Does anyone know how GoRaleigh’s Vehicle Reliability is doing? I was on a 3 going towards Moore Square that broke down less than 30 days ago and just passed a broken down 11 on Blount Street.
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I know that at some point this year, I’ve stared at a chart showing time between breakdowns or something like that. My first try, I couldn’t find it but I’ll take another look and see if I can’t find something related to this. I want to say that it definitely is tracked.
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I do know that at least they’re about to order a whole lot of replacement buses (and GoTriangle)
Speaking of, I have beat this horse quite a bit, but I wish that GoTriangle would order some proper commuter buses for their express routes. The local buses are pretty rough on the highway/with luggage (i.e., going to the airport).
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Maybe my perception of time is messed up but it really doesn’t seem like our fleet is really that old, especially on GoRaleigh (GoTriangle’s fleet seems older) but it constantly seems like GoRaleigh hasn’t been maintaining their fleet as much as GoTriangle. The LCD screens on GoRaleigh are constantly turned off, displaying un-useful information and I’ve even seen them cracked sometimes. When the 3 broke down before I left for RAGBRAI, it was transmission trouble.
The worst GoTriangle does usually is have the announciator on the wrong route. This morning the 100 was set to Raleigh-Airport-RTC, when it was a trip that bypasses the airport.
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Not sure what everyone else’s thoughts are on this, but since the fares became implemented again, I’ve seen significantly less loitering (what I assume to be non-destination riders) around both the bus station and the DGX area. The decision to implement fares seems to be moving in the right direction here.
Mostly just seems like people going to work now, around what it was in the mid-2010s.
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I have gone downtown on the Route 16 bus from the Village District for a couple of round trips since the fares were reintroduced, but did not ride all the way into the station.
Seemed like the ridership count and demographic was pretty much the same as before. But then that route runs to Crabtree Valley Mall via Oberlin and Glenwood. Lots of people just trying to get somewhere.
However used to live at Skyhouse, with a view of S. Blount, and also shopped at DGX. So familiar with that DGX bus stop scene.
I was also in Skyhouse around 2016. It wasn’t too bad back then. Didn’t have any notoriety at all. For the past year or so, there was just a group of people who would hang out in front of DGX all day.
I’ve also been actively looking to see progress in the area, and I’m definitely seeing it. 99+% of the people using the bus aren’t using it to loiter at the bus stop or DGX all day, so I wouldn’t imagine the actual routes would change too much. But, the scene around the bus stations has definitely changed from my perspective.
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My wife and I are excited for the new Route 9. We take the bus from Moore Square station to the far end of Hillsboro St a few times a month. Missing the 4 or 100 and then having a half-hour wait for the next one was a pain, but 15-minute headways means we may soon just stop bothering to look at the schedule before walking to the station. We also usually walk back home after we’re done out there, but when the weather is bad not having to plan our return bus trip based around the 30-minute headways will be a huge plus too!
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More than 20 characters about GoRaleigh and focusing just on our high frequency routes. I made maps with their open data!
For example, here is weekday service only using routes that arrive every 15 minutes.
https://dtraleigh.com/2024/10/taking-a-look-at-the-goraleigh-frequent-network/
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Nice writeup. I use the #9 and #6 routes fairly often and the frequencies are a game-changer. To your point about transfers at the GoRaleigh station adding a ton of time for those who don’t live downtown, I am hopeful that the new/improved transit centers outside downtown (e.g., Midtown, which I think is funded or close to being funded) will help with this.
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On some weekends I ride the #6, #8, and # 11 and leave my Car at home when I go out shopping or meeting up with friends for dinner 
and then to downtown for 
. I really believe that if folks just make an effort to ride the GoRaleigh buses, it would ease up on gas usage. I know, folks here are very Car dependent, but if the Area continues to grow at this rate, I truly believe that it will get worse before its gets any better. If you think a train wreck is not going to happen, keep that same energy in your mind.
