Charlotte Center City Streetcar Network

[kermit]

CATS says in the June FTA Quarterly Report that the switch to 20 minute frequencies (up from 30ish before) increased ridership by 11.5% yoy. The math isn’t hard: More frequency = More riders.

https://www.charlottenc.gov/files/sharedassets/cats/v/1/cats-docs/fta-quarterly-reports/cats-fta-quarterly_report_2024-06-18_final.pdf

 

Edited June 23 by kermit

[LKN704]

Is there a reason why CATS never installed maps/wayfinding signage at the streetcar stops?

My brother lives near the streetcar near the Bruns Ave stop. It's mind boggling to me that there's absolutely no signage on the platform - nothing telling you what the stop is for, where said transit line goes, what other stops are on the line, etc. 

It took me less than ten minutes to make this graphic:

I would think that a major transit agency can make something just as well as I can.

Edited June 23 by LKN704

[kermit]

^ I have always been ticked off that the Gold Line does not appear on the strip maps on the Blue Line, nor are there any Gold Line maps in circulation. I take the GL so rarely that the lack of signage / wayfinding never occurred to me. It seems like every platform (including the BL) should minimally feature a strip map of the line as well as a map of the surroundings. 

I guess phone's have largely supplanted neighborhood maps, but strip maps of routes still seem pretty critical for wayfinding / identifying station names at a glance

Edited June 23 by kermit

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, LKN704 said:

Is there a reason why CATS never installed maps/wayfinding signage at the streetcar stops?

My brother lives near the streetcar near the Bruns Ave stop. It's mind boggling to me that there's absolutely no signage on the platform - nothing telling you what the stop is for, where said transit line goes, what other stops are on the line, etc. 

It took me less than ten minutes to make this graphic:

I would think that a major transit agency can make something just as well as I can.

Honestly, at the next transportation and planning committee meeting where Brent Cagle gives his update, I’d be happy to print out 18X12 versions of the graphic above for each stop on the line and for each direction, and then hand the stack to Brent in person in front of the council committee members.

[TCLT]

On 5/3/2024 at 6:08 PM, kermit said:

Why are there no stairs down from CTC to Trade street?

There's a ramp/stairs from the northbound platform into CTC and then down to ground level.

[Durhamite]

On 6/23/2024 at 8:30 AM, kermit said:

CATS says in the June FTA Quarterly Report that the switch to 20 minute frequencies (up from 30ish before) increased ridership by 11.5% yoy. The math isn’t hard: More frequency = More riders.

https://www.charlottenc.gov/files/sharedassets/cats/v/1/cats-docs/fta-quarterly-reports/cats-fta-quarterly_report_2024-06-18_final.pdf

 

Do you think they're ready?  That math includes additional staffing, operational and maintenance cost, not to mention supply chain challenges which often times get overlooked when it comes to spare parts acquisition and availability, etc  - even now post pandemic.   I think they're intentionally dotting i's and crossing t's prior to taking that step because the optics of being progressive and having to scale back due to any of the aforementioned issues is high powered ammo for naysayers and critics.

[kermit]

8 hours ago, Durhamite said:

Do you think they're ready?  That math includes additional staffing, operational and maintenance cost, not to mention supply chain challenges which often times get overlooked when it comes to spare parts acquisition and availability, etc  - even now post pandemic.   I think they're intentionally dotting i's and crossing t's prior to taking that step because the optics of being progressive and having to scale back due to any of the aforementioned issues is high powered ammo for naysayers and critics.

I am to old to worry about those possibilities (probabilities). The city (not CATS) and federal govt spent upwards of $100 million on the Gold Line, they need to run it like it was an investment in mobility, not half-ass it. CATS has had a great deal of time to get its crap together, its time for them to have their crap together.   An every 10 minute Gold Line would make uptown much more habitable and would increase densities further along the outer legs. I would bet that critics get more ammo from the Gold Line having low ridership and useless frequencies than they would from poor operations (but that is just my opinion).

Increased transit frequency is one of the few things that the city can do to reduce the rate of growth of GHG emissions. I would have thought the city would think that was a good idea?

Edited June 25 by kermit