Re: “Downtown Raleigh's new R-Line bus will drive you to drink—and eat”

Yes, there are dilapidated, dirty, non-economical CAT buses running all over town for the average person who can't afford a car. The R-Line is for the urbanite who must park in any of more than a dozen downtown parking areas and enjoy a night of "driving you to drink" as the headline so aptly puts it. Wonder if the blue-collar gal who can't afford car insurance and much less a martini will ever have a chance or even a desire to ride in green luxury?

Re: “R-Line draws riders, critics and the mayor”

Yes, there are dilapidated, dirty, non-economical busses running all over town for the average person who can't afford a car. The R-Line is for the urbanite who must park in any of more than a dozen downtown parking areas and enjoy a night of "driving you to drink" as the Indy headline so aptly puts it. Wonder if the blue-collar gal who can't afford car insurance and much less a martini will ever have a chance to ride in green luxury?

Re: “R-Line draws riders, critics and the mayor”

Dear,

It is all a matter of funding. The Downtown Alliance is a Central Business District. Per the City's rules, the CBD, as it's called, must pay for any services it receives directly. However, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance has convinced your City Council to foot the bill, really near $1MM a year, for a semi-private service. Why don't you ask all the business owner's in N. Raleigh, S. Raleigh, and so on how they feel about competing w/ the City for a shrinking piece of pie when the City is dumping hundreds of millions into downtown just to make the new Convention Center attractive. Real democracy shares surplas funds to those who paid them in; it doesn't privatize them.

Re: “Downtown Raleigh's new R-Line bus will drive you to drink—and eat”

NCWEBGUY apparently volunteers for the "Downtown Alliance". The truth is that the Alliance is a City approved Business District which, per the rules, should pay for any services it receives directly i.e. the R-Line. Instead, the whole taxing base of Raleigh proper(to 540 on the North, to the edges of both Garner & Cary, and all the way out to Brier Creek) jointly share in the cost for this sequestered luxury. Additionally, why penalize people who do wish to go to the delicious eateries in your despised Five Points by making them pay a toll for busfare when they could ride "downtown" for free?

Your logic is foul.

And, the R-Line, although conceptually perfect, has poor execution for the whole of Raleigh.

Re: “Downtown Raleigh's new R-Line bus will drive you to drink—and eat”

Why does the City of Oaks spend $70K a month on this freebie and so restrict it in geography? The Downtown Raleigh Alliance is why. Their stranglehold on your City Council is revealed in the locations it travels/stops. What about taking this to the neighborhoods where we actually live aka North Hills, Five Points, and Cameron Park.

Re: “R-Line draws riders, critics and the mayor”

Why does the City of Oaks spend $70K a month on this freebie and so restrict it in geography? The Downtown Raleigh Alliance is why. Their stranglehold on your City Council is revealed in the locations it travels/stops. What about taking this to the neighborhoods where we actually live aka North Hills, Five Points, and Cameron Park.