HRPTA Blog
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The Tide Light Rail Far Exceeding Expectations
Source: HRT Norfolk’s light rail exceeds expectations Nearly four weeks into the Tide’s tenure in Norfolk, the light rail has been a major success. Ridership is actually exceeding expectations with an average of more than 5,600 people per day. “I love riding the tide. I think it’s very convenient as far as transportation and it saves me on gas since I’m a college student,” said one of the passengers. The reality of the light rail ridership has nearly doubled what was expected. The numbers are from an estimate. Each train is equipped with computerized sensors checking everyone that enters and [...]
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Norfolk City Council to Discuss The Tide Light Rail Funding Tonight
Source: HRT Light rail funding to be discussed NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A funding increase for light rail will be a topic of discussion at Tuesday night’s Norfolk City Council meeting. The agenda , posted on the city’s website, asks to increase funding for light rail construction. Right now, The Tide runs 7.4 miles through Norfolk with a price tag of $318.5 million, which is $86.5 million over budget. Council has this topic slated for a public hearing Tuesday night, which means the public has a chance to speak about the possible increase at the meeting. There are seven public [...]
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Father of Light Rail Randy Wright Feted by HRPTA
Source: Mass Transit Magazine Aug. 19–For more than a decade, W. Randy Wright was a dogged and often lonely proponent for light rail. He jetted around the country, button-holing federal transit officials to tell them Norfolk was the perfect place for mass transit. He pored over light-rail budgets, made frequent suggestions on design changes and picked the name for Norfolk’s starter line: The Tide. Many, including Mayor Paul Fraim, call Wright the father of Norfolk light rail. With that title came both credit and criticism. When officials announced in 2007 that light rail was coming to the region, he was [...]
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The Tide Light Rail Photos on Public Launch Day – set 2
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The Tide Light Rail Photos on Public Launch Day – set 1
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The Tide Begins To Roll in Norfolk on Friday
Source: Virginia Business Norfolk makes history Friday when it begins the official operation of The Tide, Virginia’s first light rail system. Twenty years in the making, the 7.4-mile, public-transit system puts the Hampton Roads port city into an elite category, with only 34 other cities in the country boasting light rail. “We are in fact the smallest city in the country to have light rail,” said Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim. To see the system finally finished after construction delays and cost overruns “is exciting for the whole community. There’s a wonderfully positive buzz in Norfolk about the start of light [...]
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Don’t Miss These HRT Bus Service Line Changes Supporting The Tide Light Rail
Source: HRT Norfolk, Va. – Beginning Sunday, August 7, Hampton Roads Transit customers will see significant changes to Southside bus service designed to support the start of light rail service on Aug. 19. Eighteen bus routes will provide service to six of the 11 Tide light rail stations. The remaining stations are designed as walk-up stations or are in areas where there is no room for bus stops. The following stations will be served with bus connections: • EVMC/Fort Norfolk station will be served by bus routes 2, 17, 23, 44 and new route 16. • Civic Plaza station will be [...]
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Charlotte vs. Norfolk: Light-rail lines on same track?
Source: HRT By Debbie Messina The Virginian-Pilot © August 9, 2011 It’s standing room only during morning and evening rush hours, and often at lunchtime, on Charlotte’s 9-1/2-mile light-rail line that runs between the city center and the suburbs. The train takes passengers, for a fare of $1.75, past the business district, convention center, sports arena and new apartments and condos that flank the tracks. It stops at park-and-ride lots that sometimes fill to capacity. For many of the 15,000 people who ride it daily, LYNX light rail has saved time, money and commuting headaches getting around a city that’s [...]
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Harbor Park Multimodal Transfer Station Kicks Off
Source: Inside Business Norfolk has scaled back its plan for a rail, bus and ferry hub, originally costing $16 million. Instead, the city has set aside $3 million in this year’s budget, which began July 1, for a multimodal transfer station adjacent to Harbor Park. “The budgeted amount should allow the city to construct the first phase of the multi-phased center,” said Norfolk’s director of development, Rod Woolard. “The design of the project is now under way with the city having retained Michael Baker Corp.” The phase-one components are a 3,000-square-foot station and a bus transfer facility similar to that [...]
