Starmobile, QUARTA at odds as QUARTA bans car sales advertisments on buses, trains, QUARTA property

QUENTINSBURGH, FREEDEMIA: Freedemia’s biggest transit system and their biggest car manufacturer are at odds today, as the Quentinsburgh Urban Area Rapid Transit Authority (QUARTA) bans all advertisements for car sales in stations, at stops, and on the sides of buses and trains. Starmobile-Jazzalini had been attempting to purchase New Years’ ads across the system when QUARTA announced the decision.

Advertisements aren’t nonexistant in the QUARTA system by any means. While an effort is made to limit the trainside/busside ads to certain spots, non-intrusive ads can be found all throughout the system, especially inside trains and buses and at stops and stations. Recent improvements to QLine trains have even made it possible to have ads that change as the train ride continues, acting similarly to a billboard, announcing different businesses as the train gets closer to certain stops.

QUARTA’s decision comes around the same time that QUARTA and the cities in the Quentinsburgh metropolitan area changed their signage ordinances to direct retail signage to pedestrians and transit riders. As the area has attempted to move away from car reliance, QUARTA and the cities have attempted to shift the paradigm of residents to transit, walking, and biking as the defaults and driving as secondary.

The decision to ban advertisements for car sales was an attempt to move further towards that goal, according to QUARTA CEO Kellen Hyrper. “Car advertisements try to present auto driving as the “Freedemian Dream”, a luxury, a convenience, something to aim for. There’s nothing wrong with having a car to use in moderation, but it shouldn’t be viewed as the goal to get away from using transit. And it would be counterproductive to promote this in our transit system.”

Starmobile has split stakes here, and different divisions seem to have different responses. Starmobility, the bus/train/industrial truck manufacturing division of Starmobile, actually makes a large majority of QUARTA’s buses, and they’ve been partners for many years, with QUARTA being their largest client. Starmobility is very much against making this a big deal as they and QUARTA benefit mutually from their partnership. On the other hand, Starmobile-Jazzalini’s primary car sales divisions have sometimes relied on the advertising and the mentality of “Cars are cool!”, even in a country like Freedemia where transit isn’t seen as second class.

 

FIB, Quentinsburgh Police, QUARTA, investigating after death threats toward President Rosenthal broadcasted over the loudspeakers and displays of a Line 3 train

BREAKING NEWS

QUENTINSBURGH, FREEDEMIA- 4:10am: The Freedemian Investigation Bureau (FIB) and the Quentinsburgh Metro Police Department (QMPS) are investigating an incident on a QUARTA train yesterday evening, after the displays and loudspeakers on a Line 3 QLine Metro train began broadcasting threats and warnings towards President Angela Rosenthal as it pulled into the Capitol Mall/National Court station, the closest station to the Executive Residence.

Reports from police and witnesses say that around 10:26pm, as the local 3 train was pulling into the station, the loudspeaker began crackling and the displays on the front, sides, and insides of the train glitched and turned bright orange as if rebooting. After that came about five minutes of cryptic text, including the phrases “hope you enjoyed your reelection, it’s your last term anyhow” and “here today Angela, but soon with the angels”.

Trains were backed up for around a half-hour during the initial confusion, but QUARTA rerouted all Line 3 and Capitol Shuttle trains onto the express tracks and announced that trains would be skipping the stop until around 6:00pm Saturday evening to give the police and the FIB the chance to fully investigate to make sure that there’s no threat to the safety of the riders.

“So far it appears the displays were somehow hacked from the outside. No one operating the train or its displays/loudspeaker were responsible for the incident”, Police Chief Henriette Martina explained to reporters. “But this is going to require a pretty thorough investigation.”

“We’ve had incidents where displays have been glitchy before, and even one or two dumb pranks like the incident last baseball season when some kid made the display of a Capitol Shuttle say ‘Qburgh Quails are looserss heh get rekt noob subscribe to my TubeMe’, but never anything like this before,” Lenny Grent, with the technology support and IT division of QUARTA, explains. “It’s only happened with someone editing what the displays say like twice since we created the newer systems 10 years ago, and usually things so minor that it wasn’t worth investigating too deeply. We honestly didn’t expect something this serious to come up. I believe we fixed the initial glitch and vulnerability on most newer displays, but this was a renovated Q500 train and I think it’s using one of the early display systems, which might be part of the problem.”

President Rosenthal was recently reelected, and still maintains a near-record approval rating of around 80%. The seeming lack of enemies or disapproval makes the incident even more odd in the eyes of many. But security will be high near the Capitol Mall in the coming weeks as the investigation continues.

