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Where would you put a third Rapid Ride route?
I have been hearing several rumors that ABQ RIDE is looking into buying 18 more New Flyer DE60LF Rapid Ride buses. I think this is a good thing, however, where would ABQ RIDE put these new buses? These would be enough for another Rapid Ride Route, if not two new Rapid Ride routes. Some could also be used to extend the Blue Line to Cottonwood.
I remember the several options that ABQ RIDE was considering when deciding on where to put a second Rapid Ride route. The Coors/Montano Plaza to UNM route was selected.
Here are some other options that were considered:
1. A second route on Central, but one that runs up to Tramway instead of Uptown. I personally like this option. Many drivers have also suggested this route.
2. A Montgomery/Carlisle Rapid Ride from Tramway to UNM.
3. A Cottonwood Mall to ATC route via Coors, Montano, and 4th Street. Now unlikely due to the Blue Line.
4. A San Mateo Rapid Ride. I believe that the 140/141 route is the third busiest route in the system, after the 66 Central route and the 766 Rapid Ride Red Line. This could perhaps work.
Also, if ABQ RIDE does start a third Rapid Ride route, what color should it be? I personally like the idea of the color coding system. Perhaps the third route should be the White Line, as it completes the colors of the American Flag. Yellow and Green are also good, as they complete the traditional primary colors and the modern primary colors, respectively,
I remember the several options that ABQ RIDE was considering when deciding on where to put a second Rapid Ride route. The Coors/Montano Plaza to UNM route was selected.
Here are some other options that were considered:
1. A second route on Central, but one that runs up to Tramway instead of Uptown. I personally like this option. Many drivers have also suggested this route.
2. A Montgomery/Carlisle Rapid Ride from Tramway to UNM.
3. A Cottonwood Mall to ATC route via Coors, Montano, and 4th Street. Now unlikely due to the Blue Line.
4. A San Mateo Rapid Ride. I believe that the 140/141 route is the third busiest route in the system, after the 66 Central route and the 766 Rapid Ride Red Line. This could perhaps work.
Also, if ABQ RIDE does start a third Rapid Ride route, what color should it be? I personally like the idea of the color coding system. Perhaps the third route should be the White Line, as it completes the colors of the American Flag. Yellow and Green are also good, as they complete the traditional primary colors and the modern primary colors, respectively,
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Albuquerque Commentator on -
You might remind him he gave me his email and there was the additional discussion about the lack of connecting buses at the ATC with both the Rail Runner and the NM DOT Purple buses north bound to Santa Fe. The NMDOT table was right next to him and there ensued a back and forth about ABQRIDE not supporting the connections and that NMDOT had no control over that ABQRIDE was doing. There was also an additional discussion about revival of and making the RapidRide AfterDark service permanent and 7 days per week. Del claimed he was unaware of John's petition initiative that was not more that 75 feet away.
I find this typical of ABQRIDE, plausible deniability. They really don't like people bringing up the continuing problems with the service ... everything is supposed to be goodness and light. If you would like I can scan the City Of Albuquerque form he wrote his email address on in his own hand and send to anyone who would like it.
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Permalink Reply by Master W/ ABQ RIDE on -
They should Have A 140 Rapid Ride And A 140 Regular Bus Also a 141 Regular bus That Runs Till 10pm
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Permalink Reply by John on -
Now that we know ABQ RIDE is ordering 10 new Rapid Ride buses, I feel like revisiting this topic...
My plan: redirect the Red Line from Uptown to go all the way down Central to Tramway, with stops at Central/Eubank, Central/Juan Tabo, and Central/Tramway.
Then, build the new Rapid Ride route. Starting at the southern end, it will run from the Veterans Medical Center, head east to Louisiana, then head north on Louisiana, intersecting with the Red Line at Central, serving the fairgrounds, and continuing north to Uptown, picking up where we've left the Red Line off.
