Year: 2020

Categories : Clovis Fresno TransitTags : 6 Comments

FAX Route 28 Starts New Route and Manchester Transit Center Reopens

On By jamesinclair

Starting today, August 3rd 2020, FAX Route 28 has been modified to no longer server Fresno State. Instead the line will now continue along Dakota and end at Peach Avenue. And no, the website has not been updated to reflect this.

The black line is the new route.

This change to Route 28 was proposed earlier this year, along with changes to many other bus lines. However, the other proposed changes won’t happen until 2021. Unfortunately, this is a big loss to those taking the bus to Fresno State. While Route 9 will continue to serve Shaw Avenue, there will simply be half as many buses going to the campus.

The schedule itself is mostly the same. IE, the southbound buses hit the MTC at x:10, x:30, and x:50. However, the overall route is shorter, so the buses will start their trip 9 minutes later. To that end, I don’t understand why they couldn’t have made the route longer to use the same amount of time, such as going up Peach to Ashlan. The schedule can be found in the big booklet, which has a nice new cover photo featuring one of the new bus stops. Click to read more!

Categories : Amtrak FresnoTags : 2 Comments

How much service will Amtrak be cutting this fall?

On By jamesinclair

Like all travel providers, Amtrak has been hit hard by the effects of COVID-19, as the vast majority of people have cut down on their travel. However, unlike airlines that received huge sums of bailout money, Amtrak is less posed to get government assistance. That is because Republicans for years (decades?) have been trying to eliminate Amtrak, so they’re not rushing to save the organization now.

In the short term, Amtrak cut service in order to match reduced demand. For example the San Joaquin line cut three daily round trips on March 26th, and the Capitol Corridor went from 15 to just 5 trips a day. Other Amtrak lines, like the Downeastern (in Maine) and Keystone (in Pennsylvania) completely shut down for a couple of months. Click to read more!

Categories : Bicycling FresnoTags : 4 Comments

Public Meeting for Proposed Palm Avenue Bikeway

On By jamesinclair

Will Fresno finally get a protected bikeway, like in the San Francisco photo above? They’ve been talked about in the past, including a proposed couplet on Fulton and Van Ness that never came to be. But tomorrow there will be a public meeting on a new proposed bikeway along Palm and Belmont. See the flyer:

Zoom link:

https://zoom.us/j/99170680769

If you can’t attend, a survey is available online:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/T5NNCCS?fbclid=IwAR3SwCMBRx6tPoZT2UlWW2aKDP5RsPvzxNToWGRZC6d8072AQtnGvAF38NA

Make sure your voice is heard! There’s been almost zero progress on bike projects in Fresno over the last five years, so this could be a much-needed push. Click to read more!

Categories : Bicycling Clovis Fresno ParksTags : 3 Comments

Fresno COGS asking for feedback on 2020 Fresno County Regional Trails Plan

On By jamesinclair

The Fresno Council of Governments and Fresno County are developing the 2020 Fresno County Regional Trails Plan, which will create recommendations for the ongoing development of new trail connections that create a safe, comfortable, and connected network for walking/hiking, off-road biking and horseback riding.

Note: Don’t confuse this with the Trail Network Expansion Feasibility Plan, which is a CITY of Fresno plan. This new plan is for the entire county and will focus on unpaved recreational trails and paved shared-use paths in Fresno County, including county areas within Fresno.

There’s two ways for you to comment, a survey and a map. They both can be found on this page. You do the simple survey first, and then get shown a map of existing trails. You can then click on segments and make comments. For example, you can tell them that the Van Ness trail is not very useful. Once you’re done commenting on existing trails, you can draw your own preferred future trails. Click to read more!

Categories : Airlines FresnoTags : 8 Comments

Alaska Airlines adding flights to LAX from Fresno

On By jamesinclair

Just a quick post to share some news from Fresno2Minneapolis on Twitter. Starting in September, Alaska Airlines will begin service twice a day between Fresno and Los Angeles! The flight will be on an Embraer RJ-175, operated by Skywest.

If all goes as planned, they would join American Airlines and United on this route. Note that due to COVID-19, those flights are currently not operating. However, if they come back as before, there would be 10 daily flights between the two cities.

