That one had me baffled too. Like, who do y’all think develops student housing? Couldn’t be property developers no… that doesn’t make sense, because all developers are evil and bad!!!1!!
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No updates, but a general question. Is the design/livery of the BRT buses themselves set? Looking on the BRT website, the only images I see are articulated GoRaleigh buses.
After seeing the Raleigh Trolley out and about, I know the “how it looks” factor will shape a lot of initial feedback from the public. I’d love for BRT to have a more unique look than the GoXYZ buses, especially if it had a more streetcar/trolley or train appearance (like this Van Hool one in Metz, France)
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So all we know currently is that it’s going to be branded as GO+ (“GO Plus”). Here’s the logo (which really needs to drop the shadow on the plus, it doesn’t fit the rest of the logo):
Other than that, we don’t know much. No word on bus model/manufacturer or actual livery. Latest renderings had this, but I don’t think it’s meant to be indicative:
I’ve seen a few folks express a similar sentiment of hoping for something similar to a tram, and I get why that is, but consider this: one key goal of this project is to boost transit ridership in Raleigh across the board. In my mind, the success of this project is not limited to ridership on the lines that are being implemented; there should be a ripple effect through the entire system.
That’s why planners opted to stick with a variant of the GO brand instead of creating a distinct brand like some cities do — they want it to be clear that it’s all the same system. In my mind, having buses that look like trams does a disservice to that mission. So I’m perfectly fine with seeing articulated Gilligs or New Flyers on these routes and letting the service speak for itself. If I’m stuck in traffic and a bus blows past me, that’s enough of a selling point to get me to consider riding.
(Edit: grammar and phrasing.)
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You bastard, I would’ve never noticed this but dammit now I do and it’s so dumb 
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I’m just so glad there are other people who notice how dated that drop shadow is.
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Just to put this out here, Gillig has zero interest in making artics and when production moved from the old plant/current parts center in Hayward to the new plant in Livermore they put no provisions in as such. GO+ would be backed into New Flyer, Novabus, or if they can’t help it BYD though the debacle with their buses for the Red Line in Indianapolis has hurt them.
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Not surprising, never been a huge fan of the Gilligs anyway. New Flyer seems like the best bet, especially since they’re doing a lot of battery-electric orders lately, which is supposedly what planners are hoping to get for this project as well.
Drives me insane. My wife is in graphic design, so I pay close attention to details in logos these days. It looks so awful that I complained about it in the comments section of the branding survey, but they seem to have ignored that.
If they’re gonna do a drop shadow, they should have done it across the whole logo, not just the plus. I’d prefer no shadow at all, but the biggest offense here is the inconsistency, not the shadow itself.
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The funniest thing about it is that it was by far the worst of the three options presented to the public. I have to assume that the designers will can it when it comes time to actually start designing the final materials, because there’s just no way.
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A lot of originality in the choices…not!
yeah they rattled…
but looks never came into the equation of when i rode them.
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Those buses were I remember one bus with UNC all over it.
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Final public hearing with council tonight
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Held open again…
From what I heard, it seems the rezoning explicitly evicts anyone who lives in the area and bans all affordable housing? Seems a bit extreme
Every complaint that everyone had (traffic! parking! flooding! heat island! affordability! global warming!) is the direct, just-as-promised, blitheringly obvious result of the cars and sprawl status quo… but heavens no, nobody should actually do anything about it… even though again, not doing anything is absolutely guaranteed to make every complaint worse.
It is so depressing to see how little imagination so-called “progressives” have when it comes to the built environment. “Everything is horrible, now don’t change a thing!”
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Seeing some new Southern Corridor info on today’s Route Committee agenda. Little more mixed traffic than I’d like to see, but glad they’re opting for another median-running transitway for the largest segment.
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I’m so glad they went with this design. It was the right choice. I’m not too concerned, about the mixed traffic, honestly. It’s going to be a non-issue in Segment 3. There really wasn’t much that could be done about the southbound flyover, unfortunately, but not all riders are going to be taking it all the way to the southern terminus anyway.
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Am I right that the New Bern BRT and potentially the South legs will be anchored out of the Moore Sq station?
This is sort of old news, but Raleigh was officially awarded their $35 million grant from 2020 to be used toward the New Bern BRT line. In the meantime, the cost for the line has risen from $71.5 million to $96.75 million due to a delay in the design/engineering process, as well as rising costs in fuel, land, materials, and labor.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article264408236.html
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I mean, that’s what happens when you study shit to death and wait 20 years before actually doing anything LMAO (being hyperbolic but yeah… they’ve been talking “public transit” since I moved to NC over 14 years ago and I’ve seen nada since)
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