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Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University, Eastern Virginia Medical School & Norfolk Southern Corp Ride The Tide for FREE!
Source: HamptonRoads.com Colleges, Norfolk Southern paying lump sums for HRT rides By Debbie Messina The Virginian-Pilot © July 27, 2011 NORFOLK Students and faculty at Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University and Eastern Virginia Medical School will be able to ride light rail, buses and ferries for free. So can Norfolk Southern Corp. employees. Hampton Roads Transit leaders are making deals around town: Pay us a lump sum and your people don’t pay. So far, 33,000 qualify for the freebies. HRT has ample room for them – about 80 percent of seats on buses are empty. And with The Tide’s [...]
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Celebrate the Opening of The Tide with HRPTA
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HRT Light Rail Feeder Bus Testing Schedule
Effective: Sunday, August 7, 2011 Dear HRT Customers, Please be advised of the following: Starting Sunday, August 7, 2011 through Thursday, August 18, 2011, Routes 2, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 44, 45, 960, 961, 967 and new Route 16 will perform light rail feeder bus testing to select light rail stations. During this time, customers will not be permitted to board or get off at the light rail stations. For more information, please call 222-6100 Be Sociable, Share! Tweet
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Touts Norfolk’s Light Rail
The Tide light rail system will open on August 19th in Norfolk. Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) is expecting close to 3,000 riders per day on the exciting light rail service. Let us know what you think about The Tide here. Source: HRT Light-rail Tide rolls in Norfolk By PETER BACQUÉ | Richmond Times-Dispatch Published: July 24, 2011 NORFOLK –After rolling up large cost overruns and long delays in its construction, the Norfolk Tide light-rail system is rolling into operation. Twenty-five years in the making, the Tide will go into service the middle of next month. “Norfolk is the smallest city [...]
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Video Tour of Inside The Tide Light Rail Cars, HRT Control Center and The Tide Maintenance Garage
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Norfolk Business Owners Hope The Tide Will Bring a Wave of New Customers
Source: WVEC by Philip Townsend WVEC.com Posted on July 20, 2011 at 5:46 PM NORFOLK – Businesses in downtown Norfolk are meeting with Hampton Roads Transit officials to discuss the economic impact of the new Tide light rail. The Tide is less than a month away from opening its doors to the public and it’s already operating test runs on a normal, daily schedule. During Wednesday’s meeting at the Chrysler Museum, HRT officials said that along with an increase in foot traffic, the Tide is expected to lure new merchants to the area. Businesses along the seven-mile stretch of tracks [...]
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VDOT to Host Citizen Information Meetings for Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Environmental Impact Statement
Source: VDOT Meetings Scheduled in Norfolk and Hampton on July 18 and 19, Respectively RICHMOND — The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will host citizen information meetings regarding the agency’s study of the Interstate 64 Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) corridor from I-664 in Hampton to I-564 in Norfolk (approximately 11 miles). The purpose of the study is to identify transportation needs within the corridor and to evaluate the impact of proposed improvements to meet those needs. An Environmental Impact Statement is being prepared as part of this study in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The study [...]
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Long Time Passenger: The Story of a 12 Year Old Boy
Well, I was not real sure where to start. My journey on public transportation began 23 years ago, in Massachusetts. In brief, I was 12 when I started riding the public bus. I had to figure the system out all by myself. The reason I began riding public transportation was a rather sad one, my mother left and my dad was left with two children to raise (my grandparents did help, but only had one car). We lost our car and our house due to what was incurred by that. I’m the older of the two, and was in charge [...]
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HRT to Norfolk Riders: No More Freebies on the NET Bus
Source: PilotOnline.com By Debbie Messina The Virginian-Pilot © July 13, 2011 Free shuttle-bus service through downtown will end next month, when Hampton Roads Transit and the city launch light rail and revamp the NET shuttle to better connect Ghent to downtown and the rail line. Beginning Aug. 19, when The Tide opens, HRT will charge $1.50 for a new NET bus route that will still roll down Granby Street, then continue on to Monticello Avenue, 21st Street and Colley Avenue, ending at Fort Norfolk. One end of the route connects to The Tide, while other stops are within short walks [...]
