CDTA News

CDTA isn't into celebrating invasion and genocide, either:

Columbus Day Schedule

Buses will run on a normal Monday schedule, with the exception of the Northway Express, which will not operate.  You can find their full press release here, but it basically says the same thing that I just did.

New Schedules Posted

[Update: Here is a Times Union article about the Restructuring.]

The new schedules for the Albany County Route Restructuring will begin on November 13, 2011.   The transit agency has revised their original route plans, most likely due to opposition from neighborhoods that were poised to lose their service, which just so happen to be transit-and-pedestrian-unfriendly places like the Hackett Boulevard and Buckingham Pond areas.  There is a new route for these areas that will operate during peak hours only, the 734: Hackett/Buckingham Pond.

Another surprise is that the 13 will no longer travel on Madison Avenue at all.  Originally, it was supposed to go take a right from Lark Street onto Madison, traveling uptown, to a left on New Scotland Avenue.  It now will follow the same route that it currently is: Lark to Delaware to a right on Holland Ave to a left on New Scotlane.  This could be because the walk from Madison to the hospital is so easy that I did it with a partially collapsed lung.

A screen capture of the final Albany Route Map.

I may update this eventually, after I've had a chance to inspect the schedules more.  At first glance, however, it looks like vast improvement, especially for current trunk routes such as the 10 and 12, which both see greater frequency.  The route that now runs (nearly) the entire length of Madison Avenue to the Rensselaer Amtrak Station will see increased service for both Madison Ave and the train station, both in frequency of service during off-peak hours and hours of operation.  Basically, the route restructuring seems to reward those areas of the city that actually use the service, which I feel is a good thing.  It's nice to get new riders on the system, but one of the ways to do so is to show that once you are a rider, you will be paid attention to.  The way to do this is to treat current riders well.

In case you missed the half-buried link above, the final version of the route restructuring can be found here. There is also an interactive map available, on which you can show the stops made by each route and zoom in and out.  It seems like a lot of fun for those at work with ADD.  I know what I'm doing this afternoon.

Current CDTA Schedules already taken down

[Update, Tuesday 10/11/2011:  CDTA's website now has the current schedules back in place.  Thanks, CDTA!]

In a colossal screw up and waste of time, CDTA has taken down the current schedules that riders currently use to...ride the bus.  The listing on their website includes listings for both version of the schedules, but for each route, both go to the new schedule, which does not start for over a month.  You can find all of the schedules here.

Great going, CDTA.

I'm lucky in that I have the current schedules saved on my iPhone and computer, but what about those who are not so lucky?  Here are some solutions for you:

1. The Trip Planner on the CDTA website (upper left portion of the page) still works.  The reason for this is that it now simply links to Google Maps.

2. Google Maps.

3. Call CDTA's Customer Information Center:  (518) 482-8822.  Make sure to tell them that you're asking when the next bus is coming because they no longer have the information on the website.  Actually, even if you don't plan to take the bus right then, you should call anyway.  They need to get some complaints on this one.