Rapid Ride

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A typical Rapid Ride station.

Rapid Ride is the name of an express bus service with some bus rapid transit features in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Inaugurated on December 21, 2004, Rapid Ride was intended to provide a faster and more efficient means of public transit in Albuquerque and to serve as a pilot project for a potential light rail line. It is operated by the local transit agency, ABQ RIDE.

Beginning with one 11-mile route, growing ridership led to the opening of a second route in 2006. A third route is scheduled to begin on August 15, 2009. By March 2008, Rapid Ride had carried five million passengers.[1]

Contents

[edit] Service

Rapid Ride serves an 11-mile route (766, "The Red Line") which runs along Central Avenue from Unser to Wyoming, then north to the Uptown Transit Center. Stops are about a mile apart at specially designated Rapid Ride stations rather than the normal city bus stops, which are about two blocks apart. The Red Line runs from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays with buses every 11 minutes during the week and every 15 minutes on Saturdays. More limited service runs on Sundays. A special "Rapid After Dark" service (denoted as route 767) runs in the summer with service every 20 minutes until 3:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Rapid Ride added a second route (790, "The Blue Line") in July 2007, which runs from the University of New Mexico west down Lomas, north on Rio Grande, west on I-40, and then north on Coors past the Cottonwood Mall to the Northwest Transit Center. On weekdays, it currently runs from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., with the time between buses varying by time of day from 12 to 30 minutes. More limited service is available on Saturdays.

[edit] BRT features

While not running in a dedicated lane or on a busway, Rapid Ride is an improvement over regular express bus service. Service is sometimes so frequent to eliminate the need for a schedule and shortens wait times. Low floor buses with quick deploying ramps make for faster boarding and deboarding. Buses have signal priority, and stations rather than stops are used or in the planning stages.

[edit] Fleet

The Rapid Ride fleet currently consists of 24 New Flyer DE60LF and 6 New Flyer DE60LFR articulated 60-foot low floor buses, which are painted in ABQ RIDE's new red and gold color scheme. All Rapid Ride buses have free wireless internet access and are also equipped with Digital Recorders automated stop announcment systems. The Rapid Ride fleet features TwinVision LED destination signs. The front destination signs feature a multicolor route number display and orange route name display. The route number is displayed in red for the Rapid Ride Route 766 and blue for Route 790 (and presumably in green for Route 777). The side and rear destination signs are orange-only.

[edit] Current

Number Year Model Image Comments
6401-6412 2004 New Flyer DE60LF Original Rapid Ride fleet
Fareboxes to be upgraded to GFI Odyssey (Summer 2009)
6601-6606 2006 New Flyer DE60LF Similar to 6400-series, with updated windows and air circulation system.
Features the new GFI Odyssey fareboxes.
6901-6906 2009 New Flyer DE60LFR Features restyled front end, video screens, and LED interior lighting.

[edit] Ridership

Ridership on the Red Line was up 28% in fiscal year 2007 over fiscal year 2006, and is projected to finish fiscal 2008 with a 13% gain. Bus ridership as a whole was up 9.3% in Albuquerque in fiscal 2007[2]. The new Blue Line currently has over 20,000 boardings per month.[3]

[edit] Expansion

On April 17, 2006, a second Rapid Ride route, the West Side Rapid Ride (156) started service. It ran as a commuter with four (two northbound and two southbound) runs in the morning and three (two northbound and one southbound) runs in the evening on weekdays. The route ran on Coors Blvd from Cottonwood Mall to the Alamosa Community Center. This route served as a pilot project for a potential full-time route for the Albuquerque West Side, and was later replaced by a new route (mentioned below) in July 2007.

On August 20, 2006, Rapid Ride (route 766) started Sunday service with 22-minute frequency from 6:43 a.m. to 6:41 p.m.

ABQ RIDE placed an order for six additional Rapid Ride buses on July 20, 2006. The six buses were once again the New Flyer DE60LF, and were delivered in February 2007. These new buses were put to use on a new route connecting the University of New Mexico to Albuquerque's Westside, via Lomas Boulevard, Rio Grande Boulevard, Interstate 40, and Coors Boulevard to the Montano Plaza shopping center. This new West Side Rapid Ride (790), or the "Blue Line", went into service on July 7, 2007, and replaced the 156 route.

On August 16, 2008, the Rapid Ride Blue Line was extended to Cottonwood Mall. Weekday frequency changed to 20 minutes, while Saturday frequency remained unchanged. When the new Northwest Transit Center opened on September 2, 2008, all buses serving Cottonwood Mall (including the Rapid Ride Blue Line) moved there, although a stop at Cottonwood Mall on 7 Bar Loop still remains for mall commuter traffic, but the Park and Ride at Cottonwood Mall has been closed.

