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The gold line streetcar is not a transit mode, it’s a tourist attraction. 2 bus lines complete the same route the gold line follows but go way further. The gold line is for people to get around uptown fashionably. If we really want to make climate impacts and get people out of their cars we need everyone to see that taking the bus is fashionable and effective form of transit. We don’t need $150 million trains that are slower and less flexible (if the road was blocked or shutdown so would the streetcar) we need fast reliable public transit that actually caters to transit users and not economic growth. Who cares about ridership numbers. Those people aren’t giving up their cars, which is the true goal. Of course we want people to ride transit but it’s more powerful to say I can live in Charlotte without a car ,opposed to I leave my car at home when I hangout uptown or on central ave. In conclusion speed is king. And public perception and socioeconomic status are the barriers to having great public transportation in Charlotte!

We need to do something about Capital

Awesome breakdown!

I miss the cute green and yellow trolleys.

I think people forget that this is a newer system and it’s going to take time to grow into itself, especially when it’s going up against a car centric city

3:32 reminds me of diagon alley in harry potter.

It used to be a little better. Amtrak ran the Montrealer between Washington, NYC and Montreal. Then they dropped it, and you can no longer go from DC to Canada by rail. C

Rail travel should and needs to be made public.

I like it

Need everybody that supports BRT to support the necessary zoning and TOD'S on Jan 30th city council meeting it stands a chance of failing

this comment is coming right after the orlando expansion happened: The reason for brightline being a private HSR is due to the ownership of the track. The parent company owns the track so their product gets priority. Amtrak rents from the freight companies which gives them a lower priority.

Wonderful video when brt come to Raleigh I'll be there to ride it but I was also thinking a light rail would be awesome also in Raleigh too

Boston is beautiful. I wish I can afford to live there. I live and grew up in Northwest Florida where it’s totally car-centric with very little, if any, public transit.

Developers are not an enemy by any means. The only thing they need to do is follow the building codes. Are far as anything else, they are 1000X more efficient than some bureaucrats. Yes developers are out to make a profit but they need to compete against other developers to build what the general public wants in order to make money. The reason the current developments are so expensive is because the available land for these multi family projects is very scarce which adds costs and lack of competition, the permit process takes forever which limits competition, and they don’t allow areas to be redeveloped in bulk which reduces economies of scale driving up costs. These “luxury” units are simply market rate units that have been driven up by government inefficiency. Traditional walkable development is the market choice, we don’t need the government trying to micromanage everything. They should completely eliminate almost all forms of zoning, rent control, set backs, and parking minimums and the city will naturally evolve into something very similar to Tokyo.

Not gonna though, the "Raleigh Trolley", could use some modern equipment. The majority of the service issues that aren't due to traffic or congestion are the reliability of its ancient locomotives. Those dinosaurs are worn out, tired, and falling apart.

This video made me dizzy. The turns were too rapid.

I am very hopeful for BRT but I definitely feel a light rail is also needed, especially now that the current projection for finishing the entire BRT project is 2035. Once this is done, we'll be dealing with more issues from an even larger population overall.

The fact that they blow the horn as it goes thru every crossing up the coast has created an audio nightmare for anyone who lives anywhere near of the many crossings. All day long early and late.

Clean, efficient and affordable mass public transport is just a normal infrastructure in other countries and not a cause for celebration. Unfortunately, in the US, the government's priority isn't its citizens but car manufacturers.

People insisting on light rail in my area have just about killed any reasonable transit. Rail is horribly expensive so simply not enough rail ever gets built. The thing about Buss Rapid Transit is that it can be built at a resonable cost and can be expanded enough so if it is faster and more convenient people will actually start using it. Yeah, once enough people are using the BRT light rail also becomes feasible.

I am glad it is there. I can fly into MCO and go to a cruise in Miami. I dont drive since I am disabled.

Good job. Great all-around information but thanx for bringing to light the cost/profit example of rail vs. roads and highways. As a 62 yo, Californian I can only hope I live to see the US get on track with rail. But, as long as oil companies and the auto industry can line the pockets of politicians, it may be a long "road" ahead of us. We can only hope that younger Americans will start demanding better rail service.

