As a resident of the area I’m also looking forward to trying BRT, especially as it connects westward, but at least for the Alamo and the stuff popping up around it. It always feels like such a waste to drive such a short way and the parking is always full anyway. Yes, I fit the bill of the bougie / hipster target that’s been speculated about. But I’ll be happy if something which is convenient for me is also beneficial for all of my other neighbors who already rely on the bus system. I guess time will tell whether it’s truly good for everyone.
One part I am unreservedly happy about is the multi-use path that comes with it. The New Bern bike lane is treacherous but an important part of my usual errands routes on the way back home. This will become my backbone to and from downtown, replacing E Hargett which is one of the bumpiest roads I’ve been on (plus too narrow for busses! It’s wild that they route through there).
Before I got a car I used the bus regularly to head to Alamo Drafthouse. Walking through mud and sketchy bus stops sucked plus the last bus was like at 11:30 or something so you need to make sure your screening ends way before that.
New sidewalks and best bus stops will be a big improvement.
Still I would prefer a movie theater in downtown. Downtown Los Angeles has an Alamo Drafthouse right in downtown.
I just noticed that, right before the new year, Streetsblog wrote a piece about the national attention that Richmond’s Pulse BRT is getting.
It turns out their BRT pilot got double its expected ridership and made buses in its corridor 65% faster than in pre-BRT days. And the reasons for those successes are the very things Raleigh’s BRT lines will bring, too! Just another sign that our region is putting in the right kinds of careful investments, and there’s solid reason to expect that it’ll pay off (slowly but surely).
Richmond has density already on Broad St. The perfect street to start out on. I just do not think New Bern Ave ridership numbers will galvanize the same public support. Development is not guaranteed along New Bern. I really think a different corridor should have been chosen first.
From what I remember of Broad St in Richmond (though it has been 20 years since I lived there), it’s your classic stroad of car dealers, strip malls, and fast food joints. May have changed some in the years.
Yup, plus access to The Fan and all the cool new development at Scott’s Addition. A lot more going on than New Bern at the moment (and, honestly, into the future).
But, the New Bern BRT can hopefully be a catalyst for some of that Scott’s Addition style development on those strip malls and rundown low density lots. We can’t just throw our hands up and say “no sense in trying anything, let’s let it all be sad forever.”
Exactly. And I think the city recognizes this. I feel they see that the land use planning has to be combined with the transit investments. That’s why this upcoming TOD rezoning for New Bern is so important. If this council denies it, I feel our BRT transit future will fail.
FWIW this sounds kind of like the commuter rail line in the triangle.
-Downtown
-NCSU
-Fairgrounds; perhaps (arguably) Carter Finley
-Downtown Cary
-RTP
-NCCU
-Downtown Durham
-Duke U/ Duke & VA Hospsital
For all the unwalkable, suburban, mundane, non-destination areas in the Triangle, this does a pretty respectable job of hitting many such destinations that we do have
Are Midtown, Chapel Hill, and the Airport missing? Yes. But batting 1000 on a single line is not a reasonable expectation. Given our regional geography, it would be hard to conceive of a line that does better!
If the City could make the walk from the Fairgrounds/Blue Ridge station to Carter Finley/PNC a little more pleasant (wide sidewalks, good lighting), I think plenty of folks would elect to take the train to games. I know my buddies and I sure would. Nothing like waiting 30-45mins to leave the PNC parking lot after a State basketball game.
Also, if advertised and operated correctly, I think a very frequent airport shuttle from the RTP stop to RDU could still be a perfectly useful alternative to a direct airport connection. Honestly that still beats getting to, say, JFK from Manhattan.
Cosign. It would probably double the amount of Canes game I attend, I haaaate parking there. And it’s not like a State football game where it’s a full day activity.
Everything I mentioned on Broad street were there well before BRT, you know that. The blocks adjacent to Broad st are much different than New Bern. I’m comparing Richmond’s decision to put BRT on a proper street and Raleigh’s decision to take a flyer on a build it on a prayer street.
Not speaking of future may or may not happen other BRT lines in Raleigh. New Bern Raleigh to Broad st Richmond.
These are the before and after pictures of Broad and Lombardy streets in Richmond that @colbyjd3 posted above for reference. This street and New Bern are somewhat similar density wise in regard to pre-BRT construction.
Roads connect to houses, businesses, everything. Rail does not. Roads carry Emergengy and other vital services. So yes you should pay for those. Not a valid point you made at all.