User Report, Atlanta Streetcar

[daveklepper]

[SouthernStatesTraction] Atlanta, Ga. - modern streetcar line: who is riding ??
"The Atlanta Streetcar is good for tourists. What about regular commuters?
I rode the streetcar to work for a week. Here’s what I learned.
January 20, 2015
 Rebecca Burns

There’s little doubt that the Atlanta Streetcar, which finally started service a few weeks ago, will be a good thing for the city’s tourism business. Its 2.7-mile loop connects all those Centennial Olympic Park attractions—Coke! CNN! Civil Rights! Fish! Football! Ferris wheel!—with the King Historic District, which on its own merits draws more than a million visitors each year. The trolley gives tourists and conventioneers staying in the hotels clustered around Peachtree Center an easy way to get from the hotel district to spots like the Sweet Auburn Curb Market.

The streetcar could also offer some assistance to “local tourists.” Families might take MARTA from the suburbs to Peachtree Center and hop on the streetcar to reach the aquarium, for instance. Downtown parking annoyance and expense avoided. Brookhaven or Doraville dwelling Millennials might catch the trolley to bars on Edgewood Avenue (the homeward journey for late-night revelers would still require Uber).

But what about everyday use? Is the streetcar a practical option for people who live and work within walking distance of its 12 stops? People, like me, for instance. My Cabbagetown loft is a few miles from Atlanta magazine’s office near Peachtree Center. It’s a brisk 35-minute walk, great on breezy spring days, wretched in winter or mid-summer. By car, the trip varies from a zippy 15 minutes to an aggravating 45, depending on traffic, convention crowds, and construction. I tried commuting by MARTA when I first moved to Cabbagetown, but it was frustrating. The walk to the King Memorial station requires a trek through a creepy tunnel (more on that shortly) and down super-busy DeKalb Avenue. Then the trip means a transfer at Five Points or an long walk, all adding up to at least a hour. But I crave an alternative to driving, and watching from car during my regular commute as the streetcar construction went on (and on and on), it seemed like a plausible option. Here’s what I learned testing it last week.

Monday, January 12

I head out in the chilly fog. It’s a little over half a mile from my loft to the King Historic District streetcar stop, where several people wait. Says one man: “It’s fast once it shows up.” Which it does—after 10 minutes. Inside the car, I count 12 other passengers, including two men in trench coats and expensive looking loafers and a handful of people who look like they’re riding to get off the cold streets. We reach Peachtree Center in about 10 minutes, and I walk a quarter mile to get to the Atlanta magazine office. Total trip time: 41 minutes. Tweets skimmed: about 50. Tweets posted: 4. Emails answered: 2.

Heading out at the end of the day, I realize that the best stop on the homeward route is Park Place—or twice as far from my office as Peachtree Center. No one else is at the stop and I board a nearly empty car. One of my fellow passengers works in marketing for the streetcar. “The handrails are made out of an anti-microbial material,” he tells me. Good to know. Total trip time: 50 minutes.

Tuesday, January 13

Despite efforts to improve appearance and safety, the Boulevard Tunnel remains unpleasant.

Rebecca Burns

To reach my outbound stop at the corner of Jackson Street and Auburn Avenue, I have to walk through the Boulevard underpass tunnel, which unlike its counterpart at Krog Street not so much a hipster street art destination as a latrine/dump. Despite efforts to brighten the tunnel with a mural and improve safety with lighting and security cameras, it remains dank and filthy. On the plus side, this means I walk really fast.

The streetcar shows up moments after I reach the stop. Again there are about a dozen passengers; again a mix of students, workers, and folks seemingly seeking warmth. We zip along and then . . . the trolley stops. We sit there. And sit for a few more minutes. Cars have pulled into the intersection and blocked our tracks.

I tap on the glass door and ask the driver if he can let me out so I can walk the rest of the way. No, he says.

My fellow passengers grow equally restless. “Can’t you blow your horn or something?” asks a stocky woman wearing a puffy jacket and a visor. She’s anxious about getting to work late.

There’s a break in traffic, and we creep through the intersection, only to stop again. Cars are backed up in front of us; because the streetcar shares a lane with automobiles, there’s nothing we can do. The driver gets on the radio, checking to see if there’s an accident ahead. (Later, I learn via Twitter that a Georgia State student crashed into a ticket machine at the entrance to a parking deck, causing the backup.)

