I am not wanting to move to Cary- I like Raleigh. We are discussing issues with the Go Raleigh Bus System. I was simply making a point that needs to be addressed or at least talked about. Safety or perceived safety at many of the bus stops near downtown.
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You cant see why this is a potential issue?
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I’ll keep saying this it has to be sexy we have to make people want to take mass transit.
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I’m surprised at how often discourse here and on the subreddit becomes dismissive when folks raise concerns about the city. We want people to live here and enjoy it. Dismissing concerns doesn’t change minds or win people over.
I understand that sometimes people can see frustrations around drug usage, littering, petty crime, interacting with the mentally ill, et cetera as naive. After all, we want Raleigh to grow don’t we? We want Raleigh to be a fun big city right? Well fun big cities are messy. They come with downsides. So don’t be naive.
But, depending on where you’ve travelled outside of the US, many have seen examples of cities – cities much larger than Raleigh – without these downsides. Folks know a Raleigh without these problems is possible.
Comparing NC and Raleigh to Denmark and Copenhagen isn’t always that useful of course. Their country, laws, and culture are different than ours. It might take decades to change our setup enough to garner the benefits we yearn for. However, saying “that’s just not possible” is clearly not true.
And, there may be a few folks with unreasonable expectations now and again. But I’d argue the right move isn’t to respond with “you’re being unreasonable” or “you’re clearly not built for city life”. Instead, communicating around what they expect and the facts around the situation will probably go much further in [1] seeing if there maybe is a reasonable solution or [2] if there’s not a reasonable solution, helping the person understand that.
Finally, a lot of the dismissal I see both here and when talking with others face-to-face tends to come from people that either don’t actually use the system/area/resource that is creating the concerns or they aren’t actually thinking about the intended purpose – the goals – of the system/area/resource.
E.g. a lot of the complaints around the bus are dismissed with “don’t be a wimp”. Folks that say this typically don’t ride the bus. But if you actually rode the bus, you’d be aware of the fights that break out, the drug paraphernalia left behind, the accosting that occurs at bus stops.
Why do we have the bus? Stated goals are:
- Reduce transportation’s environmental impact
- Provide a safe, effective way for people to get around town, especially those without cars
Well, when the bus experience is as bad as Raleigh’s is right now, people who don’t have to take the bus stop taking the bus. That defeats goal #1. That leaves the people who have no other choice, frequently folks who are lower-income and already facing significant hurdles, to continue taking the bus. Thus, we’re making things even more inconvenient and unsafe for the people who are already struggling. That defeats goal #2.
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Ot basic human amenities, yes I know ridership is low on one stops but every stop needs a shelter and a seat regardless of how many boardings. We have to invest then wait for the return. A pregnant woman or an elderly woman, and people in general don’t wanna stand eating for the bus. When it rains people don’t need to be rained on or snowed on they should’ve have to sit on the ground. All trash cans at the buses should be cleaned out weekly. Raleigh has a billion dollar budget i’m sure we can afford part of the budget going into maintaining the stops of all routes. I found literally run for office on this.
“the way” im all for for greater bus frequency, from my time in reno, nv I can see how big a difference it makes in convenience for transit with safe covereved bus stops. but I’m not so sure about what train service with its cost will make any difference in vehicle traffic. once off the interstate car travel is sublime in some areas of NC.
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Stop for a moment and consider that the state’s population is projected to grow to over 14 million by 2050, and the majority of that growth will occur in the urban areas of the Piedmont.
The cost of continuing expanding our already-wide highways like I-40 and I-85 to keep up with this growth will be astronomical - and what’s worse, ROI will diminish - because property values close to the highways are higher, and the complexity of phasing to maintain traffic only gets worse the wider and busier the highway already is. And once those widenings are complete, it only ensures that there will also be more traffic on already-crowded surface streets.
We need to view rail not as a way to take traffic off of highways, but as a way to allow growth to continue in spite of traffic and without having to spend ridiculous amounts of money turning our already large highways into something more massive and hideous than they already are. And furthermore, rail can channel that growth in a direction that is more efficient in terms of the consumption of land, energy, and even money- with lively urban zones capturing a greater share of the growth - a step in the right direction for a region and state that continues to be overwhelmed by sprawl.
So: I do think that rail should play an important part in the region’s and state’s future, and that planning for this future should start now.
I just don’t think that GoTriangle, the agency with a 0-for-3 track record on rail, should be at the helm.
NCDOT Rail knows what they’re doing when it comes to winning grants (about $2b total starting from ARRA in 2009) and if putting them in charge results in a system that is less focused on the Triangle and more focused on statewide mobility, then so be it.
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After some comments here about trash cans at bus stops being full, I can’t unsee it. Can people help me out and, when passing a bus stop, just take a picture of it? I’m looking for more photo evidence of this out there so I can send it in to the city, people who can fix this. For example, this is from yesterday.
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One of the worst spots for that is Capital at Crabtree. Busy stops due to the Greyhound station. But also the Salvation Army will sometimes give out meals in big styrofoam containers, and people will eat them on the sidewalk and use the bus stop cans to dispose them. Overflowing most days. I really wonder if the city could persuade both Salvation Army and Greyhound to add more cans in their own lots to alleviate the pressure.
Another bad one is New Bern at Raleigh Blvd. People getting lots of foods/drinks/snacks at that Shell and then just throw their mess at the bus stop.
I drove by this morning, it’s worse today. These two Bus stops are notorious for this crap.
And it’s not always just the cans by bus stops.
I was driving so couldn’t get a picture, but the trash can at the stop at Western and Pullen (on the Rocky Branch Trail) has been full since Saturday.
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Hey everyone, you can also report these (and other problems) using See Click Fix under Bus Stop Issues. I asked for a trash can to be placed at a bus stop recently and they were surprisingly responsive.
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Can also vouch for See Click Fix, I’ve used it several times and they are generally responsive. There’s an app as well.
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They’ve emptied this one now. Did you report this one on SeeClickFix? I’m curious if they are responsive to these reports or if they emptied it on their normal schedule
But even though the can has been emptied, you can see how much gets left behind
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Here’s one taken on May 21st. This is the bus stop on Salisbury right across from the Performing Arts Center. It was before your request for photos so I didn’t get a good shot showing how full it was
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Thanks. I reported the Lenoir Street stop earlier this week so I have the same question as you. I will find out what the normal pickup schedule is.
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https://www.appypie.com/ai/title-generator/art-title-generator “excessive litter at public bus stop” yields: “Bus stop Blues”, “the litter Lane” “Disgusting Depot” and “Overflowing Oblivion”
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