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Seems like there are 4 alternatives the City and it's consultant (Kimley-Horn) are considering for bringing together the bus rapid transit lines in downtown Raleigh (bus rapid transit normally involves dedicated lanes and signal priority when done properly) - the 4 alternatives can be seen towards the end of this powerpoint here: http://eastraleighnc.com/wp-content/...q5jARQtVwjg2tA
Also includes plans for separated and protected bike lanes (can also be used by those scooters haha) in the downtown area
There will be a public meeting Wednesday November 7th from 4-7 PM at the Raleigh Convention Center for those interested in giving feedback.
It looks like there are some daunting challenges for DT Raleigh. If you try to connect to both Moore Square and Union in scenario A you end up with BRT lines all over DT. At first glance I think I prefer scenario C.
I kind of wonder what it would look like if they picked the South side of scenario B, and the North side of scenario C for a scenario E combination? When I go DT from the South I go in from MLK to Wilmington Street. When I come in from the North I usually take Dawson. Selfishly, I'd prefer to not have BRT lines added to the routes I take the most.
I'm liking the Western to Cary Towne Blvd option for the Cary leg. Stopping at Fenton seems like a good idea. Western Blvd could be completed as a part of the project and it would avoid some of the complications on Chatham that are going to come out of grade separating all the RR crossings. 54 is just too suburban once you cross I-40 and I don't see that changing in my lifetime.
Yeah Scenario A looks like a mess but the downside of Scenario C is that it connects to either the train station or the existing bus station. Definitely none that stands out to me as a clear winner......
Definitely agree that BRT should go by Fenton/Cary Towne Blvd.
The "giant sucking sound" of tax dollars from north Raleigh OTB into ITB has commenced. Over half the city gets absolutely nothing from this plan.
1. Wake County voters voted for this in 2016.
2. Gotta have a base system around areas where people actually will use transit or areas where people rely on it for access to jobs/schools (mostly ITB and along Capital Blvd) before you talk about expanding it. How many people in North Raleigh do you think take transit on a daily basis?
The "giant sucking sound" of tax dollars from north Raleigh OTB into ITB has commenced. Over half the city gets absolutely nothing from this plan.
Maybe people should have thought about that when they bought a house way outside the city core. At some point we have to start supporting a more urban infrastructure.
Actually there's a reasonable number of people riding GoRaleigh from north Raleigh OTB into downtown in the mornings. People think north Raleigh OTB is all affluent single-family dwellings... untrue. Much of the city's apartment stock is OTB and much of the city's low-income stock has moved OTB also, driven there by gentrification and the closure of Chavis Heights, Halifax, etc. There is also significant reverse-commuting from people in southeast Raleigh ITB to jobs OTB.
Most precincts OTB inside the city limits voted in favor of the transit tax (precincts outside the city limits tended not to). The question is whether they'd vote for it now, given that virtually all the money is being spent ITB.
Last edited by wizard-xyzzy; 11-07-2018 at 05:42 AM..
Actually there's a reasonable number of people riding GoRaleigh from north Raleigh OTB into downtown in the mornings. People think north Raleigh OTB is all affluent single-family dwellings... untrue. Much of the city's apartment stock is OTB and much of the city's low-income stock has moved OTB also, driven there by gentrification and the closure of Chavis Heights, Halifax, etc. There is also significant reverse-commuting from people in southeast Raleigh ITB to jobs OTB.
Most precincts OTB inside the city limits voted in favor of the transit tax (precincts outside the city limits tended not to). The question is whether they'd vote for it now, given that virtually all the money is being spent ITB.
It's not like the voters were giving a blank check to Wake County to use transit money as they wished, there was a transit plan that was done to figure out the needs of the county and the referendum was based on how the plan was released. The voters are getting exactly what they voted for: https://gotriangle.org/sites/default...plan_small.pdf
Also, pages 21, 25 and 28 of the plan show that the need for improved transit ITB should be a priority, especially in the southern half of ITB. All four of the BRT routes will help areas that need transit improvements: Western Blvd in the NC State area, New Bern Ave/South Saunders Street for South/Southeast Raleigh, and Capital Blvd - though only to Crabtree Avenue right now will help with travel time improvements for the high frequency #1 route which serves Capital Blvd to Triangle Town Center which has the highest ridership out of all the GoRaleigh routes.
I agree the plan is not comprehensive enough to meet all of Wake County's needs - but I disagree that these aren't the first priorities that should be completed. Also, it's not like North Raleigh isn't getting nothing - there is definitely going to be higher frequency along some of the north-south routes like Six Forks #8 and Falls of Neuse #2 - and new routes to serve Wake Forest/Rolesville/Wake Tech, all day service to Brier Creek from Crabtree (and a peak hour service from Triangle Town Center to RTP that will eventually add Park & Ride service at Falls of Neuse, Six Forks etc...) http://goforwardnc.org/wp-content/up...ds-Updated.pdf
I am not especially impressed with any of the plans proposed downtown. The one (A, I think) that connects Union Station and Moore Square is indecipherable elsewhere. The one that sticks strictly to McDowell, Dawson, Edenton and Morgan is nice and simple and looks like it would be quick, but it misses both Moore Square and Union Station, basically failing to integrate BRT, regular buses, and commuter rail.
I think the tail that has wagged this dog is that GoRaleigh may have specified to their consultant that being able to through-route the BRT buses (so that Western and New Bern can operate as a single route, and the same for Capital and S Saunders) is a must-have. In my opinion while this would indeed be nice, it should be a tail, not the dog. The overall utility and rider experience should be weighed greater than any single attribute of the network or service.
When it makes sense, through routing can be a very good thing for many reasons, and in many situations, but there are other downsides too, such as cascading delays where a delay on Western Blvd would cause buses on New Bern to get off schedule and such.
IMO this strikes the right balance between the conflicting criteria of coverage, speed, and simplicity. I will be there at the meeting to advocate for taking it back to the drawing board for something better.
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