“Can you let us out?” asks the woman in the puffy jacket. “No, I’m not allowed to let you out between stops. It’s not safe to let people out in the middle of the street,” he says. “It’s not the middle of the street. The sidewalk is right there,” she says, pointing out the window.

A young man peers out the window at gridlock. “This is my first time riding the streetcar. It will be the last,” he says. He normally walks from his home on Edgewood Avenue to catch a MARTA train at Peachtree Center. He calls his boss to explain he’ll be late. “I thought this would be faster. I was wrong,” he says.

We crawl forward. The automated voice on the sound system informs us that we are approaching the Woodruff Park stop. As the cars glide open, a few passengers cheer and clap and almost everyone exits. The woman in the puffy jacket sprints away at remarkable speed toward. I follow at a brisk walk, and pass the Peachtree Center stop before the streetcar reaches it. Total travel time: One hour and three minutes.

It’s raining hard when I leave work, and I’m glad for the shelter of the Park Place stop, and even happier when I hear the digitized clang clang clang of the trolley. After the morning’s misadventure the ride home is uneventful, and I’m happy to be sitting in the warm car and not starring at wipers on my car windshield. Total trip time: 36 minutes.

Wednesday, January 14

Commuting by streetcar turned out to take about the same time as walking the few miles from my home to my office.

On this foggy morning, the walk to my stop is easy and the streetcar shows up soon. We zip along Auburn Avenue; blessedly there is no repeat of the previous day’s traffic snarl. As we pull into the stop at Woodruff Park, I’m confident that this trip will set a time record. Then the driver asks a young man sitting in the back row to exit. He ignores her. One of the Downtown Ambassadors comes on board. “Sir, we have to ask you to leave,” she repeats at least five times. Eventually the young man gets out of the seat, hikes up his baggy jeans, and stomps off. The Ambassador glances at two other passengers near the rear of the car. “I just got on,” a man says, and gestures toward the woman sitting across the aisle from him. “She got on after Centennial.” The Ambassador nods at him, and then at the driver, and we pull off. As I head toward the door, I ask her what happened. She says that although streetcar rides are free for now, operators are trying to reinforce the concept that there will be a fare at some point, making people exit after riding one loop of the route. “It will help them get used to having to pay for one trip,” she says. It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to determine that MARTA and downtown businesses want to prevent the streetcar from becoming a haven for the homeless, a mobile form of downtown’s libraries and parks. Total trip time: 38 minutes.

I work late, and that evening it’s cold, foggy, and dark when I rush down Peachtree. When the trolley clangs in the distance, I break into a trot across Woodruff Park, arriving at my stop just as the streetcar pulls in. There are about 20 people on board, and for the first time this week, my fellow passengers appear to include several clusters of tourists. “I see the Ferris wheel!” a little girl squeals. “No, that’s the big Coca-Cola sign,” explains her mom. “Oooh,” says the girl, her face pressed to the window. Total trip time: 35 minutes.

Thursday, January 15

I teach a class at UGA on Thursday afternoons, and this week I have an appointment before class, so head straight out from home, rather than driving downtown for the morning and leaving from there. Heading up mist-shrouded 78, I wish for the thousandth time that the plans for a “Brain Train” connecting Atlanta’s universities with Athens had not stagnated. Driving home that night in steady rain with temperatures dropping, that wish grows more fervent.

Friday, January 16

In the morning, the rain has stopped, but the parking lot and driveways of our loft complex are coated with a sheer layer of ice. On a day like this, I’d either work at home a bit waiting for the ice to melt before driving in, or bundle up and walk. Today, I pull on a heavy scarf and head to the streetcar stop. Everything goes smoothly, and I get to work in 33 minutes, faster (and warmer) than walking, and free from the angst of navigating iced roads in Atlanta.

It’s much warmer when I leave work that evening, and the walk through downtown is pleasant. I reach Park Place a few minutes ahead of the streetcar and its clanging chime triggers a happy Pavlovian response. Among the 20 passengers, I spot a few tourists, along with a group that appears to be locals. They get out at my homebound stop—Edgewood and Hilliard—and head for Harold’s Chicken and Ice Bar. Total travel time: 37 minutes.

So, am I trading in my Civic for a trolley?

