Category / Transit/Transportation

by Leo Suarez

[UPDATE] Bicycle Parking In Downtown Raleigh

As a new bicycle owner, I’m starting to think about how bike-friendly downtown is. It is rather easy riding around on the streets within the core of downtown because of the naturally slower traffic and short distances. The issue I see, however, is the extreme lack of bike racks in the area and you can see it as riders chain their bikes to different poles and trees. Bike racks are also hard to find because there are simply too few of them. This will have to change so that the culture of commuting by bicycle to downtown grows.


Bikes grouped together on Fayetteville St.

To maintain the quality and competitiveness of our downtown, I think that an alternative to driving should be offered. While mass transit is being figured out now, we can focus on ways to encourage people to get out of there cars and ride a bike, scooter, or other “one-person vehicle” to get in and out of downtown. Right now, I think that riding a bike to visit one day on the weekend and chaining it to a tree is kind of acceptable, because of the so few times that you actually do this. But to get the downtown employees to ride to work five days a week, we do not need more trees rather a bike “parking deck”. Just like anyone can drive downtown and leave their car in a deck, a bike should be parked in a small area that is specifically used for the purpose of storing your bike, scooter, hoverboard, whatever. Would you ride more if there were dedicated bike parking areas with:

  • Plenty of spaces; you can always count on an available slot to lock up at.
  • Lots of night lighting to make anyone feel safe.
  • Covered shelters so “vehicles” do not get soaked if it rains while you are at work.
  • Electricity for those with electric scooters, segways, or whatever may come in the future.

IDEA: Downtown Bike Pad

To incorporate the thoughts above, here is an idea that came about in a recent conversation with a friend on this topic. The picture above shows the M&F Bank parking lot on the corner of Hargett and Wilmington St. The lot is for employees only and has six spaces. I have nothing against the bank but I feel that this space should be given up and a deal cut for parking in the Alexander Square deck right behind them. This would be a perfect area for what I’m calling a Downtown Bike Pad.

The entire lot will be used for parking bikes, scooters, segways, and other “vehicles”. The pad will be flush with the street so the sidewalk “peninsula” will have to be flattened. This will make getting in and out by anyone pretty easy. The pad will also be a different color then the road, making it distinct and easy to find. Shelters can cover the area so that anyone’s “vehicle” is protected by any precipitation. Add an artistic touch to the whole thing and I think we’ll have something people will ride too. A LOT of people are already used to the idea of driving downtown, parking in a deck, then walking to their workplace. This is essentially the same thing but takes up less space, is more environmentally friendly, healthier for you, and a cheaper solution to building/expanding our parking deck arsenal.

My idea for the M&F Bank lot would be the ideal solution but until mass transit comes around 15-20 years from now, a modified version of this, perhaps on a smaller scale, could be used. If bike pads were strategically placed in a few spots downtown, I think we would see a rise in biking/alternative commuting and would be a great selling point for new residents and businesses looking at moving here.


Bicycles are not the only ones parking in downtown

[UPDATE 10-6-08]
An update almost a month later but it is still relevant to the conversation. There is a bike rack in the municipal deck, facing Dawson St. at Morgan St. It will cover your bike or scooter from the weather and it is easy to get too. We need much more of these around downtown.

by Leo Suarez

Ride The Trolley During First Friday

Did you know there was a downtown Raleigh trolley route on First Friday? The Downtown Raleigh Alliance has a great map of the participating galleries and the trolley route.

Map in pdf format.

I also remember talk earlier this year of a possible trolley route on most days of the week with extended hours. There has been no talk of this anywhere and I am curious if it is coming soon. The convention center is now open, RBC Plaza is officially open today, and the Marriott has been open for over two months. Is a downtown circulator still not feasible?

Check out this post on the current state of trolleys in downtown Raleigh.

by Leo Suarez

Capital Area Friends of Transit

The Capital Area Friends of Transit (CAFT) is an alliance of many community organizations, institutions and civic leaders who support regional transit for the Triangle. CAFT is building public support and political will in Wake County and the Capital area for a forward-looking transit plan that is convenient, accessible and affordable.