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HRT Proposes New Route and Cost Structure for NET Bus in Norfolk
To friends who live, work, worship, eat, or play in Ghent or downtown Norfolk: HRT and the city of Norfolk are planning a new route for the NET bus to help us connect with light rail, ferry, downtown and Ghent. See the details here: http://www.gohrt.com/public-hearing/2011/net-310/net-connector.pdf Note: the NET will have a fare like any other bus, ferry or light rail fare: $ 1.50 per ride OR $3.50 for an all-day pass (seniors and youth pay half those prices). You can give your opinion and suggestions on Tuesday, July 12 at the HRT building at 1500 Monticello Avenue. Two sessions: 12-2 [...]
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Our One-car Household Equates to a Low Transporation Budget
Our Norfolk household has two adult drivers and just one car. We have two HRT bus lines within a 12-minute walk. From those buses, we can make just one transfer to another HRT bus that take us anywhere in Norfolk, or to the Virginia Beach ocean front, or to Portsmouth, or to Chesapeake. Besides all that, we have a ferry. That takes us to the museums and restaurants across the river – and on to baseball games. Next month, our household is going to get a light rail line. And what do all these services cost us? $1.50 per ride. [...]
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HRT Estimates 2,900 People Each Day on The Tide
Source: Inside Business By Bill Cresenzo bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com HRT talks up light-rail line downtown Now that a firm date of Aug. 19 has been set for the start of Norfolk’s $338 million light rail, Hampton Roads Transit wants to make sure people actually ride it, particularly into downtown. To that end, Ron Hodges, HRT’s director of business development, is meeting with representatives of downtown businesses to tout what he says are the benefits of riding the train – less gas, shorter commute times, less wear-and-tear on the car and less stress. The challenge is to convince people who are driving into [...]
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Hampton Roads Citizens Are Excited About Light Rail Start
Source: HRT Officials stress safety in Norfolk Updated: Monday, 27 Jun 2011, 9:35 AM EDT Published : Monday, 27 Jun 2011, 9:06 AM EDT NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – Light rail cars could be seen over the weekend in Norfolk as Hampton Roads Transit readies for the August launch date. The Tide will open to passengers on August 19. Once the light rail train starts moving, drivers, bikers, and people walking around Downtown will need to be more vigilant. HRT officials are hoping for a smooth ride, but there have been a couple of bumps along the way. About a week [...]
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Norfolk Mayor, City Council, Officials Ride The Tide Light Rail
Source: HRT – Norfolk officials take a spin on light rail By Debbie Messina The Virginian-Pilot © June 22, 2011 NORFOLK City Council members who took their first ride on The Tide light rail Tuesday said they liked what they saw. “It has a big-city feel,” Andy Protogyrou said. “And the views are unparalleled.” “I’ve been on trains in other cities, and I think this is fabulous,” Angelia Williams said. For many, their enjoyment quickly turned to worry as they wondered whether the public will see it the same way once it opens Aug. 19 and use it enough to [...]
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Driver Makes Wrong Turn and Gets Stuck on Light Rail Track
How do we avoid this from happening once The Tide light rail trains are running live? Report from HRT: NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – For the first time, a confused driver got stuck on the Norfolk light rail tracks. It didn’t take long for Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) workers to get to the scene, and figure out how it happened. HRT is lucky. The trains aren’t running yet, but it’s already happened. Had trains been running, the train would have been delayed in the westbound lane by at least an hour. Cristine Reid who was at a doctor’s office and was [...]
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HRT Light Rail Opening Date Press Announcement [video]
Virginia’s first light rail system, The Tide, will open to the public on August 19, 2011 at 6 AM. Rides will be free to all through August 21, and begin carrying paying customers on Aug. 22 according to Hampton Roads Transit. Philip A. Shucet, President and CEO of Hampton Roads Transit, said all safety signal and communications systems are installed and tested. Press Announcement: Philip A. Shucet, President and CEO, Hampton Roads Transit and Paul Fraim, Mayor, City of Norfolk (VA). Be Sociable, Share! Tweet
