Orlando Transit

[gibby]

I was there also. Great catch on the Orange Blossom Express. I had not noticed that. Their website (and new flyer dated yesterday) still shows that there will be a dedicated lane on Church between Lake and Magnolia but they told me that it would only be between Rosalind and Magnolia, which is disappointing. Also, the on street parking on Church between Osceola and Eola will no longer be allowed. I kinda like that, as long as they can slow the cars down. I wish they could have put a dedicated lane for the whole stretch of Church Street but I guess that's alright. Nearly everything west of I-4 will be on a dedicated lane and nearly everything east of I-4 will not be. Still an exciting project though.

[nite owℓ]

I thought the Lymmo already controlled traffic signals? I'm delayed literally every single day at the Magnolia & Robinson intersection on my way to work and sure enough a few moments later a Lymmo will lazily creep by.

Did they give a timeline for the North/South expansion?

[Jernigan]

It has a signal but it doesn't control them. Like when I pull into a a left turn lane on a road with a left turn arrow, it will include me in the cycle. But it doesn't talk to me through GPS to get me through without delay.

They do not have a timeline - LYNX is seeking funding now.

[prahaboheme]

Lymmo East-West Expansion Construction Kick-off 11/14/12: http://golymmo.solodev.com/core/fileparse.php/104631/urlt/Lymmo-Kick-Off-Invite.pdf

[prahaboheme]

Also, for those interested, GoLymmo.com has very detailed Lymmo Expansion plans, including station design, schematics, and BRT row blueprints.

Some takeaways:

• As was mentioned previously, about 51% of the expansion will include a dedicated BRT lane, 49% will be mixed.
  
• The majority of dedicated row is in the Parramore expansion, as are the larger of the bus stations 6x27 vs. 6x13.
  
• The Summerlin / Central Lymmo station is on the South side of the street (across from Thornton Park Central) and appears to take up some of the existing lawn space (there will not be a dedicated BRT lane at this corner).
  
• The East-West expansion will uphold the design and style (stations, lighting, hardscape, landscape) of existing Lymmo.
  

Here: http://www.golymmo.com/downloads.stml

[CaptainJustice]

Also, for those interested, GoLymmo.com has very detailed Lymmo Expansion plans, including station design, schematics, and BRT row blueprints.

Some takeaways:

• As was mentioned previously, about 51% of the expansion will include a dedicated BRT lane, 49% will be mixed.
  
• The majority of dedicated row is in the Parramore expansion, as are the larger of the bus stations 6x27 vs. 6x13.
  
• The Summerlin / Central Lymmo station is on the South side of the street (across from Thornton Park Central) and appears to take up some of the existing lawn space (there will not be a dedicated BRT lane at this corner).
  
• The East-West expansion will uphold the design and style (stations, lighting, hardscape, landscape) of existing Lymmo.
  

Here: http://www.golymmo.com/downloads.stml

Was looking for this. Thank you

[smileguy]

I believe there will be a new digital signage system in the totems, with times until arrival. The existing LYMMO route will be upgraded to the same, and they will reflect SunRail times. Not sure if the SunRail will be scheduled or actual departure times.

[spenser1058]

OK, guys (and gals!), here's your chance to be immortal - Name the Lymmo routes!

http://cityoforlando.mindmixer.com/name-the-lymmo-routes

[orlandoguy]

While not cute or creative, methinks the best route (ha) here is to go with either simple alphabetical route names (A, B, C) or colors (green, yellow, blue). It'll be much easier for riders to remember and communicate to others.

[alex]

I voted for the colors idea, as well as "Creative Line, Business Line, Entertainment Line."

On the same site they have some interesting ideas for "Making Orlando the Greenest City." Check it out and vote!

[spenser1058]

Latest Tweet from the City:

"Eola Express is in the lead for most popular new LYMMO route name"

Have you voted yet:

http://cityoforlando.mindmixer.com/name-the-lymmo-routes

[prahaboheme]

Not only did I vote, I contributed an idea!

And no, Eola Express was not it.

[John Hargrove]

Was yours "The Casey Anthony Escape"?

[CaptainJustice]

Latest Tweet from the City:

"Eola Express is in the lead for most popular new LYMMO route name"

Have you voted yet:

http://cityoforlando...he-lymmo-routes

I voted for the Eola Express

[Xander]

My name was the Horizon Line. I think the Eola Express is a little too hokey for me.

[John Hargrove]

My name was the Horizon Line. I think the Eola Express is a little too hokey for me.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of Eola Express. I liked the Business/Creative/etc lines.

[prahaboheme]

Mine were the colors: Orange, Red, Green etc.

Boring perhaps, but easy to navigate.

[bic]

My contribution:

 

THE LIME LINE (but in a lighter shade of green)

 

A buzz-worthy name for a new Lymmo route that lends itself to color-matching buses, stations and signage (much like the text color of the web site), making the new route easily identifiable. The name itself draws allusions to the region's citrus history as well as Downtown Orlando's exciting nightlife and arts scene (think "limelight"). And if Lynx/Lymmo wants to take it even further, they could keep the "Y" theme going and call it the "Lyme Lyne."

 

Other lines could be named after Citrus as well, creating a naming scheme unique to Central Florida yet easy navigable. Though I'm not sure the city would approve of a "Lemon Line"...

