Transit Service

Seattle's First Hill Streetcar 'Soft Opened' on Saturday

The long-delayed First Hill streetcar offered its first trips to the public last weekend in Seattle. Big questions about the operation and effectiveness of the streetcar still remain.

January 25, 2016 - Seattle Times

Seattle's New Light Rail Extension: On Time and Under Budget

Seattle, home to the most infamously bungled infrastructure projects in the country (the Bertha-blocked tunnel), has managed to do something rare for any city: complete a transit extension on-time and under-budget.

January 14, 2016 - MyNorthwest.com

Providence Scraps Streetcar Plans in Favor of an 'Enhanced' Bus Line

Citing the drastically reduced costs of a bus line, the city of Providence is hoping to replace its proposed streetcar line with the Providence Enhanced Bus Circulator. The new proposal requires federal funding to display a similar flexibility.

January 13, 2016 - Providence Journal

Beer Company Paying for Transit on New Year's Eve in Washington, D.C.

Miller Lite is shifting from its normal lobbying expenditures in the nation's capital to pick up the tab on the ride home for those taking transit. Here's to getting home safely, tonight and every other night.

December 31, 2015 - The Hill

Chicago Launches Loop Link BRT Service

Until this weekend, CTA buses in Downtown Chicago averaged a speed of 3 mph. The Loop Link is designed to improve those results.

December 22, 2015 - Chi.Streetsblog

Portland to Test Stop Thinning to Speed Up Streetcars

Responding to the leading complaint about the Portland Streetcar—that they move too slow to be useful compared to other modes—service will temporarily make fewer stops along routes in the Pearl District and Downtown.

December 4, 2015 - The Oregonian

Miami Bus

27,000 Passenger Complaints Show Room for Improvement on Miami-Dade's Metrobus

An investigation of passenger complaints provides the starting point for an in-depth investigation of the service provided by Florida's largest transit system.

November 10, 2015 - Miami Herald

BART Squeezing Every Inch of Capacity While Waiting for Reinforcements

BART expanded service in September in a display of the lost art of making the most of what they've got.

October 9, 2015 - San Francisco Chronicle

Metro Expansion Map

D.C. Metro's Mea Culpa: Bad Service Responsible for Declining Ridership

While cities like New York and San Francisco's transit systems are bursting at the seams, D.C. Metro's rail system lost 5 percent of its ridership between 2010 and 2015. This week Metro acknowledged some of its fault in that trend.

October 8, 2015 - The Washington Post

5 Tips for Analyzing Transit Service

Esri offers insights into five new ways to analyze the success of transit service in cities of all kinds.

October 5, 2015 - ESRI

Metro Subway Los Angeles

One Fare Card for All 26 Transit Agencies in Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County has dreamed the impossible dream—and will now provide transit access to all of its transit agencies with the use of one fare card.

September 18, 2015 - Curbed LA

Dallas Puts New Downtown Light Rail Line on the Fast Track

The Dallas City Council has given preliminary approval to a proposed light rail line, currently called D2, which would add service capacity to the downtown core.

September 11, 2015 - The Dallas Morning News

A New Algorithm to Predict Train Delays

An algorithm developed in Sweden adds an extra layer of reliability for rail commuters.

September 10, 2015 - Gizmodo

1984 Olympics

Olympic Hopes Move the Finish Line for Los Angeles Rail Plans

The city of Los Angeles is leveraging its hopes as the U.S. candidate to host the 2024 Olympics to ramp up rail construction to an "extremely aggressive" timetable.

September 10, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

Image of train tracks at Plano, Texas train station

Op-Ed: Dallas' Rail Plans Are Bigger Than All the Rest

The Dallas Morning News thinks it's safe to say that no city in the United States compares to the ambition of Dallas when it comes to planning for rail transportation.

September 7, 2015 - The Dallas Morning News

Uber Driver

Uber Looking More and More Like Transit: Is that Good or Bad for Transit?

A spate of media coverage responded to the news that Uber had released a new feature called "Smart Routes."

August 31, 2015 - TechCrunch

Still Waiting on the Universal Fare Card for U.S. Transit Systems

Some people dream of jet packs, others dream of using a smartphone to navigate between transit systems and modes without needing to stop to buy a new fare card.

August 12, 2015 - CityLab

Broken Bus

How Politics Poisoned U.S. Public Transportation

Vox brings out the subtleties in explaining the underperformance of the U.S. public transportation system.

August 11, 2015 - Vox

Bus Only

Bus Rapid Transit Without Dedicated Lines—Finding Out the Hard Way

San Diego's bus rapid transit line, open for nine months, hasn't improved transit service along El Cajon Boulevard. Critics blame cuts to the original plan.

July 27, 2015 - Voice of San Diego

Report: Nashville's Transit Fit for a Smaller City

The Nashville Metro Transit Authority recently released a "State of the MTA" report, detailing the system's need for additional funding to improve in pace with the needs of a growing populace.

July 22, 2015 - The Tennessean

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