tdub please help

A friend of mine is coming into town but she doesn't know how to drive. She will be in downtown Durham and she needs to get to the Crabtree area to meet up with me Thursday around noon. I tried going to TTA's website but their stupid trip planner app is currently broken I tried calling them and they were completely unhelpful

Is there any way for her to use public transportation for this trip without it being a complete pain in the ass. From what I can gather on the various route maps she would most likely need to go from downtown Durham to the regional transit stop in RTP, but from there it gets tricky. Would it make more sense to take the express bus to downtown Raleigh and then from Moore Square get to Crabtree?

HALP!!

12/14/2010 10:45:52 AM

You can take the TTA from durham to the RTP transit center. From the transit center take the 201 bus to north raleigh. But the closest it will take you to crabtree valley mall is pleasant valley (the golds gym) about half a mile from the mall. You could walk the rest of the way in maybe 20 minutes.

I believe the routes are different on the weekends though so the above may not work (Ill check out the TTA routes in a bit and check).




[Edited on December 14, 2010 at 10:51 AM. Reason : a]

12/14/2010 10:48:42 AM

Train from Durham station to Raleigh
Cab/bus from Raleigh station to Crabtree.

When is this happening?

12/14/2010 10:51:27 AM

^^ I looked at that route but it only runs from 4pm, which is stupid

^ Oh damn, I didn't even think about Amtrak. That's a good idea. This is going to be happening on Thursday.

12/14/2010 10:58:26 AM

wtf Amtrak is trying to claim there are no evening trains going from Raleigh to Durham.

Oh wait, I see, there's only one at 4:30pm. wtf Amtrak. That should still work though I think.

12/14/2010 11:08:17 AM

Go pick her up?

12/14/2010 11:33:38 AM

Just don't take Chapel Hill public transit

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/8774509/

12/14/2010 12:03:53 PM

keep in mind that a 4:30 amtrak may not arrive at 4:30

12/14/2010 12:12:13 PM

Also keep in mind that there is supposed to be "wintry weather" on Thursday so the buses might not be running their reg. schedules or might be delayed

12/14/2010 12:20:44 PM

becareful there only like three times they run buses between raleigh and durham during the day

i used to do this every weekend from blue ridge to downtown durham to go to the gym

12/14/2010 12:39:14 PM

Quote :

"Go pick her up?"

Trust me, if this were an option this is the one I would take.

^^ Yeah I told her to just hope that it snows a shitload and that my work decides not to open, then I can go get her whenever she wants

12/14/2010 1:14:06 PM

the North Raleigh TTA only runs late afternoon and evening.... the only way she can do this by bus is Durham - RTC - RDU Airport - Raleigh (Moore Sq) - CAT bus to Crabtree:

----

TTA bus 700 - Durham to RTC, leaves every :00 and :30 past hour
arrives RTC :25 and :55 past hour (25 minute ride)

TTA bus 100 - RTC to RDU Airport to Raleigh, leaves every :00 and :30 past hour
arrives Moore Square Raleigh :20 and :50 past hour (50 minute ride)

CAT bus 6 - Crabtree, leaves every :15 and :45 past hour
arrives Crabtree mall 30 minutes later
(note this is a :25 minute wait at Moore Square for the CAT bus!)

TOTAL TRIP EXAMPLE: leave Durham Station 10:00 am, arrive Crabtree 12:15 pm
2 hr 15 min total time *minimum*

----

the express bus from Durham to Raleigh could be an option, but it only runs very early. the last express bus leaves Durham at 8:10 am, arrives Moore Square 8:55.

----

alternate - AMTRAK

80 Carolinian

Durham (DNC)
Departs: 10:13 AM

Raleigh (RGH)
Arrives: 10:48 AM

cost: $6.00

then take a cab from the AMTRAK station to either Moore Square or the Mall. I wouldn't recommend a single female anyone trying to walk from the Amtrak station across town to Moore Square. (there may be a shuttle to Moore Square, i dont know. Id just cab it to the mall at that point. probably $15)




[Edited on December 14, 2010 at 1:33 PM. Reason : ]

12/14/2010 1:16:09 PM

http://tripplanner.gotriangle.org/tripplanner/


unfortunately, it is down right now

12/14/2010 1:33:26 PM

It's no wonder people around here abhor the idea of mass transit projects

12/14/2010 1:33:55 PM

If you actually *had* decent mass transit, it wouldn't be so horrible. I agree, what you have now is shit. no wonder only drunks, immigrants and the chronically poor use it.