CAFT fully supports the recommendations of the Special Transit Advisory Commission (STAC) plan. CAFT calls upon the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) and Durham Chapel Hill-Carrboro (DCHC) MPO to coordinate with Wake, Durham, and Orange counties and local governments to implement the STAC recommendations in conjunction with local land use planning and to develop specific local transit plans.

CAFT invites all local citizens, organizations, businesses and institutions to sign our statement in support of transit, as follows.

As Raleigh grows, transit will be important for the city to maintain the great quality of life that we enjoy. I encourage everyone that is interested to sign it.

by Leo Suarez

What Should The Multi-modal Transportation Center Be Like?

Mentioned earlier in The State of The Warehouse District post, there is an opportunity now for anyone to submit their ideas about the Multi-modal Transportation Center (MTC) by July 24th. I think this is a big topic that is not talked about enough so in an attempt to get the conversation going, here are some ideas for what should come to this area of downtown over the next decade.

Background Info

The highlighted area in the map below is the core target where the MTC will go.

I’m not sure if Amtrak is in on this but they should so I included the station in my red area. Amtrak and Norfolk Southern trains are, I believe, the only real activity that comes through here currently. In the near future, we may have regional rail that goes north toward Wake Forest and West toward Cary and the rest of the triangle. There may also be a high-speed rail line that continues north toward Richmond and west toward Charlotte.

Build a Transit Center

With lines coming in from around the area and out of state, the MTC should be the hub of travel outside of RDU. Passengers that arrive should have the option to get a taxi, transfer to another train or bus, rent a bike, get picked up by a friend, or walk off in a pedestrian friendly environment. I’m still debating whether a car rental service would be needed but this can be avoided with good planning; some people still need to drive to get to where they are going.

Warehouse Renovation

Rather then build the entire MTC from scratch, we can always use what we have. The warehouses along the railroad tracks offer a perfect opportunity to bridge the old with the new. Heavy renovation could turn this into a shopping center for travelers arriving or departing the area. We’ve heard of plans for residential infill within the warehouse district so that will only fuel the activity even more.

The MTC Does Not Need To Be Tall

This area is a little tricky because of the transition between residential neighborhoods and downtown. Would a 10 or 20 story building fit in here? Would you protest if a truly iconic skyscraper was on the table and would block your view from the Boylan Brewpub patio? I may change my mind later when the proposals come in but for now I think that a tall development would be out of place. Low rise office and condos that blend well with the warehouses and Boylan Heights is key. The area is about transit and focus on the pedestrian should be point number one.

Plan For The Future

The population figures I keep reading say that Wake County will have another million people over the next 25-30 years. The MTC should be built for this population boom as well as expandable for even more traffic. I think space for an extra track or two should be saved, another site saved for a potential downtown rail circulator, and would it even be way out there to plan the MTC so that a subway could be built underneath? We are definitely years from that but considering it and engineering the building around these may be worth a small cost now rather then a huge redevelopment later in the future.

…..ooh and we also need an awesome name for it.

by Leo Suarez

The State of the Warehouse District

By day, the warehouse district of Downtown Raleigh is quiet and sleepy. By night, it wakes up and comes to life, exploding on the weekends. This nightlife hotspot has seen some problems in the past, but with a convention center only a few steps away, why can’t it enjoy some traffic just as Fayetteville St. will be getting? Here is some recent updates if you have not been down there recently.

  • Penrod’s Antique Warehouse has opened up next to White Collar Crime and makes use of the entire 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse. They have very old furniture and all kinds of random plates, paintings, silverware, etc. They are open seven days a week.

  • Jibarra is re-locating to The Depot but work there has not yet started. The place is still filled with the old bars from the trio of clubs that left back in November of 2007. Jibarra seems confident on opening up this fall.
  • Renovation of a warehouse for the Contemporary Art Museum seems to be continuing. A recent ‘Pic of the Week’ entry had some good discussion from readers.
  • Discussion on the Multi Modal Transit Center is picking up and the city wants your ideas. Read their ‘Call For Ideas’ on the Transit Center and submit them by July 24th. I have not read the entire document yet but may post my thoughts later this week.