I wish Boston wasn’t as expensive. Otherwise I’d love to live around there again someday. I also didn’t used to mind the colder weather when I was a kid. I also really loved Downtown Providence in Rhode Island which has a lot of this feel as well imho.

A Trolley will last longer than a regular bus. The old trolley still works and it's close to one hundred years old. A regular bus will be totally worn out and off to the junkyard in less than 20 years.

I strongly suspect that it predates parking minimums

A big piece of brighline's business model is that they still own substantial real estate holding in the center of pretty much every south Florida city from the days of Flagler and are developing those out as well.

Brightline shouldn't exsist you say? You mean Brightline should be upgraded. Brightline should be upgraded to bullet status. The United States of America is behind the far more advanced countries of the far east and Europe when it comes to highspeed bullet trains which is something the mighty United States of America should of had decades ago. Brightline should be upgraded to have the capabilities to reach speeds of up to 200 mph. The only thing brightline is, is a passenger coach painted bright and colorful. Brightline is on the same level as Amtrak which is slow and behind the times compared to the nations of bullet train technology. Japan and China are now reaching the next level in highspeed bullet trains, maglev super train technology. Maglev super trains reach speeds of 375 mph. There is no ground traveling vehicle anywhere in the mighty United States of America that travels that fast. So like Amtrak, brightline needs major upgrades. Highspeed bullet trains and maglev super train technology, the new american dream....

1:14 is that cycle lane in raleigh? Ive never seen it before (or any cycle lane that is protected by more then just plastic posts)

Public doesn't often mean less expensive. And nearly always means worse service.

I think this will be very successful!!!

Living in an apartment can never be luxurious, unless you have a big penthouse. Luxury is having a country estate with a private driveway. Luxury is having a big house that you can fill with a big family, that you can obviously afford to send to the best schools and colleges. I dislike the marketing behind these developments, and the style is an obstacle that isn't hard to overcome. Most residents oppose these developments because they are ugly. It is really not hard to give them a traditional facade, and then the majority of the opposition will disappear overnight. But they are insisted on making something in a style that the majority of people dislike. Developers are their own worst enemy.

Boston is known for having horrible traffic. But it's the most walkable city in North America by far. The bike infrastructure needs to be a priority to replace cars.

Just found your good video. Cameron Village District has evolved over 70 years and many makeovers. The key is management has also been willing to change with the times and retail market. The Village started with Sears and a large parking lot. Now it has no big boxes. There is also a need for big boxes and large parking lots. Fifty +- percent of retail sales takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas with a major demand for parking. How about: Cary Towne Center, Waverly, and Fenton (new design)?

Publicized projects are too slow and expensive to deliver, just look at California High Speed Rail. Californian build it for 30 yrs without completion. It costs billions. If Bright Line can deliver their high speed rail with less price tag and faster construction time schedule, why should we nationalize the HSR?

So basically an expensive and extremely ornate suburban train

I love their streetcars, but not their frequency 😂

A few thoughts: First 79mph is not fast. Where I live (Southern England), the slow trains run at 100mph, and the fast ones run at 140mph. Hourly is not frequent. At peak times, we have 12 fast trains, 4 semi-fast trains (110mph) and 4 slow trains per hour. Off-peak, it is 6 fast, 2 semi-fast and 2 slow. A lot of people say that the USA can't have trains because the country is too big for them to make sense. That is probably true, but Florida isn't too big to have trains, Texas isn't too big to have trains, California isn't too big to have trains. Trains need to be planned on a more regional level, either individual states, or a few neighbouring states, and the Federal Government should just be setting national standards for things like track and loading gauge, power supplies, signalling standards and so on, so that you can have cross-border rail trips between the different regions. The best country in the world for rail is Japan, and it has lots of competing private rail companies. The difference between Japan Rail and the failed British model is that each company has its own stations and tracks, and there is actual competition on individual routes. For example if you are in Osaka, and you want to go to Kyoto, you can go to the Japan Rail station and get a train there, or you can go next door to the Hankyu Railway station for an alternative train service. The distance is about 55km (35 miles), Hankyu run trains about every 3 minutes, ticket price is ¥410 ($3). Japan Rail is also about every 3 minutes, ticket price ¥570 ($4), trains are a bit faster than Hankyu's.