Seattle's has problems, but our mass transit looks stellar compared to RTP. professionals actually commute via bus/train every day. its part of the culture.

12/14/2010 1:40:12 PM

^^^ I know bastards

Quote :

" I wouldn't recommend anyone trying to walk from the Amtrak station across town to Moore Square."

uhh why? I've done it a couple of times. That area is not nearly as sketchy as it was 20 years ago.

But either way it'd probably be easier for her to just hop in a cab. She's from NYC, she should know how to use a cab

^ Exactly. Make good public transit and people will use it.

[Edited on December 14, 2010 at 1:40 PM. Reason : a]

12/14/2010 1:40:20 PM

I guess it's been about 7 years since i've run around that part of town. i also assumed she was from bumfuck. if she's from NYC she'd be okay. still, the last thing i'd want my visitor to have to do is hike across town with their bags, possibly getting lost. and if the weather sucks, it really won't be much fun.





[Edited on December 14, 2010 at 1:48 PM. Reason : ]

12/14/2010 1:45:27 PM

If she was from bumfuck then she'd probably know how to drive

She won't have bags, just her body. This came about because she waited to tell me today that she's flying in tomorrow. She certainly knows how to plan ahead

[Edited on December 14, 2010 at 1:50 PM. Reason : a]

12/14/2010 1:49:23 PM

Quote :

"A friend of mine is coming into town but she doesn't know how to drive. "

IF U DONT HAVE A CAR THEN U CAN GIT OUT

THIS AMUUURCA

Whoops just noticed this is a Lounge thread. In that case I will add on this note: I hope people remember things like this when it comes time to vote on a half cent sales tax ballot referendum in 2011 to fund improved bus, light rail, and commuter rail.

[Edited on December 14, 2010 at 1:59 PM. Reason : .]

12/14/2010 1:54:19 PM

^ That's what I told her

12/14/2010 1:59:17 PM

if she is flying in why is she going to be in durham? rdu-crabtree is a simple cab ride.

12/14/2010 2:16:21 PM

She's staying with another friend of her's that lives near Duke apparently.

12/14/2010 2:26:10 PM

Quote :

"it snows a shitload and that my work decides not to open"

ahahahahahahaha


ahahahahahahahahaha


girl, u funny.

12/14/2010 2:55:02 PM

Options:

1) Can she wait until you get off work to meet up with her? Then you can go get her?

2) Can you get her friend to bring her to you? Or a friend of theirs? Students around Duke have cars,
especially if they're not freshmen. That seems like the next logical conclusion. Their (undergrad) finals are this
week so I don't believe they're all going to be gone by Thursday.

12/14/2010 3:21:10 PM

i think train to Raleigh and cab to mall is the best. $20 and 1 hour or less all told, and you don't have to rely on some random person to go out of their way and do you favors.

12/14/2010 3:25:52 PM

^^^ One can dream

^^ I guess she has other plans by the time I get off work? Because that's what I suggested originally. Her friend isn't a student at Duke, just lives near there. She works full-time just like me

^ Yeah, that's what I'm going to tell her. Either that or she's going to have to bite the bullet and just wait to have dinner with me on Thursday. I think trying to meet up for lunch is going to be a bitch.

12/14/2010 3:38:16 PM

she is asian, isn't she?

12/14/2010 3:57:29 PM

Indian-American, grew up in New Jersey. Which I guess explains her lack of driving but she lived in a suburb so you'd think she would have learned at some point.

12/14/2010 4:04:43 PM

call the white horse. it's like $35.

12/15/2010 7:54:01 AM

Quote :

"If you actually *had* decent mass transit, it wouldn't be so horrible. I agree, what you have now is shit. no wonder only drunks, immigrants and the chronically poor use it."

The TTA buses aren't bad, they just have a limited service area. I take the bus to work some mornings (when I can drag myself out of bed ~40 minutes earlier than usual--but that's not the fault of the bus schedule). The Amtrak would be an option if it ran more than twice a day, but it wasn't designed to be commuter rail, taking it between Durham and Raleigh is simply an example of using a tiny chunk of a much longer run.

