Omahacritic wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:45 pm
The stop at 10th and Farnam ... has been a big hole in the ground for over 60 days. Going on 90.
There is no stop at 10th and Farnam sir or madam. Assuming you are speaking of the 10th and Douglas station, you would be exaggerating because the platform is clearly as far along as most of the others that are under construction at this point, i.e, almost done.
Yes, Douglas. And no, not exaggerating. If anything, understating the length of time.
Oh, some concrete has been poured, but the same hole has been in the same spot. Ask anyone who has to try and cross over to South side of the bridge when walking.
And the Dodge St .. stops ... only slightly further. But at least they don’t need barricades to keep people from falling into holes.
Small news maybe, but Metro is essentially deserting the Benson Park TC that was only built about 12 years ago. Probably for the better, as the BPTC never really was effective. They also will extend route 14, potentially as a dabble into the burbs, but probably more so to add a stop or two for the apartments at 108th and Ida.
http://www.rideorbt.com/construction/
I still don't get why 33rd, and Park Ave "won't feature full ORBT stations". But looks like all stations are under construction or complete, so they might get the thing up and running by the time the leaves start to change.
Busguy2010 wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:46 amhttp://www.rideorbt.com/construction/
I still don't get why 33rd, and Park Ave "won't feature full ORBT stations". But looks like all stations are under construction or complete, so they might get the thing up and running by the time the leaves start to change.
"Additional amenities are planned"? It must be for station provisions for a streetcar! Hah. Seriously though, I am glad to see the canopies going up along Dodge. I am hoping they can hit the Fall rollout so there are a couple months of OK weather for interested parties to test it out.
Would be good to see it rolling. Lord knows after the nonstop closure of lanes on Dodge and Farnam the public needs to see something besides promises.
BusGuy tell me this ... how is the vehicle supposed to get from 10th and Douglas over to Dodge? The stop is on the far right side ... a left turn on Dodge is nigh impossible as it requires crossing 4 lanes of Eastbound traffic. The lanes going down to 8th on right side of 480 ramp is closed due to the Forever Project. Getting over to the left side of ramp will allow only 50’ to cross over 3 lanes. And even then, there is no access to Westbound Dodge.
Omahacritic wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 1:49 pm
Would be good to see it rolling. Lord knows after the nonstop closure of lanes on Dodge and Farnam the public needs to see something besides promises.
BusGuy tell me this ... how is the vehicle supposed to get from 10th and Douglas over to Dodge? The stop is on the far right side ... a left turn on Dodge is nigh impossible as it requires crossing 4 lanes of Eastbound traffic. The lanes going down to 8th on right side of 480 ramp is closed due to the Forever Project. Getting over to the left side of ramp will allow only 50’ to cross over 3 lanes. And even then, there is no access to Westbound Dodge.
The plan is there is a non-revenue loop to turn around using Douglas, 8th, Farnam, and 10th. I don't know how potentially closed lanes due to the park would affect that. Maybe they will be open by fall. Or maybe there will be some way to allow all directions to stay red while the bus goes through. to cut down to the left lane of Douglas, allowing it to hook back up with 8th and turn north to Capitol Anyway, the reason why they put it at 10th & Douglas is because there is a plan to extend it into CB at some point.
Busguy2010 wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:46 amhttp://www.rideorbt.com/construction/
I still don't get why 33rd, and Park Ave "won't feature full ORBT stations". But looks like all stations are under construction or complete, so they might get the thing up and running by the time the leaves start to change.
Well, here's the official explanation. Not that exciting, but here it is (taken from ORBT Dispatch email update):
ORBT Stops are locations where a stop is warranted but stations cannot be built because of space or floodplain restrictions.
ORBT Stations have raised platforms, canopies, bike racks, a variety of technology amenities. ORBT Stops will be identified with branded ORBT signs. And rest easy — ORBT drivers will stop for riders at both stations and stops.
Stops are located at 33rd Street eastbound, Park Avenue westbound, and on both sides of 77th Street. The 77th Street stop will connect ORBT directly with the Keystone Trail — extending the benefits of bus rapid transit across our trail system.
Metro is working on amenities that can fit within the spatial limits of ORBT Stops.
