Better Bus System in Stafford

Is support for OMNI Ride a rhetorical question?

In my opinion, any bus from the suburb should support at least six times its capacity. A fifty passenger bus should support 300 commuters. Fifty in the bus and 250 in the empty seats of the drive alone cars.

Commuter buses should have only one stop in the suburbs. A parking lot to pick up commuters. The parking lot should be convenient to the destinations commuters use on their way home. Cleaners, grocer, video store, gas station, etc. The parking lot should be located with an easy off for the morning regular lanes and and easy entrance to the reversible morning lane. For evening traffic, easy off the reversible lane and easy on for the regular lane.

Divert all the regular lanes through this parking lot. Those desiring to pick up passengers can select the destination line to get passengers. Those desiring to drive alone can pay a toll for the privelege. The toll would be congestion priced.

The target is free flow. 1,500 vehicles per lane per hour. 1,800 vehicles per lane per hour for only 16 minutes out of the hour in two eight minute segments.

This can be done with existing roads. No more lanes needed. Just the parking and the access to that parking is new.

The idea is to get all lanes free flowing.

Put WMATA in charge of getting passengers. Allow WMATA to levy a local tax. Pay the passengers. A dollar if they slug and 25 cents if they bus. If WMATA inists on buses and trains as the only way then get some cement to use on the WMATA executives. I leave it up to you to think what to do with the cement. Hint. Think Al Capone. [:D]

The buses would not make round trips in an attempt to get more passengers. They would stay at the destination to serve as mid day shuttle and to carry passengers the last hundred yards. There would be only one stop at the destination. Tyson's. One destination. Then the bus would shuttle people to places in Tysons.

I think this can be done with a dollar a day tax on every resident within thirty miles of DC. The value retruned will be worth about five dollars a day.

So my short answer to your question is NO to OMNI Ride. I hope you seriolusly consider my long answer.

Find a place under a bridge for any other toll proposal.[:p]

I nominate Dave or Bob to be in charge of this super slug lot. A salary of $200,000 per year and a staff of six should do the trick. If they can't get free flow on all lanes in three months, they have to return their salary. If they achieve free flow in less than three months they get a 50% bonus.

quote:

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Originally posted by WM_DC
[br]How many people would support a better bus system in Stafford and if so, what would you like to see done? I know that this is a slug website but many slugs rely on the bus system as a back up. Would folks support a bus system like OMNI Ride?

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dickboyd@aol.com