I-440 will probably be the cheapest option, but I think it’s a bad idea. Even with BOSS, there’s a high probability of service interruption due to things like a disabled vehicle on the shoulder. It’d be much better to have a dedicated lane, plus you can have more stops if you follow Six Forks, which will encourage more development. Considering the density they’re wanting to put in around the Six Forks/Wake Forest intersection, a BRT stop in that area is a no-brainer, especially with how far out the North Raleigh commuter rail is.
3 Likes
The other selling point for BRTs (other than that they’re relatively cheap for what they can offer a city) is that it’s easy to change them. Even if they try to start off a BRT branch from Capital Blvd. to North Hills through 440 (if they even do this at all; remember this plan is still hella conceptual), I’m sure it can still be improved with a phased approach.
As soon as it’s clear to everyone who doesn’t pay attention to the problems, all it takes to make the optics work in your favor is some dedication and a lot of traffic cones. (Besides, a Six Forks RoW would still need to connect to Capital Blvd., which is still very much under study)
1 Like
Crazy idea to make this sort of BRT connection/extension more probable: could there be a sort of park-and-ride or bus terminal on Capital Blvd./near the Pigeon House Branch creek that integrates with the proposed North Boulevard Park?
Something like this? Red lines are bus-only lanes/roads.
Basically, I was thinking of a giant roundabout -but buses (presuming they all run in the center of the road, like for New Bern Av.) pull over by pulling into bus bays that are located around the inner edge of the circle. All BRTs (and maybe other buses on Capital Blvd.?) will stop at this single, concentric platform, so passengers to North Hills, Wake Forest, and downtown will all get to easily transfer if needed.
7 Likes
I asked them that question in 2017, to former Commissioner John Burns, GoTriangle among others and I haven’t got any response map the proposal out to where the Capital Blvd BRT would end. It would end in the most underdeveloped most boring part of the city, where there’s warehouses and commercial buildings, the old Wake Rescue Mission Building, maybe even I think a Sprint it now sports whatever place is in the area by the Wake Forest Road overpass. So it would end in the middle of nowhere, and it wouldn’t even leave downtown like maybe a 10 min ride away from downtown. The obvious way is for it to go as far as at least the Greyhound Station, or more towards the commerical part of Capital BLVD. By the pawn Jewelers and Dunkin Donuts by Highwoods IMAO.
It should go further and terminate either at Greyhound Bus Station and Judy B Zenlack. Salvation Army building or right after the I-440 Overpass by I’m the Jewelers and Dunkin Donuts otherwise that really doesn’t make since.
That looks more suited for an LRT.
You never know. The New Bern BRT was supposed to end at WakeMed and once they did the design work they extended most of it (i.e. everything except the bus-only lanes) to New Hope Rd.
2 Likes
They need to take it at least out to the beltline or why bother. Eventually you could have the main line extend further up capital towards 540. And a spur over to NH.
Exactly!!! That would make it a more convenient line, but they better fix the money issue get this done fast Raleigh growth ain’t in there time
Lately there has been talk of “RED” lanes - red painted curbside bus lanes that also serve for Right turns, Emergency vehicles, and Driveway access. These are being proposed as a way to improve bus service beyond the scope of the four BRT lines by addding some dedicated transit lanes on roads without as much work on fancy shelters and new dedicated separated lanes and rebuit/realigned curbs etc. This would be applicable to multi-lane roads such as Capital Blvd, New Bern past WakeMed, or perhaps Six Forks after the widening plan is completed.
5 Likes
Yeah I know RTA has been pushing for that - I would be a fan of that
More info: Our transit priority lanes may be better off “RED” than dedicated – at least for now
4 Likes
It appears CAMPO is studying RED lanes as well.
A “stub” northern BRT will be a funnel from which several branches split off. Three branches might have 20 minute frequencies, but then the busway would have 6-7 minute frequencies. An example is Pittsburgh’s busways:
It’s not entirely obvious at this point which of Capital, Wake Forest, or Six Forks is most deserving of BRT investment. So the reasonable planning assumption now is that a “stub” BRT inside the Beltline would still improve bus service on all three, and therefore improve service throughout North Raleigh.