I accept the reasoning behind the 77th street stops, as they weren't part of the original plan, but I'm pretty disappointed about the 33rd, and Park Ave stops. They had a thorough "engineering review" of sorts prior to any construction that detailed the dimensions and specifics of utilities and all that at each of the stops, and somehow near the finish line, they've found out that it wouldn't work? This thing was a home run, but now may only be a triple. I hope they plan on doing something to bring those stops up the the standards of the stations at some time, somewhere along the way, otherwise it's going to feel incomplete.
stadsborgare wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 11:13 am
If not a full canopy et al, couldn't they at least fix the curb part so it is level with the bus boarding, and maybe put up a sign?
At the very least, I feel like they'd have to fix the curb for level boarding. Maybe because of the floodplain they can't have the heated pad or any other electrical... I still kinda don't buy it. If you can have a gas station within 50 feet of the creek, I don't see what kind of crazy engineering feat would prevent an ORBT stop. At the very least, they have to fix the curb and have a sign.
I bet on the south side 33rd street stop, Mutual of Omaha doesn't want to relinquish the space. As you can see, there is more actual "space" on the south side of Dodge, than on the north side, where there is currently an ORBT station.
And there's got to be some sort of other property issues at Park Ave. OR grade issues, since they would probably have to build a retaining wall, as this is pretty much the only location around Park Ave that would work. Not really a problem a little more money couldn't solve.
Yesterday I did a "dry run" of sorts by parking my car at Westroads and taking the 2 to downtown. Not that I needed to do that, because I'm well familiar with the route; but during the journey I liked imagining the convenience of taking ORBT to a concert or sporting event downtown - or to anything else along the route like the Blackstone District, the annual Memorial Park Concert, an event at UNO perhaps, Jazz on the Green, Dundee Theatre, and innumerous good restaurants along the route - and having no worries whatsoever about looking for parking, paying for parking, or walking the long trek to and from my parking spot if I didn't wish to pay through the nose for parking.
stadsborgare wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 4:39 pm
Yesterday I did a "dry run" of sorts by parking my car at Westroads and taking the 2 to downtown. Not that I needed to do that, because I'm well familiar with the route; but during the journey I liked imagining the convenience of taking ORBT to a concert or sporting event downtown - or to anything else along the route like the Blackstone District, the annual Memorial Park Concert, an event at UNO perhaps, Jazz on the Green, Dundee Theatre, and innumerous good restaurants along the route - and having no worries whatsoever about looking for parking, paying for parking, or walking the long trek to and from my parking spot if I didn't wish to pay through the nose for parking.
To be honest there's not a lot of difference in practicality between the 2 and ORBT. All these things could have been done for several years on the 2, and even better since 2015.
I've ridden the 2 after dark recently and depending on if the driver cares to stick to the schedule or not, they can get from end to end in about 21minutes. During rush hour I'm sure it's a different story. The 2 is currently scheduled to take 37 minutes between 12th & Dodge and Westroads during the rush periods. It will be pretty incredible if ORBT can shave that down to less than 30.
Last edited by Busguy2010 on Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
stadsborgare wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 4:39 pm
Yesterday I did a "dry run" of sorts by parking my car at Westroads and taking the 2 to downtown. Not that I needed to do that, because I'm well familiar with the route; but during the journey I liked imagining the convenience of taking ORBT to a concert or sporting event downtown - or to anything else along the route like the Blackstone District, the annual Memorial Park Concert, an event at UNO perhaps, Jazz on the Green, Dundee Theatre, and innumerous good restaurants along the route - and having no worries whatsoever about looking for parking, paying for parking, or walking the long trek to and from my parking spot if I didn't wish to pay through the nose for parking.
Not having to find parking in areas like Blackstone or paying for parking downtown should make ORBT a nice option for West O'ers who want to do things downtown/midtown. Did you keep track of how long the 2 took to get downtown? I am trying to find info on the ORBT route, but is there an estimation about how long a trip end to end would take?
stadsborgare wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 4:39 pm
Yesterday I did a "dry run" of sorts by parking my car at Westroads and taking the 2 to downtown. Not that I needed to do that, because I'm well familiar with the route; but during the journey I liked imagining the convenience of taking ORBT to a concert or sporting event downtown - or to anything else along the route like the Blackstone District, the annual Memorial Park Concert, an event at UNO perhaps, Jazz on the Green, Dundee Theatre, and innumerous good restaurants along the route - and having no worries whatsoever about looking for parking, paying for parking, or walking the long trek to and from my parking spot if I didn't wish to pay through the nose for parking.
Not having to find parking in areas like Blackstone or paying for parking downtown should make ORBT a nice option for West O'ers who want to do things downtown/midtown. Did you keep track of how long the 2 took to get downtown? I am trying to find info on the ORBT route, but is there an estimation about how long a trip end to end would take?
