Search found 18 matches

by planetxan
December 21st, 2015, 7:19 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 701119

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Chicago's new Ventra system uses standard NFC. I can pay with Apple Pay or Android Pay by just touching the phone to the reader. You can also use a credit or debit card if it has wireless pay (those cards don't seem very common though). And if you buy a paper ticket at an El station, that's NFC too...
by planetxan
December 20th, 2015, 7:08 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 701119

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

They used to scan your ticket. Now they scan your phone. What's the big deal? They scan your phone then have to print a receipt that has your seat info, or they swipe your credit card and print the same thing. It is not ticketless, and it takes a long time and a lot of people to do it. A chip would...
by planetxan
December 20th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 701119

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Not this season, but the few prior, it was a free ride to every Timberwolves game. I just had to show my game ticket when transit cops were going through the train or to the driver when I got on the bus. With the Wolves new, maddening "e-ticket" policy free transit rides now is impossible...
by planetxan
December 20th, 2015, 2:37 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 701119

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

With the cost of tickets being what they are, the Vikings/Twins/Gophers can just include transit fare. Really, is it that much more? Implant a disposable Go To chip into the tickets with a day pass good for the day of the game until 2 am (the same as a Visitor Pass). If the ticket gets used on tran...
by planetxan
December 24th, 2013, 8:23 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Minneapolis Armory
Replies: 361
Views: 71887

Re: Minneapolis Armory

Just roaming around the forums looking for info on the armory and came across this thread. The armory is a perfect set up for a year round market, a cross between the midtown and the farmers market. Basically a market like exists anywhere else in the world. It has a basement level for storage and ve...
by planetxan
July 6th, 2013, 3:06 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Bicycle Infrastructure
Replies: 1800
Views: 1034317

Re: Bicycle Infrastructure

The Cambridge designs are pretty nice. Very European. See especially the comparison of proposed and existing on page 50. The NYC designs seem decent but you can see they could easily do what is being proposed in Cambridge and improve on the current set up immensely. I would love to see 1st Ave fixed...
by planetxan
July 2nd, 2013, 1:52 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Arterial Bus Rapid Transit Corridors
Replies: 434
Views: 92638

Re: Arterial Transit Corridor Study ("rapid bus")

I like the idea of letter prefixes, or some way of distinguishing different types of service. The entire express network needs its own branding, maps, and whatnot. Why do they have to tell you there is a rush hour express fare and a non-rush hour express fare when there are maybe two express routes ...
by planetxan
June 30th, 2013, 12:02 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Arterial Bus Rapid Transit Corridors
Replies: 434
Views: 92638

Re: Arterial Transit Corridor Study ("rapid bus")

hi2.png Here's a logo. I am really rethinking what they are trying to do with both these networks and what can be accomplished from the point of view of the user. Imagine a new or infrequent user being confronted with the full transit system map vs just the hi-freq or arterial map. It is much less ...
by planetxan
June 29th, 2013, 9:51 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Arterial Bus Rapid Transit Corridors
Replies: 434
Views: 92638

Re: Arterial Transit Corridor Study ("rapid bus")

Here is a list of the Hi-Frequency routes with their corresponding corridors from the "bus rapid" study. As you can see they match one to one, except the 515, Robert St, and American Blvd. Many of these are also potential streetcar routes. Hi Routes Rapid Bus Corridors 5................Chi...
by planetxan
June 27th, 2013, 1:14 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Arterial Bus Rapid Transit Corridors
Replies: 434
Views: 92638

Re: Arterial Transit Corridor Study ("rapid bus")

Alternatively make the fare just 1 or 2 bucks (like planetxan said) for ease of simplicity. (Could even try to get the treasury to make a $2 coin, but that's probably not feasible) Or probably the most feasible is to try to increase the use of go-to passes. It seems like many people still use cash ...
by planetxan
June 26th, 2013, 2:26 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Arterial Bus Rapid Transit Corridors
Replies: 434
Views: 92638

Re: Arterial Transit Corridor Study ("rapid bus")

Sure looks like the Hi-frequency service, but with Hi-speed as a bonus. ( And Hi-service on Hi-platforms?) Just call it Hi! : ) I went to China earlier this year. One of the things I wanted to do on this trip was try out the old tram line in Dalian. This is similar to our old streetcars. It runs in ...
by planetxan
June 25th, 2013, 3:47 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: 35W Freeway Lid and Air Rights Development
Replies: 138
Views: 20843

Re: West Bank

Here is a bird's eye. You would need at minimum about 14 ft clearance from rail to wire. That would take out driveway and alley access, as well as enclose the Mixed Blood. I'm not trying to rain on your parade route. It should have been connected. But the LRT line shouldn't have been built there. It...
by planetxan
June 25th, 2013, 3:13 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: 35W Freeway Lid and Air Rights Development
Replies: 138
Views: 20843

Re: West Bank

Check out the streets.mn post that resulted from all this discussion in the Washington Ave thread. https://streets.mn/2013/01/22/addressing-a-neighborhood-gap/ I remember seeing that, but, like I said, 4th St cannot be reconnected with the LRT track there. Nor, 15th Ave. The track is too high to go...
by planetxan
June 25th, 2013, 2:32 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: 35W Freeway Lid and Air Rights Development
Replies: 138
Views: 20843

Re: West Bank

4th street cannot be connected because the light rail track is in the way. If 3rd street were connected, it would eliminate the need for all the ramps to 35W, including the entrance ramp from Cedar. That opens up a lot of land and a lot possibilities.
by planetxan
June 25th, 2013, 2:22 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Bike Share
Replies: 336
Views: 74087

Re: Nice Ride Minnesota

When Niceride launched the daily pass it did seem kind of expensive to me. Except if you compare it to the price of renting a bike from a shop, then it looks super cheap. Citibike in NYC just launched with annual passes for $95 and daily passes for $9.95. While it's cool to see Niceride is covering...
by planetxan
June 25th, 2013, 1:59 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Minneapolis Streetcar System
Replies: 272
Views: 44978

Re: Minneapolis Streetcar System

I'd rather see the 10 and the 18 run express from the point where the streetcar begins instead of combining them with local routes. For instance, there are many apartments and shopping areas on the 18 line in Bloomington; however, the ridership is low because the travel times are too long, and the ...
by planetxan
June 23rd, 2013, 9:21 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)
Replies: 628
Views: 246536

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha)

Is it just me, or do the Bombardiers offer a smoother ride? On the Siemens, I feel all wobbly and like I have to hang on tight. I never really noticed it before, but can't help but notice it after I heard some transit police making the observation to each other. Funny, i kind of thought that but fi...
by planetxan
June 23rd, 2013, 9:11 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Red Line (Cedar Avenue BRT)
Replies: 538
Views: 223360

Re: Red Line (Cedar BRT)

I did the Red Line yesterday. Here is what I noticed: The MoA platform sucks. The Cedar Grove station sucks because a) it is in a bad location, and b) it has only one platform. We had to wait for a northbound bus to unload and load before we could pull up. After these stations it gets better. The li...