Main Street MAX

[staubio]

They could use the Google model and recommend attractions and restaurants based upon sponsorship by these organizations, but then the trip planner would lose its integrity.  I think this is a good idea and I don't think you need a dynamic trip planner to do it.  It would just be "ways to spend a day with MAX" or something like that, and you could outline a few options for different interests, families vs. couples vs. singles, time frames, etc.

I do hope that there is a better web presence for MAX.  What would be very cool would be a next bus indicator online.  I could check the computer, find out when the bus leaves and then time it perfectly to the stop.

[staubio]

so, who's going to try to ride the BRT on the first day of operation!!!

(show of hands)

Oh, yeah, I'm there.

As far as the comment about 31st and Linwood, I agree.  You can see the next stop right up the street.  I don't recall a fixed guideway system where you can readily see the next stop.

[GRID]

The past two weeks, I rode, light rail, 16th St Mall shuttle and articulated commuter buses in Denver, light rail in Salt Lake City, light rail, trolleys and buses in Portland, monorail, buses and subway buses in Seattle, bus trolleys, bus boats and the skytrain in Vancouver.

This in addition to having ridden on most transit systems across the country from San Diego to Toronto and Jacksonville to Chicago.

I have recently used newer systems in Minneapolis and Dallas as well of older systems in New Orleans and Boston.

St, Louis is even developing an impressive system, smaller towns like Memphis, Louisville are even doing things.

And I come back to KC, a city of 2 million people and we have painted these little cheesy footprints on our parking lanes for our “brtâ€

[ignatius]

I've been to every city over 2 million except Portland/Miami many times.  Have ridden the transit systems at many cities extensively.  The method doesn't matter to me.  I use the subways in NYC but think nothing less of using crosstown buses.  I'll use any system that gets me between points A-B effectively.  That's all that matters to me.  Not many cities under 2.5 million have rail transit and those that do are small trinket systems.  MSP is over 3M and just got rail.

KC could purse commuter rail on existing freight tracks to the burbs but I'm just glad we'll get EFFECTIVE transit between City Market and Plaza.  If light rail were built, it would be so expensive to run that we'd probably only get 15-20 minute service between trains at rush hour.  We'll get 9 minutes with BRT and it will run late.  BRT will be more effective for those who already use transit.  As far as attracting new users and development that LRT supposedly does... the city is already breaking development records and is gaining more people so many will try MAX anyway.

[GRID]

True, I couldn’t agree more.  I was just pointing out what we have spent on transit and the options we have compared to other towns.  I did not even mention the hundreds of miles of modern urban freeways we drove on with HOV and reversible lanes, you know, a place for the buses to actually pass auto traffic? I just think KC still needs to play some catch up.  MAX will be very nice and I will use it often, even though I still think they should have spent just a bit more and purchased some of the newer BRT vehicles that are being produced now and I still think they should do more with the stations and speed up the Downtown to Plaza service too by either using an honor system with off bus fare collection or making it free in the core.  They also need to make it a straight line all the way through.

[enough]

The printed schedule for MAX is out now.  I picked one up on board a bus today.

The cover of the attractive booklet lists 15 points of interest along the way -- but, strangely, they are in alphabetic rather than geographic sequence.

There's also a colorful route map on pages 12-16

MAX weekday daytime run times between the Plaza (47th & Nichols Parkway) and River Market (3rd & Grand) are generally in the 22-30 minute range.  That compares with 25-30 minutes for the current Route 56 schedule between 47th & Main and Independence & Walnut.  (Yes, the MAX trip to 3rd & Grand goes maybe 2 minutes farther north, so you can't compare them directly.) 

MAX weekday evening run times between 47th & Nichols and 3rd & Grand are uniformly 23 minutes.  That compares with 17 minutes for Route 56 trips from 47th & Main to Independence & Walnut.  I guess the longer MAX run time has to be attributed to wandering around downtown.       

Meanwhile, on page 1 the schedule booklet says, "By making fewer stops you'll get to your destination in less than 20 minutes."  That would have to be for a "typical" trip in the Plaza to River Market corridor, rather than an end-to-end trip.

Looking at just the segment between 47th Street and Pershing/Main, MAX takes 10-15 minutes for weekday trips while Route 56 takes 11-16 minutes.

As I read the new schedule, it will be tough to market MAX based on faster running times.  However, the more frequent service will be a benefit, and the distinctive vehicles will make transit more user-friendly and/or less threatening for a lot of people, both locals and out-of-towners.

[Big Red Storm]

^ Doesn't sound too encouraging.

[ignatius]

5 more days.

[ignatius]

^ Doesn't sound too encouraging.

I wasn't expecting faster runs given that the line is still entirely shared with the street.  More frequency is more important than shaving a few minutes per run.  If you have to wait 15-20 minutes for a bus, that makes a full trip that much longer.  With 7-9 minute waits til next bus, the chances of total reduced trip time is much better.

