A Line - Arterial Rapid Bus

Roads - Rails - Sidewalks - Bikeways
TheUrbanGopher
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby TheUrbanGopher » January 14th, 2015, 7:44 am

A Line preview video posted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6twT1Gl0Y5k

helsinki
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby helsinki » January 15th, 2015, 2:50 pm

Hopefully the real-time bus arrival screens actually display the times instead of merely saying "Please Check Schedules".

Silophant
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby Silophant » January 15th, 2015, 3:06 pm

I'm sure they'll have it working by early 2026.
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twincitizen
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby twincitizen » January 15th, 2015, 3:17 pm

There's probably good reason that they're just going to use regular TV monitors instead of proprietary LED message boards. I mean, we have the NexTrip thing available for each stop number...it does seem to be the smartest way to go. Definitely aesthetically superior to an LED message board. Plus, some aBRT stations could potentially have 4 bus routes stopping at them (aBRT plus multiple locals), so the NexTrip computer screen is definitely the way to go. Hopefully they'll set it up to have the NexTrip page do a "hard refresh" every so often, as it tends to time out if you leave it up for long. I'm guessing by now they've come up with special computer monitors that can function in -15 to 100 degree weather, right?

acs
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby acs » January 15th, 2015, 3:19 pm

So I'm guessing that means other bus routes will stop at these stations then? I don't see the point of having a BRT stop and then another regular pole stop further down the block. Then again, I don't see the point of having local service along an aBRT corridor anyways. My only concern would be brand distinction if they all just use the same stops.

mulad
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby mulad » January 15th, 2015, 5:23 pm

I've done some research into digital displays -- the most cold-weather-tolerant ones use LEDs (often OLEDs). Most true LED displays aren't all that big (many "LED" TVs just use LEDs for the backlight, but the display itself is LCD). LCDs tend to behave poorly as you get down into the +10 to +20 degree range, and may cease to function at all around -15 degrees. TV displays may be okay, though, since they're designed for much faster switching between on/off states than the LCD you'd find in a wristwatch or car radio or something. Also, as long as you have an enclosure of some sort that can keep the device out of the depths of cold, it may work just fine (something like a 60-watt bulb inside the case might be enough).

I was hunting around for some true OLED display that would work for an existing standard bus stop and I think the cheapest decent one I could find (probably only about 8" or 9" diagonal) ran about $900 -- there are larger OLED panels that cost several thousand each, up to the fancy curved ones running around $10k. They'll theoretically work down to 40 below zero, but it's probably more cost effective to just put a little heater in the enclosure and buy a TV/monitor/tablet that costs 1/10th as much...

Or you can just go with a basic dot-matrix display like what we have on the LRT platforms -- they'll also work in the cold, but sometimes need proprietary software in order to talk to them.

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Andrew_F
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby Andrew_F » January 15th, 2015, 7:20 pm

There's probably good reason that they're just going to use regular TV monitors instead of proprietary LED message boards. I mean, we have the NexTrip thing available for each stop number...it does seem to be the smartest way to go. Definitely aesthetically superior to an LED message board. Plus, some aBRT stations could potentially have 4 bus routes stopping at them (aBRT plus multiple locals), so the NexTrip computer screen is definitely the way to go. Hopefully they'll set it up to have the NexTrip page do a "hard refresh" every so often, as it tends to time out if you leave it up for long. I'm guessing by now they've come up with special computer monitors that can function in -15 to 100 degree weather, right?
Hopefully they don't run 95% ads and 5% transit information like the CTA does...

Tcmetro
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby Tcmetro » January 15th, 2015, 11:59 pm

Sans the ads, the CTA train time screens are very well designed. Definitely a model for replication.

mulad
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby mulad » April 2nd, 2015, 6:35 am

A bid for upgrading Snelling Avenue between Selby and Pierce Butler came in at $13.2 million versus MnDOT's $9.5 million estimate.

http://finance-commerce.com/2015/04/no- ... -makeover/

Anondson
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby Anondson » April 2nd, 2015, 7:16 am

A single bid, too.

intercomnut
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby intercomnut » May 18th, 2015, 2:13 pm

According to the May 11 Transportation Committee meeting, the TVMs for the A-Line (And C and D Lines) will print tickets that will not be able to be used on regular bus fareboxes and will not be able to recharge Go-To cards. This allows each TVM to cost $11,000 instead of the $80,000 the LRT TVMs cost.

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FISHMANPET
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby FISHMANPET » May 18th, 2015, 2:23 pm

How hard is it to write a few bytes onto a mag stripe of a paper card? And how hard is it to put in an NFC reader to read the Go-To card and interact with it? My $400 phone can read my Go-To card.

twincitizen
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby twincitizen » May 18th, 2015, 2:28 pm

TVMs will print tickets that:
* will not be able to be used on regular bus fareboxes and
Not a great solution. But if you were to transfer to a regular route bus, I guess you just show the printed pass to the driver. Hopefully the timestamp will printed in very large font. If it's tiny font like current paper transfers, drivers can't/won't read that and just wave people on if the transfer reader doesn't work. Or drivers won't be asked to check at all and you'll simply be subject to random fare checks. I suppose in the future it's possible that buses won't have the paper card readers at all.

* will not be able to recharge Go-To cards.
This doesn't seem like a big deal. Who actually puts money on a Go-To card in person at the machine? I would guess the overwhelming majority of folks take care of this online, and if not they handle their biz at a Metro Transit store (or at an LRT platform I guess...).

Silophant
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby Silophant » May 18th, 2015, 2:28 pm

Go-To recharging I can live without, but not allowing transfers to normal buses kinda seems like a dealbreaker on a line that's specifically intended to connect to a bunch of local routes.

Edit: Yeah, I suppose the drivers could just look at the timestamps on the tickets. That's probably more likely.
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RailBaronYarr
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby RailBaronYarr » May 18th, 2015, 2:30 pm

^ -1

mattaudio
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby mattaudio » May 18th, 2015, 2:58 pm

How the heck does a LRT TVM cost $80k? How?

twincitizen
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby twincitizen » May 18th, 2015, 3:02 pm

More than a base-level Tesla Model S. That is insane. There has to be some collusion going on between the (probably 2 or 3?) TVM manufacturers in the US.

HiawathaGuy
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby HiawathaGuy » May 18th, 2015, 3:03 pm

How the heck does a LRT TVM cost $80k? How?
I'm guessing it's those high-tech tube computer monitors they use inside - the ones that aren't touchscreen.

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Nick
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby Nick » May 18th, 2015, 3:09 pm

Nick Magrino
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mattaudio
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Re: "A Line" Snelling Avenue Arterial Bus

Postby mattaudio » May 18th, 2015, 3:17 pm

Maybe they are paying hefty licensing fees to Microsoft for every time they use that default Windows 98 "ding."


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