Biggest news first, shall we?
CDTA has officially announced the planning of two new BRT routes, one from Troy to the South End neighborhood in Albany, and the other from Downtown Albany to Crossgates Mall. The Hudson River route currently has the following stations planned: Morton, Madison, State, Clinton Square, Livingston, North Albany, Riverview Center, South Watervliet (which will have a P&R), Downtown Watervliet, Congress, Fulton/Riverfront, and Hoosick/Hedley (One part of the PDF says that that stop is planned for a future provision, while another says it is planned for the first phase). Future provisions include extensions to Cohoes, Waterford, and Port Of Albany. Passengers surveys have already been completed for local alternatives. Data collection has already begun, and the route will effect over 2 million annual riders. Next is the Washington/Western BRT which currently has the stops of Albany Bus Terminal, Broadway, State, Capitol/Hawk, Lark/Armory, Thurlow/UA Downtown, Quail, Partridge/St. Rose, Allen/Madison, Colonial, Harriman, UAlbany, Fuller/CSNE, and Crossgates which will also have a Park & Ride. The BRT line is expected to be on Western Avenue, and will include two new infrastructure projects. The first is a busway inside the Harriman and UAlbany campuses, and the second (and arguably more exciting) is a brand new transit center at Crossgates Mall, that is expected to include busways, and an indoor terminal/layover spot! Future provisions call for extensions to Rensselaer and New Karner Road. There are also provisions for the 905 to be extended to Scotia. The new BRT corridors will make a total of 40 miles of new BusPlus, which will be CDTA's top priority for the next five years.
Other exciting news:
The 29 is now revived in some extent, because the 182 is now absorbing the 129, making a one-seat ride from Cohoes to Albany again. CDTA is also expected to have universal access with HVCC by the end of the year. NX Ridership has gone up 25-35% with an average of over 150 more boardings a day. Also, all routes introduced by Phase 1 Route Reconstruction are performing above the productivity threshold. CDTA is also debating changing the productivity threshold for trunk routes, because there are trunk routes, that are performing well, but are below the standard. Route #50 is also being re-classified as a neighborhood route because of the high headways.
Minor changes:
Route #12 will have increased frequency on Saturdays, Route #224 will have increased frequencies during middays, Route #530 will have an extra trip to ease overcrowding, Route #712 will have additional trips, the 905 will have 15-minute headways well into the evening, and Route #875 will now serve the National Museum of Dance. Route #370 will now have a different route in Downtown Schenectady due to delays on the previous route.
http://www.cdta.org/documents/2013RoutePerformanceReport.pdf