A Line - Arterial Rapid Bus

[Tcmetro]

Looking through some of the presentations given, it does seem that the bus shelters have space provisioned for ticketing, so perhaps my concerns were unfounded. Maybe they are looking into a smaller TVM than what is provided at LRT stops?

[MSPtoMKE]

Here is a handout from the January meeting (although it is dated February 2014). It says "For speedier boarding through all bus doors, BRT won’t have on-board fareboxes. Customers will either purchase a ticket at the station or tap a Go-To card. Roving fare inspectors—not drivers—will ensure customers have paid." So it seems they still plan to have off-board payment, at least for the time being.

http://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites/ ... elling.pdf

[VAStationDude]

Why is this so complicated? Central Europe has been using POP in all transit modes for sixty years. To get one bus line here we need a couple full time planning staff at met council and multiple consulting contracts. Forget big dreams if we can't do the easy little shit. Frustrating.

[VAStationDude]

Though if we really get three door boarding I will be incredibly excited.

[Tcmetro]

Metro Transit has posted a couple of updates for the A Line:

- Stops near Selby and University have been settled. The stop for Selby will be one block north, at Dayton; and the stop at University will be one block south, at Spruce Tree.

- A Hoyt stop is unlikely because there is no walking path on the west side of Snelling, and there is a fence in the way of any potential walking path (although honestly that isn't much of an obstacle, IMO).

- Designs for stations and pylons are being worked on.

http://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites/ ... tation.pdf
http://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites/ ... tation.pdf

[Silophant]

Slide 34 of the CAC presentation lists TVMs and GoTo validators as "Station Must-Haves". Excellent.

[Minnehahaha]

I have mixed feelings about moving the northbound University stop south to Spruce Tree. On one hand, moving the station south of University will give it ample room. Things are pretty tight on the north side just with current 84 usage. On the other hand, I'll be deprived of my daily glare at the owner of Midway Books, as I walk by yet again (speaking as a lover of used book stores) without setting foot inside!

[Silophant]

I'll admit that I would have liked for the station to go right in front of his store, just to piss him off.

[woofner]

Why are there separate stops for the locals in lots of these locations? It seems like that will be confusing. "You mean I don't catch an 84 at the enormous pylon with a T on it?"

I'm really excited about the pilot stations, though. They're really going to help with the dismal intersection of 7th & Olson.

[mattaudio]

The 84 will be sticking around? Why?

[woofner]

Well, if the Guardrail & Fence Lobby wins out and there's no station built at Arlington, I'd say there would have to be an 84 because that area deserves at least minimal bus service. Besides that there are a few half-mile gaps where local service would be nice for the disabled or people who aren't feeling well.

But even if we decide there's not enough of those people to justify running a Snelling local and tell them to take Metro Mobility, and Metro Transit gets its head on straight and cuts the silly Midway detour for the 21, this question is still valid for 46th & Ford Pkwy, where there will be other local services.

[twincitizen]

I heard the future 84 local would be today's 84D (St. Paul Avenue to 7th/Davern branch), which is a perfect fit with its 30 minute service.

I suspect I'm not alone in my curiosity of how many people will continue to ride the 16 and 84 locals once the Green Line and A-line, respectively, begin service.

[kellonathan]

Metro Transit is doing a survey on the station design concepts.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8J33C58

[talindsay]

Metro Transit is doing a survey on the station design concepts.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8J33C58

Thanks for posting that, I just completed it. I'm not crazy about any of their designs; I decided to give "circuit" my top vote because it's least likely to look like crap in ten years, but it seems to me like they're trying to be fancy and flashy rather than functional. High roofs - especially the windswept kind in the Gust and Hop designs - make for cold winters and expensive maintenance. The wayfinding signs also tend toward too complex of a design, which makes for more defacement, quicker aging, and more expensive replacement/repair, which decreases the chance that replacement/repair will happen at all.

Let's face it, they're taking a massive liberty with the word "station" here - these are expensive bus shelters with a big wayfinding sign. I'm in favor of both, but at the end of the day they're bus shelters, and they'll succeed or fail based on their ability to continually provide that function in all that Minnesota (and its residents) can throw at them.

The "Circuit" shelter with the "Glance" wayfinding sign would give the highest chance of these things still looking better than a standard bus shelter in ten years. Will they really choose to keep investing in pretty non-functional elements of a bus line after the ribbon is cut and the fanfare is over?

[Snelbian]

The 84 will remain because Snelling needs something that stops more frequently than every half mile. The A line is designed for speed, the 84 for access.

[Realstreets]

I also voted for the "Circuit" design although "Glance" was a close second. But I agree the "hop" and "Gust" designs with the high roof line would do little to block out the weather. Snow and ice sliding off the curved roofs would also make the shelters very accessible

[MSPtoMKE]

Here is an update presentation to the Metro Council Transportation Committee:
http://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meeting ... Roth).aspx

Looks like the preferred shelter design is the one with the curved roof, and they plan to have a pilot station constructed at 7th St. and Olson Highway by this fall. They are continuing to study an infill stop at Snelling and Hoyt. There is a rendering of a Gillig 40' bus on the last page, so maybe no articulated buses for this line?

There is also a brief update on planning for the B Line on W. 7th, including a map of the stops.

[Suburban Outcast]

Since it's going to be running at a higher frequency than it is now, they might be focusing on using normal-sized buses since ridership might be more spread out, meaning less demand for articulated at the moment. Probably if the demand appears during certain time periods (like rush hour) once it's built, then they might have a few articulated buses running down Snelling.

[mulad]

Yeah, I don't know how often the route gets to standing-room only as things are today. In my experience, you're often more likely to see that on a Sunday when the frequency is usually only every 30 minutes. I most frequently use the line north of I-94 -- it can get a bit busier on the south side of town. The 40-footers tend to be a bit faster and easier to maneuver than the articulated units, from what I've seen (though I bet the articulated buses sometimes have an advantage when turning). The articulation also has a bad effect on ride quality. Another couple of reasons to favor rail vehicles for busier lines -- the rails cut down on the fishtailing and other maneuverability issues that longer buses have, and the ride quality doesn't suffer as badly.

[Tcmetro]

Sunday frequencies were recently bumped up to 15 minutes. In June 10 minute service will begin on the 84. Considering MT will keep the 84 and run the A Line, there will be twice the amount of buses on Snelling in 2015 as there are now. 40 foot buses should definitely provide enough capacity.

I really like that the Hoyt stop is being considered. It would be really useful to reroute the 84 to Hamline to provide better connections from the A Line to the neighborhoods north of Como. Another possibility would be to connect the 84 local over to the U of M St. Paul campus.

Bus shelters are underwhelming. Oh well.