Hello fellow transit watchers,
Its been a while since Ive posted on here and with all thats been in the news about CapMetroRail with the ridership down and a derailment of the freight hauler AUNW what is the latest on the derailment,are they going to fix the sharp curve ,increase the railsize and get on with running a RR or something else... Inquiring minds want to know !
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/capital-metro-weekend-trains-drew-crowds-but-no-666167.html
For those of you who have asked about CapMetroRail Sat. service,check out the story at the bove link..
I still think it will be a while before Sat. service is really viable...
Thanks Phoebe,
videomaker Can Are these Statler blt cars? They look simular to CapMetro Rail cars...I think CMR cars have a sharper nose...
Can Are these Statler blt cars? They look simular to CapMetro Rail cars...I think CMR cars have a sharper nose...
They are Siemens S-70 low floor trams. In Europe they are called Avanto.
The are built in California by a German company.
They are used in Charlotte, Houston, Portland, Norfolk, San Diego, and Salt Lake City.
http://www.siemens.pl/upload/images/TS-Avanto_S70.pdf
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/04/29/1404351/cats-raises-fares-25-cents.html?mi_pluck_action=comment_submitted&qwxq=4010800#Comments_Container
The original design of the Lynx Blue Line was for 300 foot platforms for triple trains, and one more stop to the south in the City of Pineville. The Feds claimed the ride estimates were overly optimistic and required the platforms be shortened to 200 feet and the planned parking reduced as a condition of federal participation in the funding. The city of Pineville was afraid that the high end condos that developers were planning near the stop would destroy the character of their raggedy old downtown area and fought hard to not be included.
There are many plans for more lines, but CATS is funded by a 1/2% sales tax, and sales tax revenues are down considerable during this economic crisis, so the project has slowed. The Blue Line extension is proceeding. The Center City Street Car project is in progress but slower than planned. The Red Line up Lake Norman is currently in limbo, and the Silver Line to Matthews is pretty much a distant dream.
You are correct that the Blue Line should be extended to Rock Hill, SC. After all, about 1/3 of the cars parked in the I-485 deck have SC plates on them, but SC is reluctant to participate.
The good news is that the trains are running on time, or at least the ones that I ride several days of the week. And the passenger loads are picking up. A Capital Metro employee told me this morning that most of the morning trains are approaching their seating capacity (108) by the time they get to MLK Blvd. which is the transfer point for passengers going to the University of Texas as well as the State Capitol complex. However, this is well below the seated and standing capacity of 200 passengers per train set.
Only time will tell,if the rail takes off as CapMetro hopes it will,Lets give it a year to reach it's daily potential,remember,it took TRE 10 yrs to reach the point they needed to add weekend service,and there was over 1million population ! (DFW area combined) from the start..Incidentally the city of Arlington oppted out to not have TRE stops there,and that was a terrible mistake,taking in the fact that the Dallas Cowboys opened their new stadium last fall and now it takes about 2 hrs to get out after a game,not to mention the parking fees(a bunch of $$$$) on top of tickets..If they had built a station in south Arlington and had free bus shuttle to the Stadium and entertainment district this would have been wonderful !
Arlington to this day still does not have any public transportation system w/in its city limits,population getting close to 400,000 at least !
Al:
Between the new ground level parking lot they added at the I-485 Stop, and the several thousand high paying jobs that were eliminated at the corner of Trade and Tryon Streets (National headquarters of Bank of America and Wachovia), the parking at that stop is now adequate.
CATS just took delivery of 4 more trainsets. They are still doing the environmental and design work to extend the Blue Line up to the University area, and they are waiting to close on the land for the new Gateway Station where CATS and Amtrak will come together in city center.
al-in-chgo And Paul, do you think there will be a move to build another LYNX parking garage at the south end of the line?? - al
And Paul, do you think there will be a move to build another LYNX parking garage at the south end of the line?? - al
Al: In defense of the present "LYNX" First what happens to parking when the present south end of the line is no longer the south end? Would another garage then be needed? Maybe better to acquire land and have gravel parking only and then sell it off if the south line extended? I do not pretend to understand the present political situation at the south end. The south end is close to South Carolina and to go further south would probably bring it into SC with SC financing all that extension and additional equipment?. Let Phoebe fill us in.
Charlotte really wants other lines inside the city as I understand it.
Edit: Longer trains will require very expensive platform extensions. Can trip intervals be reduced?
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Phoebe Vet Not ours. Our light rail almost always has people standing.
Not ours. Our light rail almost always has people standing.
Well, as Sam Insull said a long long time ago, "Straphangers pay the dividends."
