illusionescape Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6434003.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illusionescape Posted May 21, 2009 Author Share Posted May 21, 2009 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6434003.htmlMore info on the route from Metro's website...http://www.ridemetro.org/Services/Bus/Quic...ureService.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Neat.At least from my perspective (I lived off of Bellaire and Kirkwood for a good majority of my life), a lot of people use Metro along Bellaire, specifically from Dairy Ashford to Beltway 8.I never really ventured much inside the belt on Bellaire, but I can only assume ridership is high there as well.It would be cool to see light rail from the med area out to Alief area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieMay Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 One feature of the new rapid route: The Quickline route also will have specially marked bus stops and GPS-linked trackers that communicate with the buses. A digital display at each bus stop will indicate how many minutes remain until the next arriving bus.I hope they eventually begin using this on all the buses. The one I take every morning departs every 15 minutes, pretty much on the quarter hour; then, downtown to light rail. By the afternoon, the schedule is shot to heck. In the afternoon, light rail gets me downtown promptly but the bus tends to be late. A sign indicating when the bus will arrive would help a lot. (Although they are changing many schedules at the end of the month--mostly to make them fit reality. Like traffic patterns at different times of the day.) Hope there's GPS the drivers can use. On occasion, a new one forgets the route. Usually the riders are able to help....(And, after reviewing Comments at the Chronicle site: Let me congratulate HAIFers for their mainly intelligent level of discourse.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 The thing that caught me totally by surprise was the mention of light rail along Bellaire.While I think it would be a complete success if it's built, I don't think the CITY of Bellaire would allow it to go through. There is also the matter on how HUGE (long/whatever) those trains are going to have to be to handle the ridership without interfering with regular traffic. From what I've seen on the Red line, even running every few minutes, it can barely keep up with demand during the high peak times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 The thing that caught me totally by surprise was the mention of light rail along Bellaire.While I think it would be a complete success if it's built, I don't think the CITY of Bellaire would allow it to go through. There is also the matter on how HUGE (long/whatever) those trains are going to have to be to handle the ridership without interfering with regular traffic. From what I've seen on the Red line, even running every few minutes, it can barely keep up with demand during the high peak times.Looking at the Bellaire schedule, it appears the #2 runs anywhere from every 5 minutes to every 15 minutes. They do that with a 40-something passenger bus. Why would a 200 passenger train (400 if they run tandem) not be able to handle the load? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totheskies Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 The thing that caught me totally by surprise was the mention of light rail along Bellaire.While I think it would be a complete success if it's built, I don't think the CITY of Bellaire would allow it to go through. There is also the matter on how HUGE (long/whatever) those trains are going to have to be to handle the ridership without interfering with regular traffic. From what I've seen on the Red line, even running every few minutes, it can barely keep up with demand during the high peak times.Which is why I'm TOTALLY confused as to why there aren't Quicklines already operating in the planned light rail corridors!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the FUZZ is going on? This Quickline route is the seed for our next rail line! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Looking at the Bellaire schedule, it appears the #2 runs anywhere from every 5 minutes to every 15 minutes. They do that with a 40-something passenger bus. Why would a 200 passenger train (400 if they run tandem) not be able to handle the load?I'm not saying that it isn't already handling the capacity, but from what I've seen and been told, there are times when those buses are totally packed, particularly during the Rush Hours. Either way, I don't think it will happen; the city of Bellaire simply won't allow it to pass through their city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Quickline is up and running, and I caught a photo of the outbound 402 on Holcombe and Greenbriar. I couldn't tell how many passengers were on the bus. Those graphics on the windows don't allow one to see in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 anyone here use the route regularly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Were you at Southwell's or New York Pizza? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Were you at Southwell's or New York Pizza? Neither. CVS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 This morning in the Houston Press: John Lomax races the Quickline bus...on his bike. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/20...llaire_race.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 The stops are pretty fancy, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 The graphics are a bit much, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 This morning in the Houston Press: John Lomax races the Quickline bus...on his bike.http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/20...llaire_race.php A mile and a half? Why didn't he race for its entire length? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 A mile and a half? Why didn't he race for its entire length? Ask John! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Ask John! Well, looking at his picture, I know why, but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 What gets me is that they were hoping the press passes would get them a free bus ride.Seriously, cough up the cash and expense it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 What gets me is that they were hoping the press passes would get them a free bus ride.Seriously, cough up the cash and expense it.It's just $1.25, what a bunch of cheapskates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMETROFan Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Folks, I actually rode this Quickline bus on its first day of service and it was quite a nice ride, IMHO---minus the construction on certain areas along the route that made portions of the trip seem slow. I don't care what critics may say but I think this'll be better than the 2 during the rush hour because when I finally rode the 2 back to the TMC Transit Center after taking photos of the last Quickline buses passing me by on Bellaire @ Ranchester, I thought I was NEVER going to bet back---meaning---it took forever to get from Bellaire @ Ranchester to the TMC Transit Center. I even did a three-part YouTube video of my ride on one of those buses: I'll post some pics when I can for those who wish to see them. I'll just have to resize them before I do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMETROFan Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Quickline is up and running, and I caught a photo of the outbound 402 on Holcombe and Greenbriar. I couldn't tell how many passengers were on the bus. Those graphics on the windows don't allow one to see in. What bus number was that? The one I rode---on the first day of service---was 3585. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 What bus number was that? The one I rode---on the first day of service---was 3585.I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumber2 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Just how much blue paint did they use to line both curb lanes from Fannin St. to west bf? And what is that funny symbol every so often? It looks like a coffee cup. I assume the painted lanes means that there is no stopping......ever.....or you get plastered by a blue bus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Can someone explain why the quickline only goes to Ranchester and not all the way out Bellaire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trae Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 This is good. When I was in LA last week, I frequently rode their METRO Rapid service, which is what I hope Quickline becomes. Their METRO Rapid were rarely late (we never waited longer than 15 minutes), cheap ($1.25), and a clean ride (gets crowded coming back from the beaches though). What are the other routes that METRO is considering for this service? I would think that Westheimer would have been one of the first streets, along with Gessner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I just saw a QL bus in the background on a news report from TMC on Ch2. It looks like a party bus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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