CDTA Route Restructuring: One Week In

On November 13th, the Albany County CDTA bus routes went through the most dramatic revisions in their entire history.  One week later, they seem to be working out pretty well.  I haven't seen anyone freaking out about everything and I've heard some pretty positive comments on the buses themselves.

This one...uh not quite.  At least making fun of the CDTA website is a guaranteed good time.

The discontinued #4, my dearest friend in Lark Street transit for years.

My morning commute hasn't altered significantly.  I used to be able to take the 4 at 7:40 and the 63 at 7:57, both across the street.  If I want to take the Madison Avenue routes now, I take the 114 (with coffee on the way) at Madison and Lark at 7:35 or 8:05 or the 63, still, at 7:57.  The 10 now runs every 10 minutes at Washington and Lark between 6:00 and 9:00 am.  And the company shuttle that I can take still comes at 7:50.  To be fair, these routes all get me to work at different times.  But to be more fair, that's just as consistent as I would be if I had a car.

The first commute on the 114.  Madison and Lark.  The Madison Corner Deli and Lifestyles Vegetarian Juice Bar, two very recently opened businesses, are across the street.

Lifestyles Vegetarian Juice Bar and Dino's Pizza.

Madison, Lark and Delaware.  Just behind the walk/don't walk light is Delaware Park, where a farmer's market is held on Thursday afternoons in the summer.

The 114 letting me off at my stop, Madison Avenue and St. Rose College, as its known on the bus announcements.

This particular stop is across the street from the College of Saint Rose's new Huether School of Business.  The new business school, renderings of which can be seen in this Places and Spaces post, will be housed in a renovated building that will have a rear addition, not to the knowledge of some commenters on various Times Union Blogs, however.

This school is one of the two sites on the Saint Rose campus that has been the subject of protests over non-union labor, including this rat in front of the new dorm:

And this groove of footprints worn into the grass up the street at the new business school:

Yeah.  For real.

I'll write more about the protests when I write about some various new construction and renovation projects in Albany.  Some really cool and exciting stuff going on overall.

As far as my thoughts on the protests themselves, it's pretty well established that I support many forms of civil disobedience.  Saint Rose does, as well, in their policy of tolerance toward the demonstrations.

Back to Madison Avenue and St. Rose College, as the #114 pulls away.

The College of Saint Rose Alumni Garden

The Alumni Garden again.  It was built in 2010.

Santa Rosa de Carondelet.

The Quad.  On the other side are the Neil Hellman Library and Lima Hall.

The Quad and the backs of the buildings on Madison Avenue.

The back of Saint Joseph Hall.

So there's the commute.   The other night, I took the 18 to Davy Jones Locker on Delaware Avenue for cleaning supplies for the aquarium in my office, home of Steven, Stephen (aka Pirate) and The Derps.

Steven, Stephen and The Derps.

The 18 now runs every 15 minutes during peak hours, which this happened to be.  The stop, like the 63, is right across the street, and the entire trip takes about 6-7 minutes.  I took my time, looking around at all the amazing fish that this place has.  I also noticed that right next door is a locally-owned hardware store.  Yahtzee!  I'm going tomorrow. 

Now for the weird part.  For the next week, I'll be a driver.

I rented a car yesterday and will have it until next Monday.

Eek.

Now, to be fair, I'll probably still be on the bus some to avoid the hassles of car possession in the city.  But, to be more fair, I'll also be taking random nighttime drives to the airport to watch the planes land and take off, too.

I'll probably have some photos, hopefully not taken while driving.

I already don't keep my hands on the wheel.
Photographer: Teresa Farrell.  Location:  Vermont.

But by renting this car, I'll easily be able to get to Southern Vermont, to my family's home, for Thanksgiving.  And then, I'll be able to get to a performance by the Gloversville Symphonic Brass (here's a link - but you'll need to log in to Facebook to click through).

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, there's no better activity for the night than, and there's not better date for, a holiday brass concert.

Remember that.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I didn't want a picture of me to be the last one in this post, so here's a squirrel on a trash can.