6 Likes
I was waiting for the Route 15 bus today near the Alamo Drafthouse and struck up a conversation with an older gentleman who has lived on the New Bern Corridor for more than 30 years about the bus system. I asked him about what he thought about the New Bern BRT. He seemed to know about it and was really hoping they built it sooner than later.
Also, today was free fare day and the buses were very crowded, at least the buses I took today. I wonder if GoRaleigh takes statistics during free fare days. People that want free buses system-wide might be interested in that data.
5 Likes
They have the Town Halls and online surveys but I wonder if the city has ever asked staff to just sit at a bus stop and ask riders for feedback?
6 Likes
I know that transit staff go to stops / stations during public comment periods, to encourage existing riders to provide input on changes they’d like to see. Doesn’t mean it couldn’t be amplified though!
7 Likes
I’m currently putting together a documentary about my experience riding the bus on Friday. I plan to show it to Jonathan Melton and city council and show them the flaws there making and more improvements they need to do.
2 Likes
I dropped into GoRalegh’s drop-in public meeting for the Wake BRT: Southern Corridor project on Tuesday and talked to some of the great folks working on this at GoRaleigh and the city of Raleigh, and learned a lot of really great stuff about the project. You can follow along by checking out the meeting boards here:
First, let’s talk routes! Contrary to what a COR official told me last summer (and I repeated here), there are still six alternatives being considered for the BRT route, incorporating three specific choices: 1) Once you get to the Fayetteville/Wilmington split, should the route turn on to Wilmington St. or continue on Fayetteville and up S. Saunders? 2) If you choose Fayetteville, once it splits off into McDowell, do you follow McDowell into downtown, or stay on Saunders and turn right at South St.? 3) Should Wilmington St. be extended, or should the southern part of the route run on existing Fayetteville Road?
Personally, my favorite is Alternative 5, which follows and extends Wilmington St. Of the six alternatives, it scores by far the highest on bike and pedestrian connectivity, highest on potential number of riders, highest on public support, and highest on economic development opportunities. And because Wilmington St. currently has such comparatively low car traffic volume for its width, you could run a dedicated BRT lane the whole way into downtown. That would help prevent “BRT creep,” which would be a huge risk of any of the Fayetteville Road routes. Alternative 5 also picks up Hoke Street, which would allow connectivity with the planned commuter rail stop in southeast Raleigh, which would be huge advantage.
The downside of Alternative 5 is that extending Wilmington St. would take time and money. Alternative 6 (Wilmington St. to Fayetteville Road, no Wilmington St. extension) gets you most of the benefits and would be the cheapest and quickest plan on the table, but there’s a huge problem: Putting stops on Fayetteville Road would be a nightmare for pedestrians trying to cross it. You could maybe use an access road to alleviate that issue at the proposed Mechanical Blvd. stop (but then create new problems of it own), but it would be a huge problem for the proposed Chapanoke stop. Also, extending Wilmington St. allows you to turn the southern terminus into a park-and-ride lot on Garner Station Blvd., which would be another major advantage.
I know some folks would like to see BRT on S. Saunders, but we could always pair true BRT on Wilmington with fast, reliable, and frequent conventional buses on Saunders running in parallel. That would be a lot easier than trying to do the reverse, because it’s just so much easier to get the dedicated lanes on Wilmington. The Saunders routes are filled with bottlenecks, either at the Western Blvd. interchange or on South Street, which is one lane in each direction, and so you’d have to run the buses in mixed traffic the whole way.
Anyway, you can check out the extremely good and helpful resources at the link to learn more about the benefits of BRT and the six different proposals. I can’t say enough about how great the GoRaleigh staff was and what a tremendous job they are doing to lay the groundwork for a fantastic BRT system. 
10 Likes
I’m guessing BRT will have to happen first to spur the Garner Station development concept? Seems like a lot of infrastructure work and new roads.
6 Likes
I’m not sure if one is dependent on the other per se. The Southern Gateway Corridor study was commissioned in 2014, before the transit bond got passed, and I think this proposal for Garner Station has been kicking out there at least as long as that.
But certainly, redeveloping this area becomes vastly easier if the BRT runs through this area, yeah.
6 Likes