Does Tarrant County's transit agency, "The T", get it when it comes to multi-modal transportation involving bicycles? Certainly looks promising.
When another area transit agency unveiled their bike racks on buses, the agency's president went on television proclaiming how you could now use a bus to take your bicycle to the park. He didn't get it, even though many of his employees do.
Using a bicycle as part of a bus trip extends the capture basin for bus lines 200 to 400%. People will walk 1/4 mile to a bus stop, or from a bus stop to their work place. Using a bicycle, people will extend that distance up to a mile. In a low population density region like DFW, extending the capture basin for riders effectively increase the available population density, and helps to eliminate the automobile cold-starts that create much of the air pollution we experience in our area.
I encourage you to try the racks on both DART and The T buses.
6 comments:
Smart people with bikes will realize that the bus usually just slows them down. I've now had a "T/DART" unlimited use pass for four years, and have only had occasion to ride a "T" bus when I did Tarrant County jury duty. I have NEVER found an occasion that a DART bus would have saved me time to get anywhere I wanted to go. I DID ride DART light rail once, just to see what it was like, but it would not have saved me time either.
FWIW, the nearest DART bus stop to me is at the DFW long-term south parking. The nearest "T" bus stop to me is at the NE Mall/Richland Hills TRE Station.
The TRE is why I keep the pass. It gets me to downtown Dallas or downtown FW quicker than I can get there by bike alone. I LOVE the TRE, but I cannot justify the level of taxpayer subsidy for it. Still, I'll use it until people smarten up.
The "T" service to FW Alliance Airport is pretty much between worthless and nonexistant. Under the BEST of circumstances, I can ride my bike there at least as quick as I could multimode.
Forgot to mention - I did that jury duty BEFORE I got the pass so I've actually never ridden a bus since getting a pass, DESPITE them being free to me. I think it is no wonder these agencies are floundering...
@Steve wrote:
"I DID ride DART light rail once, just to see what it was like, but it would not have saved me time either."
That is simply incorrect. As an example, it takes thirty minutes for the Red Line to reach Akard Station (downtown Dallas) from Arapaho Center Station. The same distance takes just under an hour for me to travel by bike, alone.
I'd be interested to know the route you traveled where you found cycling was as fast or faster than the train.
When I go into Dallas, I routinely use their route planner.
Unlike your case, since my start point is the TRE Centrepoint Station, I must either wait for the light rail after the TRE reaches Union Station or, riding my bike, I can just go. Since I mainly go to Dallas on Saturdays, the transfer connections are rarely efficient. Actually, if I am going to the Dallas library, it is even faster to walk than to wait for the bus after arriving via TRE.
Velociped is not factoring in the "dead time" when transfers are involved. An hour bike ride beats a 30 minute light rail ride combined with a 25 minute wait before getting ON, and a 10 minute ride at its conclusion.
I left nothing out in my consideration or comments, though you seem to have neglected to include quite a bit of relevant information.
"The T" is advertising BTWD.
BTWD is on a Friday ...during the work week. If your criticism of the efficacy of mixed mode transit pertains to a weekend, rather than a weekday, you ought to have indicate as much. Also, given the different timetables, such a comparison is specious. During the week, at peak usage — which is when the majority of people are commuting — the example you provide would not apply.
That said, I'll agree that it is not an efficient use of service to take a train three stops — especially when they are so closely spaced as those in the CBD. Then again, why would anyone do that unless inclement weather were involved.
The idea of mixed mode transit only makes sense for distances in excess of 8-12km. Almost without exception, anything shorter than that will be more efficient by bike, alone.
You stated, "I DID ride DART light rail once..." Once? Your follow-up comments seem to suggest otherwise. Nevertheless, a single datum does not allow one to draw a reasonable or accurate conclusion.
BTW, the "10 minute ride at its conclusion" would still be a ten minute ride at its conclusion.
Once.
I have checked the schedules many times, however. And 10 minutes is only 10 minutes if the vector addition is nearly colinear, in which case you'd get off at a different stop. Going directly to the destination may save much of that 10 minutes.
FWIW, sticking to the T. They have ONE trip daily to Fort Worth Alliance Airport and it arrives there before 7AM. Twelve hours later, they run a bus back to downtown Fort Worth. Is this serious transit? No, and it's because this is the least densely populated major metro area.
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