Popular Post Luminare Posted May 19, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted May 19, 2020 Found a couple MetroRapid buses in the wild while driving down Studemont. 11 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 (edited) Hope they aren't headed to Post Oak Blvd...if so, i just saw lots of people that are about to be mowed down.... i still don't get it...why aren't all these crazy people using the awesome new sidewalks instead of the middle bus lanes!? Edited May 19, 2020 by gene 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 7 hours ago, gene said: Hope they aren't headed to Post Oak Blvd...if so, i just saw lots of people that are about to be mowed down.... i still don't get it...why aren't all these crazy people using the awesome new sidewalks instead of the middle bus lanes!? Oh they’ll get it soon enough. When a bus comes flying down at 30mph straight at their head. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TheSirDingle Posted May 21, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted May 21, 2020 Opening might be Aug. 13, but we'll have to wait for further information according to this tweet from Houston Chronicle Transportation writer. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 this morning they had 2 test buses filled with workers and being monitored by 3 Metro Police vehicles doing the full route each way of Post Oak Blvd! I actually took a short video but cannot figure out how to post it here. if someone knows how they can tell me or dm me your number and i will text you the video so you can post if interested. It was pretty cool to watch and those buses are nice for sure... I am happy to report that surprisingly all bus lanes were clear of pedestrians and cyclist so no mishaps! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 saw them once again testing 2 of the new buses on Post Oak Blvd this morning... looks like it is going well! and hey when in the heck are they going to be putting back up our cool street sign/rings that hover over the intersection? 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 As I drove into town on Tuesday, I saw a few grey and black buses whose banner said "Testing", or something to that effect. I'm thinking these are the new buses for this project. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Yep! definitely testing pretty often and thought they said July or August for beginning... but just this past weekend i saw a little old man with a walker(!!!) traveling along in the bus lane going 1 mile per hour if that and could only wonder what in the heck he would do if a bus came along...they seriously need a metro police or metro monitor to periodically travel along the bus route on Post Oak and let people know they shouldn't make it a habit to walk, bike, skate or jog in the bus lanes... that little old man scared me that he was doing that! 😮 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 these buses are going to start up any day now i do believe! This morning not only did they have 2 buses doing test runs but the cool little electronic scrolling signs installed at each stop were working showing the name of the bus/route and the time of arrival etc! (i did see a guy on one of those little recumbent bicycles that had to move pretty quickly once he saw a bus...also saw a couple of people walking further down the way....these dummies all need to stay out of the bus lanes and get on the nice sidewalks!...they shall learn soon enough!) 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Well i guess another month and a week as now they are saying August 23rd! So I guess testing is taking alot longer than expected...i understand as dang those buses are a tight fit in those lanes, especially where the stops/platforms are located it seems to be even tighter but may just be an illusion https://www.masstransitmag.com/bus/news/21146523/tx-after-lengthy-delay-uptown-brt-set-to-debut-aug-23 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 (edited) in inevitable news, this morning at 847am, the 2nd bus in line testing the Blvd got stuck at the bus stop at Post Oak and San Felipe 😮...as it was crossing San Felipe heading South into the lane/bus stop it was going to close to the right side curb and kind of drug along side of it. The bus driver got out to look at it (i didn't see any damage but there may have been)....but then he got back in and all i know is that within a couple of minutes he still hadn't left where i saw him as i headed to work. (i am sure he was able to move but was probably just making sure to not do more damage...). these lanes really were made too narrow for these huge buses and the lanes should have had another foot or 2 just to be safe...but nope! They will just have to go super slow entering into the lanes when crossing intersections i guess. Edited July 28, 2020 by gene 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 That's why they do the testing I guess 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 that's like the new subway stations in Paris where they designed the stations, built them, then found out the trains were a few CM too wide. They had to jackhammer off a few cms of platform. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 4 hours ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said: that's like the new subway stations in Paris where they designed the stations, built them, then found out the trains were a few CM too wide. They had to jackhammer off a few cms of platform. wow craziness!!! i hadn't heard about that! and this morning a normal metro bus but double the length tested it out and yet again hit the curb at intersection bus stop entrance...they all got out to look at it to see any damage etc... and really from what i can tell these buses only have like a foot or 2 clearance...no wonder they wanted to test them for months... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 Maybe the curbs got installed on the wrong side of a center line or something. Two buses hitting the curb implies something wrong with the curb - and 2 feet of clearance should be enough for trained operators 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 2 different intersections...but they are not hitting at the exact entry point it doesn't look like...both times they have hit on the side of the actual bus stop (left side of bus) and just drug along the whole curb it seems. i think i am a pretty good driver but watching those buses move along where the passage is the raised platform/bus stops makes me wonder if even i could manager not hitting it at times! ha! (the rest of the passage/lane isn't bad, it is where the actual bus stops are that seem to be the problem.) when you see it happen in person you will understand. on the bright side less people are using the bus lanes to exercise as i am sure some have been chased down by testing buses 🤪 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 Oh that seems a lot worse. I wonder if they were supposed to use a Kassel Kerb (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassel_kerb) to try to get the bus aligned properly and they screwed it up, or were trying to rely on the driver perfectly aligning with the platform everytime 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 19 hours ago, cspwal said: Oh that seems a lot worse. I wonder if they were supposed to use a Kassel Kerb (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassel_kerb) to try to get the bus aligned properly and they screwed it up, or were trying to rely on the driver perfectly aligning with the platform everytime wow who knew!? but yeah i didn't notice them having those... (i learn something new everyday! thanks @cspwal !) