Tag: transit

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Boston proposal: Make every college students pay for night transit service

On By jamesinclair

Boston is one of the most transit-complete cities in the country, but it has a giant hole: no night service. While only a few cities offer 24/7 train service, most, at minimum, have a network of night buses to pick up the slack. Others, like DC and LA, adjust their hours so weekend service runs as late as 3am on their rail lines. Boston does neither. When the clock strikes 1am, on every day of the week, the trains and buses stop rolling, until they resume shortly before 6am the following day.

There have been many excuses given as to why this is the case. “Maintenance” is a favorite, especially when officials can point to New York and say “we don’t have four tracks.” Fair enough….except that PATH, which does run 24/7, is also limited to two tracks. Chicago as well. Never mind that fact that at 2am on Sunday morning, when the streets are suddenly filled with people being kicked out of bars, not a soul is working on maintenance. Like most organizations, maintenance activities which run at night tend to be on weeknights. Click to read more!

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Fresno council committee recommending bus fare hikes

On By jamesinclair

Yesterday’s City Council meeting included a presentation from the “City of Fresno Transit Rates and Service Committee” which issued a report outlining short, medium and long term goals for FAX (Fresno Area Express). The committee was formed in 2010 during steep city budget shortfalls, and recommended a fare hike of 25 cents, which was put into effect January 2011, resulting in fares of $1.25. That would be to correct the “problem” that was the political decision of keeping mass transit affordable, and on par with peer systems.

One of their first recommendations is a series of fare hikes, including one this year of an additional 25 cents, and raising the base fare to $2.00 by 2017. That would mean a complete doubling of the fare in just six years, and this is in spite of the fact that the last service expansion was over a decade ago. Indeed, over the past decade, as the city population has ballooned and unemployment has spiked (currently still over 14% in Fresno), four routes were actually eliminated and no new service has been introduced. Probably not the best way to connect people with jobs. Click to read more!

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Weak economy and Europe issues mean no record gas prices this year

On By jamesinclair

Back in January, I made a prediction that gas prices would easily top records this summer.

Was I right?

Not exactly, no. This year was an odd one for gas prices. Usually gas follows a pretty standard path, as it rises early in the year to reach summer highs, then falls for the rest of the year.

Things were different this time. Gas prices spiked early, and then actually fell as we got closer to memorial day.

The reason, is the the US economic growth disappointed, and worries in Europe kept oil prices low. Indeed, oil is under $85 today. Combined with a lack of “fear disasters” to spike up prices, oil valuations are actually being rational. Click to read more!

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MBTA station interiors added to Google Maps

On By jamesinclair

If you’ve ridden a subway in a new city, you’ve certainly found yourself exiting a train and not knowing which way to go. Many stations offer a multitude of exit options, but which one takes you closer to your destination? It can be a confusing experience, as there are no landmarks to guide you.

Apparently, the folks at Google know that feeling well, because they have teamed up with the MBTA to offer maps of the inside of stations on the Android version of Google Maps. Previously, all that the maps would offer was a single subway station logo, giving you a good idea of where the station was, but no details on the many exit options. Now, every hallway, stair, restroom and information booth has been mapped. Click to read more!

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Using homeland money to actually help transit riders?

On By jamesinclair

Something odd caught my eye in a recent Clovis city council agenda. Two things I’ve talked about before on this blog being found together on the same agenda item in a way I didn’t expect.

Homeland Security.
Bus tracking technology for riders.

The second is something I’ve talked about before as being a great way to show respect for transit riders and increase ridership. Indeed, implementation directly led to more riders in Visalia. The same would be true in Clovis, which has an extremely infrequent bus system. If a bus comes only once an hour, knowing exactly when it will arrive is critical. Click to read more!

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FAX making changes to major bus routes

On By jamesinclair

FAX = Fresno Area Express, Fresno’s bus system which also (just barely) serves Clovis and Fowler, and county islands.

A small ad in the paper the other day (yes, an ad, not a news story) mentioned that changes were coming to Fresno’s bus routes. The small ad only said that routes 26, 28, 30, 32, 39, and 58 would undergo changes, and one could read about said changes online. This got my interest because that included the busiest bus routes in the system.

What could it be? Were they finally going to expand service, after over a decade of contraction? Would they begin serving areas that had grown greatly over the past 20 years, but were ignored by a route map that looks like it was designed in the 60s? Would they close gaps? Would they completely shift routes to serve origin-destination pairs that riders want? Click to read more!