Search found 40 matches

by Parker Road
22 Mar 2022 14:58
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: DART: Bus system
Replies: 105
Views: 115295

Re: DART: Bus system

Hannibal Lecter wrote:I'm not sure I would call this positive...

That graphic is comparing to pre-pandemic ridership, of course there's going to be a decrease.
by Parker Road
22 Mar 2022 11:36
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: DART: Bus system
Replies: 105
Views: 115295

Re: DART: Bus system

Yeah, I think my interpretation comes off a little more negatively than I intended—for the first month of service this is a pretty encouraging result. It sounds like the network is doing what it's supposed to do, build a small but decent network of local routes that serve as a solid base for expansi...
by Parker Road
22 Mar 2022 08:24
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: DART: Bus system
Replies: 105
Views: 115295

Re: DART: Bus system

DART's board meeting presentation for tonight features some very early ridership numbers from the first ~month of the new bus network. https://www.dart.org/about/board/boardagendas/wholeitem16_22mar22.pdf Some takeaways: • Ridership jumped by ~10k per day across the board, meaning an about 15% incre...
by Parker Road
29 Mar 2021 12:17
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Not really surprising - DART ... set the constraints that they weren't buying more buses. And that's the root of the issue with this plan. When DART's cut as much service as it has over the years, there isn't much the agency can do to provide good service for ridership or coverage. At some point th...
by Parker Road
29 Mar 2021 10:20
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

https://dartzoom.dart.org/docs/default-source/draft-network/report-on-draft-new-network-20210305-print-quality.pdf?sfvrsn=3a27e527_4 DART recently released the draft plan for the DART Zoom redesigned bus network. The frequent routes they picked make sense, but it's staggering to see just how few of ...
by Parker Road
24 Jan 2021 14:47
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: TexRail
Replies: 178
Views: 173637

Re: TexRail

Do you know where I could find a more detailed ridership report? I'm interested in seeing the performance by station. I expect FW Central and Grapevine to get the most traffic by a comfortable margin. As for the poor numbers as a whole, the issue is that downtown Fort Worth just isn't that big of a...
by Parker Road
18 Jan 2021 16:47
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Love Field People Mover
Replies: 63
Views: 68128

Re: Dallas Love Field People Mover

DART's one way train fare of $3 is far cheaper than London's $13 fare, although the bus fare are similar $3 vs $4. Even in a metro area with relatively great transit like London, public transit can not compete with driving your own private vehicle elapse time wise. Why do so many expect different r...
by Parker Road
15 Jan 2021 19:04
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: DART: Bus system
Replies: 105
Views: 115295

Re: DART: Bus system

If DART’s bus passengers can not control their body fluids and keep the seats dry, there is no hope for the stigma of public transit ever going away. I can afford to not ever ride on a pig sty. Sometimes people spill water on the “luxurious” velour. Sometimes people spill coffee. It happens far mor...
by Parker Road
14 Jan 2021 19:08
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: DART: Bus system
Replies: 105
Views: 115295

Re: DART: Bus system

DART doesn't need to worry about hiding any "stigma" endemic to public transit. If DART wants to grow its transit ridership it needs to provide more accessible and more frequent service. People don't ride in Dallas because bus service is terribly routed, communicated and scheduled (and we'...
by Parker Road
14 Jan 2021 12:37
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

The Cityplace tunnel isn't any more of a constraint than any other section of track not named the Downtown Transit Mall. The capacity North of the Pearl wye is unaffected no matter what direction the trains go when they pop out the other side of Downtown. Right now there are 12 trains per hour (tph...
by Parker Road
12 Jan 2021 20:42
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: DART: Bus system
Replies: 105
Views: 115295

Re: DART: Bus system

Your original post mentioned upgrading, not luxury. The blue vinyl is a definite upgrade from the blue velour. Don't ride DART if vinyl is beneath you. I'm sorry, but I consider vinyl a downgrade to velour seats. I have never ridden a DART bus , the stigma is real. At least you admit you don't know...
by Parker Road
12 Jan 2021 18:24
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

https://www.dart.org/about/board/boardagendas/planningitem7_12jan21.pdf Looks like they're going to rename Baylor station to Baylor/Deep Ellum after the D2 portal is constructed. Good move since the Baylor station is closer to Deep Ellum than the current Deep Ellum station anyway. Also, IMO the best...
by Parker Road
12 Jan 2021 18:08
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: DART: Bus system
Replies: 105
Views: 115295