The warehouse district will need more shops and the museum to open for activity to rise during the day. The transportation center, I think, will define the warehouse district in the near future and when (if) built, this area will explode during the day.


Plenty of parking at The Depot

by Leo Suarez

Study Continues On High Speed Rail In Raleigh and NC

Discussion about a high speed rail line from Washington DC, through Raleigh, to Charlotte has been mentioned before and we now have an update in the study process. With regards to Raleigh, David Foster, a project manager on the project, states:

The environmental work is substantially complete between the VA-NC line and Raleigh. The initial railroad horizontal and vertical alignment alternatives also are complete along this section. Roadway designs are essentially complete from the VA-NC line through Franklin County, and are in progress through Wake County. The Franklin/Wake County sections are some of the most complex due to heavy development.

Section 106 consultation with the State Historic Preservation Offices in both Virginia and North Carolina is still required. Efforts to obtain the necessary effects determinations for the individual historic resources in each state will begin as the design work is finalized.

The website for the project has a plethora of information, including the entire planned corridor shown with aerial pictures.

http://www.sehsr.org/

Looking at the downtown section we can see what is planned. Before looking, it is pretty easy to guess that the plans are to use the existing rail corridor that runs along capital BLVD into downtown. This makes most sense because of the planned multimodal transit center to be built in the warehouse district. The project timeline was updated last month with an estimate to have passenger service running some time between 2015 and 2020. This is all “dependent upon funding availability” but the gears are rolling and Raleigh may be a major hub for the east coast high speed rail line in the coming decade.

by Leo Suarez

Public Bike System in DTR

The concept of this is pretty interesting and I think there is a chance that a creative model could be built and established in downtown. Montreal’s Public Bike System is like a bicycle rental service with several stations around the city. You can pay the rental fee at each station, pick an available bike, and use it for as long as you want. When you are finished, you simply return the bike to any station. The bikes can be tracked and a website will have live information such as station locations and number of available bikes and docks.

A system like this could work for downtown Raleigh. Cabs are quick and easy but hard to find unless it is a weekend night on Glenwood. A rickshaw ride is a cool experience but they cannot cover everyone that needs to get around. When the trolleys get rolling in the near future, you are limited to its schedule and destinations along the route. The bike stations are permanent and as long as bikes are available, you can use them at any time of the day or night. Stations should be set up near hotels for visitors to use and riding around downtown would give them the opportunity to see more of the city. Bikes also make it possible for visitors to go outside of downtown, like Five Points, Fletcher Park, Cameron Village, Dorothea Dix Park, and spots along Hillsborough St.

The only negatives I can think of are theft and support. The bikes are tracked with RFID tags so locating them is not a problem. But if someone with some skill figures out how to hack the bikes, say goodbye to them. Plus, even with the ability to retrieve the bikes, if theft is a real problem, policing them may be a hassle. I also think that this system needs to be marketed well because it caters more to visitors. This system could actually make the walking tour more popular because biking the tour would appeal to more people. Of course, you cannot rule out the green factor as all the stations are solar powered; a concept the city is already familiar with. It comes down to pure numbers, will enough people use it?

by Leo Suarez

Just Your Average Joe – Triangle Transit Experience

The local and national media is obsessed with the topic of the current gas prices. I do not know about you, but I am overwhelmed by the amount of coverage the price of gas is getting these days. This blog 100% supports the use of other modes of transit in the triangle other then the gas powered automobile. The problem with the triangle, however, is that a reasonable alternative can be very hard to use in this ‘sprawltastic’, car-centric area we live in. However, the rise in gas prices are creating a rise in bus ridership, according to the N&O. Rather then reading about it, I decided to give Triangle Transit a try for my daily work commutes and here are my thoughts and experiences.


Moore Square is the main Raleigh hub for most bus routes

Researching The Route

I live in downtown and work in RTP so I needed to find the bus route to get me out there and back. As an internet junkie, my first path to finding information is almost always the internet so naturally, I went to Triangle Transit’s website for information. The trip planner is horrible and it did not get my route to appear after a couple tries. Maybe you have more patience then I do but I decided to skip this tool and move on to the list of maps and schedules. This was easier for me to find what I needed and “Route 105: RTP to NCSU to Raleigh” was the one I needed to ride. After that, there was an RTP bus circulator that went from the RTP transfer station up to my place of work.