These options have existed for years with the 2. ORBT is purely just to make it more palatable for new riders IMO. During the day, the 2 is scheduled for 37 minutes, and at night it is 28 minutes end to end. The claim I saw in the preliminary ORBT plans was 26 minutes, and that didn't specify if that estimate was on or off periods. To go from Westroads to Downtown in 26 minutes during rush times with stops would be pretty incredible. I'm curious to see how the ORBT schedule looks.
Like I said above, I've ridden the 2 at night recently and got from end to end in 21 minutes, but that was with zero traffic, maybe one red light, maybe 4 stops, and the driver was trail blazing.
ORBT will be stopping 12 times, luckily it shouldn't be stopping at lights. It will be a miracle if they can get the travel time down under 30 minutes. We'll see.
Busguy2010 wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:14 pm
These options have existed for years with the 2. ORBT is purely just to make it more palatable for new riders IMO. During the day, the 2 is scheduled for 37 minutes, and at night it is 28 minutes end to end. The claim I saw in the preliminary ORBT plans was 26 minutes, and that didn't specify if that estimate was on or off periods. To go from Westroads to Downtown in 26 minutes during rush times with stops would be pretty incredible. I'm curious to see how the ORBT schedule looks.
Like I said above, I've ridden the 2 at night recently and got from end to end in 21 minutes, but that was with zero traffic, maybe one red light, maybe 4 stops, and the driver was trail blazing.
ORBT will be stopping 12 times, luckily it shouldn't be stopping at lights. It will be a miracle if they can get the travel time down under 30 minutes. We'll see.
Okay, sure, these options always existed with the 2, and so what I think makes ORBT more palatable for new riders is that the new system will have (mostly) lighted and visible stops (especially at night), leaving no doubt to the novice where boarding takes place, and providing a little more perceived security; the payment system will be easier and more efficient; travel times will be made more visible to those who are not sure how late the last bus runs (important!), all so that a person who doesn't ride the bus all the time doesn't have to wonder where to catch it, or when, and where does it go, because it will all be laid out rather than be an insider's secret.
Don't get me wrong, I've wanted this thing since back in 2012(?) when the Central Omaha Transportation Analysis was first going on. BUT, I do acknowledge that the bus itself probably won't be much of a travel-time advantage. The infrastructure is the significant improvement here, which is really great. But I don't want to act like there's things you can do with ORBT that you couldn't do with the 2.
Busguy2010 wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:14 pm
These options have existed for years with the 2. ORBT is purely just to make it more palatable for new riders IMO. During the day, the 2 is scheduled for 37 minutes, and at night it is 28 minutes end to end. The claim I saw in the preliminary ORBT plans was 26 minutes, and that didn't specify if that estimate was on or off periods. To go from Westroads to Downtown in 26 minutes during rush times with stops would be pretty incredible. I'm curious to see how the ORBT schedule looks.
Like I said above, I've ridden the 2 at night recently and got from end to end in 21 minutes, but that was with zero traffic, maybe one red light, maybe 4 stops, and the driver was trail blazing.
ORBT will be stopping 12 times, luckily it shouldn't be stopping at lights. It will be a miracle if they can get the travel time down under 30 minutes. We'll see.
Okay, sure, these options always existed with the 2, and so what I think makes ORBT more palatable for new riders is that the new system will have (mostly) lighted and visible stops (especially at night), leaving no doubt to the novice where boarding takes place, and providing a little more perceived security; the payment system will be easier and more efficient; travel times will be made more visible to those who are not sure how late the last bus runs (important!), all so that a person who doesn't ride the bus all the time doesn't have to wonder where to catch it, or when, and where does it go, because it will all be laid out rather than be an insider's secret.
It will depend on passenger training. The ORBT has to be run like a London bus, stop ...people get off, get on, and go. No lollygagging.
Displaying transit times and information at the canopies will be good.
12 stops ... is it mandatory stopping whether passengers want on/off or not?
They should have built a 2 lane bridge vet 72nd st for this thing. Could have saved some time. Expense be damned!
Looks like N 42nd & Dodge, S Park Ave & Douglas, S 24th & Douglas will be going up tomorrow or the next day. They put up N 20th & Douglas today. By weeks end that should make for 16 of 23 "station sites" completed. Been a while since I got a visual on the progress at S 72nd - S 90th, so potentially they are ready to go. This thing is getting close.
mistergutierrez wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:26 pm24th and Douglas today. Notice that the truck has many other identification posts for other stations.