From the Uptown Transit Center, the new route will head west on Uptown Boulevard and north on San Pedro to Menual, where it will turn west to San Mateo, then turn north and serve San Mateo Boulevard until it becomes Jefferson (as an alternative, you could turn west on Montgomery, then north on Jefferson) and start serving the Jefferson corridor to about Paseo del Norte. Then it will turn west onto El Pueblo and stop at the Rail Runner station. This will not only serve as a connection with the Rail Runner, but perhaps MRCOG will allow ABQ RIDE shared access to the parking lot there, creating another park and ride lot for ABQ RIDE.
From the Journal Center Rail Runner station, the route will continue west, then turn north onto 4th Street. Why? So as to connect with the Route 10 which gets some decent ridership and to offer another connection for folks in the North Valley. The route will continue north on 4th Street to Alameda, then turn east and stop at the Balloon Museum. Now, my idea for using the Balloon Museum is that, naturally it will offer a connection to the Balloon Fiesta when it happens, but when it's not the Balloon Fiesta, seeing that the Balloon Museum is a city facility perhaps an agreement can be met with ABQ RIDE to use the Balloon Museum parking lot as a park and ride lot? Besides, the Balloon Museum will probably enjoy the bus service.
Possible stops, from north to south:
-Veterans Medical Center
-Gibson/Louisiana
-Louisiana/Central
-Louisiana/Lomas
-Uptown stops (ABQ Uptown and the Marriott)
-Uptown Transit Center
-Menaul/San Mateo
-San Mateo/Candelaria
-San Mateo/Comanche (Erna Fergusson Public Library)
-San Mateo/Montgomery
-San Mateo/Osuna (alternatively: Montgomery/Jefferson and Jefferson/25 Way)
-Osuna/Jefferson
-Journal Center
-Journal Center Rail Runner station
-4th/Alameda
-Balloon Museum
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Permalink Reply by Jude on -
I am very happy about the possibility of expanded service, but I certainly hope that they do not change the current routes, but rather add new routes or extend the current ones. Over the past few months the number of riders on the 766 to Uptown has significantly increased. Adding a transfer for these regular commuters is not a good idea because it adds an unnecessary level of complexity to an already long bus ride.
The original Rapid Ride line, the 766, was designed to connect places that the city viewed as the key centers as well as places that are envisioned to become key centers. This is explained in the City of Albuquerque's Rapid Transit Project Analysis.
I believe that any route, especially a route that is so popular, should not be changed in a way that adds time or a transfer to an existing route. Part of the reason that many people desire light rail or a street car is because they can trust that the transit authority has invested in that route. They can trust that their chosen mode of transportation will still be available the next day. Moving a route creates distrust and frustration for existing riders. Changing a bus route can leave people who have trusted that route behind.
Therefore, I think it is important that a new route be implemented or current routes extended. For example, the 766 could be extended north along Louisiana without changing the current schedule by adding more busses to that route. How about increased frequency for overcrowded established routes during peak hours?
I understand that it is important to reduce the amount of overlap in the routes, but it is also very important to keep the number of transfers to a minimum. It is important to keep alternative transportation options as simple as possible in order to keep people on board with public transit as a choice.
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Permalink Reply by John on
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Fair enough. You can always just keep the Red Line as it is and put in a new line like I proposed anyway. :) A scenario like this just struck me as a way to get two birds with one stone: the demand to expand service down Central to Tramway, and to dramatically expand Rapid Ride service.
Perhaps one day the Red Line can be split up, with half the buses going to Uptown and the other half going down Central to Tramway (the city proposed this when they did those public meetings about Rapid Ride expansion, which resulted in the Blue Line). Probably not this time around, as I don't think we're getting enough buses to satisfyingly do this and have a new Rapid Ride route.
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Permalink Reply by Albuquerque Commentator on
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I reading your comment it struck me that you would probably NOT support a street car line up central that would eliminate that portion on the Red or Blue RapidRide, since it was proposed that people would have to transfer off the street car at the ATC and NobHill to continue their trips beyond those points for the local 66 and the 766 that was already in service at the time of the streetcar proposal. The streetcar was thought to be a replacement for that portion of the service that would free up rolling bus stock. I'm I being accurate or would you support a street car?
