September 6, 2007
News Bits
- Proof that people are already growing more tired of presidential campaigns.
- Just how fat is the fattest city in the nation? Houston zoos are receiving multiple requests from area hospitals to borrow MRI or CT machines.
- The only tenor worth remembering died late last night.
- Just when you thought they were done: Apple came out with a new iPod yesterday.
- "I do a lot of crying in this job."
- Atlanta high school student suspended for 10 days and charged with a felony for bringing Swiss Army Knife on campus.
- Still thinking that light rail is worth it? Ridership on Cap Metro buses dropped 11% this year.
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The "still think light rail is worth it?" crack makes no sense. We aren't building light rail.
If I'm not giving you enough credit and you knew that and were referring to the 2000 light rail referendum, it still doesn't make any sense - 1) there are some pretty good possible explanations in that article that this could just be a random variance (we won't know one way or the other until we have a few more years data) and 2) as cities get more congested that makes the bus service worse and even less competitive with cars - dedicated lane LR on the other hand becomes more competitive.
Light rail has nothing to do with the bus. Light rail would be a great way to get tourists up and down Congress avenue more reliably than a Dillo. That said, I agree that there was a serious drop off due to the weather this year, but my god this school year has been insane. I get on at the third bus stop on the 3, and all the seats were taken this morning when I got on the bus. Last spring there were generally about 5 people on the bus when I got on. Even after the high school students got off there were still only about 25% of the seats open.
I think you just don't see things like high gas prices right away. People have to really get hurt for a really long time before they get fed up and do something about it. Obviously this year it's been telling their kids to take the bus, but there are also a lot more business people like me commuting by bus also.
It really doesn't matter though. Public transit makes people who don't take public transit lives so much better that they should be more than happy to spend the money on it. You're surely not paying as much for Capitol Metro as driving on a toll road. Next time you see a bus, imagine the bus wasn't there and in it's place were between 10 and 50 additional cars. It makes public transportation seem like a really good investment doesn't it?
I agree that I've seen increased ridership this year on Capitol Metro. My bus is always packed, every morning, and at night when I go home I can usually get a seat downtown but a lot of the UT students have to stand in the aisles.
This has nothing to do with anything but the other day two people were on the same bus as I was, a guy and a woman. They had just moved here and they were staring out the bus all pie eyed and wonderous at all the beauty Austin offered when we hit the terrible traffic surrounding UT on Guadalupe. He perks up with a, "Golly honey! We should just take the car! It'd be so much faster than the bus!" not even hinting that he's kidding about how putting one more car on the road is going to relieve congestion and make everyone else move faster.
That just shoves it all out there for me. This mindset that "We'd get through here faster in a car" and fuck-all to common sense that says if more people take the bus, the roads will be less congested with cars. That's when I decided that people who complain about traffic but insist on driving can bitch to the wind because I will not hear it anymore.
It's one of those game theory problems. Everyone would be better off if everyone took the bus, but individually, each person is better off taking a car. I don't think we can count on people being altruistic, so we need to keep making riding the bus (or the train) more attractive so that people selfishly choose the bus over the car. Raising fares and making sick kids wait out in the rain seems like the wrong way to get there.
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/watch/entries/2007/09/04/mueller_bus_riders_want_new_st.html
To me, time is the primary factor. Until we make it possible for people to get where they are going faster by taking public transportation than by driving themselves, most people are going to drive. Dedicated lanes strikes me as the only realistic way to make that happen. If one lane each way on Guadalupe was bus only, then Cap Metro's biggest problem would be getting enough busses.
Thanks, guys, for filling in for me on the light rail thing while I spent the morning deathly ill (still am, but have given up on trying to work for now).
Bus ridership seems up to me as well. I wonder if the UT shuttle thing is responsible for more of the difference than suggested - it would make sense to me given the increasing population of West Campus, and places like the Triangle (where some students will bus, and some will bike) compared to East Riverside (relatively few students would arrive by any means over the bus).
The UT shuttle issue is important; though; UT students get (and will continue to get, I think) free rides on the mainline buses. This makes sense on shuttles (since UT pays directly for most of that cost), but less so on the regular routes, especially when we're about to make poor senior citizens pay a buck each way. How about a nominal fee for Joe Fratboy for equity's sake?
Oh, and you don't have to be faster straight-up to be competitive with driving. But you do have to be at least in the ballpark, and make up for it with reliability (which light rail would have done; but commuter rail can't do, thanks to its reliance on a non-trivial shuttle-bus ride at the work end of the trip).
IE, light rail has pulled people out of their cars in many cities by offering an "almost as fast and much more reliable" ride. It would have done so here, too, if we hadn't caved to Mike Krusee and built the Austin-screwing CedarPark-subsidizing commuter rail line instead. Now, of course, we can't go back (light rail needs the same right-of-way, and the two are not compatible).
