Rob_E

Raleigh, NC, USA

It's good, but not great. Same hub and spoke design that a lot of other places have. There are some attempts to address that with buses that skirt downtown, but not enough. I live on the northwest side and work on the southwest side, and if I wanted to take the bus all the way, I'd bus all the way downtown and then head back out from there. It's about 7 miles to go directly between home and work, but probably more than an hour to go all the way by bus.

But, by putting my bike in the mix, it becomes easier. The bus from my house goes within 3 miles of work, so I hop off and bike that last bit. That way it takes just over half an hour, which is a little faster than if I biked the whole way.

The other thing is that bus service doesn't go very late. If I go downtown, my last chance to bus home is at 10. After that, I'm biking.

A bonus is that we actually have a number of transit options in the area. In addition to the city buses, the state college runs buses connecting its various properties, which covers a good chunk of the west side. And there's another bus service to connect our city with the adjacent cities. Its operating hours are more restrictive, even, than the city buses, but they do cover a lot of ground. And we have an Amtrak train station in town with stops at the next two city centers in the area. Also limited operating hours: three trains per day each way between about 7am and 7pm.

There is talk of expanding services, though, and it seems a plan for light rail between us and our neighboring cities is in the works. I hope it happens, and I especially hope it runs into the night. I would say the one downside to having ditched my car is that there are sometimes events in the nearby towns that I miss because it's just a little further than I want to bike late at night.

I certainly can't say it's insufficient because I've been without my car for almost 5 years now, and I get around fine, but it could definitely be better.

Dahon.Steve

I'm fine with hub and spoke design of current transit systems. It's efficient for most except for those living in the burbs. You can sure waste a lot of time by going to the hub trying to get door to door service. A much better solution is getting on the bus closest to your home and walking, biking, kick scooter, roller blade the remaining mile(s) to your destination.

In one example, it would take me 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to a mall using two bus lines under the hub and spoke system. However, if I skipped the second bus and walked when the bus reaches the closest point to the mall, it would take under 50 minutes. If I used a bike, it would be under 40 minutes or less!

Rob_E

I don't think it's bad, overall. It's a way to make the most of your fleet. But if you don't have the option of biking to fill in the gaps, or if walking is impractical, then you also run into the fact that the buses run at most in half hour cycles and more often in one hour cycles. So any attempt to transfer from one bus to another has potential to include a layover of up to an hour downtown. One aspect of the proposed transit changes involves an increase in frequency of service. I think that will essential to making transit a viable option for more people.

I-Like-To-Bike

An issue to consider, at least if riding NJ Transit.
NJ Transit is recording the conversations of thousands of its riders | NJ.com

Dahon.Steve

Good post! LOL!

I didn't know NJ Transit lightrail was recording my conversations! I knew they were using video because the cameras were on platforms. In fact, the cameras are also on buses but most people are not aware.

Regardless, the Federal Homeland security wants to monitor because it's not if but when we are attached. A number of terror attacks have been prevented in the past and I'm fine with it all. We live in a different a world today. Quite frankly, I'm surprised there's been more crime on the lightrail last year and I hope these cameras can put an end or decrease it!

As someone who's been carfree for over 25 years, I'm willing to have my picture and conversations recorded. Do you know why? Because most of the time, I'm not on the phone or talking to anyone. You can't be recorded if you're not talking. When I do say something, it's irrelevant and insignificant. I suspect my image has been recorded tens of thousands of times over the decades with no ill effect. Someone who is not about to commit a crime has nothing to fear about electronic recorders. It's the criminal element that need to fear cameras.

As a motorist, do you think your picture is not been recorded? Let me be the first to inform you, they have cameras in EVERY shopping center and mall both inside and out! The motorist is being recorded on toll roads, parking lots, downtown streets, everywhere! Just wave at the camera next time you're shopping!

By the way, the video of that lightrail is my 2 billion dollar electric car! I don't have to pay for insurance, tolls, tickets, maintenance or parking. It brings me back home every day and chauffeured driven. During the weekends, it's free and my monthly card allows me to get on an off as many times as I want. Inexpensive transportation is the beauty of being carfree.

randallr

I ride a couple of miles to a park and ride, then ride the bus from a northern suburb of Denver to the city center on a very fast bus, then from there ride a multi-purpose path and nice residential streets ten miles in to work. Very nice. Bus departures are every five to eight minutes. Denver's RTD system has gone through a lot of improvement in the past decade.

Ekdog

Do you take your bike on board the bus?

cooker

I guess that's fair - cops are recording millions of license plates basically everywhere we drive, so clearly public transit riders were being under-surveilled, and this helps bring parity.

I wonder how they will monitor cyclists...

cooker

This is a false assumption. Governments are getting more and more authoritarian and can use surveillance info to monitor and disrupt perfectly legal protests or activist groups or social movements. You can't assume it is all benign and democratic.

Walter S

Then why stop there? Let's install recording devices in automobiles, homes, workplaces, parks, etc. In a couple more decades we might be able to monitor people's thoughts too and detect criminal tendencies. Those people can be required to undergo "treatment".

Our government is of course composed only of people with our best interests at heart. And this would be a great way to do away with tax evasion, domestic violence, etc.

randallr

RTD buses all have a two-bike rack up front

Dahon.Steve

Roody

Fietsbob has a neurological disorder and it take a huge effort on his part to write clearly. I always cut him slack because of the disability.

Ekdog

I wasn't aware of that, and I'm sure Roody wasn't either. Thanks for pointing it out. @fietsbob: Sorry!

Dahon.Steve

The two-bike rack up front is a huge game changer. It's like boarding the bus with an extra passenger and only paying for one. I'm surprised most transit agencies don't charge for using the bike rack. I would pay more to use it because it's worth it.

wilfried

Much has been made (at least in transit geek circles) of Houston's redesigned bus system. Does anyone ride the buses in Houston, and can comment on how this is working out?

Ridership on the Upswing After Houston's Bus Network Redesign | Streetsblog USA

Edited to add: They claim that they made the system more efficient for most riders by move to a grid system, rather than the old hub and spoke.

Houston Just Rebuilt Its Bus System From Scratch | Streetsblog.net

Ekdog

I wish we had those here in Europe. I suppose the main drawback to them is that they can only handle a couple of bikes at a time.

Dahon.Steve

That is the main drawback. However, I've never encountered a situation where the bike racks were full! There are so few cyclists on the road and even fewer use the racks. In fact, 95% of the time, the bike racks are empty! I hope the city doesn't get rid of them. ;-(

enigmaT120

I've had to skip a bus because the rack was full, and most of our inter-city buses have racks that hold 3 bikes. Now I try to get to the station before any other cyclists. It's not a problem in the morning as I get on at the bus' first stop.

Machka 

Evidently we're supposed to be getting a whole lot of new buses!

State nets 100 new buses | The Examiner

cooker

It says local manufacturers can bid - do they actually build buses in Tasmania?

Machka 

Not sure ... possibly not entirely but partially ...

TAS budget pledges $18m for new buses, manufacturers urged to bid for work | Manufacturers Monthly