I finally decided to see what the buzz was about and hop on the R-Line, Raleigh?s new circulator bus for downtown. Daily passenger counts average 333 riders, and the ?free? buses cost $6.60 per passenger per trip (math courtesy of Michael Sanera). So, what could be more exciting than taking a morning and afternoon joy ride?
In an effort to get a better idea of how busy the R-Line typically is, I rode the bus in mid-morning and mid-afternoon and separated the trips by a week. Not very scientific, but who doesn?t enjoy a good anecdote?
Trip No. 1: Thursday, April 16
I boarded the bus about 10 a.m at the Morgan St./Harrington St. stop. One gentleman got off at that stop, and another stayed on until the Moore Square Deck. Ergo, there were only two passengers (including myself) on the bus for half of the trip, and only one passenger (myself) for the other half. It was awfully lonely.
Trip No. 2: Thursday, April 23
I boarded the bus about 3 p.m. at the same stop. Six people were on the bus, including me. It reached a maximum of 10 riders and a minimum of three during the trip (again, including me). The average was around six riders.
Barry Sanders of the N&O describes his own experience riding the R-Line here (?Riding the eco-friendly bus allows you to look down on — literally and figuratively — the saps who drive their own cars through downtown traffic,? he writes).
Josh Shaffer of the N&O offers his own insights here, including this painfully true observation:
A month ago, the city rolled out three new buses that loop continuously around downtown, giving free rides until the wee, small hours.
So I wanted to see the urban grit that hides from Raleigh’s daylight — the wild and naked streets lit by the pink neon of a bail bondsman’s sign.
I wondered what lonesome strangers ride these nighttime coaches, each of which cost taxpayers $565,000.
Maybe, I thought, this new R-Line will bring Raleigh the real-city credentials you find in the depths of a Boston subway stations: the newsstands, the buskers and the rattling trains.
But as I dreamed, I looked around the bus and discovered that Raleigh’s after-midnight underground consisted of: me.
Personally, I would have rather taken my $6.60 and bought lunch.