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Looking for the construction documents, I stumbled on this article from last year https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/transportation/article/Post-Oak-bus-project-narrowly-avoids-problem-with-14414168.php Quote Workers recently replaced a roughly 100-foot segment along northbound Post Oak because the lanes — built specifically to allow Metropolitan Transit Authority buses to expedite transit service along the line — were nearly one foot too narrow. “That was just an absolute mistake,” said John Breeding, president of Uptown Houston, which is rebuilding Post Oak to add more transit service. I guess they didn't fix it all the way 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.33 Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 I caught this on video last week of the BRT crossing San Felipe during a road test (had to upload it to Google Drive because file is too big to share on here). I hope they're only going this slow for the road tests and will get better at approaching the platform as the tests go on. Can't imagine this being successful if they have to cross San Felipe at this pace every time. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X5TNJ-HT7Vtak5_pmN0WXyyPyVf_yayc/view?usp=sharing 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 On 7/28/2020 at 12:03 PM, gene said: They will just have to go super slow entering into the lanes when crossing intersections i guess. So, not BRT. More like BST. I'm an advocate of public transportation and wish I could to be a more enthusiastic supporter of METRO. They mean well, but it seems that from the most ambitious projects to the most mundane daily operations, the level of competence leaves a lot to be desired. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted August 2, 2020 Author Share Posted August 2, 2020 I can't imagine them allowing that to be a permanent thing. I can't imagine it would be that hard to re-do the curbs in some areas if they had to, right? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 22 hours ago, Justin Welling said: I caught this on video last week of the BRT crossing San Felipe during a road test (had to upload it to Google Drive because file is too big to share on here). I hope they're only going this slow for the road tests and will get better at approaching the platform as the tests go on. Can't imagine this being successful if they have to cross San Felipe at this pace every time. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X5TNJ-HT7Vtak5_pmN0WXyyPyVf_yayc/view?usp=sharing I thought it was a slow mo video for a second. Hopefully it is just for testing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 i am telling you, i live on mccue at westheimer and i am on Post Oak Blvd daily and every single time i see these buses HAVE to approach the bus stops at a turtles pace and seriously if you watch this happen you will understand why... they made these lanes to be an absolute perfect fit for the bus which they should have given them another couple to few feet. i go into near panic attack mode watching the buses try to fit haha...and so far count maybe 4 to 5 curb/platform scuffs happen so far. and thanks @Justin Welling for that awesome video... if you watch it and you see the break in the bus (the extender/middle portion of the bus) pass the little cross walk signal you will also then see the front of the bus enter the *danger zone* we shall call it...that is where it scuff or hits or catches due to the raised platform where people wait on the bus...so it isn't so much a problem as the bus enters the lane, its as it enters the bus stop portion which happens just as that video ends. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Metro just posted a video on their twitter: https://twitter.com/METROHouston/status/1290286671951323136/video/1 You can see in the video the curbs are aggressively unhelpful to to the busses - if you're not right on, you might even pop a tire it looks so sharp. Hopefully they can improve travel time, but I have a feeling that this first try will have a lot of changes before they expand it system wide 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 It definitely seems like they should have used kassel curbs or something similar to guide the buses in at each station. That's a easy fix for future lines of course, but I wonder of there's a quick option for these already built stations. ...or just rely on the bus drivers training up and getting used to (and progressively faster at) how to approach. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 What if there was some sort of fixed guide, sort of like a rail or track, that could guide the buses in? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HouTXRanger Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 1 hour ago, cspwal said: What if there was some sort of fixed guide, sort of like a rail or track, that could guide the buses in? Great idea! We could even ditch the flimsy rubber tires for wheels that'll fit right on the rail, for a smoother ride. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?? 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Remember the boat ride at astroworld and they had those big rubber bumpers for the boats to stay guided between? maybe that! 🤡 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 2 hours ago, cspwal said: Metro just posted a video on their twitter: https://twitter.com/METROHouston/status/1290286671951323136/video/1 You can see in the video the curbs are aggressively unhelpful to to the busses - if you're not right on, you might even pop a tire it looks so sharp. Hopefully they can improve travel time, but I have a feeling that this first try will have a lot of changes before they expand it system wide right at the 57 second mark: "Precision Docking" is exactly where the buses have been having an issue...hopefully the precision part is being worked on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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