A Transit Advisory Commission is mapping out proposals to extend rail, streetcar and expanded bus service across Wake, Durham and Orange counties — and into bustling bedroom communities nearby. Its members want to hear from you:
What kinds of mass transit make the most sense for the Triangle? Buses? Street cars? Trains? Light rail? A combination of these?
Which would you be most apt to ride? What alternatives seem least appealing?
How should we pay for an expanded transit system?
When some massive highway projects were scheduled to disrupt traffic on I-95 in South Florida between Miami and West Palm Beach, their transit group quickly cobbled together a plan and implemented it. I suspect rather than making 30-year plans, they chose to use stepwise refinement (i.e. let's do the best we can right now). Everytime I have ridden this system, it has improved from the last time. Buses are what you expect (not great) but will get you to or at least nearer your destination. This system accomodates bicycles, wheelchairs, and they have special runs for special events. Maybe someone could take a peek and learn something at: http://www.tri-rail.com/
When they get their second track installed, the north and south-bound trains should be able to get by each other much faster. For certain destinations, it can easily beat times for autos and this improvement will really give it an edge.
The best system I have ever seen is in Frankfurt, but it has been perfected for years and years. Split second timing on all trains and buses.
The questions assume that Triangle governments should do something more about mass transit that we should pay (more) for. But when UNC-Charlotte Professor of Transportation Studies David Hartgen studied traffic issues in NC, he found that Raleigh and Durham spent on 73 and 49 percent of their highway budgets on effective congestion-alleviating measures, the rest going toward mass transit, which is used at best by 3 percent of commuters -- and when traffic congestion here is forecast to double in the next 25 years. Hartgen also found that just better allocation of highway funding would alleviate the problems. (Reference.)
We don't need to spend more on mass transit, we need to be upgrading our roads to handle traffic better. As Jon pointed out very few people actually use mass transit and all the buses and trains in the world aren't going to do anything to relieve congestion or reduce pollution.
As was pointed out during the train debate if we spent a billion dollars to build a train the same people not riding the buses won't be riding the train.
The key to reducing congestion is to build and expand our roads.
No one uses mass transit because we haven't invested in it; therefore, we shouldn't invest in it because no one uses it?
As much as I think swift, frequent, and sexy rapid transit might attract a crowd, when we look at this mass transit problem, as a solution to global warming and energy conservation, the critical path to enduring success is influencing transportation BEHAVIOR in individuals. We want people to use transit daily, in a regular, consistent, fashion.We want people to feel secure and comfortable with the service. The only way to get this change in behavior is to make both MASS TRANSIT MORE ATTRACTIVE while also making PRIVATE CAR USE LESS ATTRACTIVE. FREQUENCY:The first clients to get is the daily 7-9 AM, 11AM-2PM, 4-6PM commuters to use a convenient, comfortable alternative to riding in their own comfy cars.This means something that comes by, for RUSH HOUR, AT LEAST EVERY 10 MINUTES. SECURITY During the rest of the day and evening, if the bus isn't there every 15-20 minutes, then the transportation client who is running errands, shopping, and going to appointments, school, rec centers, and public facilities, will choose the car over the bus or train. This is because. with a measure of personal schedule uncertainty, no one wants to be stuck anywhere (like if delayed) without timely transit back home again. LOCATION OF STATIONS: This frequent service would also need to be at comfortable transit stops scattered among centrally located, safe, well-lit, with benches and rain protection at park and ride lots and apartment complexes. Hand in hand with a successful transit system is higher density living. For those who are living more spread out, the park-and-ride option needs to be VERY ATTRACTIVE. COST: A successful transit system that is free is more attractive to use. We don't want clients to have "exact- change-anxiety," nor the "not-enough-time-to-stand-in-line-for-a-ticket-or-punchcard-anxiety." The cost of maintaining rail beds and bridges is much less than maintaining our 4-10 lane highways. If we want to save money, we can start by charging heavy trucks more to use the roads, with freight rail the more attractive option. Train cars and the salaries for transit workers, is where the high costs are. You have these with buses also. The tradeoff comes when it may take fewer people to run trains than buses. If the service is not frequent throughout the day and fitting the irregular habits of the individual commuter, then no transit system, bus or train. will have the success that is so badly needed. This solution must be critically designed to get people to change their transportation behaviors.
Absolutely an incredible post! I could not have said it any better if I had tried.
My wife and I decided on a recently planned trip to Orlando, Florida to take the Amtrak train. We are tired of the highway congestion on our former trips to Florida and the cost of gas in our compact SUV still is not like a Toyota Prius-maybe 22 mpg or so on a trip. So from Southern Pines, NC to Orlando, Fl round trip it will be $164 including tax. Then we pick up a rental car for the week for only $131! We also rented a small compact that gets 35 to 40 mpg!
When gas really starts to hurt (and it will) then BEHAVIOR will change. Europe has a great history, great usage, inexpensive,and very efficient rail transport system. But gas there is about triple what we pay!
Again thanks for sharing your thoughts in this venue! A GREAT JOB!
I am a 51 year old disabled woman who does not drive. I have been a birthright Quaker all my life and lived at the poverty level in order to not pay war taxes in Albany, NY most of my life. I went to Georgia Tech, and earned my MS in Information Design in my thirties. Those were the early days of the internet and we all were making web pages. I made one called www.QuakerWedding.com. Over the years, all I did was create Quaker Wedding Certificates by hand for weddings.