To clarify:
Seniors citizens (65+) ride the bus for free and Joe Fratboy doesn't ride the bus, he drives his truck to school.
"Dedicated lanes strikes me as the only realistic way to make that happen. If one lane each way on Guadalupe was bus only, then Cap Metro's biggest problem would be getting enough busses."
Shilli for mayor!
"To clarify:
Seniors citizens (65+) ride the bus for free and Joe Fratboy doesn't ride the bus, he drives his truck to school."
Yes, but a 62-year old is gonna pay a buck each way; and Joe Fratboy does _indeed_ ride the bus (you people who think UT students "drive to school" crack me up. A few do, sure, but parking is so difficult and so expensive that it really cuts down on the frivolous driving. Some of them drive closer in and then take the bus the rest of the way, to be sure).
If you all truely love your LANCE, y'all could sweat a little and ride a bike. Reminder: The less Lance gear you wear, the less of a douche you'll look.
Y'all wouldn't want to end up like Houstonians, calling the local zoo asking for elephant sized MRI scanners?! Would you?
What's the point in moving to the city's center and not heave-hoing yourself to work/play?
"Parking is so difficult and so expensive that it really cuts down on frivolous driving." No frivolous driving? Have you been on Guadalupe in the afternoon since school's started? Three weeks ago there definitely wasn't that much traffic.
Room 710 has done a lot of crying with George W. Bush's job, too.
guest #11: I'm on Guadalupe almost every day - closest major street to my house. Most of that extra driving is actually faculty/staff, who DO get access to a decent amount of parking close enough to be worth driving to.
UT students get (and will continue to get, I think) free rides on the mainline buses. This makes sense on shuttles (since UT pays directly for most of that cost), but less so on the regular routes, especially when we're about to make poor senior citizens pay a buck each way. How about a nominal fee for Joe Fratboy for equity's sake?
I'm pretty sure a portion UT students' shuttle fees go directly to CapMetro to subsidize their regular-route bus rides. So Joe Fratboy & Susie Sorority are not getting "free rides," it's just paid in a lump sum through fees.
But I agree with Shilli that CapMetro has got to speed up their mainline service to make it more attractive to commuters. It takes about one hour for the #1M bus to go from 2nd & Congress to Braker & Metric, an average of about 7 mph. Pathetic.
I'm pretty sure a portion UT students' shuttle fees go directly to CapMetro to subsidize their regular-route bus rides. So Joe Fratboy & Susie Sorority are not getting "free rides," it's just paid in a lump sum through fees.
Actually, UT's payments were less than the cost of providing shuttle service, if I'm remembering correctly.
As for speeding up mainline service - they're really doing everything there they can do (and, no, Rapid Bus won't help - it's just the #101 with a useless doodad and a shinier wrapping). Fewer stops means less access (the stops are already far enough apart that any more distance would be a disaster); when they're primarily serving the transit-dependent, access is more important than speed. The #101 works for those who prioritize speed more than access (as well as the 98x series buses).
There just aren't any magic bullets out there that can make city buses run 'well', by choice commuter standards. That's why every city which truly wants to get car-drivers on transit leads with light rail, not by "running buses more often" or for free or all the other retarded suggestions you hear from people.
Note: I spent this entire comment _defending_ Capital Metro. Remember this day.
Joe Fratboy & Susie Sorority don't ride regular UT busses...they have Land Rovers and Hummers and BMWs.
Remember?
This town does have an incredibly shitty mass transit system though. I am sure that doens't help the ridership issue.
guest #11: I'm on Guadalupe almost every day - closest major street to my house. Most of that extra driving is actually faculty/staff, who DO get access to a decent amount of parking close enough to be worth driving to.
I don't think so. I watch the people in the cars from the window of the 101 and while there are a few older faces, the majority of the people driving in look to be about 20.
This town has a wonderful mass transit system. It's inexpensive and safe and that's better than I can say for 99% of the American mass transit systems I've personally ridden. It ain't no Metro or Underground, but it's pretty damn good. There is a lot of room for improvement and I think raising fares, making UT students pay to ride (1/2 price like ACC and AISD students, etc) and spending less money on their site and more money on additional routes is the way to go about that. There are a lot of long routes, and almost pointless routes, and places where it shouldn't take two transfers and an hour to get downtown but it does. They need to improve those areas, but I think to call it "incredibly shitty" is incredibly unfair and speaks volumes of your inexperience with Capitol Metro.
guest #17: I call bullshit. Sorry; I live right next door to a duplex full of undergrads, and precisely zero of them apparently drive to campus.
I have to agree with #17. Most of those people in cars look to be of college age.
Just because your neighbors don't drive to class doesn't mean that their classmates ride the bus or walk or bike to UT. I am completely serious. Go stand at the bus stop in front of the Co-Op from 5:00 to 7:00 and watch the cars driving by. Almost all of them are full of students with the occasional parent & kids or professor.