If you haven't enough riders (not, God forbid, San Antone but just hypothetically), it's problematic because it defeats budget predictions and may engender budget cuts.
Ironically, if the line is such a success that non-rush-hour (and non-major-sporting event) loads are above what was forecast, as seems to be happening with Charlotte's LYNX, that too is a "problem" of sorts which can have ironic outcomes:
Since public-transit authorities can't declare a dividend, I wonder who the beneficiaries of higher ride-loads are?
Old Folks with reduced fares
School Kids ditto
also the Disabled
labor
"consultants" in broadest sense of word
or (my favorite) talk of excess of anticipated revenues is ludicrous because so much forward momentum has had to be halted due to the recession's diminished sales-tax revenues; I'm thinking harder planning and possibly the beginning of acquisition for the next line.
Or possibly (and I am not being facetious) it will cost so much to try to keep up with ridership by commissioning new cars and/or decreasing head times on non-rush-hour trips that the "extra" money (assuming it even gets into the budgeting process) will make taking LTR even more convenient. The PATCO dilemma -- when the line was still very new the authorities new they needed to add more rolling stock and parking spaces. Since it was the Seventies and not the Thirties it required a long time to get the permits, clearances, find someone willing to build the stuff (guess it was still Budd or some derivate but not sure) and, ironically, get Union approval of a "no-bid" contract for the rolling stock. There was only one pretty small improvement made to the later generation of cars, IIRC, but adding the extras nonetheless took almost seven years.
I'm guessing there won't be a "surplus" but this display of high demand might make it easier to plan some of the other-color lines (proposed only).
systems that try to lure people out of their private autos generally prefer to run with a full seated load reserving standees for unusal conditions like ball games, etc.
blue streak 1 Sam1It is poster child for the argument that government should not do anything that can be done by a market driven business organization. The question that has to be asked. Was this whole operation a deliberate way to torpedo any consideration of light rail and commuter rail in the lone star state for the future?. Or the question can be: Is the state oversight so completely inep that it could not discern that there was malfecense going on? Maybe a federal investigation is necessary. Were Fed funds used?
Sam1It is poster child for the argument that government should not do anything that can be done by a market driven business organization.
The question that has to be asked. Was this whole operation a deliberate way to torpedo any consideration of light rail and commuter rail in the lone star state for the future?. Or the question can be: Is the state oversight so completely inep that it could not discern that there was malfecense going on?
Maybe a federal investigation is necessary. Were Fed funds used?
Planning for Austin's Capital Metro Rail got underway long before I moved to the area from Dallas. Accordingly, my knowledge is based on a read of numerous articles that have appeared in the Austin American Statesman, as well as several conversations with a member of the Capital Metro management team. I knew him in Dallas, where he was part of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) management team. He joined Capital Metro after the rail project was well under way. He had significant input in the development of DART's light rail system as well as the Trinity Railway Express. He is a competent executive.
The problems that beset the opening of the Leander to Austin rail line were probably a function of two causes. First, the management team had no experience in building and operating a commuter rail line, although they had been overseeing the operation of the Austin & Western, which is a freight railroad operated by a contractor for Capital Metro. In addition, the appointees to the Capital Metro Board, who have no hands on public transit experience, did not in all probability provide the kind of oversight required for the project. They probably did not know what questions to ask the experts, who made the recommendations regarding equipment, routings, financing, etc., let alone whether the answers that they received made any sense.
I have not seen any evidence that Capital Metro or anyone associated with it was attempting to torpedo commuter or light rail in central Texas. I believe most of the problems besetting the project stemmed from a lack of experience in putting the project together or incompetence.
I understand that the federal government has not provided any money for Capital Metro Rail. It has been funded with local funds. Moreover, I don't think that it received any money from the Texas Department of Transportation.
According to an article in the Austin American Statesman, a Texas Sunset Advisory Commission report found that Capital Metro mismanaged a $200 million reserve fund and opened its rail line with potentially unsafe bridges. The finding was also reported in Trains' News Wire.
Given the mismanagement of the reserve fund, it appears that Capital Metro needs to collect every dime that it can lay its hands on. Moreover, if the bridges are truly unsafe, I may be back on the express buses.
If Capital Metro were a competitive business, it would have been out of business a long time ago. It is poster child for the argument that government should not do anything that can be done by a market driven business organization.
Do you know what the fines are for a violation of the honor system?
The last word I had during our training was that if they found anyone w/out a ticket or pass they had to get off at the next stop and by one...I dont know how long this practice will continue,I dont know if fines will ever be enforced..
