Third time they’ve changed the process. First the bus went directly to the airport from Raleigh, then the second version the bus when to the transit center and you just waited in the same bus for it to go out back to Raleigh via the airport (takes 20 to 30 minutes longer). Now they made this change and did not announce it at the bus station nor did the bus drivers mentioned it. You would think they would make sure they would mention it on the bus or some sign at the stations.
I’m the big public transit advocate and I say I cannot recommend GoTriangle as a service. They do everything to make using the bus system as frustrating as possible. I’ve taken bus transit in over 200 cities and I would put GoTriangle on the near bottom.
Absolutely the shift away from having the 100 run by the airport is more of a hassle for people commuting to the airport from Raleigh. However, that’s one subsection of the entire service. And as someone who mainly used the 100 to get to the airport, it is absolutely worse for me.
With that being said, it also is worse for every other person commuting to the RTC riding the 100 to have to take the detour to the airport. And there is no downside for anyone coming from any of the other routes via the RTC with having to take the 100 or the RDU Shuttle.
Yes it sounds like it has negatively affected both you and I, but you and I aren’t the only people that matter. From my experience, most people on the 100 aren’t getting on/off at the airport, and therefore the fact that the 100 no longer serves the airport is a net gain for them/the majority of route 100 riders.
Obviously the compromise was the quicker 105 if you didn’t need to go the airport. And the fact that many many less people were going to the airport during the pandemic, I think it was the right thing for GoTriangle to do to take away the airport stop on the 100 (basically converting it to the old 105) and provide a shuttle from the airport.
The real question is at what point are there enough people commuting on the 100 to the airport to warrant the detour, or enough people overall taking the 100 to re-split the route into the 100 & 105? My guess is that we’re still a ways off from that.
But yes, they should provide good signage at the RTC to signify which bus is for the airport. And if they didn’t do that, then I understand your frustration. I have taken the RDU shuttle recently, and just asked someone and they told me where it was going to be. Seems simple enough. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a full size bus or a smaller bus.
After the presentation, which is mostly a recap if you can remember it from 2018, Melton was ready to move forward. Baldwin was also an advocate (though she was around when it first was pitched)
Baldwin makes a motion to install them, seconded by Melton. Passed unanimously!
Looks like the NC DOT had an in-person meeting with the public on the status of Complete 540 project recently. I thought I had read somewhere previously they were aiming for 2023 but they said at this meeting the Holly Springs to I-40 portion should be open Spring 2024.
Here’s something fun. Looks like they’ve released an early rendition of the new Wake Bus Plan using Remix. This plan recommends what the bus map in Wake County should look like by 2030. New routes appear to be bold, frequent service is pink. Some noteworthy changes…
GoTriangle 100 and 700 would be replaced by a single route that runs all day between Raleigh and Durham via RTC.
GoTriangle 200 is a new route that runs all day from North Hills to downtown Durham via US-70.
Permanent implementation of the RDU Shuttle.
A few realignments. Existing routes that are being changed are in gray, so you can easily compare what’s changing.
A lot of new microtransit zones. This includes parts of West Raleigh, parts of West and South Cary, East Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Knightdale, the “New Hope” area (southeast of the Beltline), and what appears to be some expansion of GoWake SmartRide NE. Guess they’re taking inspiration from LA’s ever-growing Metro Micro.
There are a few other new connector routes in Raleigh and Cary. Some we’ve seen in previous plans, some we haven’t.
Based on the press release, it appears that they’re wanting some feedback before they set priorities.
when tta operated my parents who couldnt drive due to sight issues used to go to chapel hill for cheap dental work at the dental school. in early 2000’s there was a tta bus at spring forest and falls of Neuse that would i think get them to very near chapel hill dental school. i used their service too but i could drive there. there may have been a transfer point on the tta near page road…i cant exactly recall. from what they said not many rode the tta that they used. a north hills bus to to durham (unless to duke hospital) seems even less needed or applicable to the few who need transit for health. that one seems odd to me. north hills residents likely have big money and a doctor in town.
the majority of bus riders only rode for the entirety of their routes, and;
healthcare is the only reason why buses are useful.
But that’s not how people who actually use buses regularly use them.
Notice that the proposed 200 route also makes a direct, rapid connection between North Hills/Midtown and Crabtree, Crabtree to Brier Creek, and Brier Creek to downtown Durham. Those individual connections are still helpful for tons of people to commute and shop (and offer more direct connections than GoRaleigh’s 24 or 70X buses), too. That’s helpful for residents and businesses that want to enable more urban, car-free living -AKA, what people moving out of the Northeast and Silicon Valley are used to- which tells you there’s a more-than-viable market there.
To be fair, though, I feel like the Glenwood corridor’s also pretty auto-reliant and not great for transit, with lots of lanes but barely any sidewalks or crosswalks. NCDOT and Raleigh’s going to have to try pretty hard to push for more TODs and mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly developments along there if this new route’s going to thrive in the long run.
RIP GoTriangle 100 Airport. Hopefully in the future there will be a DTR direct to Airport route again maybe from a private company. GoTriangle I just can’t support anymore. GoRaleigh at least is reasonable. Maybe a GoRaleigh Airport Connect Service…
At some point, the 100 through RDU was the midday/weekend service from Raleigh to RTC
The number of times back in the day that I rode that damn 100 bus through RDU, and not a single person got on or off, stealing 15 minutes from like 20 peoples’ days, to provide that elusive, exclusive direct bus from the airport to downtown that everybody demands but almost nobody uses… sheesh
If it’s this important for tourism and business and prestige or whatever, then let the chamber of commerce or some business booster group step up and fund it.
