Surprise! Fresno FAX bus routes changing Monday 2/19/2018

What’s the best time to let people know you’re making some major changes to bus routes? If you’re FAX, Fresno’s bus system, the answer appears to be “the day of.”

On Monday February 19, Q launches, which is Fresno’s new rapid bus service on Blackstone and Kings Canyon (recent construction photos here). The route was chosen because it covers two of the busiest transit corridors. Naturally, those corridors have existing bus services, which will change once the new system is introduced.

And yet, as of 2/15/2018, this is the only thing you can find online that lets you know routes are changing.

And no, those buttons for Route 1 (which we can only assume is Q) don’t work.

The Q website, which is completely independent for whatever reason, does an even worse job of telling people about the changes.

I have a feeling there will be some very confused (and late for work) bus riders on Monday morning, when they find themselves waiting at a stop that may no longer be in service.

Since FAX has failed to provide absolutely any information on these changes, I will try my best.

Let’s start with Route 30, which apparently is going away. On northern Blackstone, 30 and Q follow very similar routes, but with some important changes. Check out this map. Every 30 is an existing bus stop. The Q is where the new bus will stop.

Part of what makes the Q faster is that it simply stops less. In this case, it stops a LOT less. Where the 30 stops eleven times, the Q will stop three times.

In the US, bus stops tend to be about 1/4 mile apart. For a rapid transit line, which Q is trying to pretend to be, stops can be further apart because people will be willing to walk an extra distance to save some time. That means 1/2 a mile or so between stops. You can learn a lot about bus stop spacing in this article by Jarrett Walker.

Well, in the above map, the stops are about 3/4 of a mile apart. This is going to shock a lot of people. I also don’t think it makes much sense. In a very suburban area – like Fresno – walking sucks. Your destination will never be at the bus stop. When FAX doubles your walking distance, and it’s 110 degrees, and the only walking path is through a hot, unshaded asphalt parking lot, you’re going to hate Q.

Here is the current walk from a bus stop to the theater (764 feet)

And the new walk (1,554 feet)

It’s also important to note that many (if not most?) cities offer both express/rapid lines and local lines on the same corridor. That allows those going further to ride the express, while the local bus is available for those who do not want to, or cannot walk extended distances. In this case, 8 stops are being eliminated without replacement.

Additionally, you’ll note that Q actually won’t go as far north as the 30 does. So northern Fresno actually loses some transit service.

Moving south is where the real question marks begin. Take a look at Route 30. It comes down Blackstone, reaches the GIANT YELLOW BUS (downtown transfer center), and then continues to southwest Fresno.

But Q will follow those red arrow.

What happens to the part of town near Chandler Airport?

Presumably, FAX knows, but they haven’t felt the need to share it, at least not online. It’s possible they have posted paper signs at those stops, or maybe placed an ad in the Bee.

Edit: On 2/16, FAX confirmed that Route 28 will take over the southwest Fresno segment and no longer serve Kings Canyon 

So the best I can do is take a look at proposals from 2012 and 2016 that never came to be.

Let’s start with the most recent proposal, from the October of 2016 route restructuring presentation.

That plan proposed the following:

• Route 30 is replaced by BRT (this is happening).
• 34 terminates downtown instead of through-running
• A new 31 is created to replace where 30 used to cover. This is a route that ONLY serves downtown to southwest
• A new 29 is created. This is a route that ONLY serves downtown to southwest

That makes sense. But we’ve heard nothing since. Would FAX really introduce two brand new routes and make all these changes with zero notice? We know they’re working on a new route similar to 29 for the new Ultra and Amazon warehouses, but there’s been radio silence.

I doubt they’re launching Monday, so what else could happen? Going back further, in 2012 FAX announced major route changes via an ad in the Bee (nothing online). But those changes never happened, and the links no longer work. Fortunately, I have some screen shots!

The changes were based around the BRT (aka Q) route that was coming soon.

You see, Fresno is planning a BRT (bus rapid transit)* system that was supposed to launch in 2012 but has been delayed to 2014.

Ouch!

Anyway, the first change was Route 30, which actually reflects what Q will look like, with some minor changes at each end (1/2 mile less service on north side, 1/2 more on south end).

Hm, we might be on to something!

Here’s what they said would happen to Route 28.

Edit: On 2/16 FAX confirmed this would be the case

Which makes some kind of sense. That is, it’s an easy switch to inform riders. But as I said in 2012:

The area should be served, but with it’s own route, not some haphazard branch of one of the city’s busiest and most frequent bus lines.

Unfortunately, this means Fresno Pacific and the IRS lose service. This is odd, because the IRS is a big employer, especially right about now. 

We’ll know for sure sometime between now and Monday, but wouldn’t it be nice to know what’s actually going on in advance????

Oh, by the way, the City Council amended the FAX rule system. If you don’t pay your fare on Q (you pay before boarding), the first fine is $50 and/or 8 hours community service. Second offense is $100 and/or 16 hours, and the 3rd is $250 and/or 40 hours. Fourth offense becomes a misdemeanor.