CAT is a little less fun and I've never ridden DATA. However it's kind of ridiculous how many transfers and how long a journey it is to get between certain places--an expansion of service would certainly be nice.

12/15/2010 9:20:08 AM

^ That's the main problem. It's not that the buses themselves suck, it's that their service areas suck. If the buses ran more regularly and you didn't need to transfer a bajillion times people would be more willing to use them.

12/15/2010 9:41:37 AM

I haven't taken the buses in to RTP in years, but I recently rode the Bull City Connector around town and it seemed pretty nice. Plus, TTA buses in the Durham area all recntly got replaced with hybrids- which makes it a lot easier to bike behind when I'm not sucking in diesel fumes from nasty, poorly maintained machines.

12/15/2010 11:28:58 AM

Quote :

"It's no wonder people around here abhor the idea of mass transit projects"

Because it costs a shit ton of money?

12/15/2010 1:08:52 PM

Yet no one seems to have a problem spending insane amounts of money to build and maintain roads

12/15/2010 1:47:05 PM

Nobody rides the bus because the service area sucks.

The service area sucks because nobody rides the bus.

I wish it was better.

12/15/2010 4:56:16 PM

Quote :

"she is asian, isn't she?"

first thing i thought.

who in the hell doesn't know how to drive?

she should probably just kill herself. jesus christ.

12/15/2010 4:59:49 PM

Well, around 30% of people in the country don't have a driver's license, so...

(important to note that number includes people who are not old enough to have a license and those who illegally drive without one)

Vermont has the highest percentage of the population licensed at 87.2%
At the bottom are DC (56.9%), New York (59%), and Texas (59%)

New Jersey is 65.7%.

12/15/2010 5:10:30 PM

Quote :

"Which I guess explains her lack of driving but she lived in a suburb so you'd think she would have learned at some point"

Given I grew up in NJ I think I'm qualified to say that comment makes no sense.

12/16/2010 12:53:59 PM

I grew up in NJ too and in our area you weren't getting anywhere without a car

12/16/2010 12:57:34 PM

New Jersey is by no means an ideal place to live without a car, but it is better than most other states. It has the highest density of any state (most aren't even remotely close), and the largest statewide transit system in the country. I know several people who live here without a car. Depends where you are I guess. If you are in a decently walkable town that has a train station or is on a good bus route, then it's not that difficult.

12/16/2010 2:01:33 PM

yeah it would totally depend on where you live.

most of the city of Seattle, and some of the denser suburbs or business hubs like Microsoft, are really easy to get back and forth on public transportation. some parts of the city, the more distant neighborhoods and the outer suburbs, suck.

12/16/2010 2:37:16 PM

Must. Resist.

Ok. Ill be that guy. Is she hot? Or at least somewhat attractive?


OH I'LL GIVE HER A RIDE!!!

12/16/2010 2:51:01 PM

The Lounge is not Chit Chat III !!!!








anyhow, she's Indian, dude.

12/16/2010 2:53:57 PM

I've seen some hot Indian chicks, bot dot and feather. Besides if she's Indian-American she probably showers daily and shaves.

12/16/2010 3:25:21 PM

when you are left standing at a bus stop for 20 minutes before the next bus in some downtown corner in Durham, there is a problem with public transit.

and 20 mins is what scheduled, no tellin how late (or how early) your bus will get there.

you aint gonna get good ridership if this is happening

12/16/2010 4:31:36 PM

^ The Durham transit center is on Pettigrew St. right next to the American Tobacco District, so it's not in the middle of nowhere. It's way nicer than the sketchball center on Great Jones St ever was. Just saying.

12/16/2010 9:45:42 PM

Quote :

"I've seen some hot Indian chicks, bot dot and feather. Besides if she's Indian-American she probably showers daily and shaves. "

She does indeed shower and shave daily, but I'm not sure I'd classify her as hot. Cute yes, but not really hot.

12/17/2010 10:26:52 AM

you have to think in terms of tww

12/20/2010 12:39:24 PM

i think its time to post a pic

12/20/2010 12:42:21 PM

IBTIAPP

12/20/2010 12:47:06 PM