I think another feature that makes the Village District feel more welcoming is that a lot of the stores have large windows at the front so that you can see inside, whereas in the big malls you often just have blank walls facing out to the parking lots.

1/ The electric trains are a better investment then dirty, toxic Air pollution from fossil fuel oil, coal and natural gas. Plus high speed real is better then highways. Rail line and highways both require $$. Ask yourself which delivery better ROI for the customer and which delivers long term ROI $$ for business that get the contract to upkeep the highways. ......The suckers in Florida state lawmakers and business owners of Brightline. Plus the state lawmakers and company sold of the community and lobby to not build none share roadways. This mean its not High Speed, that may are spreading lies in marketing it as....In South Florida the train goes though several high traffic areas. That requires the street car traffic to stop and permit the train to past. Because the suckers did not build rail with overpasses. Don't permit this to occur in your community. Lock them up and then send them to North Korea in a hard labor prison. Just saying how they SUCK towards those they serve the share holders not the customers and tax payers.

Nope. It will sadly fail because Raleigh is a high wage area. BRT only works where you have cheap labor. The whole point of BRT = rubber tire light rail is to trade construction cost for bus driver wages. If you don't have a cost advantage then how can it be successful?

Sell Amtrak to Brightline!

Great video. It sounds like a step in the right direction. Is there any update to this BRT project?

Brightline is a great investment rn imo

The stretch from melbourne to orlando is one track but they left room for 2 tracks. I'm guessing they might do this to vegas

I'm superexcited to be traveling via the Piedmont for the first time this summer after seeing a concert in Raleigh to visit my folks in Charlotte. Seems like my ride is guaranteed to be a lot smoother than on the Carolina due to the fact that NC owns their own track.

I live in Durham. The future is looking bright for here and in the Triangle. For us, we don't have BRT but the changes to service are looking good. I highly support Raleigh's BRT service. I do visit Raleigh often and we need improvement to GoRaleigh service to adapt people to public transit.

The word saugus just brings up a gross image of gray concreate and us highway 1 acting like a dmz for human existence outside of a vehicle

maybe Raleigh could adopt a system similar to Brisbane's new Metro. Brisbane's new Metro pilot test vehicle is also a good example of combined Rubber tyred Tram/Train and Bus Rapid Transit system. And it is battery-powered, so it is Eco-Friendly. Once the project is fully complete and all the vehicles are rolled out, there will even be flash chargers at the end of every route/line that can charge one whole unit in under 5 minutes. Its design allows it to be expanded anywhere at a lower cost, as it can run on any road, ranging from Bus lanes along a busy road to brand new fully dedicated Transitways and even de-clog existing Transitways by using their right of way. In Brisbane, once complete, the Metro will use existing Transitways (or Busways, as locals refer to them) will focus on going into the city and getting buses out of the city, making more space for pedestrians and Bike infrastructure. In addition, this allows for brand new Circular Bus routes radiating around the city between different suburbs, allowing better connections to both major Bus Station, the existing Queensland Rail System and even the new metro. I think many U.S. cities can adopt systems similar to Brisbane's new metro, as it is very cheap and easy to convert car based infrastructure and the vehicles can even run on Roads which only require bus priority upgrades.

Brightline is a ripoff. $37 for a one way from Miami to FT Lauderdale. I can go on tri-rail from Miami to Fort Lauderdale round trip for just $6-$8. Brightline can stick it with their jack up prices.

Great vid and encouraged by the continuing progress. Approval to study for phase 3 including looking at things like priority with street light signals for faster operations. Also just announced some federal $’s going towards I77 exits on the west side that could change the area dramatically with a mock up that looks like a smaller birkdale. Have to believe the investment came knowing they would be anchoring around the Wesley heights gold line stop. Very underrated how development will anchor itself around permanent transit. You don’t get that from bus lines.