Tag / R-Line

by Leo Suarez

Tracking Buses Online and On Your Phone

Recently, the city has created some online and mobile tracking services for the buses in Capital Area Transit. The best part is that they all have maps associated with them. I love me some maps.

For downtown, this includes the R-Line, which is technically part of CAT and is shown on the CAT tracking page. The Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA) tracks the R-Line on their page as well. Below is the link rundown so update your bookmarks.

DRA live map
www.godowntownraleigh.com/get-around/r-line/status

DRA live map mobile version
m.yourhere.com/rline-map.php

CAT Bus tracking
raleighrides.org/

NCSU Wolfline Tracking
ncsu.transloc.com/

I’m mentioning the Wolfline tracking system because it has been around for years and is still the better service of the few, in my opinion. Take a look at it to see what all the services should work towards becoming one day.

The R-Line mobile site is easy and straight to the point. If you have a smartphone, you can pull up the maps with the location of the buses pinpointed on the route in real time. The bus stops are marked by their appropriate names so finding where you are on the map is easy once you are at an R-Line stop. Streets and their names are also displayed so the map now becomes a personal guide to navigating downtown on your phone. It’s a great start for making the experience of riding a bus slightly easier and puts a system in place that can be easily updated and scaled out as transit in Raleigh grows.

by Leo Suarez

R-Line A Month Later

A month ago the R-Line started making its rounds in downtown. Today, yet another Friday the 13th, is time to look at the past month and discuss the new downtown service. RalCon’s page to rep the R-Line is here or through the link at the top.

Ridership

I have no hard numbers to show but from what I have seen and heard, the ridership is busier during the most obvious of hours. Lunch during the weekday and Friday/Saturday nightlife hours are the most popular times to see groups of people on the R-Line. I’m rarely in downtown during the lunch hours so I’ll trust the few people who have told me this, including one of the bus drivers. There were about 10-14 people riding on the few Friday and Saturday nights that I have been on. I’m not sure what the city expects but these seem like solid numbers in its first month of service. As with anything, it will take some time for people to absorb the R-Line and incorporate it into their routine. As for visitors and convention center mobs, they are steered toward using the R-Line with the Downtown Raleigh Alliance’s new marketing campaign, You R Here, which is a great looking website and I applaud them for re-designing the site.

Convenience

The R-Line is pretty convenient and it makes downtown seem a little smaller. Fayetteville St. and Glenwood South are now a short ride away. However, it is a game to see how long you will wait at a stop for a bus. I have not seen any times posted so I’m guessing the bus is not on a set schedule. There have been times when I have caught the R-Line the minute I walked up to a stop. Other times, I have seen it pull away as I turn the corner resulting in a ‘long’ wait. The 10-15 minute wait time has been accurate though and in my experience, I’ve rarely waited more then 15 minutes. While not necessary right now, a website similar to TranLoc could be created to show people the bus’s current location. A mobile version of this website would be even more powerful, especially now that the city is flirting with the idea of bringing free wifi all over downtown. Its just an idea but not needed right now as the bus is pretty convenient overall.

Signage

The R-Line stop signage may need a little upgrade. On a positive note, the signs are large and clear with the stop name and number at each location. The problem with the signs is that a casual pedestrian that does not know of the R-Line is not well informed. There is a number to call but I think it would be much more informative if a map and route were shown on the signs. Also, the extended route after 6:30pm needs to be highlighted so people are not confused by the change in route.

Hybrid Buses

Have you seen the buses? They stand out pretty well in the middle of traffic and draw attention to themselves. This should self promote the R-Line and get people talking. Also, the hybrid buses are noticeably quieter then the CAT buses coming out of Moore Square. Another thing I’ve noticed is that the buses sometimes look too big and making turns can be a little tight at times. In some instances, I’ve seen cars backing up to let it pass. This might take a slight tweaking of the lines on the street so that the R-Line can flow more smoothly.

by Leo Suarez

You R Here, The R Line Starts Rolling

This morning, Mayor Meeker and his downtown buddies introduced the R Line, downtown’s new circulator. We have recently talked about this and today is the day that the hybrid electric buses start rolling. Buses stop every 10 to 15 minutes and run during the following hours every week:

Mon-Wed: 7am – 11pm
Thurs-Sat: 7am – 2:15am
Sun: 1pm – 8pm

This week I found out that there will be a route extension after 6:30 pm. Take a look at the google map embedded here and you will see what I mean (shown in red). [Note: referenced Google Map is unavailable]

I’m working on a dedicated page for all info that is the R Line. Along with the google map, I have also made a printable map of the route and a few key stops. I’m working on that one too and am trying to make it match the excellent map on the Downtown Raleigh Alliance website. How will you use the R Line?

My printable map in pdf format, updated 2/13/09.

The R Line fleet.

Signs for each stop.