I think the 200 bus may be a decent route. At first I was going to hate it, but after looking into it, it may be a route that I may use especially if it would be an express type route. I could see myself using it to get to Durham Bulls games or even get to Duke to walk around the gardens. I would really be curious as to how much time it would save versus using 70x and the GoDurham 2 bus. I’ve never taken 70x and then GoDurham 2, but I’m guessing the expected time would be 50 minutes to an hour. According to Google, 70x/GoDurham2 from Crabtree takes 1 hour and 8 minutes. 20 minutes wouldn’t be a bad time savings. I can’t see myself using it to get to Brier Creek but I guess it may be a good point at which some riders may want to park in Brier Creek and use it to get to Durham.
I was surprised slightly that the NRX bus is getting removed. 540 was always full of traffic daily. The problem is that of course you have the “last mile” from RTC. This will be the same problem with light rail for RTP (although I would expect the stops at Durham and Raleigh from Garner may be ok). There really needs to be some HOV lanes for commuters.
Well making the service even more useless is not going to help. Feedback loop. Route 100 Airport was mediocre but fast to downtown Raleigh at its peak. It had fans like me and few others. Slowly more people started using it as well and as Raleigh grows and gets more events and tourism the service may have grown even more popular. But its no more so we may never know. Route 100 being a Durham-Raleigh connection as well is a failure of the GoTriangle network. But since its used more like that then what can be done.
You’re from Durham so I can see why a fast direct DTR airport service falls on deaf ears.
“If it’s this important for tourism and business and prestige or whatever, then let the chamber of commerce or some business booster group step up and fund it.”
Yeah thats literally what I said. Hopefully a 3rd party service.
And if that works, then great, that’ll be nice to have without getting in the way of the majority of people who actually use the bus every day!
You’d just have to find a good business model that’s replicable in and new to the English-speaking world. Los Angeles’ FlyAway buses (managed by their regional airport authority but operated by CoachUSA) and easyBus in the UK and western Europe were the only examples I could find with staying power. The more common approach seems to be more like having shorter-distance Greyhound-like services (see these examples in Britain or in Japan), but I find it hard to imagine that services like these would be commercially viable in the Triangle:
I mean, these buses can be pretty comfy, but is it really worth it when you could just suck it up and take an extra 5 minutes to transfer buses/trains/whatever at RTP?
majority of people who actually use the bus every day!
Ah of course, GoTriangle intercity bus system being absolutely worthless for anyone that isn’t forced to use the network…doesn’t mean that the old GoTriangle 100 airport was useless–it means that the network is…and now it added another downgrade.
Literally one of the only means to get from Durham County to Wake County on public transit is to be funneled through the Triangle Transit Center. Of course the numbers will be higher than airport usage when there’s no other alternative.
Hey Francisco not sure how familiar you are with the GoTriangle system but there is a direct express route that goes from dtr to dtd dozens of times a day and it’s pretty quick too. it doesn’t stop for “time stops” it just runs straight through so most of the time it runs in as little as 35 minutes and it completely bypasses the triangle transit center.
That being said I personally take the 100 and then the 800 routes for work 5 days a week and from my own personal experience almost no one gets on or off the airport stops. Granted with the current arrangment the 100 skips the airport and goes straight to the triangle transit cener to then link with the RDU connection durring peak hours but when I get off work or when I work on the weekends I have to sit through the additional 7ish minutes to go through the airport and trust me when I say almost no one gets on or off… I would love to see a better, faster, and more direct route to the airport from dtr but the ridership isn’t there righ now
With BRT seemingly on the horizon and the proposed plans to involve using articulate buses, I must wonder if the current garages for GoRaleigh and GoTriangle can support having such a fleet or if they would be able to do so without renovations. I haven’t seen anything in the Wake Transit Plans about necessary garage upgrades and if we’re a couple years out from New Bern Ave starting it’d make sense to do so now rather than wait any longer.
As it is, they may want to start considering whom to buy from at this point. Gillig, the company of choice for both for the last 15ish years, has zero interest in making an articulated model and the factory they opened in 2017 was made to do nothing beyond 40’ long. This could be problematic in the short term if decisions aren’t made now.
Do you think it will ever improve if the service isn’t acceptable–and made even worse than 2019?. It’s a self-fulfilling porphecy. Bus service in the Triangle in unreliable therefore few people use it, low risership count.
Raleigh holds hundreds of events in downtown Raleigh a year why do 99.9% of visitors from the airport use Uber/car rental instead of the bus?
Before 2020 I would have had poor signage and lack of knowledge of a quick bus service to downtown. Now I mean if you’re really penny pinching you can take 1 to 2.3 hours to get from the airport to downtown depending if you just missed the bus.
At this point the airport ridership numbers will dip to basically airport employees only. Might as well cut the service at that point and ask RDU to provide an employee bus. Save GoTriangle money, they just threw away $160 million in the failed DOLRT project.
Unless it takes 20-30 minutes to/from DTR and RDU with service consistently every 15-30 minutes, it won’t work. Why would I ever buffer for 1.5-2 hrs of public commuting each way when I can drive/Uber in 15 minutes.
It was about 37 minute transit from the airport to GoRaleigh station before if you caught the bus on time. Now it’s about 1 hour 30+. That’s if the bus drivers feel like they want to drive on time.
