The Magic (empty) bus...

[integrityticket]

Could it be possible that a part of the reason for low ridership on the Chapel Hill Transit bus is because Chatham Transit Network is also running the same route?  I wonder what the CTN numbers are for the same routes? 

Haven't heard of this - URL?

If it is true it's even more reason to shut down the duplicitous magic bus.

[truedemocrat]

Could it be possible that a part of the reason for low ridership on the Chapel Hill Transit bus is because Chatham Transit Network is also running the same route?  I wonder what the CTN numbers are for the same routes? 

Haven't heard of this - URL?

If it is true it's even more reason to shut down the duplicitous magic bus.

Here's the thread.  The schedule for Chatham Transit Network was posted by chatham native.
http://chatham-county-nc.com/bulletinboard/index.php/topic,14577.30.html

[integrityticket]

Thanks for the info. I pulled the appropriate info out to post here for reference.

From chatham native on Reply #36 on: August 17, 2009, 10:56:50 PM
First time poster....Long time reader.....

Chatham Transit Network has a 16 passenger bus with room for two additional passengers in wheelchairs that goes to Chapel Hill 3 times a day 5 days a week.  Unlike the CHT bus,  the CTN route provides transportation to residents of Siler City as well as Pittsboro for the same price.  (CTN has an additional 16 passenger bus that can accommodate up to 4 passengers in wheelchairs, a 24 passenger bus and a 10 passenger bus in their fleet.) The employees of CTN are hard working and dedicated to providing the best service they can for probably less money than some of you pay in vet bills. So I hope that everyone that supported the "magic" bus can look at themselves in the mirror after throwing some of their neighbors under it.

BTW,  Chatham Transit will be starting a cross county route 8/24/09.
7:00/11:00/3:00  - Siler City Walmart
7:30/11:30/3:30  - Pittsboro Lowe's
7:45/11:45/3:45 - Galloway Ridge
7:50/11:50/3:50  - Fearrington Village
8:00/12:00/4:00  - Lowe's Foods (cole park)
8:15/12:15/4:15  - UNC ACC Building
8:25 /12:25/4:25 - UNC Student Union
8:28/12:28/4:28  - SECU Raleigh st. Chapel Hill
8:40/12:40/4:40  - Lowe's Foods (cole park)
8:50/12:50/4:50 - Fearrington Village
8:55/12:55/4:55  - Galloway Ridge
9:10/1:10/5:10  - Pittsboro Lowe's
9:35/1:35/5:35  - Walmart

The Chapel Hill/Unc route that is listed on CTN's website is the way the route is currently ran. 

Could it be possible that a part of the reason for low ridership on the Chapel Hill Transit bus is because Chatham Transit Network is also running the same route?  I wonder what the CTN numbers are for the same routes? 

Haven't heard of this - URL?

If it is true it's even more reason to shut down the duplicitous magic bus.

Here's the thread.  The schedule for Chatham Transit Network was posted by chatham native.
http://chatham-county-nc.com/bulletinboard/index.php/topic,14577.30.html

[Jabberwock]

This is a wonderful route, too.  It does, however, stop only in places where there are large parking areas.  The only drawback to that is that a potential passenger would still very likely need a vehicle or a ride to the bus stop.  The best thing about the bus that stops in town is that it stops in town.  Now, I know there aren't crowds of people living in town who are clamboring to get on this bus.  Over time, it makes living in town more attractive, since a vehicle is less a necessity, and more of a luxury.

[integrityticket]

Over time, it makes living in town more attractive, since a vehicle is less a necessity, and more of a luxury.

Maybe in about 10 to 25 years. However, right now it is an unrealistic and very expensive proposition.

[Populist]

IT-
How do you define what a good public investment is?

Also, how would you define success?   (Killing every good idea before it can be successful cannot be a part of the definition.)

[mary51802]

Over time, it makes living in town more attractive, since a vehicle is less a necessity, and more of a luxury.

Maybe in about 10 to 25 years. However, right now it is an unrealistic and very expensive proposition.

It has to start at some time. Twenty years ago they said twenty years from now.

[Voller4Mayor]

Dale Olbrich and Chatham Transit support and complement the Pittsboro Express service and vice versa. Mary is correct, this issue has been kicked down the road too many times in the past. My good friend Margaret Bryant Pollard once told me she tried to get a bus set up between Chatham County and UNC in the late 1990's, but the whole process stalled. Today we are riding transit along with other sensible ideas whose time has come and we need to patiently support these projects.
Best Regards,
Mayor Randy Voller

[WolfpackFan]

Dale Olbrich and Chatham Transit support and complement the Pittsboro Express service and vice versa. Mary is correct, this issue has been kicked down the road too many times in the past. My good friend Margaret Bryant Pollard once told me she tried to get a bus set up between Chatham County and UNC in the late 1990's, but the whole process stalled. Today we are riding transit along with other sensible ideas whose time has come and we need to patiently support these projects.
Best Regards,
Mayor Randy Voller

If the time has truely come, why are taxpayers paying for it instead of a long list of riders?  As a developer, you would not build an entire neighborhood if only one person was moving to PBO, believing that one day, many years from now, you may sale more, would you?  Why do things like this make sense to business owners, but not government?