As far as Awesome's question regarding the volunteers,today is the last day they will be used,today is the last day of the grand opening...
videomakersorry,didnt mean to get your dandruff up ! No insult intended...
Heck no, none taken. My dandruff is right where it should be.........since I am at the whim of the Texas Eagle, I sometimes get in late and my English drops to a slang infused backwoods kind of slop when I am tired. I thought it might have been me......
By the way, on the freeloader issue, in other areas where the honor systems has been used, the losses from such a system are remarkably small....maybe the public does have a conscience as a whole, or maybe the fines resulting from the cheating are so significant in other metro systems that one would be a fool to cheat.
How long are the volunteers are working the stations?
Time will tell.
This is the best test yet ! It may be some time before we know how this train works for Austin..I personally hope it takes off and they have to expand service w/in a year !
P.S. I dont know what to tell you about the free loaders,APD is suppose to be checking tickets and passes
the volunteers and CMR staff are there at the stations to assist folks buying tickets...
videomaker My co-worker told me this week ridership is down "Huge" from last week. He's first train in the morning was last week was full but this week only 20 people. I hope its going to take a while until the riders would get used to the system... Awesome, I dont know what to tell you except,last week was free and a lot of people were just curious to see how it was,some may like it some may not..If I lived in Leander I would ride it every day ! Maybe they like the express bus better? Volunteers will be counting passengers until Fri.,this week may give them a more true account of daily riders...
My co-worker told me this week ridership is down "Huge" from last week. He's first train in the morning was last week was full but this week only 20 people. I hope its going to take a while until the riders would get used to the system...
Awesome,
I dont know what to tell you except,last week was free and a lot of people were just curious to see how it was,some may like it some may not..If I lived in Leander I would ride it every day ! Maybe they like the express bus better? Volunteers will be counting passengers until Fri.,this week may give them a more true account of daily riders...
I was on the train from Leander to UT or downtown on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I counted an average of 25 people boarding the train at Leander, which of course is well below its seated capacity of 108 passengers and approximately 92 standing passengers. However, at Lakeline, which is the first stop after Leander, approximately 40 to 60 passengers boarded the train. Many of them appeared to be UT students, as evidenced by the fact that they got off the train at MLK, which is the transfer point for the connecting bus to UT as well as the state capitol complex. This pattern is similar to that for the express buses. They too leave Leander with a relatively light load, pick-up numerous passengers at Lakeline, and drop most of them off at UT.
The train also picked-up 10 to 15 people at the Howard Station, which is a convenient connection point for people who want to drive part way to work, park at the Howard Station, and take the train into Austin. I overheard several passengers from Round Rock say that they would be taking the train to and from work because they could save the downtown parking fees, avoid some of the congestion associated with driving, and reduce their monthly gasoline bill.
Two things came to my mind as I was on the train. Many of the riders are students who are riding for free, although their school may reimburse Capital Metro for all or part of the fare. If this is true, Capital Metro will realize a lower fare box recovery than comparable American transit systems. Also, the train rolls through some very lightly populated areas. The potential passenger loads appear to be much lower than is the case in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. It may very well be that rapid bus technology will be a better option for Austin. Time will tell.
Dakguy201 videomaker Volunteers will be counting passengers until Fri.,this week may give them a more true account of daily riders... "Volunteers counting passengers" implies to me that this is another of the "honor system" ticketing schemes in which only occasionally are passengers asked to provide proof of payment for passage. Has anyone ever seen any statistics regarding the rate of passenger fare avoidance in these systems?
videomaker Volunteers will be counting passengers until Fri.,this week may give them a more true account of daily riders...
Volunteers will be counting passengers until Fri.,this week may give them a more true account of daily riders...
I lived in Melbourne, Australia for nearly five years. Melbourne has the largest tram system in the southern hemisphere and one of the largest systems in the world. It uses an honor system. Several articles in the Melbourne press indicated that upwards of 25 per cent of the riders did not have a valid ticket. The ticket verifiers frequently encountered hostile push back from riders when they were asked to show their ticket. It got to the point where the ticket verifiers worked in double pairs.
The suburban train system had a modified honor system. At Flinders Street Station, which is a major suburban train system station near the city center, as well as several other stations, a passenger needed a ticket to get through the turnstiles. However, at many of the other stations there were no turnstiles. Accordingly, verifiers rode the suburban trains to check on whether the passengers had a ticket.
The light rail system in Dallas, as well as the Trinity Railway Express, uses the honor system. I have seen several reports indicating that 10 to 15 per cent on the riders on these two systems do not have a ticket. I have witnesses several occasions when a passenger was not able to produce a ticket on request. The procedure is or was to allow the passenger to buy a ticket at the next station, thereby holding up the train until he or she was able to do so.