The result of this test is a resounding . . . maybe. Using the streetcar takes longer than driving. But on the plus side, I like being able to catch up on Twitter and email, and love not having to hunt for a spot in the parking deck. Yes, getting trapped in traffic in the streetcar was frustrating, but in my decade of commuting downtown, I’ve had plenty of vexing experiences stuck behind conventioneers, blocked by construction crews, or forced on detours thanks to parades and festivals. Sure, it might be healthiest to simply walk every day. But the combination of walking and riding the streetcar takes about the same amount of time, while providing a break from the weather and—yes, I’ll concede to iPhone addiction—a chance to catch up with communication at the start and end of the day.

Like most Atlantans who want to switch to mass transit, the question for me is not really about getting to and from work on the streetcar: I’m pretty convinced it works for me. But, just as when I commuted by MARTA when I lived in Avondale Estates, I’ll sometimes need to get around town during the day to places that aren’t easily reached by MARTA. Some meetings, reporting trips, or after-work plans will require me to bring my car to work (and pay to park) or fork over cash for cabs and Uber. And that’s a vexation that can’t be pinned on the streetcar.

For now, I’m planning to use the streetcar as often as I can. Thanks to the few months of free service, I can do that while hanging on to my downtown parking spot without any budget implications. In March, I’ll decide whether to make the switch permanent and figure out how to cope

 

[gardendance]

daveklepper

with the King Historic District, which on its own merits draws more than a million visitors each year.

 

 

I hope it was just an unintentional accident, and you didn't mean to imply that the streetcar draws more than 1 million visitors

[daveklepper]

I read it that she is referring to the King Street District.   Why assume differently?   Wrong comma placement?

[gardendance]

Maybe it's a problem my computer has reacting to the new and improved trains.com, but all the text in your original post except for the links is white on a white background. I only got to read it when I had clicked on the link http://tinyurl.com/pxfmsnl

[daveklepper]

I had the same problem when I returned to this posting.  Apparently, the article from the Atlanta paper has too many bits for one posting on this thread.  I think I repaired the problem by deleting all the photos and posting only the text.  I hope this works for you.  Apparently it workds for me.

[trackrat888]

41 min for 2 1/2 miles? so much for rapid transit. should have went with dedicated lanes. Is there signal priority?

[gardendance]

tracktat888 I'm a bit too busy now to figure which trip you mean, but the author says the 1st trip TOTAL time is 41 minutes, the light rail ride is only 10 minutes. 10 minutes wait time, so must be 21 minutes walking.

[rdamon]

They will need to get the APD out there to start ticketing drivers blocking the tracks.

 

[trackrat888]

Well I thought it said 40 min for 2 1/2 miles. Still it seems a awfuly expensive connector service. Let U know how Cincy goes.

[16-567D3A]

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[trackrat888]

Seeing that U are from Florida how goes the TECO line? Seems that Florida is full of orphan lines the Grand Daddy of them is the Disney Monorail. You have the JAX people mover, the Commuter Train in Orlando that was a back way of paying off CSX by Jeb Bush in the billions and the Mugger Mover in Miami. Neither Tampa nor Cincy have any long range plans for a larger system. Why plan long range when a good portion of your population believes that the end of the world is near and that there Lord and Savoir will come down from Heaven a New Jeruselem complete with light rail and monorails after the rest of us sinners is purged from the earth both in and out of the Bible Belt. BTW Israel is doing quite well after years of murbund rail service in making a world class system.

[16-567D3A]

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[trackrat888]

Is that conservtives in red states particaluy those in the bible belt are less likely to support transit as a social justice issue. This goes back to the Social Gospel of which Fundimentalist Christionality was founded in opposistion to. Social Gospel took hold in the Northeast and the Fundys established themselves inthe south and the west. However when tied to real estate delelopment and sold first to real estate bosses it is more of top down where in the blue states is its a grass roots bottom up approach. BTW today is Sunday. There are having a heck of time getting light rail in Richmond VA as opposed to Northern Virgina were rail is welcome

[oltmannd]

Transit to support tourism is a great idea.  Tourist drop serious money into the local economy and pay a ton of tax - room taxes, rental car taxes, etc.  I'd bet those taxes more than cover the cost of construction and operation (in fact, the city just diverted a couple hunderd million of those taxes to fund the new Falcon's stadium. How is that fair?)

Why not start with a bus?  Buses are more difficult to use and aren't permanent enough to attact development.

One look at midtown ATL shows the value of the MARTA rail line that doesn't show up in the farebox.

