Light Rail Alternatives Analysis Meeting tomorrow (3/30/11) (Charlotte, Raleigh: shop, buses, train)

[orulz]

Hi,

There have already been a number of light rail alternatives analysis meetings this week and last. The next one is at the NCSU McKimmon Center tomorrow from 4pm to 7pm.

Read up on it here:
Public Workshop Materials - Triangle Regional Transit Program

Of particular interest is how light rail trains might fit through downtown Raleigh. There are four alternatives, D5, which get close to Fayetteville Street (but would have slower trip times), and three (D2, D3, D6) that stay pretty close to the railroad corridor and would be faster.

Basically, it comes down to this: would you prioritize faster trips between North Raleigh and NCSU/West Raleigh, or convenient walking access to Fayetteville Street? I personally would choose fayetteville street.

[MrBojangles]

This would be awesome if it ever got/gets implemented. Especially if the "sister counties" continue with it.

[Sluv]

While I understand the desire to bring transit stops closer to the ConventiIon Center, RMA, etc. I think we also need to cater to commuters passing through as they will likely make up the core ridership of our regional transit system. Either of D2, D3, or D6, along with offering the fastest trip times are also tangent with the R-Line which would play a huge role in getting people from rail stops to Downtown destinations.

[orulz]

Originally Posted by Sluv

While I understand the desire to bring transit stops closer to the ConventiIon Center, RMA, etc. I think we also need to cater to commuters passing through as they will likely make up the core ridership of our regional transit system. Either of D2, D3, or D6, along with offering the fastest trip times are also tangent with the R-Line which would play a huge role in getting people from rail stops to Downtown destinations.

The difference in travel time between the downtown alternatives is about four or five minutes. Do you think that would significantly impact whether folks from North Raleigh would ride the train to NCSU or RTP? The impact would probably not be zero, but I also don't think it would be big.

From talking to some of the Triangle Transit and HDR people working on the project yesterday, it seems that most people preferred D5 but for the expensive aerial over Boylan Avenue next to Bolyan Heights.

I chatted with the lead planning engineer who had a few things to say. First, he doesn't particularly like D5, and he gave several reasons:
(1) The light rail station is too far from where the High Speed Rail station will be.
(2) The aerial is ugly, long, and expensive
(3) Raleigh has narrow streets downtown so reconfiguring the streets to give a dedicated lane to trains is complicated, particularly where there will be stations, and there will be the potential for accidents
(4) Like you say, D5 is slower and therefore serves cross-regional trips less well.

I came prepared: anticipating issues 1 and 2, I showed him an idea I came up with (I spend way too much time thinking about this) to address them:
See it here (http://tinyurl.com/downtown-lightrail - broken link). He seemed to think this was a pretty good idea, perhaps better than what they studied.

As for number three, he mentioned that even with "no turn on red" signs posted, many drivers will turn right on red anyway. I suggested that the trains should run on the left curb instead of the right. He seemed to think that would be possible, and it would mitigate the right turn issue, but it would prevent the "train lane" from being shared by buses as well.

All-in-all, it was an interesting meeting. Most of the people there yesterday seemed to prefer D5 (but for the ugly aerial), but given the meeting was at NCSU rather than Cary or North Raleigh, it is possible the crowd was biased towards people trying to go to/from downtown.

[MrBojangles]

I would like to see the day when I can take a high-speed to Charlotte and go through their city without a car. And the same for people visiting Raleigh. At least hit the "high spots"