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.

Green Run's feelings on Reba McClanan

Click each image for a larger one

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
  

Political School

So I just had a major political lesson yesterday at the City Council Retreat.

• Apparently, Council Objective #1 is "Be friendly to bloggers" ;)
• VB Cares about a bus system. Since Council wants light rail so badly, here's the scoop: Before the Feds will even TALK about light rail, year-round bus service has to be increased by 20%. (at last: it sucks having to be home by dinner time; maybe I want to work a closing shift). Slowly but surely, it'll come.

My offer to ALL HRT Staff and VB City Council Members: Let's go for a bus ride. I'd like to take you on a tour of Fareset 4 (what HRT refers to internally as Virginia Beach; it's a Farebox thing). Important parts to head to (in no order):

• Route 12: The 4:45 PM bus leaving 20th & Seaboard (good luck between I-64 and Kemps River)
• Route 29: almost any trip (U.S. 58 and First Colonial anyone?)
• Routes 1/36: Heading outbound trying to get me home to TCC when I take the long way from Cedar Grove (this is when I'm lazy and don't want to transfer buses)
• Route 20: Pembroke & Hilltop
• Route 33: U.S. 60 between 17th St and 40th St (during Summer only)
• Routes 30/31/32: Take note that with my existing 30-Day Pass, I am unable to ride (solution: this is how it's done out west)
• Route 27: Usually late every trip on Saturday. Biggest problem? Making that left from U.S. 58 onto Newtown
  

City Council Will Ride

I have an offer from VB City Councilmember Bob Dyer (Centerville District) to go for a little bus ride as early as next week.

Time to show what some of Virginia Beach's REAL parking lots (Indian River Rd, Princess Anne @ Kempsville/Witchduck, U.S. 58 @ Independence, U.S. 58 @ First Colonial to name a few) look like and note how empty the buses are for some and standing room only for others.