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Awesome map and article @dtraleigh !
Avent Ferry and Western Blvd are notable gaps. Avent Ferry is funded for upgrade to 15 minute service at some point this fiscal year (by June 30 2025) and Western Blvd of course will come along with the BRT, whenever that happens.
Another notable gap is North Hills. I know this is on the city’s radar for frequent service at some point, but I don’t think there is any specific funding or schedule for that yet.
Falls of Neuse is also tapped for 15 minute service in FY26 in the short range plan but I believe those plans can change.
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Cool article, and I like the map with the frequent bus service depending on the day of the week.
This is transit that Raleigh needs to strive for. I’d argue, above all else, frequency is the worst thing about transit systems in the Triangle. The frequent-bus network, in ways, is a great pre-BRT step that, places that aren’t planned for BRT (but definitely need) should have 15-minute frequencies before BRT is planned. In my opinion what Raleigh needs to aim for its bus system:
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All buses need to run at least 30-minute frequencies from early morning to late night. Once an hour is shameful for a city like Raleigh.
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The major bus routes need to run every 15 minutes through most of the day. Routes that currently have that, such has the #6, #9, #15, #1, etc. are very convenient in that I don’t have clutch a schedule checking whether or not I’m going to miss a bus or not. 15-minute frequency is getting into “there’s another bus coming soon” territory. That being said, we should be open to 10-minute frequencies at some point.
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We need to have late-evening and night service. Almost all bus routes go to hourly frequencies after 7 PM, which is way too early. I’d argue the 15-minute frequency routes need to run at least through 9-10 PM. 30 minutes works okay after that, but I think almost all routes need at least that frequency through about midnight. The #6 and #9 run 30-minutes late in the evening, which is still convenient enough. And, of course, we need bus service after midnight, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.
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Another issue that Raleigh needs to resolve are crosstown routes (and their frequencies). Routes that don’t go downtown are kind of the forgotten routes of GoRaleigh. The 23L is a very useful route for me… when it runs, and when my schedule allows. They run once an hour, and many of them drop dead after 6:45 PM, making me detour through downtown. Crosstown routes need to be treated the same way mainline routes are, having at least 30-minute service all day and running until midnight. And we need more of them. Living off Lynn Road, I’m itching for a route along that road (planned around FY27 as the 32L). Also, we need at least one crosstown route, say parallel to the Beltline, that runs 15-minute frequencies.
With all that said, GoRaleigh has made good steps, especially this year, to improve their service. People in Charlotte like to brag about how they have light-rail and we don’t. To which I answer, “sure, you got a fancy train, but do you have anything else? How many 15-minute bus routes you have? One?” Raleigh may not have a fancy light-rail (though I think we could use one), but we have EIGHT frequent bus routes, with more coming down the line. Sorry Charlotte, but I actually find it easier to use public transportation in Raleigh than I do in in the queen city.
PS: Can the #8 get frequent service too? Please?
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if such a paradigm can be sought, raliegh might be a good test ground for it. i lived in reno nv for 10 years, as a nearly 24 hr casino town, numerous routes were 10, 15 or 30 minutes for large chunks of the day. Maps & Schedules – RTC Washoe and with new affordable housing initiatives apparently being sought after…maybe each should go hand in hand if economic structures have changed and building out doesn’t practically accommodate some of those who work inside the city limits.
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Good to hear about some of these updates that may fly under the radar. Raleigh has the right idea to support a variety of housing types and density. There is still work needed to limit auto-centric development in areas outside of the city core (downtown, ncsu, the village).
I’m glad you talked about span in this article. I currently live off of Route 1, and the drop from every 15min to hourly at 7:00p makes zero sense to me. Lines that are advertised as frequent should not be running that infrequently off-peak. Really diminishes the appeal.
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GoRaleigh is now officially partnered with Transit, which is far and away the best alt-mode navigation app out there (they do bike directions too!).
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