7 Responses to “GRTC central transfer station coming to Main Street?”

1. posted by Mary Kroll at April 16, 2008 8:07 am :
   

   As a 17th Street Farmers Market vendor, I’m all for anything that stands to increase our foot-traffic. It would also make use of wasted space and might even increase the demands for the roads on that block to be re-worked into something resembling sensibility now that Loving’s is gone.

2. posted by Jeff E. at April 16, 2008 12:07 pm :
   

   I like Landon’s way of thinking a lot better… there’s a TON of space in there. You could put an indoor skate/rollerblading/BMX park (something the city sorely needs anyway), a paintball arena, a greenhouse, and a couple of restaurants/cafes in there. We need to have a bigger vision for that space than a place for people to board a bus. If they want a new transfer area how about building it on one of the empty lots along Broad down in the Bottom??

3. posted by william at April 16, 2008 9:27 pm :
   

   With much investment going on in the East Broad Street area near the convention center, I have to agree that something has got to be done to create a better first impression of the area as a motorist passes through. The current GRTC bus-stops scattered along Broad Street are the single largest contributors to a negative image of the area. Unless “outsiders” feel safe walking along Broad Street, all of this development will be pointless since no one will show up. Some may argue that there are racist undertones with the movement of the stops away from a public through-way. Perception is reality and regardless of how many people argue to the contrary….Far more people would agree that the throngs of thugish looking
   street urchins does little to enhance the City. Furthermore, it will keep those that the new developments are trying to attract…away from the area. Take a look around any weekday afternoon and you will certainly see an element that is not conducive to attracting business. Sorry, those are the plain, hard facts. I like the idea of moving the stops behind the train station and out of the public view of a main thoroughfare. For some of the businesses in the immediate area, it could help promote the sale of convenience items. However, I do believe that any business that attracts an upscale customer will be negatively affected if these same urchins are hanging around their business.

4. posted by clay street at April 17, 2008 3:33 pm :
   

   Ahem.
   I actually ride the bus, 3-5 days a week, and the entire downtown Broad Street corridor is a nightmare. It is a sad lesson in inefficiency and waste. A huge number of bus riders in Richmond have to transfer downtown. I don’t need to transfer, but regardless, I am always on the bus with people constantly getting on and off in an effort to make their transfer. This slows down the whole process for everyone. There are elderly people/people with kids/school children crossing traffic -RUNNING across the street to make their bus. Buses linger, waiting for these passengers, who are waiting for the traffic to slow or light to change, etc.
   Also, the enormous number of buses using the Broad Street corridor greatly impede other traffic and make the parking situation worse. There are not nearly enough trash cans or even shelter for the people who transfer downtown. The riders are waiting in the rain and cold, and there aren’t enough benches.
   If the transfer locations were centralized into a hub, the whole process would be much smoother and safer.
   Also, a centralized transfer location would be very useful–there could be maps, schedules, arrival/departure information, people could buy bus tickets/GRTC cards.
   Right now, all that stuff is hard to come by in one place, and although it might be hard to believe, not everyone has internet access to view the online information. It is a totally ridiculous situation as it stands, which I think is a much more real commentary on the socio-economicl and racial divisions that plague Richmond.
   In short, the people who use the bus are not seen as deserving of progress and efficient transportation. This has to change, and along with it Richmond has to realize that more people are not going to ride the bus until things get better.

5. posted by d at April 17, 2008 3:54 pm :
   

   Oh, william, I recognize you from CHPN and your comments about Black Sunday. To each his own, but I support the more progressive thinking of clay street and hope to overcome the us vs them thinking that you espouse.

6. posted by kamckinney at April 17, 2008 4:53 pm :
   

   I ride the bus, every day, to and from work on 14th Street. The end of the line for most Broad St. routes is 14th and Bank.

   It takes quite a while and a lot of paperwork to create a new route - since all routes need to be approved at a Federal level. Almost all of the routes in RVA were created in the 1950’s. Their sole purpose was to get people downtown primarily to shop at Thalhimers and Miller & Rhodes.

   I think GRTC has done good work in creating new routes - but the use of the Broad St. corridor as the MAIN route needs to be revisited. Until then, having a central transfer station so close to already existing routes makes sense.

   The only way more people will ride the bus and leave their cars at home is if we can make riding the bus less of a stigma and more of an environmentally responsible thing to do - while also being convienient and cool. Not an easy task.

7. posted by River District News » GRTC public meeting today - Richmond, Virginia at May 12, 2008 9:44 am :
   

   [...] at the Children’s Museum on West Broad Street on their proposed rapid transit system and the transfer station possibly slated for Main Street Station. [via] Posted by john m at 9:44AM under [...]

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