[smileguy]

Can a person catch Lyme disease if bitten by a tick waiting for the Lyme Lyne?

[Jernigan]

Not Orlando Related - but interesting article regarding Charlotte's light rail and housing connection... It's pretty impressive how much we are going to emulate this for COMMUTER rail. I'd almost classify SunRail as a commuter/light rail hybrid if all of the development snowballs and the schedule has to react. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/07/3711178/light-rail-attracting-apartment.html#storylink=cpy

[CaptainJustice]

Hey all, I have a statement, opinion, question or whatever.

 

Charlotte has a transit system dubbed Lynx. So does Orlando. Why?

 

Why won't Lynx change it's name to something more regional?

 

Sun Trans? Sun Transit? Match Sunrail?

 

Also howcome Lynx has multi colored buses? Seems childish.

 

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining but many of you are older than I and could possibly share some insight on why Lynx is Lynx. I know it used to be Tri-County Transit, but that's about it. Would it even be applicable for them to adopt a new name/color scheme or am I just in a pipe dream?

 

Just some thoughts!

[spenser1058]

The short answer is there was a contest back when Orlando Chamber head Jake Stuart was tasked by the burgeoning tourism industry to bring central Florida transit kicking and screaming into the 20th century. This was back in the 80's when colors ran rampant (a coral and teal Publix, anyone?), not to mention that Jake has long been famous for attention-getting colors (when I worked for his brother, then Senator George Stuart, Jake designed a color scheme for George's reelection - not your same old red white and blue but orange and black; since the election was so close to Halloween I pondered if that made our guy the Trick or Treat candidate. After Jake overheard my comment, I never was on his Christmas card list again *sigh*.) 

 

The old downtown bus station was "modernized" with a hot pink truss for a shelter. With the help of transit superstar Paul Skoutelas, the buses were wrapped in then-new coverings and a contest was held to pick a "hip" new name. After Paul realized Jake liked to talk a lot about transit but his GOP friends who ran the county weren't really serious about the sort of investment required to get it up to speed, Paul quickly went back to Pennsylvania.

 

Of course, the end of that episode was the Clinton administration offering us all kinds of money to build light rail, which was promptly shot down by the Republicans on the county commission (Clarence Hoenstine was the deciding vote - had it not been for such idiocy, we'd have actual regular service today from Seminole County down to WDW, not the better-than-nothing first step that is SunRail.) It is perhaps appropriate that, although it's not possible to directly follow the cash flow, many have suggested that Charlotte's light rail, which got funded not long thereafter, was the recipient of our stupidity. Hence, Lynx seems a fitting name.

Edited December 9, 2012 by spenser1058

[CaptainJustice]

The short answer is there was a contest back when Orlando Chamber head Jake Stuart decided was tasked by the burgeoning tourism industry to bring central Florida transit kicking and screaming into the 20th century. This was back in the 80's when colors ran rampant (a coral and teal Publix, anyone?), not to mention that Jake has long been famous for attention-getting colors (when I worked for his brother, then Senator George Stuart, Jake designed a color scheme for George's reelection - not your same old red white and blue but orange and black; since the election was so close to Halloween I pondered if that made our guy the Trick or Treat candidate. After Jake overheard my comment, I never was on his Christmas card list again *sigh*.) 

 

The old downtown bus station was "modernized" with a hot pink truss for a shelter. With the help of transit superstar Paul Skoutelas, the buses were wrapped in then-new coverings and a contest was held to pick a "hip" new name. After Paul realized Jake liked to talk a lot about transit but his GOP friends who ran the county weren't really serious about the sort of investment required to get it up to speed, Paul quickly went back to Pennsylvania.

 

Of course, the end of that episode was the Clinton administration offering us all kinds of money to build light rail, which was promptly shot down by the Republicans on the county commission (Clarence Hoenstine was the deciding vote - had it not been for such idiocy, we'd have actual regular service today from Seminole County down to WDW, not the better-than-nothing first step that is SunRail.) It is perhaps appropriate that, although it's not possible to directly follow the cash flow, many have suggested that Charlotte's light rail, which got funded not long thereafter, was the recipient of our stupidity. Hence, Lynx seems a fitting name.

 Thanks for the History lesson.

 

But seriously thanks for the insight. It's beyond me that we can't have an organized transit system like Dade county, but eh, Lynx is getting there.

[spenser1058]

"What has been will be again,

    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 1:9

 

The tragedy is that, time after time, and as we're seeing now with what's happening in the "North Quarter," once-visionary young men like Jacob Stuart, Buddy Dyer, Craig Ustler, the list goes on, who at various times when younger espoused great ideas for a true metropolis in the heart of our region, abandoned those plans for some extra jingle in their pockets as they grew older and, um, wiser. More's the pity.

[spenser1058]

Lynx bus station taking shape in downtown Kissimmee

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/osceola/os-lynx-bus-station-kissimmee-20121212,0,5216497.story

 

While we weren't looking, it appears the REAL Lynx "Central" Station is underway in Kissimmee. "The station will be built near the intersection of Neptune Road and Pleasant Street, nestled among the city's Amtrak station, Greyhound bus station and future SunRail station."

 

It seems Lynx ridership is up close to 20% in Osceola, beating the rest of the system. Kudos to Osceola - "cowtown" is growing up!