https://www.abqjournal.com/1097876/a-hit-at-the-start.html
For the Record: This story has been updated to fully reflect the route ART
buses will take.
After months of criticism, controversy and conflict, outgoing Albuquerque
Mayor Richard Berry, along with dozens of officials and citizens, took the
ceremonial first ride on the city’s Albuquerque Rapid Transit electric bus.
The verdict?
“It was a very pleasurable ride,” Berry said. “Very smooth and quiet.”
<strong>Mayor Richard Berry, right, his wife, Maria Berry, and City Councilor
Don Harris take the first ride on the new Albuquerque Rapid Transit line
Saturday morning
Mayor Richard Berry, right, his wife, Maria Berry, and City Councilor Don
Harris take the first ride on the new Albuquerque Rapid Transit line Saturday
morning. ART has been one of Berry’s biggest — and most controversial —
projects during his time in office. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal)
The bus even had that new car smell.
The $126 million project is now partially operational and is kicking off by
offering free service to and from the Albuquerque BioPark’s River of Lights
event on Friday and Saturday nights.
There was one hiccup, however: On Saturday evening, an ART bus shuttling
riders to the show collided with a car whose driver made an illegal left
turn, said ART Project Manager Dayna Crawford. “Somebody decided to take a
left hand turn where they shouldn’t have taken a left hand turn,” she said.
Crawford said no one was injured and the bus sustained no major damage,
continuing service afterward.
Passengers get on and off one of the city’s new ART buses at the Albuquerque
BioPark stop on Central on Saturday afternoon
Passengers get on and off one of the city’s new ART buses at the Albuquerque
BioPark stop on Central on Saturday afternoon. Dozens of people took a
complimentary joy ride on the buses during ART’s kickoff event. (Jim
Thompson/Albuquerque Journal)
On Saturday morning, about 200 people gathered under a tent at the BioPark
stop located in the center of Central Avenue.
“I’m glad we were able to get this thing kick-started while we’re in
office,” said Berry, whose term ends Thursday.
The Albuquerque BioPark stop was the destination for the first scheduled run
on ART
The Albuquerque BioPark stop was the destination for the first scheduled run
on ART. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal)
Construction on the controversial project that involves connecting around 10
miles of Central from Coors to Louisiana via fully electric, articulated
buses and stations located in the middle of the road is expected to be
completed by the beginning of next year.
The full ART route will begin at Unser and Central and travel east to Tramway
and also north to Uptown.
The idea is to create an experience similar to light rail travel – fast,
easy, convenient – at a fraction of the infrastructure cost. Buses will
generally travel in their own, dedicated lanes on the route.
Many owners of businesses along Central have said construction has been
disastrous for business, and others have argued resources spent on the
project could have been better used elsewhere, such as fighting crime.
“You might not realize how controversial the Golden Gate Bridge was. People
hated it. It was going to destroy their way of life. It was going to be an
environmental disaster. All the things that we heard about this, right?”
said City Councilor Don Harris, who voted to proceed with the project in
March 2016. “What we’re going to do over the next several years and
hopefully the next several months is prove them all wrong.”
Project proponents say it will be an economic boon for the corridor,
encouraging tourism and new business opportunities along the way.
The project received some positive attention Saturday with recognition from
the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, which awarded ART
the institute’s Gold Standard for Bus Rapid Transit Standard.
It’s the first BRT system in the country to receive the top designation.
“This doesn’t happen by accident,” said Michael Kodransky of the
institute. “It takes political courage and, above all, political leadership.
”
The institute considered infrastructure, environmental emissions, pedestrian
access and other criteria when considering ART for the award.
Berry said ART is intended to serve a variety of users, from tourists looking
to see the Duke City’s most popular destinations to families who live along
the route.
“If you are a working family in the city of Albuquerque and you can shed one
vehicle so that both parents can get to work with one less car, that’s a
$9,000 raise for you and your family this year,” he said.
That’s exactly what Dennis Manaietta, a passenger aboard one of ART’s
ceremonial loop rides on Saturday, is planning on doing.
“We recently lost a car and I’m retired, my wife still works,” he said. “
She’s hoping she’ll be able to walk out the door, walk two blocks to the
station, get on this and go to work instead of buying a new car.”
Free service to the River of Lights will be offered from the transit center
at Central and Unser with stops at Coors, Yucca and Atrisco and drop-off at
the BioPark station near New York Avenue.
Rides will be offered every 15 minutes from 6 to 10 p.m. through Christmas
Eve.
Joanie Griffin, an ART spokeswoman, said heavy construction on the project is
wrapping up, with landscaping, ticket vending machine and monitor
installation and other finishing touches being completed.
She said stations on the route’s east side may be operational soon and also
offer service to the River of Lights, an event that normally generates heavy
congestion.
Seven of ART’s electric buses are currently operating and the total fleet of
18 buses will be ready by the end of the year, Griffin said.
The full system schedule has yet to be determined.
ART made its first scheduled trip as the sun set Saturday evening, shuttling
about 30 people from the Unser Transit Center to the Albuquerque BioPark for
opening night of the annual River of Lights holiday display at the Botanic
Garden.
During the trip, which clocked in at under 10 minutes, laughter and
conversation filled the bus – with riders talking about how quiet the engine
was and the lack of constant stopping that seasoned riders are accustomed to.
The interior of the bus was also a topic of discussion, with many comparing
it to the look of a modern subway car with sleek aluminum paneling, while
festive Christmas lights strung along the poles added a holiday touch.
Kevin Cooper and his wife, Kelli, were very pleased with the ride to the
BioPark.
“It was really nice, quiet – all we heard was the wind,” Cooper said,
comparing the ride to a sailboat. “We were just sailing down Central.”
Cooper has ridden the city bus before and thinks the dedicated rapid transit
lane is a big improvement to the system.
“It was great – we didn’t stop,” he said, observing the bumper-to-bumper
traffic on Central.
Cooper, who has lived here since 1952, has supported ART from the start and
compared the negativity during its inception and construction to the Big I
when it was rebuilt.
“I went through the Big I,” he said. “You learn patience.”
Or as Berry said Saturday evening as service commenced for the public: “Like
anything else in life, if you’re going to do something big, you’re going to
run into some hurdles and bumps. We knew that going in.”
摘要：
岛式车站
双开门专用车辆
双节电动巴士
开放式车外付费车站(车上验票)
无导轨无实体隔离
心得...
左转车处理方式跟嘉义BRT垂杨路以前一样...
这不太好...Orz
延伸阅读
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AF3a39t1pc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eCRUe_jY6A
http://www.brtabq.com