Projects We’re Excited About in 2019
2018 was a great year for Remix customers around the world. We heard about a number of successful projects during our Making decisions backed by data webinar last November. As the calendar turns to 2019, we want to look forward and highlight five exciting projects positively impacting riders, communities, and transit in general.
These projects are just a slice of what you all are doing in Remix this year, so if you have a project that you’d love to share with your peers, don’t hesitate to reach out. Additionally, if you’re working on a similar project and want to get in touch with the planners behind the work below, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Customer Success Manager and they can make the connection.
MCTS Next
Milwaukee Country Transit System (MCTS) is in the public outreach stage of their system redesign, called MCTS NEXT. With the goals of better-serving existing riders and attracting new potential riders with more frequency, better connections, and overall greater accessibility, the planning team at MCTS has set up two draft networks: a 60/40 and a 80/20 frequency-to-coverage option. These network concepts have been under review by the public, stakeholders and elected officials since November. In the spring, the public will have another opportunity to comment on the final recommended system redesign, incorporating their requests and Planning’s revisions. MCTS hopes to gain approval in late spring with an eye on implementation in summer or fall 2020.
Speeding up Summerhill Avenue
This one won’t quite be completed in 2019, but there will be a lot of progress around this soon-to-come Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route. The city of Atlanta and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) were awarded a $12.6 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant in March of 2018. The money will be applied toward the planning, design, engineering, and capital costs associated with the Summerhill Bus Rapid Transit project. The route is currently designed to connect the Summerhill neighborhood with the bustling Downtown and Midtown neighborhoods while passing landmarks like the Georgia State Capitol and City Hall. The new line is expected to open in 2024.
Big Success in Microtransit
SouthWest Transit (SWT), serving southwestern suburbs of Minneapolis, took a risk and launched SW Prime in 2015. SW Prime is a microtransit service that has proven successful year after year, maintaining an average of 355 daily rides in 2018. Of the 1,000,000+ annual trips across all SWT offerings, ~10% of trips were made using the SW Prime service. Throughout 2019, the SW Prime program is looking to expand service offerings and is considering lengthening hours of operations, increasing the service area, growing paratransit offerings, and incorporating AV/EV demonstrations. To learn more, visit https://www.swtransit.org/sw-prime/.
Electrifying Tahoe
Tahoe Transportation District will be rolling out three Proterra buses in 2020! They will be outfitted with pantographs on the vehicle and fast-charged at a hub to extend the vehicle’s range. The vehicles will be operated thru various terrains and climate conditions at 6,300 feet. In anticipation, they’ll be exploring scenarios in Remix throughout 2019 that’ll assist in rolling out the vehicles, help with easing car congestion and a zero emissions ride while keeping Tahoe blue!
CAT Tracks
Cities Area Transit (CAT) has a big year coming up in 2019. They’re updating their fleet with seven new buses. Additionally, the agency is taking on the service historically operated by the local university, University of North Dakota — Grand Forks. This move has the potential to significantly increase CAT’s ridership and save the university money that they can re-invest. On top of all of that, they are laying the groundwork for a brand new operations center in 2020. Exciting projects happening up north!
