KCMO Downtown Streetcar

[dnweava]

would an auto open door help in that situation? Seems the problem was getting to the door, not the fact that the door wasn't open for you.

I would have easily been able to get off if the doors opened automatically. The streetcar is still being run like amateur hour. They still need to do something about Friday/ Saturday night traffic blocking the streetcar like the parking garage and vallet lines. Maybe the need to post "no cruising" signs on main st. and ticket people to cut down on some traffic too.

[DaveKCMO]

How about "the streets are being run like an amateur hour."

[KCPowercat]

I don't understand the situation I guess. Seems you were more dealing with rude people that wouldn't get out of your way...not the fact that the door wasn't open.

I agree with you that the driver should just open all doors when cars are near capacity.

[dnweava]

I don't understand the situation I guess. Seems you were more dealing with rude people that wouldn't get out of your way...not the fact that the door wasn't open.

I agree with you that the driver should just open all doors when cars are near capacity.

They weren't rude, they were first time riders that didn't know what to do, it was packed so they couldn't really move and the people by the door couldn't figure out the door button. If I wasn't holding a child I'd have just pushed through and opened it myself.

[shinatoo]

Great piece in the Star about development on the line. Well done Diane Stafford.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/business ... 20432.html

[KCPowercat]

Overplaying the headaches angle a bit. Guess it is tough to actually have standards for design vs. throw up whatever you want.

[shinatoo]

But she also made it very clear that every developer thought the headaches were worth it. Worth it to build without incentives. Worth it to have the building go to the property line in spite of construction problems it may cause. Worth the extra taxes.

[Critical_Mass]

How about "the streets are being run like an amateur hour."

Agreed. I would love to see thru-car traffic and parking removed from Main. The system would go from really great to outstanding.

However, the operators could be a little more consistent. In my morning commute (so we're regular riders, not first-timers on a weekend) some drivers open the doors automatically for the 10 or so people in the train, some don't. Some drivers are still stopping at empty stations when no one has requested a stop, some don't.

There are pros and cons to auto-opening doors and for stopping at each station, but the important thing is to pick one and go with it to avoid confusion.

[bobbyhawks]

It has probably been discussed here, but I'd also like to see the cars staggered a bit better. We rode the car on Saturday, and it was absolutely packed. I downloaded the app so I can see where there cars are, and there were three cars running around 1:30 PM, all bunched up at Union Station. The ticker at the North end of the City Market listed the arrival time for the next car at 22 minutes, and we instead walked to City Center and waited a few more minutes for the next car. It didn't look at all like they were holding cars when they switch directions to keep the interval regular.

[flyingember]

Every time it gets packed reliability suffers

Staying on time is extremely reliant on speed of leaving the stop

[beautyfromashes]

The time for each stop is very inconsistent as well. There is one driver I've noticed who drives it like a bus. He'll wait for people walking briskly towards the car. If you're not at the stop, there should be no waiting for you to get there. Also, if people are taking a long time getting on, give them a tone to hurry up cause the car is leaving.

[DaveKCMO]

if you ride on saturdays or first fridays, it's nearly impossible to keep the streetcars spaced appropriately until we add a fourth in regular service (and even that was a challenge during the "garth/birthday" weekend). crowds are too big -- multiple times larger than the system was designed to accommodate -- and weekenders move slow or don't know the ropes. the alternative -- other than getting the additional cars -- is getting more aggressive with closing the doors (schedule estimates a 20-second dwell time at intermediate stops). if you do that, however, you risk leaving people behind (and you see how that turned out on sunday). i actually support that, but it's a delicate balance that's best left to the staff.

that being said, on-time performance is actually some of the best in the KC system (90%+ on many days). pretty amazing for a mixed traffic system two miles in length.

TL;DR - running fixed route transit is hard, especially with crowds. a more robust system would simply add vehicles, which we don't have (yet).

[SWFan]

It has come in handy for us a few times when we've gone downtown for something and can't find parking. Then we just head to the River Market or Union Station and park there and use the street car to get where we need to go.

[shaffe]

It has come in handy for us a few times when we've gone downtown for something and can't find parking. Then we just head to the River Market or Union Station and park there and use the street car to get where we need to go.

River Market+Streetcar >>> Parking at Barney Allis or Kauffman, in my opinion anyway

[SWFan]

It has come in handy for us a few times when we've gone downtown for something and can't find parking. Then we just head to the River Market or Union Station and park there and use the street car to get where we need to go.

River Market+Streetcar >>> Parking at Barney Allis or Kauffman, in my opinion anyway

Except on Saturday mornings.

[scooterj]

I'll toss in another voice wishing they'd open the doors automatically at stops. A couple of weeks ago I needed to get off at a stop that wasn't one of my normal stops. It was night, and I was apparently the only person getting off at that particular stop. But because it's so freaking bright inside the streetcar at night, I couldn't see outside and didn't realize we were at my stop. I thought we were at a traffic light just before my stop. By the time I realized the door lights were lit, it was too late and the driver pulled away. No biggy, I got off at the next stop and backtracked, but if the doors had simply opened it would have been obvious.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

if you ride on saturdays or first fridays, it's nearly impossible to keep the streetcars spaced appropriately until we add a fourth in regular service (and even that was a challenge during the "garth/birthday" weekend). crowds are too big -- multiple times larger than the system was designed to accommodate -- and weekenders move slow or don't know the ropes. the alternative -- other than getting the additional cars -- is getting more aggressive with closing the doors (schedule estimates a 20-second dwell time at intermediate stops). if you do that, however, you risk leaving people behind (and you see how that turned out on sunday). i actually support that, but it's a delicate balance that's best left to the staff.

that being said, on-time performance is actually some of the best in the KC system (90%+ on many days). pretty amazing for a mixed traffic system two miles in length.

TL;DR - running fixed route transit is hard, especially with crowds. a more robust system would simply add vehicles, which we don't have (yet).

It's more than just the crowds on the streetcar, though. It's the traffic on Main. 12th-Truman probably adds 2-3 minutes going each direction when it's crowded and bunches up the cars. Not sure what the best solution is: wayfinding signs off of highways directing people to garages, closing a block or two to auto traffic for events, etc. Just seems like there are way more cars on Main than there should be considering how little event parking is off of that street.

[flyingember]

I thought about door opening, like could it be case by case where Saturday they open automatically I've decided there's one reason to not auto open and that's weather.

If it's raining heavily or above/below a certain temperature you don't auto open, otherwise it should be a standard procedure.

[KCPowercat]

Close auto traffic from.12th to 14th. They've done this a few times for big events.

[JBmidtown]

How hard could it be to throw up a few "no thru traffic" signs between Truman and 6th streets?