It appears that 25 to 50 per cent of the passengers using Capitol Metro Rail connect with the train via a Capitol Metro bus. Accordingly, they have to have a ticket to get on the bus.
"Volunteers counting passengers" implies to me that this is another of the "honor system" ticketing schemes in which only occasionally are passengers asked to provide proof of payment for passage. Has anyone ever seen any statistics regarding the rate of passenger fare avoidance in these systems?
I have had that conversation with insiders. They believe that the losses from fare cheaters are less than the cost of trying to make surface transit stops secure and enforcing the fare at the entrance.
I don't know whether or not they are correct, but that is the logic.
4merroad4man Danny, I know my family is from Michigan and West Virginia, and that may have some impact on my English, but I didn't think I made a differentiation between agencies, except to point out that railroad police (Class I's and Amtrak) are spread thin and require assistance from local agencies. I have noted that transit police should be supplanted by local law enforcement. I didn't think I was discussing the licensing or certification requirements of the various agencies or replacement of one by another. Advise me if that ol' Mountaineer slang got in the way.
Danny,
I know my family is from Michigan and West Virginia, and that may have some impact on my English, but I didn't think I made a differentiation between agencies, except to point out that railroad police (Class I's and Amtrak) are spread thin and require assistance from local agencies. I have noted that transit police should be supplanted by local law enforcement.
I didn't think I was discussing the licensing or certification requirements of the various agencies or replacement of one by another. Advise me if that ol' Mountaineer slang got in the way.
4merroad4man,
My bad,
I guess I thot you meant that there was some difference between them as law enforcement vs rent-a-cops.
sorry,didnt mean to get your dandruff up ! No insult intended...
4merroad4man Sam, have you seen the Lakeline Mall shuttles that were promised by the mall and community to meet each train as a means to get from the Lakeline station to the shopping areas and the mall? I have yet to see them, and they were supposed to be a large part of the plan in Cedar Park/Round Rock.
Sam, have you seen the Lakeline Mall shuttles that were promised by the mall and community to meet each train as a means to get from the Lakeline station to the shopping areas and the mall? I have yet to see them, and they were supposed to be a large part of the plan in Cedar Park/Round Rock.
The #383 bus calls at the Lakeline station and offers service to Lakeline Mall. The bus was waiting for the train this morning or at least it was in its bay when the train arrived from Leander. However, this is nothing new. The #383 bus has been servicing the Lakeline bus and train transit station for as long as I have been taking the bus from Leander to UT, which has been approximately 2.5 years.
videomaker Phoebe Vetpolice officer IN FULL UNIFORM should be allowed to ride for free because every officer who rides is a security person you don't have to hire for security on the train. Patrons will feel more secure seeing a uniform on the train with them.IN FULL UNIFORM should be allowed to ride for free because every officer who rides is a security person you don't have to hire for security on the train. Patrons will feel more secure seeing a uniform on the train with them. The POLICE and Fire personnel in uniform ride free on any transit in Tx as far as I know,just because you never know when you may need them for medical emergencies or law enforcement..As for Austin, CapMetro is hiring the police to work "off duty" for a while,I dont know how long this will last..They may eventually have their own police dept,as Dart in Dallas does...I know Metro has discounted fares (half price) for seniors ,this is the first I heard that seniors ride free.. To Awesome, Rail service on w/ends was never a part of the regular schedule,they may at some point later on try it but that will depend on demand...For now the AustinSteam Train will still run on these tracks on the w/end...
Phoebe Vetpolice officer IN FULL UNIFORM should be allowed to ride for free because every officer who rides is a security person you don't have to hire for security on the train. Patrons will feel more secure seeing a uniform on the train with them.
The POLICE and Fire personnel in uniform ride free on any transit in Tx as far as I know,just because you never know when you may need them for medical emergencies or law enforcement..As for Austin, CapMetro is hiring the police to work "off duty" for a while,I dont know how long this will last..They may eventually have their own police dept,as Dart in Dallas does...I know Metro has discounted fares (half price) for seniors ,this is the first I heard that seniors ride free..
To Awesome, Rail service on w/ends was never a part of the regular schedule,they may at some point later on try it but that will depend on demand...For now the AustinSteam Train will still run on these tracks on the w/end...
Danny:
My co-worker told me this week ridership is down "Huge" from last week. He's first train in the morning was last week was full but this week only 20 people. I hope its going to take a while until the riders would get used to the system.
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