The Wake Transit Plan is getting an update and they are starting the public feedback session now through June 21. I encourage everyone to jump in, I know we get a lot of surveys but this is a big one. I’ll follow up with some notes later as I go through it also.
Links:
Get some info in-person at an event this week.
This was a really interesting survey to do! I like how it forces you to work with a limited “budget”—it feels like it provides more realistic answers than other types of multi-choice surveys.
This really made me think. Sometimes we get caught up in believing we can have it all. But having it all is not free. I hope more people will take this survey.
Yeah, it was a fascinating exercise.
I chose:
Just drove the entire length of New Bern that will be converted to BRT. Every single bus stop is trash filled and uninviting. Hope this does not mean the BRT stations will be the same level of trashiness. This overflowing one is just off of my apartment. This is not how we get people to use busses as an alternative to the car.
It’s safe to assume based on the proposed design that all of the stations will have shelters and pay stations.
Full of trash everywhere? These stations may need to be cleaned daily. People like to just throw trash on the ground even if there’s plenty of trash cans around.
It’s common practice for most municipalities to include a maintenance plan with related costs into the project budget.
Also, the city could propose the creation of business improvement districts (BID) along BRT routes. These districts involve multiple medium-to-large businesses in one central area that agree to create non-profit(s) to help the city provide common services (trash clean up, bus shelter maintenance, etc.).
The drawback is that all of the businesses have to agree to pay more taxes in order to “beautify” their district/neighborhood or at least that’s the case in MA. Currently, the most important determinant is whether or not the BRT corridors will become dense enough to support this sort of system.
I am impressed that enough people use the trash cans for them to be full. That should be encouraged by emptying them regularly.
Trash removal from public spaces and right of ways seems to me to be an essential city function, and should not require a special tax district.
A lot of the GoCary bus stops are spotless. Though that might be because of lower bus usage.
I am in the special tax district and the trash can outside my building stayed perpetually full and very unkempt for months on end. Trash was persistent between the bin itself and the decorative bin holder.
You should report it on SeeClickFix rather than complain here on this forum.
Noted. But given that literally every bus stop on new bern from downtown to the Walmart is like this this issue is systemic and reporting 12+ bus stop nearly every day is self-defeating.
That might be because you have to walk 20 minutes to get there
I was just complaining about this, couldn’t the city get a contractor to clean every stop?
I drive through New Bern multiple times per month and have noticed that the closer you get to city center the more that many of the bus stops have a good number of people not even waiting for the bus but are using the place as a hangout spot. Folks just loitering around under the sheltered are and are not waiting for the bus. It is obvious from some of the activity going on that they are definitely not waiting for a bus. I guess this is a different side issue but nevertheless related to this general topic. Transit police were part of the entire transit system when I lived in both Boston and Houston and they regularly patrolled these areas and, for the most part, kept the riff raff away. I guess we don’t have transit police here, correct?
So?? Who cares? Why is that an issue?
here, I bought you a ticket to Cary. You’ll love it there 
It’s pretty obvious why this is an issue. If your goal is to get more people using public transportation, then you probably want to create an environment where those individuals feel safe and comfortable. If not the whole system will only be used by those that have to use it out of necessity.
Even my Polish girlfriend who doesn’t own a car because you take mass transit everywhere in Wroclaw stop using the GoRaeigh bus system because of non-rider harassment and the quality of the bus stop and also the bus being late by 30 minutes. On her first solo trip to North Hills. She’s getting a car when she moves here.
If we want mass transit to work, it should work for everyone. If we want shelters, we should build shelters. If we want mass transit it should work as mass transit.