[integrityticket]

The only time horizon Randolph is worried about is the one between now and when he is ready to run for state senate. Taxpayers be damned. It's not his $360,000 he's spending.

[Voller4Mayor]

When appropriate and possible I believe private business and government should cooperate and work together---especially when local government can support locally owned businesses and invest in our future.

I consider transit to be an investment while some apparently consider it to be an unnecessary cost or expense. We differ on this point; however, I will add that at yesterday's joint meeting of the elected boards in Chatham County, the Chair of the EDC, Joe Glasson, was very excited and supportive of transit and the new Pittsboro Express service. (Joe is a lifelong Republican, a retired senior executive from Allstate, and later a founder of a large equity fund. Joe Glasson is a "private market guy" yet he understands why this is an "investment" and a critical component to our long term future.)

And Joe's stance is very similar to other Republicans in the 4th district, too, like Augustus Cho and Melodie Parish. In fact, many of the elected officials I serve with on various boards are Republicans and they support transit, so I believe its time has come and it is a bipartisan idea.

Best Regards,
Mayor Randy Voller

[WolfpackFan]

When appropriate and possible I believe private business and government should cooperate and work together---especially when local government can support locally owned businesses and invest in our future.

I consider transit to be an investment while some apparently consider it to be an unnecessary cost or expense. We differ on this point; however, I will add that at yesterday's joint meeting of the elected boards in Chatham County, the Chair of the EDC, Joe Glasson, was very excited and supportive of transit and the new Pittsboro Express service. (Joe is a lifelong Republican, a retired senior executive from Allstate, and later a founder of a large equity fund. Joe Glasson is a "private market guy" yet he understands why this is an "investment" and a critical component to our long term future.)

And Joe's stance is very similar to other Republicans in the 4th district, too, like Augustus Cho and Melodie Parish. In fact, many of the elected officials I serve with on various boards are Republicans and they support transit, so I believe its time has come and it is a bipartisan idea.

Best Regards,
Mayor Randy Voller

What payoff will we see from our investment?

[Voller4Mayor]

I would imagine in no particular order:

Enhanced property values
Wage increases
Lower unemployment
More workers covered by insurance (better jobs)
Greater velocity of capital in the local market (multiplier effect)
Increased sales tax revenue
Better air quality
New businesses created in Pittsboro because we have transit
Greater demand on properties because we have a link to UNC
Less cars on the road
Less need to widen 15-501 (The initial widening cost over fifty million dollars, perhaps more.)
Better productivity
Opportunities to link to Sanford, Raleigh and Siler City
Greater opportunities for mobility
Enhanced prestige for the Town and County (goodwill)
Less need more asphalt = better water quality
More opportunities to attract the "creative class" and "entrepreneurs"
Less stress

Certainly not comprehensive, but a start.
Best Regards,
Mayor Randy Voller

[Silk_Hope]

I would imagine in no particular order:

Enhanced property values (for who?)
Wage increases (for Pittsboro workers or Chapel Hill? How will it increase wages?)
Lower unemployment (Less employment in Chatham)
More workers covered by insurance (better jobs)  ((In Chapel Hill))
Greater velocity of capital in the local market (multiplier effect) or Reversed to Orange County.
Increased sales tax revenue (How?)
Better air quality (yeah, buses are clean especially when they run empty up and down 15-501
New businesses created in Pittsboro because we have transit (Rethink this, you have a 1 route bus, you don't have transit)
Greater demand on properties because we have a link to UNC (It has always been there, it is called a highway)
Less cars on the road (Not really, many people carpool already and a bus tends to tie up the flow of traffic)
Less need to widen 15-501 (The initial widening cost over fifty million dollars, perhaps more.) ((Will be done anyway))
Better productivity (How, workers will be on a bus schedule losing flexibility)
Opportunities to link to Sanford, Raleigh and Siler City (No jobs in Sanford and Siler) There are shorter ways to Chapel Hill than 15-501 from Siler.)
Greater opportunities for mobility (actually less, people are schedule dependant)
Enhanced prestige for the Town and County (goodwill) (How, it is a bus, a wasteful one at that.)
Less need more asphalt = better water quality (That is stretching it)
More opportunities to attract the "creative class" and "entrepreneurs" (Entrepreneurs ned their cars to make business calls)
Less stress (Have to hurry, don't want to miss the bus...)

Certainly not comprehensive, but a start. (That needs to be terminated)
Best Regards,
Mayor Randy Voller

[integrityticket]

This is truly a "magic" bus. 

You forgot to add

End world hunger
Reverse global warming

I would imagine in no particular order:

Enhanced property values
Wage increases
Lower unemployment
More workers covered by insurance (better jobs)
Greater velocity of capital in the local market (multiplier effect)
Increased sales tax revenue
Better air quality
New businesses created in Pittsboro because we have transit
Greater demand on properties because we have a link to UNC
Less cars on the road
Less need to widen 15-501 (The initial widening cost over fifty million dollars, perhaps more.)
Better productivity
Opportunities to link to Sanford, Raleigh and Siler City
Greater opportunities for mobility
Enhanced prestige for the Town and County (goodwill)
Less need more asphalt = better water quality
More opportunities to attract the "creative class" and "entrepreneurs"
Less stress

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