Is the streetcar line the perfect thing?  Of course not.  I think the route is flawed (not long enough - needed to loop around Centenial Olympic Park)  

Are there more pressing transit needs in ATL?  Of course. Connecting the city east and west of the connector and getting the Emory are connected are pressing needs.

[Electroliner 1935]

Well, you mentioned a ferris wheel. I was last in Atlanta in 1981 and an Ice Storm hit the town. The hotel couldn't keep my room warm. Today,when I went to Youtube to see a video of the Atlanta Streetcar, (see link)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH2c8TOrVpk 

the first thing I noted was the ferris wheel. When was this built?

 

[daveklepper]

Don't know the date for the Ferris Wheel, but here is more user info:

ATLANTA, Georgia's largest city, returned rail transit to city streets Dec. 20 for the first time since 1949, and an op-ed commentary on the "atlanta magazine dot com" site suggests one positive change would be to make headways more frequent on the 2.7-mile belt line loop through downtown:

<http://tinyurl.com/kso4xbv>
"Six lessons from riding the Atlanta Streetcar for eight weeks

For starters, if you spend $98 million on the thing, why not run it more frequently?
March 6, 2015
Rebecca Burns 

Since January 12, I’ve made the Atlanta Streetcar my primary commute option. This experiment amounted to 25 workday commutes by trolley, for a total of 47 trips. (Shouldn’t that be 50 trips, you ask? Indeed. But a few times I walked one leg of the route—not voluntarily. More on that shortly.)

So, what’s it been like?

First, the hard data. I logged door-to-door travel time from my loft in Cabbagetown to Atlanta magazine’s office near Peachtree Center. This includes walking to and from stops, waiting for the streetcar, and the actual trolley ride itself. Average trip time: 35 minutes in the morning; 36 minutes in the evening. The fastest trip was an evening commute of just 21 minutes. The longest was a morning ride that dragged on over an hour because of an intersection-blocking traffic snafu. (You can read more about that drama in my log of this experiment’s first week.)

To put the trip times in perspective, walking the roughly two-mile route ranges from 35 minutes (wearing jeans and flats) to 40 minutes (pencil skirt and heels). Driving is unpredictable. Some days bring zippy 10-minute trips; on other occasions it’s taken an hour in total travel time, thanks to convention hordes and our overcrowded parking deck. Taking a MARTA train or bus would require transfers and even more walking—on even grittier stretches of urban terrain than my streetcar commute involves.

Now, the qualitative analysis. Overall, I’ve enjoyed the streetcar commute. It’s less stressful than driving and infinitely less taxing than dealing with downtown parking. On the streetcar, I can catch up on email, read articles for work, and keep up with Twitter. I enjoy chatting with fellow passengers and walking through downtown, especially now when the weather’s improving and the daffodils are budding in Woodruff Park.

The streetcar also spares me from walking below the Downtown Connector—nowhere I’d choose to walk alone after dark. On several occasions when I worked late, I was happy to be able to ride home in the warm, well-lit trolley—with a watchful Downtown Ambassador sitting nearby—instead of navigating that underpass at night.

So far, I’ve experienced only a few glitches beyond the aforementioned hour-plus traffic snarl. One day, we halted for a mysterious 10-minute “technical difficulty,” but thanks to the intervention of an Ambassador, we were allowed to disembark even though we weren’t at a platform. The worst experience was this past Tuesday morning, when electrical problems put the system on the fritz. I only learned of the delay through Twitter, and chose to walk, thankful I’d decided to wear boots that day, what with the heavy rain and the gentleman urinating on Auburn Avenue. Most delays have been caused by other drivers, not the streetcar operators. Once we waited for 5 minutes at the King Historic stop while a funeral home’s hearses maneuvered out of the streetcar lane.

The number of riders has inched up over the weeks, but I’ve never been on a car with more than 25 other people; it’s usually about a dozen—in a car that can seat 60 and carry up to 195. (One night I rode home alone. “I chose to think of this as my personal $98 million limo,” I told my husband.) In the mornings, I wait at the King Historic District stop along with senior citizens from nearby Wheat Street Towers and a few other Cabbagetown/Old Fourth Ward commuters. En route, we pick up Georgia State University students. In the evening, the mix changes, with a few tourists, more GSU students, and twentysomethings headed for Edgewood Avenue. Morning and evening there are always a few riders who appear to be homeless—or at least compelled to carry all their belongings on the trolley.

