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I would love to hear how the Monday morning commute is on the new light rail system in Charlotte. Do you plan to take the new train to / from work on a regular basis? I am headed to Charlotte next weekend to visit some friends and would love to check out the new train. Way to go Charlotte!
Charlotte's Light Rail Service Debuts to Big Crowds :: WRAL.com (broken link)
Best of luck with your new Light Rail Line. I hope it is a huge success and that many people will realize its time to conserve gas and give up the car when they can. We obviously need to admit to ourselves we can't keep driving around as we do all the time. Take the train when you can and as you ride along you will soon realize how nice it is not to have to deal with driving in heavy traffic and all that stress.
does anyone have a link to somewhere that shows a map including the light rails path of travel, the stations, and other info on the light rail itself? what did that article mean by "34,000 trips?" how did it take 34,000 trips? I obviously dont know what they're referring to as "trips" since it did not go back and forth 34,000 times lol. I'm either dumb or just having a major brain fart. I'm intersted to see the map and stuff though. Does it affect any of us or is it useful to any of us in University? Either way it was nice this morning on the roads. Even though it was raining it took the same amount of time as a dry day last week. Last time it rained it took almost twice the time to commute to work. Traffic seemed much thinner today.
I live in Pineville and work in Uptown (Hearst Tower) and I took the Blue Line today. It was great! Parked at the South Blvd/I485 (southernmost) station, in the parking deck (3 floors) and took the elevator to the top. There was a gentleman answering questions as folks bought tickets from the ticket machine (for now, cash only). The train was waiting, clean and fairly comfortable. It took 23 minutes from start to finish at Seventh Street station. It used to take me 25-30 minutes to drive, then it was a 15 minute walk from parking to the office. I despise walking in the rain - so the 1.5 block walk from Seventh Street station to the back of Hearst Tower is preferable to the 6 blocks I used to walk. I go to the Dowd YMCA, so I'll be able to get off at Carson Station, walk 2 blocks to the Y, then get back on the Blue Line when done. My employer subsidizes our parking, or we can have $60 per month to apply towards transportation. I'm going to buy a $52 a month transit pass so I can hop on and off the light rail as I wish. It was an easy experience and I got to work with more energy and felt happier all morning (despite it being a Monday after a 4 day holiday!)
For more info, check out Charlotte Observer | Transit Issues (http://www.charlotte.com/transit/ - broken link) There is a PDF guide to the Blue Line and a series of articles as well as an archive.
so it only runs basically west to east from south blvd to 9th street? I guess I was confused and thought it was much bigger and more broad b/c I must have seen all of the future plans. Is this correct its just that little strip running from south blvd to 9th street right now? So this doesnt really effect anyone south or north of charlotte directly, more specifically me being in University?
so it only runs basically west to east from south blvd to 9th street? I guess I was confused and thought it was much bigger and more broad b/c I must have seen all of the future plans. Is this correct its just that little strip running from south blvd to 9th street right now? So this doesnt really effect anyone south or north of charlotte directly, more specifically me being in University?
Yeah basically just a $461 million dollar 10 mile strip or 44 million per mile that the voters voted twice that is how much it is worth to them when it will only bring in 2 million dollars in ticket revenue a year and cost 10 million a year to operate.
There have been a number of changes to bus schedules, and some added, some dropped. Routes are changing so that buses that used to come into Uptown now drop off at various Blue Line stations. So there is a coordination between buses and Blue Line that will place more riders on the light rail. Likewise, where there used to be a bus to Carowinds from some location north, now folks will take the Blue Line to the southernmost point and hook up with a Carowinds bus. (Don't take that as fact, I think I am remembering this correctly, but who knows?)
This is the first spoke of a light rail system that will eventually circle 'round the Charlotte area.
so it only runs basically west to east from south blvd to 9th street? I guess I was confused and thought it was much bigger and more broad b/c I must have seen all of the future plans. Is this correct its just that little strip running from south blvd to 9th street right now? So this doesnt really effect anyone south or north of charlotte directly, more specifically me being in University?
I think you might be confused. The Trolley runs from S Blvd to 9th.
Light rail runs from 7th to I-485 in Pineville.
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