Posts

Showing posts from 2017

New LYMMO bus leaves some Parramore residents at the curb

Image
The expansion of the Lymmo free bus service in Parramore is exciting news -- except if you live in Parramore. Mayor Buddy Dyer, Lynx and other government officials will be holding a ceremony Friday to cut the ribbon for the Lymmo Lime line. Here’s how the event was described in the week-ahead advisory sent to the news media. “Mayor Dyer will join with Lynx to celebrate LYMMO’s latest expansion with the completion of the Lime Line. The new LYMMO Lime Line provides a critical connection for the Parramore neighborhood to access Lynx Central Station, SunRail and the downtown core.” Sounds like the service is for Parramore residents. But, it’s not. If you look at the accompanying map provided by Lynx, it’s clear that the Lime line doesn’t enter the residential area of Parramore – one of Orlando’s historically black communities that is being threatened by gentrification. The free bus service is focused on serving the federal courthouse, FAMU College of Law, Creativ

Moving in to a Lynx Bus Stop

Image
Most Lynx passengers look for proximity to a bus stop when choosing a new home, but how many have considered living at the bus stop itself? The other day, we received this photo and note from David Porter, founder of this blog and SunRailRiders.com . Have you ever seen anything like this? What would you do if someone started living at your bus stop? Photo by David Porter "This is on the north side of Sand lake Road near Voltaire Drive. Sometimes there are people standing at this bus stop because this gentleman is taking up one of the bus benches. This gentleman has been living here for at least three weeks. When I say living I mean morning, noon and night; I pass there at 2 in the morning and he's sleeping with a blanket pulled up on him. Homeless people have the right to sit on a bus bench, but can they just take it over? I wouldn't be surprised if he's carrying out his normal bodily functions within close proximity to this bench. I feel sorry for him, but I

From the Bus Bench: Detours + Poor Planning + Poor Decision Making = Epic Lynx Fail

Image
This is the first installment of From the Bus Bench , a new recurring series here on Lynxed Together that will bring you first-person accounts of what it's like to be a Lynx passenger in Orlando, Florida. If you'd like to share a Lynx-related story for From the Bus Bench , email us at lynxedtogether@gmail.com. I've drafted this first installment ~ Simon I've said over and over again that given its' limited resources, Lynx does a surprisingly good job of focusing on passengers and getting people where they need to go. But at times, riding Lynx can be an incredibly frustrating experience, as evidenced by two rides I took Thursday (April 13). Don't misinterpret this as whining or a "woe is me" story, as I'm sure there were hundreds of other Lynx passengers who had just as difficult an experience on the bus yesterday due to missed connections, late buses or any number of reasons. Rather, it's just a snapshot of how poor planning

How would you grade the Lynx bus?

Image
What letter grade would you give Central Florida’s Lynx bus service?  Lynx CEO Edward Johnson gives the bus service an A grade.  Click here to see why Mr. Johnson says Lynx deserves an A.

Gimme shelter!

Image
Do you ever wonder why some Lynx bus stops have benches and shelters but others don’t have anything but a sign?  That’s one of the questions Lynx CEO Edward Johnson answered during an exclusive interview with our intrepid blogger Simon Duvall. Click https://youtu.be/jcnbfKnrpO0 for the answer.

How long would you wait for a bus?

Image
Ever wish you didn’t have to wait so long for a Lynx bus? During our recent exclusive interview with Lynx CEO Edward Johnson, we asked him what it would take to get faster service. Click here  to see Johnson discuss this topic.

Lynx Ridership Has Dropped Over 10% in Less than 4 Years

Image
Annual Lynx ridership has decreased by nearly 3 million annual passengers since 2013/2014, a Lynxed Together analysis has discovered. This decrease represents a drop of over 10%. Lynxed Together reviewed monthly and annual "Regular Fixed Route" ridership data provided by Lynx for Fiscal years 2013 through 2016, plus data for October through January of Fiscal 2017 and found that Lynx ridership peaked in Fiscal 2013 at 27.83 million riders. In the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2016, Lynx carried just 24.84 million passengers. Lynx "Regular Fixed Routes" represent regular bus services that run along a defined route on a fixed schedule and exclude Downtown Orlando Lymmo, NeighborLink, Access Lynx and Van Pool services, Link 208 and special shuttles. Month over month, ridership has dropped 26 out of the last 28 months, with decreases as high as 12.6% (Jan 15 vs Jan 16). Lynx experienced its' peak ridership month in October 2013,

REVIEW: Lynx's Free Wi-Fi Service

Image
We broke the news back in November that free Wi-Fi internet service would be coming soon to Lynx buses, and in early January, Lynx installed the necessary equipment on its' 300 bus fleet and turned on the service for passenger use. I tried it out over several rides the past two weeks and came away mostly satisfied with the free service. Speed  Overall, the speed of the internet connection felt similar to 3G cellular internet, or slightly slower than my home Wi-Fi and considerably slower than 4G cellular. It was acceptable given the nature of the service (on a moving vehicle) and the price point (free). The speed and connection was generally consistent, with one exception where the service slowed to a crawl and a web page took nearly 5 minutes to load. High-bandwidth uses, like most streaming video, Skype and downloading/uploading large files were blocked, though I was able to get a few shorter, non-HD video clips to play. Obviously, speed will be affected b

Have You Tried Lynx Lately?

Image
I got this note from David Porter, Editor at SunRailRiders.com and creator of this blog, about his experience on Lynx this past Saturday when he rode to Downtown Orlando for the Central Florida Women's Rally . As he said, he's not a frequent Lynx rider, but he seemed to walk away generally satisfied with the experience. Concerned about parking in downtown Orlando Saturday where I was headed to cover the Women's Rally I decided to park at the Walmart on Orange near Michigan and rode the bus to downtown. I hate to admit this was only about the 6th time in my life (been here since 1984) that I rode Lynx. It worked perfectly and cost me only $4, which is actually cheaper than Uber. ... The Lynx schedule leaves a lot be desired, but it's certainly better than SunRail. Now that the buses have free Wi-Fi, in many ways Lynx is on an equal footing, if not better than SunRail OK, granted there can be a unique set of "characters" on some Lynx