BTW, it currently takes 10-15 minutes from Plaza to Crown Center at rush hour and another 5 to the Loop.  It's not a very long ride as it is. 

[Big Red Storm]

I wasn't expecting faster runs given that the line is still entirely shared with the street.  More frequency is more important than shaving a few minutes per run.  If you have to wait 15-20 minutes for a bus, that makes a full trip that much longer.  With 7-9 minute waits til next bus, the chances of total reduced trip time is much better.

BTW, it currently takes 10-15 minutes from Plaza to Crown Center at rush hour and another 5 to the Loop.  It's not a very long ride as it is. 

I agree that frequency is more important.  I do find it sad however that the supposed rapid transit takes longer to make the same run as a regular bus.  I will take it over what we have now though, no doubt.

[KCPowercat]

Are the curb lanes always bus lanes now or just the times they say no parking?  The TINY signs are a little hard to understand.  Why not just the normal diamond signs we see downtown now?  Simple to understand and big enough to read.

[dangerboy]

Are the curb lanes always bus lanes now or just the times they say no parking?  The TINY signs are a little hard to understand.  Why not just the normal diamond signs we see downtown now?  Simple to understand and big enough to read.

I think it's only during rush hours.

[KCBoom]

The Kansas City ATA website says today that everybody can ride MAX for free during the first week (July 24th thru 31st).  This should encourage more people just to try it out and see out they like it.  Not that $1 is enough to discourage a lot of people, but free provides an incentive at least.

[TheNorthlander]

You know I really hope MAX is great.  I really do.

But I have this gut feeling that it is going to be a massive failure.

And it will have nothing to do with the people that are/could be riders.

It will have to do with mismanagement by the ATA. 

Just my prediction.....let's see how it plays out.

[sethyg]

You know I really hope MAX is great.  I really do.

But I have this gut feeling that it is going to be a massive failure.

And it will have nothing to do with the people that are/could be riders.

It will have to do with mismanagement by the ATA. 

Just my prediction.....let's see how it plays out.

Gotta have more positive thoughts!  I'm giving it a shot, that's for sure... and speaking of shots... check out this sweet promotional idea!

[KC0KEK]

Neat. The true test of speed would be whether MAX can get you home or to the next bar before you need to go to the bathroom.

[shinatoo]

I havent seen any shelters up at the Max Stops. Are they still to come?

[BVC]

I believe I saw one near Crown Center...

[enough]

I havent seen any shelters up at the Max Stops. Are they still to come?

Probably about a third of the shelters are up. 

There's a lot more to launching a service like MAX than just dropping off 40 shelters and bolting them to the sidewalk.  These shelters have electric connections for illumination -- plus, the 17-foot high markers adjacent to the shelters also have a lot of connections and hardware to get up and running.  The ATA didn't want to put them out too far ahead of time, and now I think they're prioritizing installation by expected level of use. 

This service launch is going to be challenged by all of the downtown construction work.  Even though the MAX route doesn't go right past P&L or the Sprint Center, street closure for those projects puts extra traffic on the streets that MAX does use. 

Patience is the watchword -- optimistic patience.

[GRID]

Probably about a third of the shelters are up. 

There's a lot more to launching a service like MAX than just dropping off 40 shelters and bolting them to the sidewalk.  These shelters have electric connections for illumination -- plus, the 17-foot high markers adjacent to the shelters also have a lot of connections and hardware to get up and running.  The ATA didn't want to put them out too far ahead of time, and now I think they're prioritizing installation by expected level of use. 

This service launch is going to be challenged by all of the downtown construction work.  Even though the MAX route doesn't go right past P&L or the Sprint Center, street closure for those projects puts extra traffic on the streets that MAX does use. 

Patience is the watchword -- optimistic patience.

MAX should just go down Grand.  Grand is what , four block from the convention district?  Walking from Grand to Wyandotte in KC is like crossing a street in most big downtowns.  Same thing with the governement district, Grand is two or three blocks from McGee or Oak.  I don't see how those buses are going to make it through the downtown route without some annoying delays.  Same with Union Station.  Run the buses down Grand, it's a two minute walk across Washington Park to the station.  You could at least make the line rapid like its name potrays.

Maybe after people get used to it, they can speed it up a bit and change the route.

Maybe after people get used to it, they can order true low floor, articualated BRT vehicles.

Maybe after people get used to it, they can switch to an honer system and use off bus pre pay ticket manchines.

Maybe after people get used to it, they can order more than 12 buses so that during events at downtown venues, they will have enought buses (doesn't help that they are only 40' tranist buses) to move large masses of people from Downtown to Crown Center and the Plaza.

Maybe after people get used to it, they can enlarge the shelters or even add shelters and build a true bus only lane with platform stops.

Ok, I'll stop now.

Regardless, I'll be on it all the time and will sell MAX till i'm blue in the face to my fellow kcitians. This is as good as it get in kc when it comes to transit.