Ginny from the Blog

One of my coworkers admitted to me that he hasn’t been to the N.C. State Fair in 20+ years. I asked him why, and he pointed to the traffic and parking problems. There’s no doubt that busy fair days require a little bit of patience to get into the fairgrounds, but the promise of a ride down the world’s largest portable slide and giant turkey legs are worth the wait.

Traffic is iffy for the N.C. State Fair. Sometimes there’s very little backup, sometimes it can be slow going, and sometimes it seems like there’s no rhyme or reason to it.

But no matter what, it’s guaranteed to not even come close to sucking as bad as traffic at this month’s U2 concert. So don’t let traffic be an excuse for not going to the fair.

Here’s everything you need to know about getting to the fair:

IF YOU DRIVE: Parking is free on state-owned parking lots. The fair’s website warns that, unlike years past, cars parked on Wade Avenue and Edwards Mill Road will be towed. Neighboring residents often will charge to let you park in their yard, and fair organizers warn they have no control over this.

Road Closures: If the fair gets particularly busy, officers may close exits from Wade Avenue to Blue Ridge Road and from the inner beltline to Hillsborough Street to encourage traffic to go to Edwards Mill Road. This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but whatever. Just be aware of it if you’re going on a sunny Saturday (good weather + weekend usually = especially busy fair days).

Uh-Oh, Where Did I Park?: This is so awesome. If you’re leaving the fair with a belly full of deep fried Ho-Hos and chocolate covered bacon and you suddenly realize you’ve exited out the wrong gate, have no fear. A free tram will circle the fairgrounds and shuttle you to your parking lot. Details here.

TAKE THE BUS: The N.C. State Fair coordinates special bus routes and rates with local public transportation providers. This is the easiest,  no hassle way of getting to the fair. Bonus, if you take the bus, you get a $10 coupon Subway coupon book, and some bus routes even have express lanes so you can pass the suckers sitting in their cars.

Bus from Raleigh: For $4 adults can ride the CAT from downtown Raleigh or from a park-and-ride lot in north Raleigh. The bus will run these routes from early morning to midnight. Children under 40″ tall ride free with a paying adult. Details on the Raleigh route here.

Bus from Cary: Climb aboard the CAT at the WakeMed Soccer Park anytime from 8:30 a.m. to midnight. The same fares apply as the Raleigh route. Details on the Cary route here.

Bus rom Durham: A DATA bus will shuttle fairgoers from the new downtown Durham Station to the fair for a bargain $2 round-trip fare. Children are free, and some bus riders qualify for a $1 rate. Hours and details on the Durham route here.

Bus rom RTP and Chapel Hill: The Triangle Transit Authority will shuttle passengers from two stops on both Saturdays (Oct. 17 and 24) and Sundays (Oct. 18 and 25). The ride is $5 roundtrip, but free for kids 12 and under. Details on the Chapel Hill and RTP park-and-ride lots here.

TAKE THE TRAIN: Yep, the State Fair gets a special stop on Amtrak. There are more time limitations, but it only costs $5 to ride Amtrak from Durham, $11 from Greensboro and $25 from Charlotte. Carefully read details here before you book your ticket though.

Wishing you safe travels and a lot of deep fried goodness!

It’s Try Transit Week in the Triangle, which means public transportation officials want people who normally wouldn’t ride a bus to climb aboard.

I’m fortunate to have a car, so I don’t have to rely on bus schedules. Sure, I could ride the bus to save gas, save emissions and cut down on traffic by taking my car off the road. But suddenly this independent chick would have to rely on other people, something I do not like to do. I like knowing that the bus is there, and if I needed it, you can bet I would take a seat. I also have no issues with paying taxes and fees to fund our local public transportation system, even though I don’t really use it. I understand the value the bus system provides to our community and I absolutely support it.

But other than riding the R-Line downtown, I have no plans to participate in this week’s festivities (which include free rides, ice cream and coupons to bolster ridership).

That said, I applaud local transit officials for setting aside time to help bring awareness to bus ridership and encourage new riders to ditch their cars. I’m not sure how much these awareness events have on ridership though. Last Tuesday was World Carfree Day, and the Daily Tar Heel reported that there didn’t appear to be an influx of riders (although, the article notes that rain may have been a deterrent).

