Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[easzman]

20 hours ago, davidclt said:

Increased headways all day long would be a good start. 5 minutes in the rush hours, 7-8 all other times until 10 p.m. when it goes to 10-15.

I agree with the 5 min headways during peak but would prefer 10 min headways off peak until Midnight.  The crossing the tracks at  Clanton Rd can be such a pain when trains going north and south go through within a few minutes of one another and cause significant traffic delays.

Has there ever been the thought of connecting the Blue Line with the Sprinter to the airport? Seems like more folks would use it if it was to a set schedule between CLT and the Woodlawn Station. Folks living in SouthEnd and Uptown could ride south and transfer at Woodlawn. This would also be a great way to showcase our light rail for visitors looking to avoid paying for an Uber or Lyft to go downtown from the airport. 

[grodney]

My family would definitely use the train more if the headways weren't so big.  Brewery trips, baseball games, shows at Blumenthal, mint museum, festivals, etc.  I ride to work every day, but we drive to all of those, because no way do we want to miss a 20-minute train by 1 minute......we could almost be home by the time the next train comes.  I wonder if the majority of weekend casual users know what they're getting themselves into....at least the first time.

[davidclt]

This evening at about 5:10, a single consist (313 I believe) was stuck at Bland Street station, I was on a scooter. I think there is something wrong overall with the rolling stock for the Lynx light rail. I've been on trains that they've had to reboot and I've been on trains where the doors wouldn't close reliably.

Are they skimping on PM or do they just not have enough cars to run their railroad? I'm not convinced the Siemens Avanto S70 is a bad vehicle, I'm also not convinced CATS is doing a good job maintaining their fleet.

[kermit]

21 minutes ago, davidclt said:

This evening at about 5:10, a single consist (313 I believe) was stuck at Bland Street station, I was on a scooter. I think there is something wrong overall with the rolling stock for the Lynx light rail. I've been on trains that they've had to reboot and I've been on trains where the doors wouldn't close reliably.

Are they skimping on PM or do they just not have enough cars to run their railroad? I'm not convinced the Siemens Avanto S70 is a bad vehicle, I'm also not convinced CATS is doing a good job maintaining their fleet.

I was waiting on a northbound at East/West around 6:05. There were lots of PA announcements about 'mechanical difficulties' creating Northbound delays. About 6:20 an out of service Northbound came through. The next in-service train didn't arrive until 6:30.

There has been a significant service disruption everyday.

This is bullcrap.

[southslider]

Bad fleet?  Accident-prone intersections?  Overly cautious operations?

Something's consistently wrong with the Blue Line's reliability that wasn't happening as often before the Line was extended.  And the true root cause is not likely to be known without some investigative reporting.

[davidclt]

2 hours ago, southslider said:

the true root cause is not likely to be known without some investigative reporting.

Sadly I don't think there are any investigative reporters in town any longer. Regardless, I wish they would just come clean on the issues.

[Matthew.Brendan]

What cracks me up is how hard Charlotte wants to be seen/known as a premier city. 

The explosion of growth doesn't seem to be waning all that much and yet we can't even do the small scale stuff right.

[Dale]

Nashville seems to be going from strength to strength without significant transit. If anything, transit is going backwards with significant service cuts. It’s almost as if people don’t care about transit. Maybe they will someday.

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

47 minutes ago, Dale said:

Nashville seems to be going from strength to strength without significant transit. If anything, transit is going backwards with significant service cuts. It’s almost as if people don’t care about transit. Maybe they will someday.

It's directly proportionate to gas prices and the impact of those compared to the overall economy. Strong economy and cheap gas prices = low interest in transit. If the economy tanks, gas prices go up and there are a large number of auto loans that go belly up, you better believe the transit numbers will improve. Its as cyclical as any other product if not more so.

[CLT>]

 

 

1

23 hours ago, easzman said:

Has there ever been the thought of connecting the Blue Line with the Sprinter to the airport? Seems like more folks would use it if it was to a set schedule between CLT and the Woodlawn Station. Folks living in SouthEnd and Uptown could ride south and transfer at Woodlawn. This would also be a great way to showcase our light rail for visitors looking to avoid paying for an Uber or Lyft to go downtown from the airport. 

There used to be direct airport connector routes connecting from CLT to Woodlawn Station and Northlake Mall, but they were discontinued due to low ridership.

[southslider]

4 hours ago, davidclt said:

Sadly I don't think there are any investigative reporters in town any longer. Regardless, I wish they would just come clean on the issues.

Steve Harrison used to be pretty good at knocking on government doors.

[DMann]

Spent the weekend in Nashville and stayed at a 21C Museum Hotel, it was great!  The immediate neighborhood near the Capitol was a conglomerate of 75+ yr old buildings and some 40+ yrs old.  A lot of the storefronts were vacant and the floors above also looked unoccupied, could be cool but isn't.  Getting closer to the Honky-Tonk area had plenty of bars, and some storefronts selling normal tourist type stuff.  Other store fronts vacant, none of the storefronts were clean or recently painted.  Went to the Gulch, and found really overpriced retail (Two Old Hippies comes to mind).  Very unimpressed.  I won't be back in Nashville for a while.

[CTiger]

15 hours ago, davidclt said:

This evening at about 5:10, a single consist (313 I believe) was stuck at Bland Street station, I was on a scooter. I think there is something wrong overall with the rolling stock for the Lynx light rail. I've been on trains that they've had to reboot and I've been on trains where the doors wouldn't close reliably.

