August 2005 Final 105 and 107 Afternoon Schedules

Which Areas of the Triangle are served by Route 105 and Route 107?

Route 105 and 107 both link RTP to NCSU and Raleigh's Moore Square. The 107 route also serves Corporate Center Drive, and the 105 provides access to Prime Outlets on Airport Blvd.

Why Propose this Change?

When we first discussed changes to 105 and 107 with the public in March, TTA's primary question for the public was whether or not to adjust the park-and-ride stops at the State Fairgrounds.

However, it quickly became clear that the primary issue facing these services in the afternoon was chronic lateness of buses and the unpredictability of bus arrivals along the route.

What did the public say?

"Please adjust the 107 and 105 route schedule to reflect traffic in the evening rush hour. These bus are consistently late after 4:30pm. I realize that there is traffic and that the route will take longer at these times. Please adjust the schedule so that passengers, like me, don't have to wait 30 minutes for a bus."-E.B.

"I have tried to use the 107 bus that should arrive at the Wingate Inn (Page Road) at about 4:55 PM. It has *never* been on time in the last 10 days, and is usually at least 10 or 15 minutes late.

This means that I miss the 5:05pm bus to Chapel Hill. But not always, because once in a great while, the buses actually run on time (but this is getting rarer and rarer during the evening rush hour).

So, as a long-time rider, I would urge you to schedule the busses *less* frequently, but *more* on-time. The fact that one cannot count on the bus being where it is supposed to be most (but not all) of the time makes planning for pickups very difficult. I would rather have the bus from Raleigh come once every 30 minutes (rather than every 15 minutes - I can use either the 105 or 107) but be on time." - B.W.

TTA Responds: We agree that On-Time Performance (OTP) for the 105 and 107 routes in the afternoon has fallen to unacceptable levels. The easiest way for TTA to improve OTP is to remove destinations from a route, which we prefer not to do without a public involvement process specifically discussing the removal of one or more stops.

Therefore, in the afternoon, the scheduled running time for both 105 and 107 will be extended from RTP to Raleigh. Instead of a scheduled loop of 1 hour and 30 minutes from RTP to Moore Square and back to RTP, the loop will be extended to 1 hour and 45 minutes. 50 to 55 minutes of that time will be devoted to the eastbound (RTP to Raleigh) portion of the trip.

This solution allows TTA to provide a more realistic afternoon timetable between Raleigh and RTP. By more realistically reflecting actual traffic conditions, OTP and reliability should be higher and passengers are more likely to see their bus at their stop when it is expected. It also allows TTA to preserve most connections to other buses at RTP.

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