Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

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tmart
Rice Park
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby tmart » March 6th, 2018, 12:38 pm

Do we really have to monkey around with this bus nonsense? There's supposed to be a trolley/tram there.
I think having transit-dedicated ROW already in place would only help the future planning and implementation of a tram. It's also a much more immediate impact than a longer-term project like a tram. Plus, even if/when a tram is built on this corridor, there will probably still be some buses serving portions of it.

amiller92
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby amiller92 » March 6th, 2018, 1:16 pm

Anyone know what this means? Hennepin downtown used to be (still is??) bus/bike only (except right turns) in the right lane, but all that meant was signs and some paint and absolutely zero enforcement. Are they going to do something to keep cars out of the lane?

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FISHMANPET
IDS Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby FISHMANPET » March 6th, 2018, 2:11 pm

Downtown is nowhere near between Franklin and Lake.

Silophant
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Silophant » March 6th, 2018, 2:34 pm

Right, but I think what he's asking is if they're going to be actual enforced lanes between Franklin and Lake that make a difference, or unenforced lanes that don't do anything because they effectively don't exist?
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amiller92
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby amiller92 » March 6th, 2018, 3:47 pm

Yes, what Joey said (thus saving me the need for a philosophical discussion of what "near" means). How are they going to keep cars out of it? They didn't downtown.

Ohiosotan
City Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Ohiosotan » March 8th, 2018, 8:36 am

Any word on fixing the Blue Line to A Line transfer at 46th St Station southbound? Like clockwork the empty A Line bus pulls off as the Blue Line shows up. Who's genius idea was that and why don't they have the drivers wait a few seconds for people to get off the Blue Line and onto the empty bus?

DanPatchToget
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby DanPatchToget » March 8th, 2018, 8:41 am

Any word on fixing the Blue Line to A Line transfer at 46th St Station southbound? Like clockwork the empty A Line bus pulls off as the Blue Line shows up. Who's genius idea was that and why don't they have the drivers wait a few seconds for people to get off the Blue Line and onto the empty bus?
Because the next bus is in ten minutes (assuming its during the day)? A few times going to 46th on the A Line I've just missed the train, but the train is every 10-15 minutes so oh well.

jebr
Nicollet Mall
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby jebr » March 8th, 2018, 9:53 am

Yeah, when there's essentially four movements being coordinated (terminating A > departing northbound Blue, terminating A > departing southbound Blue, arriving northbound Blue > originating A, and arriving southbound Blue > originating A) and with other connections that are just as valuable, if not more valuable, to try and time (Green > A is probably a more used connection than Blue > A) it's easier to just run everything frequently but independently for most of the day.

That said, it would be nice if they timed a few of the very early morning and very late night connections more tightly. One of the worst is the northbound Blue Line to northbound A Line on weekday evenings. First, there's the nearly-hour-long gap between the 11:24 PM train and the 12:17 AM train which makes getting out of the airport a frustrating experience when I've had some late arrivals after 11 PM. Then, once the 12:17 AM train gets into 46th St. Station at 12:37 AM, there's an over-30-minute wait for the final bus of the day at 1:09 AM to leave.

That means, if you're arriving on a flight that lands in the 11:00 - 11:30 PM timeframe, you're either having to rush to try and get to the light rail by 11:32/11:36 to meet that train or waiting until the next train at 12:25/12:29. Add a half-hour wait at a pretty empty station on top of that and anyone with a few extra bucks would simply Uber/Lyft/taxi that instead.

Silophant
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Silophant » March 9th, 2018, 8:25 am

Joey Senkyr
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DanPatchToget
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby DanPatchToget » March 9th, 2018, 8:47 am

I always thought they should put screens on the A Line buses, glad someone else thought of it. The station announcements can be hard to hear and the scrolling words only go by once so if you're not paying attention or only catch part of it you might have no idea where you are. All the local buses in Oslo have the information screens and it was very helpful for me.

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LRV Op Dude
Union Depot
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby LRV Op Dude » March 9th, 2018, 7:49 pm

This would be nice on Light Rail trains.
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Bakken2016
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Bakken2016 » March 10th, 2018, 11:43 am

This would be nice on Light Rail trains.
I could see that it would be an eventual thing, since this is a pilot program.

Silophant
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Silophant » March 10th, 2018, 12:02 pm

It would be great on the light rail as well. But it makes sense to pilot it on the 13 A Line buses instead of the, what, 90ish LRVs in the fleet?

Also, hopefully it works well enough that the new C Line buses can have them right off the bat.
Joey Senkyr
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LRV Op Dude
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby LRV Op Dude » March 13th, 2018, 3:20 am

Celebrate Transit Driver Appreciation Day on Thursday, March 15

https://www.metrotransit.org/transitdriverday
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MNdible
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby MNdible » March 19th, 2018, 5:20 pm


Silophant
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Silophant » March 19th, 2018, 5:57 pm

This is the first I had heard of it. That's great news! It's also not as expensive to roll out as I had thought - it doesn't say how expensive the equipment is, but just over $1000 of labor per intersection is a lot less than I would have guessed.
Joey Senkyr
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mamundsen
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mamundsen » March 19th, 2018, 10:19 pm

Is this for route 5 or for aBRT lines?

Silophant
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Silophant » March 20th, 2018, 6:20 am

Both. It was originally going to be installed as a part of the D Line project, but will now be rolled out this summer for the 5. When the D Line happens, the same equipment will work for the D Line buses.
Joey Senkyr
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mamundsen
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mamundsen » March 20th, 2018, 8:18 am

Both. It was originally going to be installed as a part of the D Line project, but will now be rolled out this summer for the 5. When the D Line happens, the same equipment will work for the D Line buses.
That's good to hear. Reading the info at the link I was confused if it would be installed now along Rt 5 but not active until later for D Line.

DanPatchToget
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby DanPatchToget » March 24th, 2018, 5:22 pm

A couple questions:
-Is there any difference in terms of fuel efficiency between the Gillig 29-foot buses and the Ford minibuses?
-Does the contracted company (or companies) operate both of these type of buses?

I ask because I rode routes 219 and 80 today. 219 had the Ford minibus and 80 had the 29-foot Gillig. To me the 29-foot buses have a little more ride comfort and they're more spacious. The minibuses are cramped and rattle so much it feels like the whole thing is going to fall apart. Is there any operational advantage for the minibuses over the 29-foot buses?


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