Green Line LRT

[612transplant]

I was pretty disappointed with the signalling issue, as well, as I thought that was going to be normal, had been under the impression that the line would have some sort of nominative ROW, and had wondered if I had missed something big. I'm glad to hear that this seems to be a last-minute technical glitch.

BTW, it was about thirty-five minutes from Government Plaza to Victoria when I rode.

[xandrex]

I didn't ride yesterday, but I did drive from my apartment (western Marcy-Holmes) to St. Paul near Marshall and Mississippi River Blvd.

Along the way, I decided to skip the highway and pick University Avenue instead to check out the crowds and see the trains in action. I was actually surprised at how decent the preemption seemed to work. Or, at least, it significantly slowed down my typical drive on the road and I only saw a train stopped by a light once...near 280. It seems like at least some of these trains can keep pace with the cars and buses drive along the avenue.

[mulad]

I went on an eastbound train this morning which ran really well after leaving Downtown East until Fairview. After that point, it got held up a lot. Heading back west was really bad in downtown Saint Paul, and I think the operator just pushed on through against the signals just before and after Central station (after sitting waiting for them to turrn, of course).

I get the feeling that they're working west to east on getting the signals working correctly.

[the_elop]

It's hard defending the 48-minute end-to-end trip to people when my shorter jaunt today from Central to West Bank lasted 45 minutes on its own. Hopefully that won't become the norm.

[EOst]

I don't think right now is a reasonable time to be judging average trip lengths. The number of people on the line is absolutely exceptional (the trains today seemed even more crowded than yesterday, and yesterday's 45,000 riders is even higher than the ridership projections for 2030, when they'll have had 16 years to perfect this) and the drivers are still getting into the swing of things.

[MinnMonkey]

I went on an eastbound train this morning which ran really well after leaving Downtown East until Fairview. After that point, it got held up a lot. Heading back west was really bad in downtown Saint Paul, and I think the operator just pushed on through against the signals just before and after Central station (after sitting waiting for them to turrn, of course).

I get the feeling that they're working west to east on getting the signals working correctly.

This was my experience this evening as well. Downtown Minneapolis to Prior was GREAT. Didn't need to wait for a single light. After that, we stopped at every single one until the Capitol.

Same experience Westbound. Stopped at nearly every light until Snelling, than no stoplight delays until Downtown Minneapolis.

Heard a lot of comments on-board about the stoplight delays, but most people were just shrugging it off as something that still needs the bugs worked out.

[bapster2006]

I rode end-to-end with two seniors starting at about 1:50. Parked for $1 for four hours just north of Target Field Station. The old folks got seats both trips and the trains were very packed. Took one hour each way. I definitely felt good acceleration in the trains and I'm sure we easily hit 40 a few times. Didn't notice any glitches on my trips and had a fun time. The seniors wanted more seats at Union Depot.

[exiled_antipodean]

I drove down University Thursday night with a test train. From Prospect Park to Hamline the train was beating me. Then I pulled away, seemingly due to both signal issues and the stations.

Riding it this weekend we were about to pull into Westgate and the train had to stop for a light cycle that let one car turn left out of Berry onto University Ave heading eastward. In Minneapolis the signals seemed to work better. Needless to say at 2pm on a nice Sunday, it was crowded!

[commissioner]

I got on at Dale and went to Union Depot where they only used the eastbound platform both ways, then to East bank (lunch at Applebee's) then to Target Field, then back to Dale. Trains were going at a pretty good clip both ways and were crowded. No signal issues that I noticed although we stopped a couple times where the 2 lines split especially going east. Only other issue was the train seemed to be going at a pretty good clip on the curve just east of Prospect Park, to the point where I was leaning to the side. I was in the last car so that might have made a difference. Fun time though.

[grant1simons2]

My turn for a story?