Last year, fellow Raleigh blogger Leo decided he would ride the bus from his downtown apartment to his office in Research Triangle Park for one week.

He thoroughly documented his experience on his blog. The self-described “ecogeek” concluded that while it was nice to be able to watch videos on his iPod while the bus driver steered him home, he would rather leave a slightly larger carbon footprint than endure the 2.5 to 3+ hour roundtrip bus ride. He wrote:

“We all live and work in different areas so your particular experience will be different from mine. With that and the experience I just shared I have decided not to continue riding the bus as the time factor is the real kicker for me. The bus is just too slow and it is not worth it to me to ride it for so long.”

Another Raeligh blogger, John, is a daily bus rider and he seems to enjoy it. Best of all, he embraces the people watching and blogs about the characters who board his bus. With names like “Sci-Fi Fantasy Man” for the guy who loves his paperback science fiction reads to “Waffle House Man” for the guy who boards the bus after his shift. His blog is a must read for a snapshot of buscapades (as he calls them).

So if you’ve been thinking about giving the bus a try, this is the week to do it. As always, feel free to share your thoughts, experiences on the Triangle’s bus system in the comments.

I ate dinner at The Borough last night, and saw Raleigh’s new downtown circulator bus (called the “R Line”) drive past the restaurant at least four times. So we decided to climb aboard and check out the route for this new, free service.

The hybrid, electric bus service launched Friday and allows residents to take a free ride to various stops downtown.

We waited at the “R” stop for a few minutes last night, but it was quite cold. So we stepped back into the Borough and watched the stop from the door. We didn’t get out the door fast enough to catch the R bus when it made its rounds again, so we chased after it, with no luck.

On the drive home, we got a little goofy and decided to create some improv theme songs for the new bus service. For the record, we both know we’re not good singers. We strung together about six or seven possible themes, but I’ve only posted two for you. If you make it through this entire video, then you deserve a cookie.

The photos in the video were taken by Leo who runs the fabulous Raleigh Connoisseur blog.

Have you taken the R Line yet? It has recieved some positive reviews on the Raleigh Philosophical Society blog. I think the bus line will be a handy service that will help downtown Raleigh’s efforts to grow.

If you want to try your hand at creating a theme song for the R Line, feel free to send me a video clip or use the Seesmic plugin in the comments section.

A lot has changed in downtown Durham since 2004. The nearly-complete Durham Station Transportation Center is just another gleaming example of the transformation happening downtown.

Back in 2004, the glass-encased building had not even been sketched by an architect. The site the new bus station now occupies on Chapel Hill Street used to be the home to the dilapidated Heart of Durham motel. The motel, built in the late 1960s, was once a cool place to stay. But after it turned seedy after it changed ownership, reports Endangered Durham. The motel sat empty for about 12 years before it was condemned by the city and seized through eminent domain. The city later bought the property to house a new bus station.

On Sept. 30, 2004, the city staged a cheesy demolition ceremony. Here’s the lead I wrote for the event (which had the theme “Jump Start the Heart”) when I worked for the Herald-Sun:

Three firefighters armed with a heart defibrillator dashed through the parking lot of a dilapidated downtown motel Thursday, but they weren’t there to rescue anyone. Instead, they used the device to jump start changes at the Heart of Durham motel, releasing a large, heart-shaped balloon into the sky. The scene was part of a city demolition ceremony that was more symbolic than destructive.

By February 2005, the site was cleared and designs for Durham Station were complete. At the time, the transportation hub was expected to cost $15.3 million, but that price has since climbed to $17.6 million, the N&O reports.

But the new building is probably worth the wait for DATA bus riders. Here’s how N&O transportation guru Bruce Siceloff recently described the current bus station:

The transfer center is crowded, littered and chaotic. Its unisex toilet is filthy and seatless. … The buses are packed headlight-to-taillight at the curb, so they cannot come and go according to their timetables. Ready or not, each driver begins a new circuit through town when the bus at the head of the line starts rolling.

Here’s a sneak peak of the lobby of the new center:

And, as you can see, there are plenty of terminals where the buses can line up:

It’s a shame that the planned February opening has been pushed back to March so the city can tackle some nearby street improvements required by the NCDOT. But when it opens, we can all look back on the Heart of Durham days and realize just how far downtown has come (even if it took more than four years).