Re: DART: Bus system

January 2021 DART board meeting — redesign update: https://www.dart.org/about/board/boardagendas/planningitem8_12jan21.pdf Interesting things to note: - Initial plans calling for 15 minutes or better frequencies along Malcolm X, Gaston, Ross-Greenville (Matilda?), Cedar Springs, Jefferson radiating ...
by Parker Road
30 Dec 2020 17:50
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: TexRail
Replies: 178
Views: 173637

Re: TexRail

February 2019 ridership: 32,998 March 2019: 39,093 April 2019: 33,589 May 2019: 35,878 June 2019: 39,154 July 2019: 41,818 August 2019: 42,637 September 2019: 43,757 October 2019: 41,943 November 2019: 44,741 (1,491 per day; about 21 people per train) December 2019: 51,217 January 2020: 43,795 Febr...
by Parker Road
23 Dec 2020 09:03
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: I-345
Replies: 431
Views: 308558

Re: I-345

That modified footprint was one of the options presented in the City Map studies of I recall correctly (image) Oh man, the empty median in that image is still huge. If they go for the 4-lane elevated option they need to make it one narrow viaduct with a jersey barrier to preserve space. That means ...
by Parker Road
12 Dec 2020 11:33
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: I-345
Replies: 431
Views: 308558

Re: I-345

I'll echo that the main issue is that it's just too damn wide. TxDOT building roads as obnoxiously as possible is nothing new, but I-345 stands out through its blatant disregard for the street grid in the historically minority neighborhoods it cuts through. It forces over 2 blocks of nothingness alo...
by Parker Road
01 Dec 2020 20:07
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

I know that an older roll had LBJ/Skillman on it (there's also a photo out there with Skillman/Miller on it instead), but there's a chance it's still on there; can't remember for certain. Keep your eyes peeled looking at messed up signs. Skillman/Miller?? That is spicy. Would love to see the photo....
by Parker Road
01 Dec 2020 18:41
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Then you would include the station locales where trains usually end services before entering their maintenance depots. 9) Cedars (Red) 10) Cedars (Blue) 11) Bachman (Orange) 12) Bachman (Green) We would also need to add the stations on the outbound sides. You'd need: - Walnut Hill/Denton (Green) - ...
by Parker Road
01 Dec 2020 18:05
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Don't get me started on DART and digital signage. The platform signs have said just the line color for years, which is useless when you've got rush hour service on the orange line and late night service that terminates at the train yards. They can waste billions on boondoggles like the silver line ...
by Parker Road
25 Nov 2020 17:26
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Redblock wrote:https://photos.app.goo.gl/hnLFgAYHNpASQFjn7

Well now I'm... less enthralled with these. Hopefully at least they get the red/orange thing sorted out, if they don't just abandon signing the color altogether.
by Parker Road
24 Nov 2020 11:12
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

The way DART is structured, allocating time and space to the line color information seems rather pointless. When you're downtown, all Parker Road-bound trains make the same stops, regardless of whether they came from Westmoreland or DFW Airport. I'd rather have these signs display a single consisten...
by Parker Road
18 Nov 2020 09:01
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Love Field People Mover
Replies: 63
Views: 68128

Re: Dallas Love Field People Mover

Also, to bring the discussion back to Love Field, I would like to see the 39 bus extended from Inwood station to the Love Field terminal, with frequencies updated to 20 minutes or better to replace the 524. That way airport-bound riders get a one-seat ride from downtown that's practically a straight...
by Parker Road
18 Nov 2020 08:51
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Love Field People Mover
Replies: 63
Views: 68128

Re: Dallas Love Field People Mover

It is my understanding that it also has to do with the fact that the new sections of DART rail have moving block signaling which also limits the speed trains can go (you can hear the overspeed warning if you sit near the cab). On the old Red and Blue lines - it's fixed block. Train speed isn't real...
by Parker Road
18 Nov 2020 08:16
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

https://www.dart.org/about/board/boardagendas/wholeitem11_10nov20.pdf Here's the DART Board's most recent briefing on it. Also, here's their presentation to Dallas City Council yesterday, similar presentation but with some differences. Great, thank you! The City Council presentation is particularly...
by Parker Road
16 Nov 2020 20:26
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Mentioned this in another thread, but will bump it here since it's kinda dead. https://twitter.com/humantransit/status/1327344320400171008 From Jarrett Walker on Twitter: Dallas bus network redesign: The Board has given direction on how the balance the competing goals of ridership and coverage, and ...
by Parker Road
16 Nov 2020 20:20
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

Personally, I think with the way Dallas is designed, we should be going 'all in' with our bus system and focus on how we can get people around urban Dallas quickly/efficiently using buses. Hard agree, the bus redesign project (which Walker recently announced has begun the drafting stage, btw) is a ...
by Parker Road
16 Nov 2020 15:54
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

