23rd to Riverplace Delay Study
So there is still more to really flesh out these solutions, but so far this is what I was able to derive as needed changes during a mere 3/4th trip. I rode from 21st and Lovejoy to Riverplace, then back up to 10th & Salmon. Just in that short ride I've found these ineffeciencies.
19th & Lovejoy - Needs Light Priority
16th? & Lovejoy - Needs Light Priority
13th & Lovejoy - Needs Light Priority
11th & Lovejoy - Needs Light Priority
-> Each of the above we managed to get stopped at. One stop we actually bypassed because no one wanted on or off. Passing stops is one more thing that the drivers should be notified to pass ALL the time unless a stop notification or a rider is actually waiting to board/deboard. Often times the whole 15-30 second stop, doors open, doors close, process takes place which is very time consuming.
11th & Hoyt - Remove Stop Sign & Provide Right of Way on 11th. (Similar to 11th & Flanders)
-> 11th & Couch - 4 - Way Stop in this area of cars, people, and streetcars should be left as is. This will provide safety since there is an intense level of activity among the cars and pedestrians at this stop. There is just too much activity to change this stoppage.
11th & Burnside - Needs Light Priority
11th & Washington - Needs Light Priority
11th & Alder - Needs Light Priority
11th & ?? - Needs Light Priority
11th & ?? - Needs Light Priority (Pre-Clay)
6th & Market - Needs Light Priority
PSU Bottleneck - This needs to be organized/scheduled better as many times the 23rd bound or the Riverplace bound train arrives at this single tracked segment and has to wait a few seconds to a few minutes sometimes.
1st & Harrison - Needs Light Priority (The city could save a nice bundle of money here by simply removing the lights and placing the appropriate stop signs and or yield signs. But I suppose a light would be more controllable/flexible.)
These two lights are currently a major delay point. They eat up about 45 seconds at minimum and the Streetcar might make it through both 1 out of 40 passes. The light on Naito & Harrison is supposedly tripper based per the streetcar but with the 1st and Harrison light not being in coordination with this then the point of having one light triggered and one not is rather pointless.)
Naito & Harrison - Needs Light Priority (and I'm no talking about the click a button, but full on priority).
SW Harbor and SW Harrison - Light Priority (Even though this is probably a BAD idea during rush hour).
Riverplace to 23rd
I missed some -> :(
10th & Mill should be a right as right of way, so that traffic and the Streetcar when pulling up here can legally turn right without stopping. There is no reason for the Streetcar to stop at this turn every time. Nothing more than another 10-15 seconds is wasted.
10th & Market - Needs Light Priority
10th & Clay - Needs Light Priority
10th & Columbia - Needs Light Priority
10th & Main - Needs Light Priority
10th & Salmon - Needs Light Priority
Beyond this (I de"trained" at this point) there are several (3 last count) stop signs that should be removed and replaced with either A: nothing or B: yield signs. Right of way should be given to the streetcar route given that almost every cross street it passes in the Pearl is heavily underutilized compared to the primary Streetcar route. It would cost maybe 50k to take down and or replace the stop signs? It would give a Streetcar with 20-30 people at least 1-2 minutes less of an overall decay and with faster travel times and better frequency it could possibly even attract those downtown that now won't even think of riding the Streetcar because of the slowness of the service.
The ideal scenario is no more than 10 minutes from downtown/Pioneer Square to 23rd, and no more than 10 minutes from downtown/Pioneer Square to the Riverfront. With that in mind it literally would add hundreds of more valid eating options at lunch time and give reason to step out of the car when commuting from 23rd area to Riverfront or CBD. With the Streetcar so close to the CBD there should be no reason to jump in the car to commute from the 23rd Street area, but I know at this time far too many people that do exactly that.
With the changes outlayed the Streetcar becomes a truly competitive commuting vehicle from Riverplace and 23rd to Downtown, or vice versa, or in the near future from Riverplace up to 23rd or vice versa.
With the prospective extension to Lake Oswego, the only way to truly get Lake Oswegoians onto a transit vehicle is to make it faster and or more convenient than their automobiles. If the Streetcar is setup properly, it can be JUST that.
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Other delay issues come to head when one studies some of the locations of stops.
It would probably help drastically if some of these mostly unused and unneeded stops where removed that where so close to each other.
The 3rd and Harrison or the 1st and Harrison stop could be removed and add a mere 100 or so feet to a customers walking path to gain access to the Streetcar. Why the original plan didn't expect or take this into account is beyond me. Generally the 3rd and Harrison stop is heavily used but the 1st and Harrison is rarely used. This of course adds another 10-45 seconds depending on the "stop patterns" of the Streetcar Driver.
Currently it is sad to say but true, the Streetcar is slow, it is a bad commuting option from a schedule perspective**, and it is not a valid transfer option from the MAX or other busses.
By relieving these delay problems the number of Streetcars needed to increase frequency is less, the amount of congestion that the Streetcar adds to is decreased, and the Streetcar as a whole would be anabled as a better alternative to car use and as a valid transfer option from the MAX.
To summarize, with some simple and mostly inexpensive changes, the Streetcar could provide 23rd to Riverplace in a timely 20 minutes instead of the current 30+. This proposal is absolutely within reason. Along with enhancing the Streetcar schedule the streets would provide better throughput on many of these intersections where currently it is just hindering forward movement for autos, bikes, and pedestrians.
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**(people ride it because it is generally perceived as more comfortable and cleaner than busses, plus it has a "neat" factor that allows tourists to feel comfortable in taking it, rarely if ever do tourists use busses.)