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Permalink Reply by John on
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I don't think it was ever determined whether the streetcar would have replaced Rapid Ride service or not. When the city did those streetcar meetings way back, they put down two options: replace the 66 line where the streetcar ran, or redirect Rapid Ride service. They never announced a decision.
Personally, between the two I would take replacing the 66 line, seeing as the streetcar is a local service. But that's just my opinion, it has no basis on the actual plan.
What I really want to see is a full-on light rail all the way down Central, which would essentially replace the Rapid Ride service there today, which could be redirected to somewhere else. But that's a long way off, so for now we'll focus on expanding the Rapid Ride.
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Permalink Reply by Albuquerque Commentator on
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I attended all of the streetcar public meetings and whenever there was a discussion either on the record or off the record the indication would be that the street car would replace both and that the RapidRide would be rerouted to pickups at the ends along with the 66. This was one of my strongest objections to the plan to both Greg and HDR as it was being put forth to the public as a solution to bus congestion on the Central route from the ATC to NobHill.
Bottom line nothing was determined because the funding wasn't there.
If you are proposing a light rail system to would go all the way to Tramway and loop around North to include Paseo and other potential growth areas West/North such as RIoRancho, I might support such a proposal. Light Rail in Portland, Oregon is effective because it's primary service is to the outer areas of the City and other points Regionally.
There needs to be a common transfer point other than the ATC for the RIo Rancho and Northern Sectors of Albuquerque that includes the Rail Runner.
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Permalink Reply by FireMedicRN on -
Albuquerque Commentator: "If you are proposing a light rail system to would go all the way to Tramway and loop around North to include Paseo and other potential growth areas West/North such as RIoRancho, I might support such a proposal. Light Rail in Portland, Oregon is effective because it's primary service is to the outer areas of the City and other points Regionally."
The reason that Portland's Light Rail is effective is not because they serve the "Rio Ranchos" of Oregon, but because transit and growth are managed regionally and cooperatively. Also geography and topography play a part. The Urban Growth Boundary make this kind of planning practical.
Building transit for "other potential growth areas", or to try to keep up with the developers is wasteful and not fair to established neighborhoods. Cities/counties/states have the ability to actually direct (re)development. Failing neighborhoods can be revitalized with T.O.D. (Transit Oriented Development) - bringing jobs and goods and services where the people are already living and linking them to vital parts of the city. Portland does this well.
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Permalink Reply by Albuquerque Commentator on
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That was my point that it is a regional transit system and the focus of the planning. There needs to be consideration when expending a very large amount of money for permanent infrastructure how it will be used and inter connect in 20 years plus.
I have my own personal experience with the Portland Area transit system.
That is the problem all along that there is a lack of planning cooperation with NMDOT MRCOG and ABQRIDE. I might be better is there was a single regional transit authority now that there is a heavy rail commuter plan in the form of the RailRunner.
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Permalink Reply by John on
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"...whenever there was a discussion either on the record or off the record the indication would be that the street car would replace both and that the RapidRide would be rerouted to pickups at the ends along with the 66."
I'm pretty dang sure that wasn't the case. And it looks like I've got the proof - I took a couple of pictures from those meetings:
THIS is the poster with the Rapid Ride remaining along Central, but the 66 line ending at both points.
THIS is the poster with the 66 line remaining along Central, but the Rapid Ride would be redirected to Lomas for the portion along the streetcar route.
I have to agree with FireMedicRN, it's not fair to established neighborhoods if we invest in this expensive (but wonderful) mode of transit that's just for potential growth areas which haven't been fully established yet. I mean the density along Tramway and Paseo must be a fraction of what's along Central. If you're going to invest in a very high level of service, you might as well put it where the riders are.
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