The website offers a simple text schedule, the route brochure as a .pdf file, and a Google map of the route with major and minor stops pinpointed along the way. This is good information for those that want to plan their way. After doing the website research and printing out some documentation, I was all set to ride.

Cost

At the start of this new transit experiment, I bought bus tickets and filled my car’s tank completely. The idea was to see how long I could go without paying any more money towards transit. A transit cost for this experiment is gas or a bus ticket and at the start I paid about $95.

A pack of 12 Triangle Transit tickets costs $41 and one ticket will give you unlimited rides per day. That comes out to $3.42 per day if you ride the bus. At the time of this particular visit to the gas station, the cost of regular gasoline was $3.53 a gallon. Assuming my car’s 32 mpg rating on the highway and a DTR/RTP distance of 18 miles (36 both ways), it costs about $3.97 to drive my car to work.

The Ride – Positives

Probably one of the best points of riding the bus is that someone else is doing the driving for you. While riding, you have the time to sleep, read, blog, play games or do anything because you do not have to deal with traffic yourself. I used this time to read more and would watch video podcasts on my ipod, where I could not before because I was paying attention to the road. When someone else is driving, you can focus more attention on another activity and perhaps get work done during your commute. This could be really beneficial to those who love to multi-task.

Cost was another great benefit to riding. Referring back to my numbers above, it is clear that riding the bus is the more cost effective choice. The bus fares are not rising and have been the same throughout this whole gas price hike. The price of gas is much higher then $3.53 today so the cost benefit of riding the bus is only strengthening. I went a full four weeks without paying for another transit cost.

While riding, my car was just sitting around doing nothing. This is great because no gas is being used, no stress or miles is being put on the car, and there is now one less car on I-40 during rush hour traffic. I’m a little bit of an Ecogeek too, so the added fact that I’m not pouring emissions into the air is a bonus.


Triangle Transit’s sleek new look

Negatives

Time is the biggest negative to this new transit venture. Driving to work on average throughout this experiment would take 25 minutes in the morning and 40 minutes in the evening. Riding the bus was almost three times longer, with rides averaging 1 hour and 15 minutes in the morning and 1 hour and 40 minutes in the evening. This makes a huge difference for someone that is busy and fitting in these huge blocks of time into my schedule was a real hassle. The afternoon ride times were more inconsistent then the morning rides. Even though I was not dealing with traffic, the bus was and heavy traffic on I-40 sometimes pushed my ride home past the two hour mark. If I was driving, I could avoid certain traffic zones where the bus must stay on its route.

During this experience, I learned to tolerate Triangle Transit rather then trust it. The buses were generally not on time, plain and simple. For those interested in catching a bus mid-route, I would recommend showing up 10 minutes before the posted time. If early, buses would stop but would not wait until the posted time to continue the route. There were a few cases of clear driver negligence where requested bus stops were passed. The RTP circulator also needs a makeover. My particular route would go one way in the morning and a completely new one in the afternoon. It may not bother you but I see another layer of confusion in this, more so because it does not at all follow the posted schedule on the Triangle Transit website.

The Verdict

We all have our own opinions. We all live and work in different areas so your particular experience will be different from mine. With that and the experience I just shared I have decided not to continue riding the bus as the time factor is the real kicker for me. The bus is just too slow and it is not worth it to me to ride it for so long. Right now, the gas prices have not been applying enough pressure for me to be a full on committed rider; I have found other ways to save money. Even though I do not ride, I encourage everyone to give Triangle Transit or the other bus services a try. If you have never ridden, it is a completely different experience then you think. Again, RalCon fully supports other means of transit in Raleigh other then cars and I hope one day (in my lifetime) we’ll see a network of trains, streetcars, and buses that can serve everyone. For now, I’ll stick to practicing EcoModder’s 105 Hypermiling and Ecodriving tips.