What in the world happened to the 100x that they were doing public engagement on a while back? I thought that was happening soon.
(This might belong in the GoTriangle thread)
I thought that was planned out for a year or two from now, but I could be wrong. I also thought 15-minute frequency was part of that same package, and that’s happening this month, so who knows.
We just had 15 minute frequency come but like getting rid of the RDU shuttle as proposed in the new Wake Transit Plan seems a little sus given the 100x plan that we’d had previously.
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I’m a little confused myself because I’m looking at the draft FY27 work plan right now and, in addition to the plan to get rid of the RDU shuttle (beginning “Q3 FY27” - project ID TO005-A, page 138), they still list the 100X plan (project ID TO005-BN, page 191) under “Future Year Bus Operations Project Sheets" as starting “July 2027”.
If I understand how GoTriangle defines fiscal years correctly, assuming FY27 covers July 2026 to June 2027, that would mean Q3 FY27 would likely be around January 2027? Is it possible that they are planning on temporarily suspending the RDU shuttle for half the year? Or maybe they are still planning to introduce the 100X plan without the RDU shuttle?
It would nice to have some clarification…
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I thought that I’d share my recent experience taking the 100 from RDU to Raleigh. While I’ve taken this many times, I was paying particular attention to others’ experiences as well so that I could be more thorough with this post.
I arrived in T2 at RDU in mid-ish afternoon last Thursday. As I was making my way to the traffic island outside of arrivals where all of the transportation pick-ups are, I noticed that the signage for the bus pick up was not easily located. Among the large branded signs for other modes of transport including rideshare pickup, the sign for this bus was tiny and not readable from across the pick-up drive adjacent to the terminal. I’m not sure how folks who haven’t used this service are finding their way to the proper location.
Once I was at the stop, I talked to a few of the passengers who were also waiting for the bus. 2 women I spoke to hadn’t taken the bus before, and didn’t understand how it worked. Both presumed that they could just tap to pay with their phones. FWIW, I came prepared with exact fare in cash.
FWIW, one of the two women was tracking the progress of the shuttle to the RTC and I was only waiting for about 5-7 minutes for it to arrive.
Once on the shuttle, the driver did a nice job of managing between those who were tapping to pay with the app, and telling the others who didn’t have the app to just take a seat and that the transfer was a courtesy ride. As someone who doesn’t have the app, I wondered to myself why those who had it were tapping if it was a courtesy ride? Once on our way to the RTC, the driver was telling folks that on the ride they needed to download the app to pay once on the bus to their destination and told folks to look up for the QR code. Of course, and since I had exact cash, I didn’t do this. While nobody was panicking about it, folks started scrambling to get it set up. Most of the riders were young, but I suspect that an older rider or someone who isn’t as familiar with such things might struggle with that sort of pressure.
When we arrived at the RTC, the 100 bus was already there as was the bus to Durham. It was nice that the timing was coordinated and the driver told the riders this information and which bus was which. I hopped off one bus and just got on the next one and paid my fare with cash. Once on the bus, I noticed that the 100 didn’t have the sort of luggage storage that is available to me on the bus from Miami Beach to MIA. That seems like a miss to me for a route that’s essentially shuttling folks back and forth from the city to the airport. Several of us did have luggage, so this wasn’t just a commuter ride for Airport workers.
The drive to Raleigh was pleasant and the driver was good. No complaints there at all.
Once on Hillsborough Street, I started paying attention to the automated messages so that I could pull the string to indicate the stop that I needed. When I heard the message that the next stop was Park and Hillsborough, I pulled the string. Unfortunately for me, the next stop wasn’t Park and Hillsborough, it was at the YMCA. The bus stopped and I decided to just get off and walk a few more blocks than I initially intended. It wasn’t a huge deal, but the “next stop” clearly wasn’t Park/Hillsborough.
All in all, the time from deplaning to getting off the bus was about an hour. The walk to my condo was another 12 minutes. IMO, that’s not bad at all for transportation that’s a fraction of the cost of taking rideshare. I figured that the time was about double, but I saved 25 bucks or so.
To sum up, it’s an unnecessary step to have the app from a user’s perspective, especially if you aren’t a regular rider. I don’t want to have yet another app connected to my bank account if I’m not going to be using it frequently/regularly. I am able to tap-to-pay for the similar service in Miami, but need exact change or a special app in a metro that is supposedly more technologically advanced? It doesn’t make sense to me as a rider.
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@John You have a few good points here. Do you mind sharing this in the Wake Transit survey? Just go to the end questions where they ask about feedback on anything in Wake Transit. This is a key part of giving feedback to those who run transit.
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I agree with this. The stations at the terminals are just normal GoTriangle stops and small trash cans. The stops at the terminals really should look like BRT stations, with giant GoTriangle logos, green benches, and ticket vending machines, something that we don’t have anywhere on the system right now. There should also be GoTriangle (potentially also including GoCary, GoRaleigh, GoDurham, Chapel Hill Transit and GoApex) system maps, both as take ones and as a mural on the backing plate. There should also be a real time departure board both inside the terminal, and at the platform.
