Bus Bay V...however the map next to the monitor does not have Bus Bay V labeled...luckily as an experienced bus traveler I remebered they have a "Bay" outside the terminal on Brevard St. Luckily I guessed right and the Sprinter was there waiting for me. If CATS wants people to ride this bus then they need to do the simple stuff like keeping their website and maps at the CTC updated.

- Also the bus stop at the Airport has not been upgraded to the Sprinter style shelter yet. :-(

So overall a nice improvement but they still have some details to finish up.

[southslider]

Also the bus stop at the Airport has not been upgraded to the Sprinter style shelter yet. :-(

And it won't be, according to Jerry Orr, despite long ago providing a shelter for his employees' shuttle. But since both CATS and the Airport are City departments, I'm thinking the City Manager or Council need to remind Mr. Airport Czar for whom he really works.

[ontap]

And it won't be, according to Jerry Orr, despite long ago providing a shelter for his employees' shuttle. But since both CATS and the Airport are City departments, I'm thinking the City Manager or Council need to remind Mr. Airport Czar for whom he really works.

I believe the reason for not installing the new shelter is the fact that construction is about to start of the front of the airport and the shelfter will have to be removed soon. Easier just to leave the old one there until construction is finished.

[tozmervo]

It was getting a little buried in HSR/Gateway discussion over in 2030, but CATS has applied for a $15m grant to fund new Sprinter service that would run from Beatties Ford down Central to Albemarle. It would basically be a streetcar precursor. It would service limited stops every 20 minutes. Local service would be revised to alternating 20 minutes. That means Sprinter stops would have service every 10 minutes throughout the day.

Every time I've wanted to take CATS to the University area, I've wished for something like this. Route 11 takes nearly 40 minutes to do what a car can in 15 (that's an apples to apples comparison, btw). Providing a faster express type route on these corridors could really help make the bus more desirable to a lot of people.

Fun fact: Nashville is doing something similar on one of their busiest routes, but they call it BRT.

[Spartan]

I assume by "Sprinter" service you mean a bus service with signal prioritization and fancy bus shelters?

[southslider]

^True, newer vehicles, plus fewer but nicer stops. Yet that's not all. Also with this grant, I've heard CATS plans to connect Westside and Eastside services as one route (another feature similar to streetcar). So no more transferring at the CTC to go from one popular bus corridor to another.

[Urbanity]

Playing Devil's advocate here, but will the Sprinter as a precursor of streetcar also ironically hurt the streetcar's chances of being completed?

My rationale for asking is that there is such a vocal group that opposes the streetcar and often makes statements along the lines that a streetcar is nothing more than an expensive bus on rails. If the Sprinter happens will that then add weight to those questioning why we need to build a streetcar?

[southslider]

^True, what mobility benefits streetcar provide over current bus will basically be achieved by Sprinter-like service. These benefits include vehicle capacity, interlined/crosstown service, and quality stops. But what remains is the development benefits and a bias for rails over tires. The former can still build a policy argument for streetcar, when also financed by development, but the latter is just frankly elitist.

Riders will already be served by frequent, quality-bus service along the streetcar corridor. Extensions beyond the CTC-Presby starter line should thus depend on development return. And given the receipts and politics of the half-cent sales tax, I wouldn't be surprised if such development is asked to help finance incremental extensions.

[dubone]

I'm pretty sure the cat is out of the bag on the idea of new streetcars needing to compete against a current bus route. (The pun wasn't noticed until after I finished the sentence ). CATS has pretty much abandoned the streetcar routes for this decade, pretty much pushing them to the never-gonna-happen end of their long range plan. Honestly, trying to build a brand for an overlay bus route that has a higher quality of stops and higher quality of bus that can happen quickly (within a year) is exactly what they should be doing. Frankly, the ridership of the current corridor is what helps to support justification for the streetcar, whose only real improvement over bus routes is capacity and unchangeability. So if ridership on the corridor can be developed in the interim, then it helps to justify the higher capacity line.

[southslider]

At the streetcar workshop last night, I heard a CATS planner say that the Sprinter service would have 20-minute frequency, as well as 9-Central. Guess I'll have to catch my bus at a shared stop.

[Spartan]

Frankly, the ridership of the current corridor is what helps to support justification for the streetcar, whose only real improvement over bus routes is capacity and unchangeability. So if ridership on the corridor can be developed in the interim, then it helps to justify the higher capacity line.

That's true, but we can't discount latent demand and also future demand with redevelopment. The Lynx was constructed under those auspices, so we can't discount that altogether.... of course that still doesn't change the gloomy funding scenario for the streetcar.

[tozmervo]

I may need corrected on this, but I think the expanded Sprinter service grant was coming from the same pool of money that the Streetcar just won - specifically, the bus half of the Urban Circulator/Bus and Bus Facilities Livability grants. It would appear that CATS did not win their Sprinter portion.

[tozmervo]

After it's first year of operation, the Sprinter's ridership is up 21% over the old Route 5.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2010/09/13/daily12.html

[kermit]

After it's first year of operation, the Sprinter's ridership is up 21% over the old Route 5.

http://www.bizjourna...13/daily12.html

Does anyone have a sense of how the Sprinter service is doing now that it has been around for a while? Does CATS have a sense that this is a promising service model or has it become 'just another bus route'?

[tozmervo]

the last budget outlay i saw for CATS included sprinter service along Central and Beatties Ford. this was something they tried to land a grant for but didn't succeed.

[dubone]

Just another bus route, in my opinion. The nicer busses have helped me convince some people who outright refuse to take busses to consider using it, but the fact that they hid the stop at the airport, have been a little unreliable in my experience, and sometimes refuse to stop at some uptown bus-stops, have made it fall short of it's promise for me personally.