Although I was poor because of my personal convictions, I've fallen through the hole in the safety net. I believe that because I was poor all my life I'm still poor now, I am treated very badly by the 'system' which has learned to treat poor people badly and thinks nothing of it.
I came to NC to go to NCSU so I could earn a Phd and finally work in my field and get a 'real job'. I was engaged to be married to a Philosophy professor when I had a subharacnoid hemmorage, fell into a coma and became stupid! I lost everything because I lived on a road in Knightdale with no public transportation. Also, because, frankly, when you have a brain injury, it changes your personality so much that the people that once loved you, don't know who you are.
It wasn't long before I'd alienated most of my family and was left with few friends. Finally, my current Guardian managed to sell my house, pays my bills and gives me just enough money to live on, but will not allow me to have a mailing address since she's afraid I'll get a credit card offer and fall into debt. Unfortunately, without a mailing address, I cannot work as an artist to earn any money.
I have been moved into one of the very few apartment complexes that is on a busline. Most of my neighbors are poor, black or Hispanic. The only thing I have in common with them is that I am also poor and powerless. I am desperately lonely and have very few people I can talk to. My neighbors mostly come over to borrow $5 here and there because they've found I'm an easy touch.
In the early years of my brain injury, I was on Medicaid, a program so strict that I could not earn even $20 or my brother, who was my Legal Guardian, would go to jail. I was considered incompetent, and therefore not legally liable.
Still, I wanted to do art. My family told me if I even said the word 'certificate' they'd never speak to me again. I experienced 'learned helplessness' in that I became afraid to do artwork. I tried to do art, but the stress almost killed me and my fiance, who lost 25 lbs, suffered black-outs, blood clots, hallucinated and finally moved out. He was terrified that he'd be arrested for my 'defrauding the US government' if they discovered I was secretly trying to do artwork. Of course, I never did complete anything, but I lost him!
Today, I'm not sure I even can do artwork. I've done some, but I'm lonely and very, very tired. I spend much of my time wading through Medicare red tape so that I can get the 10 medications and vitamins that I need to live at a reasonable price. I'm dizzy 24 hrs a day. I take medicines that allow me to go to sleep, stay awake, for thyroid, depression, ADHD and so on. Before I was medicated, my brain woke up 200 times a night, never allowing me to go into REM sleep. I spent most of the day sleeping. So now, I can stay awake, but I'm not productive.
I'm eligible for the TRACS program, the ART program and have a bus pass. I found out after taking ART once to my doctor's office, (a taxi program) that since I'm only Tier 1, it cost $15.00 one way! The cab driver took half of my tickets, leaving me only $10. She said I could pay the extra $5 in cash! But I wasn't going to pay another $15 for a cab ride home, so I walked across a busy highway to a bus stop a mile from the doctor's office, waited for the bus and transferred to the one that goes to my apartment complex.
The last time I visited my neighbor, a retired RN in Knightdale, I was driven by a woman who drove the TRACS minibus who said she'd love to drive a bus full-time. I've tried to track her down to refer her to the mayors in the Knightdale area, but haven't been able to reach her. I thought that with her experience and the help of the Small Business Administration, they should be able to get a bus line going in the Wendell, Knightdale area.
I'm trying to be productive. I wish I could find a friend or a life partner. I'd like to take an art class. I think my Guardian sees me as a black hole that she pours money into. But without 'seed money' I can't do anything. I'm at my wits end!
Thanks for listening, I have so few people that I can talk to...
Visits to any major city confirm rail/light rail is the way to go. Two concerns I've had through the years while rail has been considered are 1) direct service to RDU has not been a high priority, and 2) direct service to the Stadium / Arena / Fairgrounds complexes don't show up on the map. How much is transportation from RDU to the new convention center going to be? $30, $40, $45? Rail direct from Lambert Field (St. Louis airport) 20 miles to downtown St. Louis is $2.50, and you don't have to tip. I guess I'm skeptical anything will ever get off the ground on this. It's a huge undertaking. It would take an individual Steve Stroud-esque to make it happen. If not for him, the Wolfpack would still be playing in Reynolds and Canada would not know Raleigh exists.
We can't pave our way out of our traffic troubles. Every time a new road has been built, the resulting sprawl has led to ever more congestion. Experience has shown that expanding roads simply doesn't work. The region has lately seen a move towards more dense development - especially along its key corridors and in concentrated urban centers. That's the ideal environment for a train system, and it didn't exist the last time plans were drawn up. The city could start with something simple - a short train line between the RBC center and downtown Raleigh, with several stops along the way. It's the perfect area to develop and refine a system - development is dense and includes a variety of difference uses, plus the people who live along that route are already likely to be making those trips. It's also a small enough route that it is affordable. If it works well enough, then it can be expanded. If it truly fails, then the amount of money lost will not be as great as if it were a regional system. The same concept could easily be applied between Duke and downtown Durham. If the two are independently successful, then they could be connected - with a stop at the airport for good measure. One thing that should be ignored from the outset is any suggestion that people who live in North Raleigh and Cary will ride a train to RTP. If for no other reason than because RTP is so spread out(and that's hardly the only reason), that idea is doomed to failure.
I think just adding a bunch
I think just adding a bunch of buses is a complete cop out. There needs to be efficient transit options that encourage high density development along the lines to promote use-this would entail both heavy and light rail. We have seen that building more roads is not sustainable and does not relieve congestion (drive 540 during rush hour with traffic backed up onto I-40).