Nice! Thank you. It looks like that would be enough of the obelisks to complete the system. The canopies are a different story, but good to know all the obelisks are in Omaha.
Busguy2010 wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:01 am
Looks like N 42nd & Dodge, S Park Ave & Douglas, S 24th & Douglas will be going up tomorrow or the next day. They put up N 20th & Douglas today. By weeks end that should make for 16 of 23 "station sites" completed. Been a while since I got a visual on the progress at S 72nd - S 90th, so potentially they are ready to go. This thing is getting close.
What is your definition of “completed”?
Several locations are close to complete but everyone I’ve seen still have utility stubs, some have cones. Many have canopies and a bus certainly could load and unload passengers from most I’ve seen.
Would be nice to see one ready to be lit at night with signage installed and operating.
Omahacritic wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:34 pm
What is your definition of “completed”?
Several locations are close to complete but everyone I’ve seen still have utility stubs, some have cones. Many have canopies and a bus certainly could load and unload passengers from most I’ve seen.
Would be nice to see one ready to be lit at night with signage installed and operating.
Complete enough I saw a dude sleeping under the one at 42nd & Dodge yesterday.
Now there are only 6 that aren't complete, and I'd expect those to go pretty quickly. Assuming they will complete installation of the rest of them, then have the electrical crews come in and do their jobs in one sweep.
It's hard not to believe this thing could be up and running before the official start of Fall.
Omahacritic wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:34 pm
What is your definition of “completed”?
Several locations are close to complete but everyone I’ve seen still have utility stubs, some have cones. Many have canopies and a bus certainly could load and unload passengers from most I’ve seen.
Would be nice to see one ready to be lit at night with signage installed and operating.
Complete enough I saw a dude sleeping under the one at 42nd & Dodge yesterday.
Now there are only 6 that aren't complete, and I'd expect those to go pretty quickly. Assuming they will complete installation of the rest of them, then have the electrical crews come in and do their jobs in one sweep.
It's hard not to believe this thing could be up and running before the official start of Fall.
I just communicated with a METRO employee this week about other issues and he stated that the project start date is still for October. There is a lot of progress though being made and I think the stations are looking good.
ita wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2020 4:09 pm
I just communicated with a METRO employee this week about other issues and he stated that the project start date is still for October. There is a lot of progress though being made and I think the stations are looking good.
Cool, if it was my project and I was making good time on it, I wouldn't change my completion date either. There must be lots of technical aspects and testing to be done then. I should have said the physical aspects look like they're hauling right along. I wouldn't be surprised to see them making test runs much sooner than October.
ita wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2020 4:09 pm
I just communicated with a METRO employee this week about other issues and he stated that the project start date is still for October. There is a lot of progress though being made and I think the stations are looking good.
Cool, if it was my project and I was making good time on it, I wouldn't change my completion date either. There must be lots of technical aspects and testing to be done then. I should have said the physical aspects look like they're hauling right along. I wouldn't be surprised to see them making test runs much sooner than October.
Don’t you mean the revised completion date?
Until electricity is hooked up, lighting installed, none of them can be classified as completed.
Busguy2010 wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:56 pm
49th is too. That intersection is becoming very urban looking.
The 49th St stations are my fave, because the eastbound/westbound are right across from each other, and yes, very urban feel, with the new building on south side right up against it, and it is close to movie theatre, restaurants, and short walk up street to heart of Dundee.
It doesn't seem possible anywhere right now, but I'd like to see a single station be able to serve both directions of a route, so the pedestrian doesn't have to cross a busy street to get back where he came from.
stadsborgare wrote: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:09 pm
The 49th St stations are my fave, because the eastbound/westbound are right across from each other, and yes, very urban feel, with the new building on south side right up against it, and it is close to movie theatre, restaurants, and short walk up street to heart of Dundee.
I like when driving eastbound on Dodge, you can't really see much, and then when you crest the hill, it all comes into view. Too bad I'm always just moving through there. Would like to just stand there on that corner and look around, but I'm afraid I probably won't be doing that. So google street view it is... Maybe a few years from now.
But looks like all stations are under construction or complete, so they might get the thing up and running by the time the leaves start to change.
This thing was a home run, but now may only be a triple. I hope they plan on doing something to bring those stops up the the standards of the stations at some time, somewhere along the way, otherwise it's going to feel incomplete.