I'm kind of mixed on this. On one hand, I love seeing this level of infrastructure in the DFW Metroplex! But it's definitely out-of-proportion with the rest of the system, and as others have said, I'd rather see sets of smaller entrances at each station rather than one giant one.
by Parker Road
01 Sep 2020 07:44
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Silver Line
Replies: 401
Views: 422897

Re: Silver Line

I personally would think they would want to downplay the fact that an electric substation is across from a rail station, instead of things that people riding a train might want to go to. There isn't too much going on in that corner of Plano regardless, only thing Shiloh can really promote is a park...
by Parker Road
20 May 2020 22:02
Forum: Texas Town + City Issues/News
Topic: Houston Highways
Replies: 12
Views: 22061

Re: Houston Highways

Strange bump to this thread I know but I have lived in both Manhattan and San Francisco and seen how the demise of the West End highway and the Embarcadero freeway went largely unnoticed by the commuters ( they simply found alternate routes )but the land values / development exploded in these areas...
by Parker Road
15 May 2020 15:28
Forum: The Bus + Roads/Highways/Bridges
Topic: DART: Bus system
Replies: 105
Views: 115295

Re: DART: Bus system

I took the survey as well, though some questions seemed poorly designed, like the one asking respondents to choose between a scenario where buses ran on parallel streets at lower frequency, with a short 2 min walk from home to the stop (coverage) or a scenario where there was a single route at high...
by Parker Road
15 May 2020 14:17
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

"Crowdedness" is definitely a subjective term that depends on the context of the system. At least when I think about trains "from Parker Road," that really implies trains on the entire North Central corridor (north of Mockingbird) rather than from Parker Road specifically. As has...
by Parker Road
14 May 2020 08:48
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

With the current design, every train into downtown must exit the opposite side, so every additional AM train you add to handle Parker Road <-> Downtown crowds will run largely empty from Downtown <-> Westmoreland as it's going against the flow of commuters. Leaving aside track capacity issues, that...
by Parker Road
08 May 2020 17:08
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

I'd say focus on major bus overhalls and streetcar improvements and expansion. Yep—that avenue makes the most sense for the way Dallas' transit is currently organized. Bringing more local service to DART's existing regional stations in the city core would do much more for ridership than adding more...
by Parker Road
26 Jan 2020 22:21
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

DART does not invest money. DART spends money. Nothing it does has any expectation of achieving a profit. Example: DART is currently paying $30 million per year in interest on money it has borrowed for the silver line, which their own projections say will only generate $3 million per year in fares....
by Parker Road
26 Jan 2020 15:15
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Silver Line
Replies: 401
Views: 422897

Re: Silver Line

Cons: - The tracks cross three of the major routes in/out of the neighborhood. The trains block the street a surprising percentage of the time. - The train drivers love to push the button to lower the crossing gates long before they leave the station. This is especially dangerous when they block th...
by Parker Road
26 Jan 2020 14:57
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

The only reason DART should ever consider adding express tracks is if each line's frequency was so high that interlining isn't otherwise possible. Because the light rail system was built in a commuter-oriented model, I don't ever foresee frequencies getting that high, even after D2. The system uses ...
by Parker Road
25 Jan 2020 20:31
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: DART D2 Subway
Replies: 508
Views: 404288

Re: DART D2 Subway

Not to mention the fact that, aside from the TODs that have been purposely built up around existing stations, the existing DART lines don't pass many neighborhoods that would be conducive to transit anyway. For example, the only exception I can think of on the Red Line, within the city proper, is Kn...
by Parker Road
08 Jun 2019 09:28
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

I can't be the only person that finds it a bit ridiculous that DART's headquarters downtown, right next to akard station, has a private underground parking garage ( https://maps.app.goo.gl/EtZWogQ5mySt5quv5 ). I get it's likely there due to parking minimums; but not only is the irony palpable, it a...
by Parker Road
08 Jun 2019 09:02
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Replies: 519
Views: 425441

Re: Dallas Area Rapid Transit

The problem I think is due to the fact that the folks that run DART more than likely never ever use the system. I can't be the only person that finds it a bit ridiculous that DART's headquarters downtown, right next to akard station, has a private underground parking garage ( https://maps.app.goo.g...
by Parker Road
02 Jun 2019 11:10
Forum: Rail + Guided Transit
Topic: Dallas Love Field People Mover
Replies: 63
Views: 68128

Re: Dallas Love Field People Mover

I knew I wasn't the only person who's noticed the suspiciously slow speeds in the areas along the Orange Line with deferred stations! Carpenter Ranch and South Las Colinas in particular are excruciatingly slow to ride through. Though to be honest, all of the newer sections of DART seem to be slower ...