Part of the issue is that airport workers don’t commute at regular hours. I don’t expect it to ever be just Airport workers, but I believe the same things that make it useful to Airport workers make it useful for Airport travelers. A wide service span, connecting a wide variety of destinations relatively directly, going via the airport if possible, and decent frequency.
I wholeheartedly support open payment, which is what that is called. My understanding is that we bought our Umo fare collection equipment in 2019, which is basically the first generation after Delerrok got bought out by Cubic, rebranding TouchPass as Umo, and Delerrok was a very small company, making it hard for them to support open payment.
I think that ticket vending machines, where you can use your credit or debit card make that less pressing, but it is still important. Umo/Cubic does sell Umo vending machines, but we haven’t bought any, but it is my understanding with our next generation fare collection plan will support open payment and it is my hope that we also buy Ticket Vending Machines with it.
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Thanks for the detailed replies. I hope that you found my feedback fair and objective.
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I was very disappointed to find out that you couldn’t tap a credit card for bus fares. When I was in Toronto a while back, there were cost incentives to buy TTC passes or cards from machines, rather than using a credit card. I’m sure there are people that avoid the bus because they don’t want to bother set up the UMO app or carry cash.
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I mean I love using physical cards, it just feels right to me and I wouldn’t switch with open payment or an app but I know for occasional riders open payment decreases the barrier to entry of riding the bus, which is very important too.
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Yup, outlined as a priority item in the Regional Technology Plan to support open payments system-wide.
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I keep pushing for us to include the Amtrak Piedmont in the Regional Technology Plan, especially for fare payment, as is done elsewhere.
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A post was merged into an existing topic: GoRaleigh Bus System, now and the future
This is why I purposefully carry exact fare. When they put Trump’s name on the dollar bills, I won’t want to do that either! Maybe I’ll hoard quarters?
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I was just looking through the FY27 Durham Transit Work Plan, and while there’s no mention of “100X” by name, but they do list this under “Route 700 improvements”:
Phase 2: In FY28, GoTriangle will request funding to operate service between Durham, NCCU, Durham Tech and RTC every 15 minutes on weekdays. This level of frequency provides enhanced access from Durham Tech, NCCU to regional destinations including RTP, RDU Airport and Raleigh.
Still wonder what this means for the airport shuttle, or if they’re still planning on consolidating the current routes into the “100X”, though
Well I posted on Instagram in response to the Durham Transit Plan post asking about the 100x and this is what I got:
Hi there, The 100X concept has changed since it was included in the 2023 Wake Bus Plan. Recently we have implemented some new changes that would have been served in that project including:
15-minute frequency on Route 100,
double the weekday trips on 700 and the new Route 705, as well as all day service for the DRX.
Looking forward we hope to implement more changes that would’ve come from this project including: All Route 100 trips serving RDU airport, 30-min midday service for the DRX, 15-min frequency on Route 700, and possible changes to 700/705 when Triangle Mobility Hub opens in 2030.
This sounds to me like the 100X is dead? Or at least the Triangle Mobility Hub is taking longer to build than they want and dead until it’s completed? The way they’re touting RDU as a new destination permanently on the 100, sounds like the 100x is dead to me.
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That’s my read on it as well. Personally I don’t hate it; I’ve always enjoyed taking the 100 to the airport when it goes there directly, even if the shuttle wasn’t bad either. And 15-minute frequency is a game-changer. That said.. I badly wish it had at least a small luggage rack, it can be difficult when the bus is busy.
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I do like the consistency. The way that it was sometimes the RDU shuttle and sometimes not, bugged me. I do feel like the RDU Shuttle could have been a joint venture between the Wake Transit Plan, Durham Transit Plan, and Orange Transit, whereas I don’t know what funding looks like now. Although I think that they said that money would go back from the RDU Shuttle into further Wake Transit projects.
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I frankly think this is the right call. The whole RDU Shuttle thing introduced after COVID was stupid. It’s one thing when getting to a downtown from an airport requires riding two trains. But riding 2 buses with 30-minute headways? No person who can afford a one-seat Uber ride is going to do that. Having a 15-minute bus service connecting RDU directly to DT Raleigh is the way to go and the closest we can get to having city-to-airport connections without “tHe LiGhT rAiL mUsT gO tO tHe aIrPoRt” crowd hijacking transit plans. Anybody calling for the 100 to skip the airport because “it makes getting to Durham slower”, take the DRX. GoTriangle should up the DRX frequency to every 30 minutes at least, do the same thing for the CRX (make it run all day for a start), provide weekend service if passenger demand warrants it.
The only downside is people going from the airport to Durham or Chapel Hill still have to change buses; it would be nice to have one-seat rides like Raleigh passengers would get. But having to change between buses with 15-minute service is better than changing between buses with 30-minute or, God forbid, hourly service.
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