Norfolk Southern Right of Way Deal

H/T Henry Ryto

The City of Virginia Beach is scheduled to purchase the Norfolk-Southern Right-of-Way, which is expected to be the extension of The Tide to the Oceanfront!!!!

Meaning, to get the ball rolling, bus service in Virginia Beach MUST run at night/Sundays (existing routes until about 11 PM) before the Federal Transit Administration will even talk to us about getting light rail.

Public Transit Open House

Mark your calendar:

Tuesday, September 16th 7 - 9 PM at the VB Convention Center. Yes, I'm fully aware it's AFTER buses are done for the night

Yesterday's Bus Ride notes

Tidbits from yesterday's bus ride

• The 44C VICTORY CROSSING via WALMART has almost quite literally 3 stops: High & FL, Wal-Mart (former Mid-City Shopping Center), and Victory Crossing. Why are there no other bus stops (Airline Blvd maybe?). Is there a reason this bus doesn't go to Norfolk General?
  
• This is MAX driver #2 to not honor my 30-Day at $1.50 (first afternoon 967, leaving Chesapeake Square at 3:20 PM)
• How about corrected 47 schedules? While we're at it, correct Route 47 destination signs
• Correct the system map: Route 33 is a "LOCAL" not "TOUR"
• What's the plans for the #7 (NOB tour), #34 (Oceana Tour), and #924 (Historic Villages Tour)? FTA says they fall under the new Charter regulations. Does this include the Amphitheater Shuttle?
• Route 12: please enter Indian River Park & Ride when the 967 is running (or relocate the #12 bus stop to be closer to Reon + City of VB add a crosswalk at Reon)
• I said it once, I'm saying it again: MAX 30-Day E&D cards are NEEDED (Henry can vouch for several Veterans passing through Wards Corner when service was first launched)
  

TCC Poll Closed

The poll closed and here's the results:

Someone wants buses to cut out at 9:45 PM
Most of you (63%) want the last trips to be 10:45 PM
27% of you want the last trips to be 11:45 PM

My Service Booster plan includes the following last trips from TCC:

• Route 12: 5:45 PM (Chesapeake won't play along, or else I'd have 10:45 PM)
• Route 25: 10:53 PM
• Route 26: 6:45 PM (There's not enough demand - anyone want to fill me in?)
• Route 29: 10:45 PM
• Route 33: 10:45 PM (if there was one more inbound 20, I'd have an 11:45 PM departure)
• Route 36: 10:45 PM
  

Fareset 4: Lack of Service

As pointed out by Avenging Archangel, yes, I do live in a section of Virginia Beach where, as I write, it's impossible for me to get around. Some pointers:

• $750,000 out of a $1.8 BILLION budget is all that's needed to get around evenings and Sundays
• As it stands now, service is roughly 6:45 AM to 5:45 PM (or 6:45 PM, depending on the route) over here by TCC
• TCC Night Students have no way home
• TCC, for the longest time, has requested evening bus service. I assume it falls on deaf ears
• 10:45 PM is a reasonable last trip for all routes out of TCC 7 nights a week
• Yes Chesapeake, this includes the 12 heading to 20th & Seaboard
• Reid: as you can see, it does NOT cost Billions to fund. HRT's entire yearly budget for the whole region is just under $50 million per year.

Improvements to Beach routes that should help:

• Relative to Cedar Grove, Route 20 should be every 15 minutes all day weekdays 4:45 AM to 7:45 PM, every 30 minutes 7:45 PM to 9:15 PM, and every hour until 12:15 AM (yes, one more trip at night). Weekends, service should be every 30 minutes 4:45 AM to 8:15 PM then every hour until 12:15 AM. HRT has a plan for 15 minute service under the 2030 plan.
• Route 12 should get its old 2001 schedule back, but + Sundays. It used to be the last one left 20th & Seaboard at 9:45 PM, got to TCC at 10:45 PM, and finished at 20th & Seaboard at 11:45 PM. Yes Chesapeake, you need to start caring.
  
• Route 36 should run from Pleasure House to TCC every 30 minutes 5:45 AM to 7:45 PM, then every hour with the last trip on either end at 10:45 PM. Sundays same timeframe, but every hour (seen in the 2030 plan)
  
• Route 29: similar schedule to Route 36
• Route 33: Run until 12:45 AM (last trip either end 11:45 PM)
• Route 26: Today, all this route does is put the 29 back on schedule
• Route 32: ACCEPT OUR 30-DAY PASSES, and run every 30 minutes in the afternoon