"Frivolous" driving. Did you miss the modifier? Some students live in areas where the shuttle isn't an option, and thus, their driving is non-frivolous; but around here, shuttles are a great option and most students take them (or bike). But I say again: the majority of the vehicles going down Guadalupe are not obviously undergrads during rush hour.
Perhaps that 11% decrease represents some of the people who have switched to bicycles?
Seth
Anyone who sits around watching traffic all day should know that a sizable amount of the campus-area congestion is a result of students driving to campus. It's expensive to park, but not nearly as expensive as the SUV and apartment at The Venue that mom and dad are paying for.
heyzeus,
The problem with your theory is that students living at The Venue can't actually park much closer than The Venue to campus. That's Mary Gay Maxwell thinking right there.
mdahmus,
I recognize you are much more familiar with the topic than myself, but, did you go to UT or ever live on campus as a student? heyzues has got a point.
Students, waking up late and hungover or just plan lazy, would rather drive (or more the case, get someone to drop them off) than walk.
Hell, I can list off people that I know that live in Hyde Park and drive to campus; who live in West Campus and drive to campus. A guy I know drives from 32nd street to campus. I even knew a girl who lived in The Villas and drove to campus.
You said parking is "too expensive" or "too difficult," I think you underestimate to frivolous spending of the student population at UT or even the parents who shell out money so their daughter can drive their SUV to campus because it's safer, etc.
pd,
Once again: it doesn't make any sense for somebody in West Campus to drive to campus. You may, it's sure, have a few pathological cases, but on balance, even rich UT frat boys will figure out after a while that they only got a block closer to campus by driving.
No, seriously, you don't get it. A shit ton of undergrads drive to campus. The $500 parking tag or slight inconvenience of finding a spot is no obstacle. Also, many UT students now live up in the Arboretum area or Riverside. They don't all live in West Campus or anywhere walking distance to campus. Just admit you're wrong for once and move on.
Hey guys, nobody is living at The Venue. It's butt ugly and completely empty.
"The problem with your theory is that students living at The Venue can't actually park much closer than The Venue to campus."
Uh no. This was true 10 years ago but UT has added a few large garages in the past 10 years. I can think of one behind the stadium, one by Jesteriffic and another new one by the RLM that have been built within the past maybe 7 years. They've probably added more since then.
And yes, most students probably couldn't afford to live in West Campus (unless it was at a co-op) even if West Campus had space for them. The ones that can afford to live there and find an apartment there probably can afford the parking permits or garage fees too.
"Fewer stops means less access (the stops are already far enough apart that any more distance would be a disaster); when they're primarily serving the transit-dependent, access is more important than speed. The #101 works for those who prioritize speed more than access (as well as the 98x series buses)."
One of the reasons I chose to live in the apartment complex I rent out of was because it was near a 101 stop. What's disgusting about the 101 is that it had very few stops until the Triangle opened up and then, all of a sudden, there was a new stop at the Triangle even though there's another stop at 51st where a lot of blind bus riders get on. So after the introduction of the Triangle stop, I guess the Gables caught wind of that and decided they needed a stop too. Couple of months later - voila! - a stop at the Gables, even though it's a coupel of blocks from the stop at the Triangle. Pretty soon, there will be a 101 stop at the Venue I guess and then maybe they'll have to put in a "Limited" stops bus route that serves the high end apartment complex / condo market.
Yes, the Venue really does look like shit for a $1500/month one bedroom apartment. Glad they could afford the grey paint.
guest #30: The big garages on MLK aren't arguably any closer to campus center than is The Venue.
mdahmus, they are if someone is lazy and spoiled and looking to get a teaching degree.
So geography is variable now? You guys just can't let this one go... Check google maps for 2815 Guadalupe, and then compare to one of the parking garages on MLK, for distance to 24th/University or somesuch.
Why are you acting like there aren't 40 acres to the 40 acres? You're acting like UT only boarders Dean Keaton or something.
It's irrelevant whether an MLK garage or The Venue is infinitesimally closer to campus. There are 50,000 students at UT and they don't live at the Venue. More and more they don't live in west campus or hyde park, either. And they drive, to campus, every day. More parking garages on campus have helped more of them drive. This is obvious to everyone in Austin.
No, heyzeus, more and more they DO live in West Campus. Have you noticed all the construction - replacing old rundown 2-story apartments with new, much taller, stuff?
Yes, if you measure two years ago versus thirty years ago, more students drove to campus two years ago than 30 years back. But the fact is that more students are moving back close these days; and the closer they are, the less likely it is they will drive.
And multiple people are telling you that it doesn't matter how close they live, students will still drive to UT because they can if daddy bought them a class C parking pass.