Category: Transit

Categories : Fresno Highways TransitTags : 6 Comments

Vote NO on Fresno County Measure C Renewal

On By jamesinclair

I am awaking from my slumber to talk a little about the upcoming vote on Fresno County Measure C, a 30-year extension of the half-cent tax for “road and transportation improvements.”

I like transportation, clearly, and I believe it’s important to fund transportation. So this should be a sure thing right? Well, one of the reasons I started this blog was because I was upset about how Measure C money was being spent. Highway expansion, roadway expansion, and a side of more roadway expansion, like the sprawl-inducing extension of 180 deep into rural areas.

Theoretically, Measure C had a bike/ped/transit component. But in reality, it meant, at best, throwing a wider sidewalk on one side of a widening, like the new path along Veteran’s Boulevard – another roadway designed to facilitate sprawl. Click to read more!

Categories : Fresno Housing TransitTags : 10 Comments

A look at Fresno’s first transit-oriented apartment building

On By jamesinclair

About a mile north of downtown Fresno, at the intersection of Blackstone and McKinley, a really exciting project is well underway: Fresno’s first transit-oriented apartment building. Aside from looking impressive in person, I think this is the first time in Fresno history that a real apartment building is being constructed outside the downtown core. And by “real,” I mean as one urban unit. There are apartments all over Fresno, but they tend to be two-story, 2 or 4 unit blocks built among an oasis of parking and grass. Those are perfectly fine, but they’re suburban in nature. This building will have four floors, which will make it twice as tall as 98% of Fresno buildings. Click to read more!

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 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 : 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 : Airlines Amtrak Bakersfield Clovis Fresno TransitTags : 2 Comments

COVID-19 Impacts to Fresno Area Transportation as of April 8, 2020

On By jamesinclair

Ten days ago, I decided to make a record of how COVID-19 (coronavirus) has affected transportation providers in Fresno and the surrounding areas – including the Bay Area and LA region. This post is a follow-up, to chronicle what has changed since. I have also added a few agencies I missed last week. It is sort of lucky I waited until today to make this, instead of last Sunday, as a bunch of changes go into effect today!

Local Transit

Fresno Area Express (FAX)

Officially, no changes to the schedule, but the system has been struggling with drivers calling out, as seen in this tweet:

This makes Fresno one of the only transit systems to continue running full service. Click to read more!

Categories : Amtrak TransitTags : 3 Comments

Environmental Impact Report for Valley Rail Project Now Open for Public Comment

On By jamesinclair

Are you sitting at home, twiddling your thumbs, looking for something to do? Lucky for you, the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Valley Rail Sacramento Extension Project is now available for public review! You have until May 15, 2020 at 5:00 p.m to send in any comments you have.

Unlike many rail projects, this is one you should take seriously, because they got $500 million in funds to actually build the thing. As I mentioned back in 2018, the improvements are aimed at both the Amtrak San Joaquin line and the ACE commuter line.

According to the project team, the purpose of Valley Rail will be: Click to read more!

Categories : Airlines Amtrak Fresno TransitTags : 4 Comments

COVID-19 Impacts to Fresno Area Transportation as of March 29, 2020

On By jamesinclair

If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the last few weeks reading a LOT of news about COVID-19 (coronavirus). All the bad news has taken away most of my motivation to write blog articles, and not just because “regular” news is on pause, but because it’s been pretty exhausting. I also figured that because the news has been changing so quickly, there was little reason for me to write. This isn’t like a new trail, where posting two weeks late is still timely. By the time I get around to posting any news, it has likely changed.

That being said, I’m thinking there may be some value in having a static record looking backwards. Because of the volume of news, six months from now, it will be pretty difficult to do a Google search to find exactly what the transportation impacts were. So the goal of this post (and a probable follow up), is to have one place summarizing what the impacts of the virus were on Fresno-area transportation. Here is what the impacts looked like as of March 29, 2020. Click to read more!

Categories : Fresno TransitTags : 10 Comments

FAX considering changes to several bus routes

On By jamesinclair

For the first time in forever, Fresno Area Express (FAX) is seriously considering some pretty major changes to bus routes. This could include the much-needed Herndon route, and a bus line to the new Amazon and Ulta warehouses built in southwest Fresno. However, the new service comes at the expense of existing lines. In this post, I take a look at how FAX is getting the word out, and what those changes are.

Public Outreach

FAX has started holding public events and workshops on the proposed changed. This looks to be an extensive outreach effort, with the following pop-up events at bus stops throughout the system: Click to read more!