The buses are running today on slippery Triangle streets, but local transit operators say riders should expect lots of delays and detours (details below).
Check gotriangle.org online for updates on local transit service, and for links to real-time bus locator maps for CAT (www.RaleighRides.org), Chapel Hill Transit and NCSU's Wolfline. Or call 919-485-7433.
Raleigh's CAT says it is operating all routes, but its drivers are unable to reach ... [MORE]
Raleigh struck out on its bid for money to upgrade New Bern Avenue with sidewalks and super bus service, but Charlotte hit it big today with a $25 million federal grant to start building a downtown streetcar line.
The Federal Transit Administration announced $293 million in grants for urban circulators and downtown livability programs. Charlotte was among six cities that won the maximum $25 million for downtown circulators: ... [MORE]
Failed fountains will be reborn as planters when Raleigh's Capital Area Transit gives its Moore Square Transit Station a makeover.
The work, including an architectural and engineering assessment, will start this fall.
Better signs, shelters and lighting are promised. A new ticketing area. And, since the buses have been backing up onto Wilmington Street, they'll look for a way to add a third bus lane.
Capital Area Transit says the free R-Line bus, a downtown Raleigh circulator that began making the rounds in February, is averaging 535 riders each weekday and 719 riders on Saturday.
The quiet Sunday count of 219 brings down the daily average to 519.
Two electric-hybrid buses make the downtown loop with stops every 10 to 12 minutes. The bus starts at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday, running until 11 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 2:15 a.m. Thursday night through Saturday night. Sunday hours: 1-8 p.m.
It serves downtown workers, residents, visitors, convention-goers, and patrons of restaurants and other downtown businesses. The evening route is expanded to include the City Market and Warehouse District areas.
Route maps and more info are available online.
View Zebulon/Wendell-Raleigh Express (ZWX) in a larger map x
The long-awaited rush-hour express bus between Raleigh and the eastern Wake towns of Wendell and Zebulon will start rolling Monday, Oct. 26.
Using Capital Area Transit buses, the Zebulon/Wendell-Raleigh Express primarily will serve commuters who work in downtown Raleigh and East Raleigh, running weekdays 6-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m.
Morning buses leave a Zebulon park-and-ride lot at 5:55, 6:55 and 7:55 a.m., to arrive an hour later at Moore Square in downtown Raleigh.
Along the way they stop at a Wendell park-and-ride lot, in East Raleigh near WakeMed and Wake County Human Services, and at four state government complex stops. There are three afternoon buses making the reverse trip, leaving Moore Square at 4:10, 5:10 and 6:10 p.m.
The eastern Wake park-and-ride locations are ... [MORE]
Ray LaHood, the US transportation secretary, announced approval today of more federal stimulus funds for transit improvements in the Triangle:
$4 million for Raleigh to help start building a bus operations and maintenance center for Capital Area Transit, and
$900,000 for Triangle Transit to buy a van and three 40-foot buses.
Raleigh and Triangle Transit were among the recipients of additional stimulus grants announced in July.
Try Transit Week starts Monday, and local transit operators will do everything they can to lure passengers onto their buses.
Triangle Transit will have prize drawings all week in a Go Triangle Scavenger Hunt with prize clues distributed to GoTriangle followers on Twitter and Triangle Transit Facebook fans. Prizes include gift cards, mp3 players and Carolina Panthers tickets.
Durham Area Transit Authority, Triangle Transit, Capital Area Transit and Cary’s C-Tran are pitching in to pitch these offers:
Tuesday: Rack & Ride Day. Bike riders ride the bus, with their bikes on the rack, for free.
Wednesday: Stuff the Buses for the Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina. Bring canned food to donate when you ride the bus.
Thursday: Ride for free, all buses, Triangle-wide.
Friday: Operations Appreciation Day. Say thanks to your bus driver and fill out comment cards.
Frequent, fare-free circulator buses will start rolling around downtown by mid-February in Raleigh and, probably, by late March in Durham.
These new buses will make it easier to move around the center city without worrying so much where your car is parked -- whether you work downtown or live downtown, or you're coming downtown to dine, shop or play.
Rob and Linda Stahl of Raleigh were glad to read about it. One of them said by e-mail: "I can see our family using the circulator when we go downtown to our favorite museum – the Natural Science Museum."
But the Stahls wanted to see route maps, which appeared in the print edition today but not online. ... [MORE]
When gas cost more than $3.50 during the six warm months of 2008, a lot of us parked our cars and tried the bus.
It’s interesting to see how many Triangle residents kept riding the bus this winter, even after gas prices returned to 2004 levels. The Road Worrier mentioned that fact this week, without all of the latest numbers to back it up.
The local average price for regular gas fell from $3.89 to $2.66 in October, then to $1.80 by the end of November, and $1.58 on the last day of December, according to fuelgaugereport.com.
Here are rider counts reported by three local transit lines for the last three months of 2008, compared to the same months in 2007:
Durham’s DATA
October 513,533 riders (up 17% from 2007)
November 423,139 (up 4%)
December 418,241 (up 11%)Raleigh’s CAT
October 468,331 (up 32% from 2007)
November 383,159 (up 5%)
December 381,563 (up 26%)Triangle Transit
October 123,431 (up 41% from 2007)
November 85,264 (up 13%)
December 59,323 (up 0.5%)
Wake Technical Community College will finally be on the bus line when Capital Area Transit launches express service from downtown Raleigh to the main campus in southern Wake County, starting Jan. 5.
“Our students will now have the opportunity to use CAT to connect to any Wake Tech campus,” said Dr. Larry Appleton, Wake Tech senior vice president.
The bus will run hourly from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on days when Wake Tech is in session, between the Moore Square transit center and Wake Tech at 9101 Fayetteville Road. The route will include a stop at a park-and-ride lot in Garner. [operating hours corrected on 11/19/8]
The college will pay the city of Raleigh $118,560 to operate the bus for the first six months, in a contract to be renewed in July.
The main campus serves more than 10,000 students, faculty and staff — and they’ll ride the new bus for free. Four smaller Wake Tech campuses already had CAT service.
Route and timetable details, including the location of the Garner stop, will be announced in coming weeks.