The flight schedule, (assuming no more Coronavirus changes) from Fresno to LAX would be as follows:

6:00 AA
6:20 UA
7:30 Alaska
8:01 UA
11:55 AA
13:55 UA
14:00 Alaska
16:10 AA
17:57 UA
19:15 AA Click to read more!

Categories : Amtrak Fresno TransitTags : Leave a comment

COVID-19 Impacts to Fresno Area Transportation as of May 17, 2020

On By jamesinclair

I can’t believe it’s been over a month since my last roundup of how COVID-19 (coronavirus) has affected transportation providers in Fresno and the surrounding areas. Time is really moving in strange ways these days. At this point, it’s clear we’ve reached the bottom in terms of service cuts, short of an airline declaring bankruptcy (cough, AA, cough). How quickly service is restored is an open question. Some transit agencies have already said they don’t expect to return to full service until the end of the year. Agencies that rely heavily on rush-hour commuters are going to be the most affected, as some jobs (such as Twitter) may remain remote forever. It will be interesting to see if those agencies restore more off-peak service than peak-service, which would create a flatter utilization of their fleet, and that may end up being a good thing in the long run. Click to read more!

Categories : FresnoTags : 1 Comment

On the passing of former Fresno Bee reporter George Hostetter

On By jamesinclair

Last Thursday, the news came that former Fresno Bee reporter George Hostetter died of prostate cancer at age 70.

Fresno Bee

If you read this blog, you’re most likely familiar with his work, particularly his “city beat” reporting of downtown Fresno news. For years, when Mr. Hostetter needed to go to City Hall, he would get there by taking a long walk around downtown from the Bee offices on E street. It doesn’t matter what the weather was, he would walk, making notes about any development (or lack of development) along the way. He would also talk to all sorts of people to get their perspective. Click to read more!

Categories : Fresno TransitTags : Leave a comment

A look at Fresno’s improved bus stops

On By jamesinclair

Last November, I reported that Fresno Area Express (FAX) received funds to update various bus stops. The upgrades include making them ADA accessible, so they can be used by those in wheelchairs, and adding new amenities like seating and shelters. Unlike the three-plus year odyssey that has been the reconstruction of the Manchester Transit Center, FAX has moved very quickly with these updates, and they’re almost all done.

For reference, here was the render they shared:

And here is what they look like in real life. Remember, they were previously just a sign planted on dirt.

You can see the new crosswalk and accessible ramps from the sidewalk to the island. Click to read more!

Categories : Fresno TransitTags : 4 Comments

Fresno’s Bus Ridership Was Going up Before COVID-19

On By jamesinclair

A transit agency can lose ridership extremely quickly and it can take years to build it back up again. When a bus route is cut, or service is decreased, riders are immediately affected and have to change how they get around. In some cases, that might mean getting a car and never looking back. But when service is added or increased, it can take people months or years to notice. Ask yourself, how often do you look up the schedule for buses you don’t normally ride?

In July 2015, I posted about how Fresno Area Express (FAX) had seen seven full years of ridership declines. Those declines weren’t unexpected, as the city kept cutting routes and service. In March 2018, I followed up by looking at twelve years of data, and the results weren’t pretty. Fortunately, Fresno started adding back some service. Three buses routes received more frequent (15-minute) service. “Night” buses were launched (until 10pm). Service on weekends was improved as well. In July 2018, it looked like these additions were helping FAX turn the corner. Click to read more!

Categories : Fresno High Speed Rail Housing RetailTags : 6 Comments

Belated Downtown Fresno Photo Update

On By jamesinclair

I went downtown a couple of months ago (January) to take photos, as I usually do. I hesitated on posting them because frankly, not much has changed over the last year. This is in contrast to five years ago, when there was always a new building popping up.

Then corona hit, and the photos seemed even less relevant, but now I’ve changed my mind on that. With the virus, everything is essentially frozen in time. Nothing is under construction, nothing will be open any time soon, and nobody is lining up to lay down piles of cash on new development. That is, even if the virus suddenly disappeared tomorrow, there are too many questions about the economy for investors. Will people get their jobs back? Will there be a change in demand for office space? Click to read more!