Ride On News

[WMATAGMOAGH]

It's the same ad as Metro's, but in Ride-On words.

What does that mean?

[LandoverDivision]

It's the same ad as Metro's, but in Ride-On words.

What does that mean?

It's WMATA's ad except it says Ride-On on it.

[rideonrulez]

I'm a little late on updating since half of these things are already in effect...

-We added service to the route 70 that was effective 1/4/09. All we did was convert 2 strategic buses from Gaithersburg depot and made them into revenue trips on the 70.
-No paper transfers went to effect at the same time as above
-The public hearing for the proposed service cuts will be on 1/13/09 at 6:30pm at 101 Monroe Street (EOB Auditorium).
-Our next bus order looks big BUT I won't put a definite number as of how many yet as it keeps changing which leads me to this....
-The budget looks bad and may look to do more cuts later this year. Just a heads up!
-Inauguration Day Ride On is planning to operate a "Modified Weekday" service. There will be service on all routes. The "rush hour only routes" will operate till 10pm to help people get home. We really want people to leave there cars at home and take the bus to Metro.
-As of now it looks like we are getting a new Gaithersburg depot if the land swap deal goes through. Clarksburg depot looks to be a few years out. This will close the Nicholson depot.
-Not really a Ride On note but it has to do with bus service in this county. They plan to have a open house this month on how to improve the Q2 Veirs Mill Rd line.

That's it for now I think....

[79MetroExtraMD]

I'm a little late on updating since half of these things are already in effect...

-We added service to the route 70 that was effective 1/4/09. All we did was convert 2 strategic buses from Gaithersburg depot and made them into revenue trips on the 70.
-No paper transfers went to effect at the same time as above
-The public hearing for the proposed service cuts will be on 1/13/09 at 6:30pm at 101 Monroe Street (EOB Auditorium).
-Our next bus order looks big BUT I won't put a definite number as of how many yet as it keeps changing which leads me to this....
-The budget looks bad and may look to do more cuts later this year. Just a heads up!
-Inauguration Day Ride On is planning to operate a "Modified Weekday" service. There will be service on all routes. The "rush hour only routes" will operate till 10pm to help people get home. We really want people to leave there cars at home and take the bus to Metro.
-As of now it looks like we are getting a new Gaithersburg depot if the land swap deal goes through. Clarksburg depot looks to be a few years out. This will close the Nicholson depot.
-Not really a Ride On note but it has to do with bus service in this county. They plan to have a open house this month on how to improve the Q2 Veirs Mill Rd line.

That's it for now I think....

1.Seems like the 70 is gaining ridership. That's good. That line has definitely had a jump in ridership.
2. I wonder how things are going well without paper transfers, so far on the Metro side, I haven't seen too many problems. I do see people still paying with cash but boardings have been alot smoother with more people getting Smartrip and flash passes.
3. Did you mean 10am for the rush hour only routes because I can't imagine seeing a 70 running at 9 at night coming from Bethesda.
4. If Nicholson moves up to Clarksburg, and GBurg expands, would some of those north county routes still stay the same?
5. Thank goodness the Q2 is up for a study. Even though its not a Ride On route, the 48 comes pretty close on the main part of Veirs Mill.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

No, he means 10 PM and I believe it.  They may not need 70 service until 10 PM because that route is duplicated in its entirety by other services (you could just take the 55 from Shady Grove), but having routes that aren't duplicated running so late means that people will feel they can use the bus to get to the Metro instead of driving there and trying to fight for parking at the Metro lots.  Operationally, the buses are there since it isn't a peak period.  My only concern would be ensuring there is enough downtime for the drivers between that night and the next day, but I'd imagine that is being taken into account by the powers that be and if it is an issue, it will be dealt with.

Is there going to be a complete schedule posted for the extended rush hour routes, or just a notice such as Route 37 will run every 30 minutes from the end of regular service until 10:00 PM?

[79MetroExtraMD]

I wonder about having a complete schedule posted myself, let alone which ones will see extended service for inauguration day.

[rideonrulez]

1.Seems like the 70 is gaining ridership. That's good. That line has definitely had a jump in ridership.
2. I wonder how things are going well without paper transfers, so far on the Metro side, I haven't seen too many problems. I do see people still paying with cash but boardings have been alot smoother with more people getting Smartrip and flash passes.
3. Did you mean 10am for the rush hour only routes because I can't imagine seeing a 70 running at 9 at night coming from Bethesda.
4. If Nicholson moves up to Clarksburg, and GBurg expands, would some of those north county routes still stay the same?
5. Thank goodness the Q2 is up for a study. Even though its not a Ride On route, the 48 comes pretty close on the main part of Veirs Mill.

1) Yes 70 ridership definately jumped when the gas prices were high, but now that there back down....
2) I wish they waited a little longer before doing the paperless transfer because Smartrip is not able to be used at it's full capacity yet. But money does the talking in these times.
3) I'm sorry, I meant to say 10pm the first time around. My bad....
4) Well there will definately be ALOT of route swaps when these depots open thats for sure!
5) The 48 for the last few years has been one of the fastest growing routes in the system. I think because it has to do with schedule reliability.

[Perry]

The 48 also serves a ton of residential areas that the Q2 doesn't since they stay on VM Road.  I always liked the scenic neighborhoods it went through. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Q1 type of bus start up again that runs some sort of limited stop between Wheaton and Rockville.  That was a good route it just seemed to be scheduled so close to the Q2 and probably should have had a couple of extra stops as well.  It was 'too' express at that time. Either that or truncate the route at Rockville and/or MK, I mean MC.

[79MetroExtraMD]

If a Q1 type was to be reintroduced, I'd say run it between Rockville and Silver Spring. The other thing would be to probably slack back on the headways on the Q2 to compensate for the new route to minimalize bunching, but then again, Georgia Avenue is unpredictable.

[WayneNYC]

I was also thinking that the Q2 could benefit from some buses being turned at Rockville or MC.  They always seem to get tied up at points before Rockville and then at least 2 of them leapfrog up to Shady Grove with another not far behind.  Perhaps if there was supervision at Rockville he/she could turn some buses as needed to fill in those delay-created service gaps.

[Perry]

There is so much duplication of service between Rockville/MC and Shady Grove, it seems wasteful to have such a long route like the Q2 going all the way out there.  Just leave that segment to Ride On as they can probably fill in any gaps either by having increases in headways at certain times so as not to break the bank, or something of that nature.

[WayneNYC]

I didn't think of that.  You make a good point.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

IIRC, the Q1 was also pretty limited in terms of its hours of operation.  Hopefully, they run it 6 AM-7 PM weekdays and not just as a peak directional service, which I think it was originally.

[Perry]

Yes, the Q1 ran at peak times.  I used to ride it when I was going to MC as a little change of pace and often there were less than 5 people on the whole trip. 

[Tritransit Area]

Wow, the Viers Mill Road corridor certainly can use a full time weekday express route...

Perhaps during school time, they could extend it to MC...it might help with the stress on the 55.