I got on at about 7 rode it from Nicollet Station to UnDepot. Took about 55 minutes and we were flying once we pulled away from stadium village. I think we hit a lot of lights though between there and downtown. Every time the station was announced we got stopped at the light. When we hit UnDepot it was pouring down rain. Everyone had to get off for some reason... Then when the next train from DWTN MPLS arrived people who didn't want to get on could stay.. So I was confused. Anyways. I took the rail back to West Bank at it took 40 minutes. My sister was on campus at a party and texted me asking where I was and if I wanted to come. Like right at the station. Was pretty fun to just hop off the train and be on campus. There are little things, they'll get fixed. Remember, these trains aren't self driven

[mamundsen]

I saw a green line train in Minneapolis. The "Downtown St" is very odd and needs to change ASAP. For reference my 61 that goes from downtown to downtown was labeled "DWTN MPLS" and rotates to "VIA ARCADE" when I got on this morning. Going home it will say something like "DWTN ST PAUL" and "VIA HENN/LARP".

[mulad]

I noticed the destination boards were saying "Downtown St." early in the day yesterday, but I swear I saw one "Union Depot" train. By the afternoon, they mostly seemed to have switched to "Downtown" / "St Paul".

Actually, I think the simplest thing would be to rotate between "Minneapolis" and "Target Field" for westbound trains and "St Paul" (or "Saint Paul") and "Union Depot" for eastbounds. I think having "Downtown" for both directions is pretty pointless. The 16 and 50 never did that, as far as I'm aware.

[ProspectPete]

This morning I boarded EB at westgate @6:15 I got off at Robert St @6:36.
Train was moving really nice until Snelling. Then we stopped at Snelling, Lexington, and Dale. Furthermore, we caught a few other horizontal bars in between (mid block intersections Albert and Grotto). So I know that full signal priority would be tough at those major intersections, but my suggestion is that at the mid block intersections the LRT could have full priority. Might help kept moving things along.

[Silophant]

Doesn't stopping at those midblock intersections mean that the last car on the train extends into and blocks the street? It does on campus, at least. I agree that the train should have full priority over intersections where stopping means blocking cross streets.

[mulad]

I don't think "mid-block" is the right term for what ProspectPete was talking about, though I'm not sure there's a good word for it. Those are regular intersections, but halfway between two stops. The train has plenty of room to stop without blocking anything in both places.

[Silophant]

Oh, okay. I'm not terribly familiar with that part of St. Paul.

[twincitizen]

Here's something fun to follow along with this morning: http://live.startribune.com/Event/Live_ ... ne_edition

A group of Strib reporters are starting at the Capitol and commuting to Strib HQ in Downtown East via the Green Line, bus, car, and bike to see how long each mode takes.

I hope they are timing the race from the Capitol steps to the front door of the Strib, as to not give anyone an unfair advantage. The car person should have to walk to their parked car in a lot or garage, and the bike person should have to lock/unlock it (and change into work clothes!) LRT & bus users should have any additional burdens other than walking to the stops. It says Eric Roper is taking Route 3. I'd almost rather see someone walk to the Route 94 (or take the #3 into DT St. Paul to transfer).

[Tcmetro]

I rode the train some more and some of the connecting buses yesterday. Like everyone else said, it seemed like we hit every other light from Snelling to Rice St. The frequency was pretty good, except when the train was like 10 min late at East Bank at like 12:30 am. On Sunday, it didn't seem that the Green Line shadow buses were running, but there wasn't really any crowding on the train.

As for the buses, I was surprised that there were still quite a few using the 16 buses. I'd imagine that over time those riders will switch over to the train. Perhaps those riders were simply avoiding the crowds on the trains. The 65 was quite empty with its new 20 minute frequency. Hopefully that line can attract more riders to justify the frequency increase. The 84 is much more convenient than before, running every 10 minutes now. Buses were far from full, but the turnover was quite decent. I also rode the 83 from University to Grand. I talked with the driver, he said that the buses were quite full on Saturday, and most people were connecting to/from the train line. Granted, the 83 uses minibuses, so "full" doesn't mean too much, but hopefully it becomes a successful line.

[Silophant]

Cool!

Eric Roper tweeted that they're testing both local and express buses, so presumably Nicole Norfleet will be on the 94. I'm assuming the two car drivers are doing something similar (though hopefully using University, not Como).

[mulad]

I'm surprised that they're starting at 8:30. I think a more effective rush-hour comparison would be starting sometime between 7 and 7:30.