Yesterday was a complete nightmare.  Whatever happened at Bland Street reverberated down the line.   When I walked by, the gates were stuck down at Park Ave and there was a train just sitting at the East/West station with its doors open with people crammed in like sardines while it was about 95 degrees out.  It must have been sitting there for 6 or 7 minutes.     The mechanical issues suck for those that are on the train, but it also causes huge issues throughout the surrounding area.  Since all the crossings are at-grade through the Camden corridor, the gates getting stuck down means that you have traffic jams immediately.   Cars back up all along Camden, Park Tremont, etc to the point where traffic is backed up into South and Tryon.  Its a complete clusterf*ck and it seriously needs to get fixed.

[Scribe]

16 hours ago, davidclt said:

at about 5:10, a single consist (313 I believe)

Can confirm, watched this with amusement from Barcelona... it would stop every 30 feet, like a complete stop! The operator looked like she was pressing buttons, not sure if she was causing the stopping or trying to prevent the train from stopping.  Operationally, CATS is a joke!

[davidclt]

2 hours ago, CTiger said:

Yesterday was a complete nightmare. 

37 minutes ago, Scribe said:

Can confirm, watched this with amusement from Barcelona... it would stop every 30 feet, like a complete stop!

I sent mail today to CATS Customer Service, CCing, the mayor, mayor pro-tem, my council member (Larken), the at-large council members and John Lewis. The only response I have thus far is from Julie Eiselt (removed the courtesies and left the meat):

Quote

... I personally feel that we need to make more of an investment in our transit system - including buses - so that it is efficient and reliable.

I am dismayed that it seems CATS can not execute on their mission effectively. There really isn't an excuse, I think they're just asleep at the wheel, so to speak. If there's any interest in my missive, I'll be happy to share.

Edited May 31, 2019 by davidclt

[Brendv7]

While stopped at Carson crossing yesterday I saw two separate trains heading in opposite directions with not in service on their boards.  Terrible. 

[kermit]

On 4/18/2019 at 3:13 PM, kermit said:

While we are talking about busted stuff...

This grade crossing signal and gate has been gone for more than three weeks. This situation requires every train to come to a complete stop before proceeding.

 

They were finishing work on this gate this morning and it was finally back and functional this afternoon.

It took CATS 2.5 months to replace a single crossing gate assembly and tower.

#thisisbullcrap

[XRZ.ME]

from May MTC meeting minutes
Looks like Blue line will have farebox in vehicle by end of 2019 which support cash, magnetic, contactless and barcode (App)

Gold line will have same system too


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kermit]

1 hour ago, XRZ.ME said:

from May MTC meeting minutes
Looks like Blue line will have farebox in vehicle by end of 2019 which support cash, magnetic, contactless and barcode (App)

Gold line will have same system too

My interpretation of the MTC agenda document was that the Gold Line will have onboard fare collection machines (and none on platforms) but the Blue Line will only get card tap validation (not purchase) machines (fare vending machines will remain on the platforms). On board fare payment on the Blue Line would be a huge mess IMO -- pre-boarding fare payment is a big advantage of LRT.

Edited June 7, 2019 by kermit

[RiverwoodCLT]

CATS must have management problems.

[CLTProductions]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

My interpretation of the MTC agenda document was that the Gold Line will have onboard fare collection machines (and none on platforms) but the Blue Line will only get card tap validation (not purchase) machines (fare vending machines will remain on the platforms). On board fare payment on the Blue Line would be a huge mess IMO -- pre-boarding fare payment is a big advantage of LRT.

I don’t take it to mean the platform payments will go away, right? Seems like this is just another option, like if the train is coming and you don’t have time to buy a ticket, you can get it on the train. If it’s on the train only....yeah that’s dumb

[kermit]

Just now, Jayvee said:

I don’t take it to mean the platform payments will go away, right? Seems like this is just another option, like if the train is coming and you don’t have time to buy a ticket, you can get it on the train. If it’s on the train only....yeah that’s dumb

Not exactly. the Gold Line is the only line where you can purchase your fare on board (there will be no fare machines on Gold Line platforms). 

The Blue Line will have fare validators (a place to tap your smart card where it will deduct your fare or check your pass), but you cannot purchase your fare on board. (well technically you can purchase your fare with the online app but that is slightly bending the rules). 

Onboard fare payment really only works well when you have a very small number of people boarding at each station. There is no way for a post-game CTC station full of riders to all purchase fares on board before the end of a ride. 

[CLTProductions]

52 minutes ago, kermit said:

Not exactly. the Gold Line is the only line where you can purchase your fare on board (there will be no fare machines on Gold Line platforms). 

The Blue Line will have fare validators (a place to tap your smart card where it will deduct your fare or check your pass), but you cannot purchase your fare on board. (well technically you can purchase your fare with the online app but that is slightly bending the rules). 

Onboard fare payment really only works well when you have a very small number of people boarding at each station. There is no way for a post-game CTC station full of riders to all purchase fares on board before the end of a ride. 

I’m still confused. It seems like nothing will change with the blue line unless you choose to do the on board thing. 

[kermit]

1 minute ago, Jayvee said:

I’m still confused. It seems like nothing will change with the blue line unless you choose to do the on board thing. 

Its just the last step of smart card implementation.

[CLTProductions]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

Its just the last step of smart card implementation.

I don’t like change