Charlotte Center City Streetcar Network

[tozmervo]

 

[NYtoCLT]

Larken met with a bunch of Elizabeth residents yesterday and one of the things he mentioned was that the earliest the bridge could be open for cars would be late August, but that he is pushing to open part of it to pedestrians/bikes in advance to the extent possible while the roadwork is being finished/tested for cars.

[sakami]

56 minutes ago, NYtoCLT said:

Larken met with a bunch of Elizabeth residents yesterday and one of the things he mentioned was that the earliest the bridge could be open for cars would be late August, but that he is pushing to open part of it to pedestrians/bikes in advance to the extent possible while the roadwork is being finished/tested for cars.

I watched the zoom meeting with the city, Larken and the Elizabeth community a few weeks ago and if this happens it will be quite a surprise. Both the project manager and the city engineer gave a hard no to this suggestion when it was floated on that call. There is still so much work to be done on the entire Hawthorne portion of this project, not even just the bridge, that it seems like there would be pedestrians walking through an active construction zone. 

Edited June 25, 2020 by sakami

[gman430]

 

[SpiritOf76]

[NOLA2CLT]

Central side of the bridge 

[Nick2]

[videtur quam contuor]

The people who live in those apartments and condos on each side of the bridge* have enjoyed a measure of peace and quiet they will never know again once it opens.

[NOLA2CLT]

14 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

The people who live in those apartments and condos on each side of the bridge* have enjoyed a measure of peace and quiet they will never know again once it opens.

ha...i welcome the renewed traffic noise and street car noise...i cant even begin to tell you the amount of idio...i mean people that dont understand simple construction signs that say 'bridge out' and 'road closed'.  If i had a nickel for every time someone turned around in my drive way, i would be a millionaire.

[NYtoCLT]

I feel like some amount of people have gotten used to going to Central or Pecan.  I'm curious how busy Hawthorne will be once it opens, especially if traffic is slowed by being behind a trolley.  That said, I just want my bridge open.    

[kermit]

9 minutes ago, NYtoCLT said:

I feel like some amount of people have gotten used to going to Central or Pecan.  I'm curious how busy Hawthorne will be once it opens, especially if traffic is slowed by being behind a trolley.  That said, I just want my bridge open.    

Will it significantly slow traffic? (beyond holding people to the speed limit). I have not looked closely, but I thought that there is still a traffic lane available for autos to move past a stopped streetcar. Other than stops, the streetcar should be just another vehicle from a traffic flow perspective (I might be wrong).

[southslider]

^Ironically, the only section with passing lanes will be Uptown.

[archiham04]

8 hours ago, southslider said:

^Ironically, the only section with passing lanes will be Uptown.

Really?!?! 

That amazes me.

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

9 hours ago, southslider said:

^Ironically, the only section with passing lanes will be Uptown.

Should have just made the Streetcar have dedicated lanes in Uptown then.  The Gold Line could  then "guarantee" a certain travel time frame from Gateway Station to the Blue Line and vice versa.  Would make transfers a lot more reliable and less stressful. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

The fact that they are at the mercy of car traffic is by far the most disappointing aspect to me. 

[dubone]

In the long run, I hope Trade is simply signed for "local and transit transit only"   but I agree they could have planned dedicated lanes for much of the route.   However, we can't forget Gold Rush was the most traveled route in the city when it operated.   Mostly due to its fare-free status for hop-on-hop-off usage.   I wish the city recognizes the benefits of having the ridership and made it a fare-free circulator.   

 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

On 7/9/2020 at 2:38 PM, Matthew.Brendan said:

The fact that they are at the mercy of car traffic is by far the most disappointing aspect to me. 

That doesn't seem like that has to be the case, permanently. 

[dubone]

Plus the car traffic is at the mercy of the lights, so if the city controls the lights based on the movements of the streetcar, then it could pretty much be moot other than idiots blocking the tracks picking up CPCC students or parking wrong. 

