Public Transit Speeds

[Chava]

Hi all,

So I wasn't sure where to post this. I just read this article which raised some good points about transit planning in the metro area. http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy ... r-and-mino

One of the things that struck me immediately as a relative outsider was how Botineau looks to get out of North Minneapolis as fast as possible after hitting downtown before proceeding north. Do our transit planners really not see how odd that looks? I know we talk about rail bias a ton here, and that we should be happy for buses as an equal alternative, but if buses are so great, why are we bothering to build rail at all? Why isn't SW just a bus?

The bigger and more important question to transit riders is how fast are all of these modes? Which is fastest? Mode doesn't become as important if the service is speedy and frequent.

Does someone have some good data?

[EOst]

Why isn't SW just a bus?

Not to derail the thread, but it was studied in the AA. Here's what they said:

BRT 1 and BRT 2 are considered to not meet the goals of improving mobility and providing a cost- effective/efficient travel option.
• Lower ridership than LRT - 14,400 to 16,500 vs. 23,500 to 28,100 passengers/day.
• Fewer new riders attracted to system - 1,300 to 2,300 vs. 3,800 to 7,500 new riders/day.
• Passenger capacity significantly lower than LRT - During a peak hour with a 7.5 minute headway a BRT system can serve 640 passengers while a LRT system can serve 2976 passengers. (This is due to LRT’s ability to train vehicles)..
• System cannot accommodate peak hour demand - The estimated peak hour demand for BRT service is 2,000 passengers/hour which cannot be accommodated by a BRT operating on a 7.5 minute headway.
• Estimated to significantly exceed FTA’s $29 CEI threshold for Preliminary Engineering - Estimated CEI of $66 to $74.

In general, that's the answer for why light rail at all: it has higher capacity, and Hiawatha and now the CC have both emphatically demonstrated a strong rail bias here.

[ECtransplant]

I'd also expect people in Eden Prairie to have an even stronger rail bias than people in Minneapolis or St Paul.

[Nick]

I got on an 18 yesterday morning & am still on it