By my back-of-the-napkin math, there are only a couple hundred working-age residents who could plausibly use the Atlanta Streetcar for regular commuting as I’ve been doing. On its western end, the 2.7-mile route loops through mostly commercial and tourist districts, and the eastern end, despite a few apartment and loft complexes, remains relatively sparsely populated. The streetcar connects sections of Georgia State’s urban campus, but students also have a school-run shuttle service.

Boosters say the streetcar will transport more people around downtown, connect riders to the larger MARTA system, and bring business to struggling areas of town. If they want to come close to that, here are six things they should consider doing:

1. Run the cars more frequently.
Right now, the cars are scheduled to run every 15 minutes. That’s ridiculous—and the reason it’s faster to walk. This morning, workers installing a ticket machine at my stop told me I’d just missed the streetcar. I had to get to a meeting on time, so I opted to walk, and kept on walking when I heard the trolley coming up Auburn Avenue behind me. I reached the Peachtree Center stop ahead of the streetcar.

Making the streetcar efficient to ride is the most important step to making it successful. After spending $98 million on the system, it doesn’t make any sense to adopt a penny-foolish strategy that limits trip frequency. Locals won’t ride regularly if they don’t see time-savings. Tourists will be far more likely to rave about the experience to their friends at home they didn’t have lengthy waits. And they’d be way more willing to hop off at a stop to check out nearby businesses if they felt confident that another car would be along soon. This I know from listening to tourists debate the very idea.

 2. Scale back those interminable waits at Centennial Olympic Park.
Want to ride the whole loop? Prepare for an annoyingly long wait at the park—up to 15 minutes. This makes it harder to use the trolley to get around downtown. In theory, my colleagues and I should be able to get on the car at Peachtree Center and ride over to Sweet Auburn Curb Market for lunch. In practice, having to wait for the streetcar, and then at the park before carrying on to the market, means the travel alone would consume our entire break. No time for BBQ or empanadas.

3. Keep the streetcar free through early summer.
The free trips have helped initial ridership (an average of 2,000 a day, according to Streetcar officials) but the bleak weather and learning-curve hiccups in service have been hindrances. The $1 fare is supposed to start in April—which is when Atlanta weather is at its best and most metro schools are out for spring break. Rather than create obstacles with ticketing, operators should leverage that season to generate the best possible word of mouth.

4. Keep it free for MARTA monthly cardholders—forever.
Integrating the streetcar fare system with MARTA’s Breeze Card is smart. Not so smart? Charging extra to regular MARTA riders, the very people most likely to use the trolley as a connecting route. Right now, according to Atlanta Streetcar spokesperson Scheree Rawles, the plan is that trolley fare will be extra. So if you pay $95 for a monthly MARTA card, you could be paying another $40 for a monthly streetcar pass. That’s too steep. Sure, charging a premium for one- and three-day tourist passes makes sense—and is a bargain compared with car rental and taxi or Uber/Lyft rates. But don’t gouge the locals who are critical to making this system work.

5. Keep those Ambassadors riding.
Those friendly pith-helmeted greeters are invaluable for new riders unfamiliar with the system. And they make everyone feel safe and comfortable. They can also spread information when there is a problem or delay. Again, this can’t be cheap, but it’s a good investment.

6. Bring back pop-up shops (and make them a little more useful).
Last summer, Central Atlanta Progress organized pop-up shops in vacant storefronts along the streetcar route. A brilliant idea, except for one little flaw: no streetcar to transport shoppers. Also, there was a disconnect between many of the shops—stylish socks, high-end dog treats, hipster Judaica—and the area’s major demographics: low-income seniors, students, and struggling artist types. While cute, the businesses didn’t offer much service for tourists. I live a few blocks from the King Historic District and regularly see confused-looking tourists searching for places to shop and eat. Many of the bars and restaurants on Edgewood Avenue don’t open until evening, and there’s nowhere to easily grab bottled water, or sit down and enjoy an ice cream cone. Practical offerings for residents are limited. I know I’d forgive a dozen streetcar snafus if I could pick up a Holeman and Finch baguette or stop at a produce stand on my way home from the trolley stop.

[end text]
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Edward B. Havens
Tucson, Ariz.

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[rdamon]

Atlanta streetcar to continue offering free rides

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/28690443/atlanta-streetcar-to-continue-offering-free-rides

ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta city officials say streetcar passengers may ride for free through the end of 2015.....

 

Looks like they still havent figured out how to charge for this ..