Monday, October 27, 2014

Good News, Bad News, part 2: Good News

So I discussed the Bad News at length on Friday, with an overview of the present 10-Year Transit Plan. Here's something to help cleanse your palate: some of the better recommendations of the 10-Year Plan, including those regarding frequency, are coming down the pipe in January. First off, no cuts! Not a single route-mile or trip is being removed from the system. This update is all about frequency improvements. Route 1 will finally be the first route in the RTA system to crack the 15-minute barrier, plus later Saturday service. Routes 3, 15, and 19 will join 16 on the list I keep in my head entitled "reasonably useful transit service," with frequency improvements to 30 minutes on weekdays, plus a frequency increase to an impressive 10pm on the 3 and 15. 16 gets better weekend frequency and span, as does the 19, with an astounding improvement from 55 minute headways all the way down to 30. Routes 22, 29, and 74 will move from being laughable abominations to being halfway useful bus routes, with frequency improvements to 60 minutes. 21, 22, and 206 will all get extra trips, and 206 will get a new park-and-ride lot at Tom's Farms. Route 20 will be upgraded to 45-minute frequencies. You may also notice that, save route 20, all of these will actually be clock-face schedules. So, all-in-all, good news for the bus-riding public of western Riverside County.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes! So happy to hear the 16 will run later routes on the weekends. Now if we can get the MetroLink to-and-from LA to run later on the weekends, so you can actually enjoy a night in the city!

Allie Cat said...

Anon, it gets so very close! There's a 9:30 weekday run, and 9 and 11pm runs on Saturdays, that get as far as San Bernardino. (San Berdoo has much better train service in general, approaching actually useful transit.) I've been saying (at least since 2009: http://www.ridinginriverside.org/2009/06/late-night-metrolink.html) that they ought to run a bus during off-peak hours that connects Riverside and San Bernardino.