Note that most of this video is CGA, not real video
Welcome to the 1890s! The past is the future. $50+ million later and in only a year, the 1.5 mile streetcar system opened for “business” Tuesday. My memory was it was supposed to open on the 20th
Hopefully, each streetcar won’t need a police escort after the first day.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article27195349.html
Things in DC are not going as well. Their system started construction in 2011 and has yet to carry its first passenger. The main contribution to the city has been $100k in parking tickets for blocking the tracks.
For those who might be curious, the streetcars are replicas, made from scratch about 10 years ago. They have inverters and AC motors and modern controls. The one authentic streetcar is in storage as it isn’t compatible operationally
Note that there is existing bus service on the same route, as well as a free circulator bus that is one of those diesel buses made to look like a trolley.
What is the cost of a 1.5 mile ride in Charlotte with Uber? Uber rides don’t block the traffic and cause additional pollution as idling cars unable to move do.
I would bet that the operational salaries alone exceed the cost of reimbursing people with an Uber receipt for riding this route.
What a naysayer! You’re forgetting the part that riding the streetcar is “free!”. CATS, the transit authority refused to fund ongoing operations for a streetcar with $0.00 farebox revenue. To release the Federal money, the City had to agree to pay all the operating costs – something like $1.5 million a year. Even before this “demonstration project” carried its first passenger, the City Council approved Phase 2. Mr Foxx is the head of DOT and is the former Mayor of Charlotte. If Phase II isn’t built by Jan 21, 2017, it may never happen.
Wow. Do you think there are a million people that need to go that 1.5 miles each year and would prefer to avoid the half hour walk in the beautiful North Carolina weather?
I’ll bet it would have cost less to put a roof over the sidewalk to protect shoppers from the elements.
What is Phase 2? A horse ride along the same route?
People laugh about Greece having wasted so much borrowed money and having nothing to show for it. I was laughing at the North Carolinians on this one until I read that I am on the hook to pay the Chinese back for this waste.
If you follow the money, you will find lots of bank fees and political donations, some above the table and documented. I suspect there are some cash envelopes passed under the table on getting this deal.
The capacity of each car is about 50 people. If they put the third car into service and run without a spare, the capacity per hour would be 3 cars x 4 one way trips an hour x 50 people = 600 per hour.
Assuming 18 hours a day at full capacity (this is how city planners do their estimates), that is 10,800 riders per day or 3.9 million free rides per year.
My guess is the real number is more like 10 passengers x 2 cars x 3 trips/hr x 10 hrs a day = 200,000 a year.
The city transit agency (CATS) refused to fund operations of the streetcar. To release the Federal loans to fund construction, the City of Charlotte had to agree to fund the operating costs, which are estimated to be $1.5 million a year. If my estimate is accurate, that means each “free” ride will cost the city $7.50
If we PAID each person $1 to ride the streetcar, we could bring the government cost per free ride to around $2.00
To answer your question, the other day, I asked uber to estimate a ride to the dentist office, which is probably about that distance – and it was $6. While Charlotte has been mostly uber friendly, the city is imposing a $1 “safety fee”
The “long term goal” of the “gold” line is to replace the 3 existing reproduction streetcars with modern LRVs. And create a mostly East West corridor to intersect the Lynx LRV line. Expansion of the LRV line is well underway. It will head North and East and end at the University of NC at Charlotte. That way college kids can go Uptown on Friday night and get home safely.
The operating schedule of the streetcar is currently every 20 minutes, and every 15 minutes during rush hour. They are using two of the replicas to provide that service. They have high quality radios (loud enough to hear for a block) to make sure the two streetcars don’t hit each other.
Top speed of the replicas is 19 mph. Motorists have already been warned it takes a long distance for them to stop. The trip takes 10-12 minutes depending on traffic. On a 20 minute schedule, if you don’t know the schedule, your average “dwell time” standing at the platform is an average of 10 minutes.
Assuming best case – the streetcar is going 1.5 miles in 10 minutes and you arrive at the platform just as the streetcar is arriving, the average speed is 9 mph. Worst case – you just miss the streetcar and it takes 12 minutes, your average speed is around 3 mph.
The main likely riders (other than tourists to the city subsidized NASCAR Hall of Fame) are likely students at the campus of Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC), roughly in the middle of the route. CPCC students enjoy playing the game of “wait until a car comes down our street and time our use of the crosswalks to force cars to stop”. Think of them as human speed bumps. The street has very little traffic.
The long term plan
http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/charlottefuture/Pages/GoldLine.aspx
Phase two will primarily connect “Historically Black” Johnson C Smith University to the existing streetcar line. Originally, the University opposed the streetcar extension. On the other end, it only adds a few blocks.
The long term extension would by out to the Eastland CTC. The Eastland mall became a dangerous wasteland that eventually wound up reverting to the city for non-payment of taxes. The white elephant was scheduled to be torn down and replaced with [unknown]. More than likely it will become another “free government handout” complex where immigrants can sign up for SNAP, Section 8, WIC, Medicaid, Green Card, and Voter Registration all in one visit without even going outside.
They still have Voter Registration in North Carolina? That is nothing but an obstacle to keep people from voting.
There would be more votes if people could just stagger in, mumble something and then vote. 😉
Any time for a month prior to the election, and send uber to take them to the polling place
They need ‘Rickshaws’ too.
Oh well, some rural road won’t be paved again for another twenty years.
If anyone was planning to visit Atlanta to ride their new streetcar this weekend, it’s broken
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/atlanta-streetcar-down-throughout-weekend-for-elec/nnBNk/