On February 26, 2009, ABQ RIDE announced a new third Rapid Ride route (the "Green Line") will be implemented on August 15, 2009. The new route will connect Downtown Albuquerque to the Four Hills area at Central Avenue and Tramway Boulevard, and will help relieve overcrowding on the Rapid Ride Red Line and the Route 66 Central Avenue bus. In preparation for the new route, six additional Rapid Ride buses were delivered in June 2009, with two of them currently in service.

[edit] List of Rapid Ride Stops

ROUTE 766 (Red Line) / 767 (Rapid After Dark) From west to east:

  • Central at Unser
  • Central at Coors
  • Central at Atrisco
  • Central at Tingley
  • Central at Rio Grande (Old Town Albuquerque station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 790 Blue Line)
  • Gold at Sixth (Eastbound) / Copper at Fifth (Westbound) (transfer with Rapid Ride 777 Green Line)
  • Alvarado Transportation Center / Central at First (transfer with Rapid Ride 777 Green Line)
  • Central at Cedar (Presbyterian Center Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 777 Green Line)
  • Central at Yale (Westbound) (University of New Mexico Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 790 Blue Line and 777 Green Line) / Central at Cornell (Eastbound) (Frontier/UNM Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride Route 777 Green Line)
  • Central at Carlisle (Eastbound - KKOB-FM Station / Westbound - Crosswinds Weekly Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 777 Green Line)
  • Central at San Mateo (Eastbound - KABQ-FM and KTEG Radio Station / Westbound - Magic Bus Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 777 Green Line)
  • Central at Louisiana (Eastbound - KRST Radio Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 777 Green Line)
  • Central at Wyoming (ends August 15, 2009)
  • Wyoming at Lomas (Westbound - Zangara Dodge Station) (ends August 15, 2009)
  • No Stops on Interstate 40 between Wyoming and Louisiana (ends August 15, 2009)
  • Indian School at Uptown Loop (Eastbound) / Louisiana at America's Parkway (Westbound)
  • Uptown Transit Center

ROUTE 790 (Blue Line) From north/west to south/east:

  • Northwest Transit Center
  • 7 Bar Loop at Cottonwood Mall
  • Coors at Irving (Target Store)
  • Coors at Eagle Ranch
  • Coors at Montano Plaza
  • Coors at Dellyne
  • Coors at St. Josephs (St. Pius X High School)
  • Coors at Sequoia
  • No Stops on Interstate 40 between Coors and Rio Grande
  • Central at Rio Grande (Old Town Albuquerque station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 766 Red Line)
  • Lomas at Fourth Street
  • Lomas at UNM Hospital (Eastbound)
  • Central at Yale (Westbound) (University of New Mexico Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 766 Red Line and 777 Green Line)

ROUTE 777 (Green Line) From west to east:
(begins August 15, 2009)

  • Gold at Sixth (Eastbound) / Copper at Fifth (Westbound) (transfer with Rapid Ride 766 Red Line)
  • Alvarado Transportation Center / Central at First (transfer with Rapid Ride 766 Red Line)
  • Central at Cedar (Presbyterian Center Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 766 Red Line)
  • Central at Yale (Westbound) (University of New Mexico Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 766 Red Line and 790 Blue Line) / Central at Cornell (Eastbound) (Frontier/UNM Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride Route 766 Red Line)
  • Central at Carlisle (Eastbound - KKOB-FM Station / Westbound - Crosswinds Weekly Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 766 Red Line)
  • Central at San Mateo (Eastbound - KABQ-FM and KTEG Radio Station / Westbound - Magic Bus Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 766 Red Line)
  • Central at Louisiana (Eastbound - KRST Radio Station) (transfer with Rapid Ride 766 Red Line)
  • Central at Wyoming
  • Central at Eubank
  • Central at Juan Tabo
  • Tramway at Wenonah

ROUTE 156 From north to south:
(no longer in service)

  • Cottonwood Mall
  • Coors at Irving (Target Store)
  • Coors at Montano Plaza
  • Coors at St. Josephs
  • Coors at Sequoia
  • Coors at Fortuna
  • Coors at Central (transfer to Rapid Ride 766)
  • Alamosa Community Center

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Rapid Ride", City of Albuquerque Official City Website, retrieved April 25, 2009
  2. ^ [1]"Ridership up on Albuquerque buses in fiscal 2007" New Mexico Business Weekly
  3. ^ [2]"ABQ Ride" Official City Website

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Ride"
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