[SpiritOf76]

[15895]

On 7/15/2020 at 12:06 PM, dubone said:

Plus the car traffic is at the mercy of the lights, so if the city controls the lights based on the movements of the streetcar, then it could pretty much be moot other than idiots blocking the tracks picking up CPCC students or parking wrong. 

I feel like the Charlotte streetcar may be a different story, but the DC and I believe Atlanta streetcars have been disasters other than some developments. Even very pro-transit folk do not like the streetcar.
 

im curious to how Charlotte will fair and how other cities streetcars are doing. 
 

The one thing Charlotte has going for it is it actually does take you to useful places and is situated in a convenient spot in downtown. Going to Plaza would’ve been ideal. Hopefully university students fill the thing. But man. It’s torture waiting like. 15 minutes then taking another 15 minutes to go like. 2 miles. 
 

 

[kermit]

On 7/24/2020 at 10:17 AM, AirNostrumMAD said:

I feel like the Charlotte streetcar may be a different story, but the DC and I believe Atlanta streetcars have been disasters other than some developments. Even very pro-transit folk do not like the streetcar.
 

im curious to how Charlotte will fair and how other cities streetcars are doing. 
 

The one thing Charlotte has going for it is it actually does take you to useful places and is situated in a convenient spot in downtown. Going to Plaza would’ve been ideal. Hopefully university students fill the thing. But man. It’s torture waiting like. 15 minutes then taking another 15 minutes to go like. 2 miles. 
 

 

There were some really crappy streetcars built with the 2009 stimulus. But to be fair, they are crappy mostly because they were planned as starter segments for longer lines (the federal program that funded most of them had a $25 million limit). If Atlanta expands theirs to the beltline (as planned) and DC’s makes it to Benning rd metro and Georgetown (as originally planned), both will be very useful. Other streetcars have been huge successes, Kansas City and Portland being the most notable (part of this success has been high frequencies). 

The Gold Line (Phase 2) connects some very important places, but I agree, low frequency will make it useless for most short-distance riders. CATS plans to run 15 minute service, when it really should be every 7. Poor frequencies will lead to underperformance, that will be unfortunate because its a pretty good route.

Edited July 26, 2020 by kermit

[NYtoCLT]

56 minutes ago, kermit said:

There were some really crappy streetcars built with the 2009 stimulus. But to be fair, they are crappy mostly because they were planned as starter segments for longer lines (initial budget lines were small). If Atlanta expands theirs to the beltline (as planned) and DC’s makes it to Benning rd metro and Georgetown (as originally planned), both will be very useful. Other streetcars have been huge successes, Kansas City and Portland being the most notable (part of this success has been high frequencies). 

The Gold Line (Phase 2) connects some very important places, but I agree, low frequency will make it worthless. CATS plans to run 15 minute service, when it really should be every 7 at least. Poor frequencies will lead to underperformance.

Isn't Kansas City's free though?  If it is free and runs reliably (offsetting priorities in some ways), that dramatically increases the chance of success.  My front yard is literally a stop and I dont plan on riding unless I am going to Spectrum and plan on drinking.

[kermit]

14 minutes ago, NYtoCLT said:

Isn't Kansas City's free though? 

Free to riders. Operating costs are paid through a business improvement district (neighborhood business pay). There is no free transit (gezzzus, I sound like my father).

[JRCLT]

8 minutes ago, NYtoCLT said:

Isn't Kansas City's free though?  If it is free and runs reliably (offsetting priorities in some ways), that dramatically increases the chance of success.  My front yard is literally a stop and I dont plan on riding unless I am going to Spectrum and plan on drinking.

Yes, it is free. Though frequencies should be increased at least for it to be an effective mode of transport. KS city's frequency is 10min on peak week days and between 12-18min  for the remainder of the week. Charlotte should probably do around 7-10min frequency at least to make it effective enough to get people to actually ride it.  

[Yeahdoug]

I really want to use it, but the wait might kill it for me to go uptown to plaza. I can hop on a scooter and be there in 15. And it will probably shutdown before I usually head home.