Vice President Patrick Houser and Vice President-Elect Katherine Nelzer are expected to give a joint speech later today addressing the cybersecurity state of Freedemia and what they’re getting ready to do to address it. While the whole plan is still in progress, currently there are plans to send a bill to the legislature by February that completely overhauls the military to include major cyber security provisions and departments instead of a focus on land/sea/air combat.

QUARTA beta-testing Stop Request buttons at bus stops serving multiple routes

QUENTINSBURGH, FREEDEMIA– Bus riders waiting at stops home to multiple routes may see a new feature coming within the next month. QUARTA, with the help of Trenchent company Trannovation Solutions, LLC., is rolling out Stop Request buttons to bus stops across the city.

This is being done primarily with the idea of saving time and making bus service more efficient. Currently, if there’s someone waiting at a bus stop home to multiple routes, every bus has to slow down, just in case the person at the stop wanted that particular route. This leads to a lot of lost time- many times, the individual is waiting for a particular bus, but every bus in between still has to slow down and pull towards the bus stop, just in case.

The idea behind Trannovation’s StopRequest Kiosk, a post designed to match the design of the QUARTA bus stops and with a button to request each route, is that the rider can request which bus they need from the bus stop ahead of time. This means only the route requested by the rider will have to slow down and pull over.

To use an example, let’s say Jimmy is waiting at a bus stop home to routes A, B, and C. Jimmy wants to get on route C. Currently, Jimmy would just wait at the stop visible to the drivers of approaching buses, and they would automatically slow down and pull to the side. While Jimmy can wave them off, signifying he doesn’t need that route, by that point the buses have already reduced speed and got ready to pull over and stop. If Jimmy’s route C comes after routes A and B, then riders on those buses lost time that the bus used to slow down. While this seems like only a little bit, when that happens ten to twenty times along the route, it adds up.

However, with the new StopRequest Kiosks, Jimmy can directly select “Route C” from the bus stop, signifying that you want only the C bus to stop, freeing up routes A and B to skip the stop entirely unless someone is getting off. This means that coupled with new dedicated bus priority lanes, routes A and B can literally pass the stops full speed (unless someone is getting off) without pulling over, because they know that Jimmy is waiting for Route C. This could make a huge difference in timing and efficiency of each route. Little tweaks like that can help the QUARTA bus system run far more efficiently.

While QUARTA’s QLine Metro has become exceedingly more efficient in the past few years, QUARTA’s bus network has lagged behind. Along major corridors like Capitol Blvd West, many have crowded onto the subways because of the long commute times on the local bus. This has greatly improved with the creation of bus priority lanes, (lanes where only buses and cars immediately turning right are allowed) but it still needs large improvements to be an efficient and appealing alternative for commuters.

QUARTA hopes to have the entire system fitted with the first phase of these stop request buttons (on most major lines/corridors) by February, and the whole system if the test period is successful by June 2017. Trannovation is also rolling out this new system in Trenchent and San Grande as part of Lake Area Rapid Transit (LART), and Laneston and Vandover’s VAULT (Vandover and Urban Laneston Transit) is supposed to start testing in January 2017. Trannovation is also working on an app version that allows individuals to request a bus to stop from their phones or mobile devices. However, the app is still in development and is not being publicly tested. Employees of QUARTA and LART will have a chance to test out the first version of the app come mid 2017.

Roadway improvements along urban NW Freedemian Coast progressing steadily

VANDOVER, FREEDEMIA– Drivers today were able to drive for the first time on the new Vandover East Thruway. The freeway, also known as Unionway 308, connects from U-208 to U-108 and creates a new north-south freeway through central Vandover while creating a strong alternative for through traffic going to Laneston or Nature.

The project is part of a larger set of improvements to thru roadways along the northwestern Freedemian coast to ease traffic on the stretch of Unionway 4 between Laneston and Quentinsburgh. Several other projects are underway, including the widening and improving of parts of M-82 through Mathersboro, M-13 up through Haroldsborough and Fort Elwood, and southern Dansels Road (now M-23B) through southern Vandover. Improvements to M-23 (Laneston Lake Pkwy) in Laneston and Vandover are also underway.

One portion of the bigger project, the construction of the M-282 just east of Mathersboro, is nearing completion. The freeway will connect the U-204 directly to the M-82 to improve access to Mathersboro and create a stronger alternative to Unionway 4. The freeway then continues to provide a better connection to the relatively new Walter Sanderson International Airport.

The overall project, known as the Secondary Coastal Corridor, is a partnership between the Quentins Department of Transportation, the Reeds Department of Transportation, and the Freedemian Department of Transportation (since the project crosses state lines). While the overall goal of the Freedemian government is to continue to improve transit alternatives (such as the MetroWest Commuter Rail and Greenleaf Bus Lines) the need for alternative automobile routes along the most urban part of the nation was large enough that even the commuter options weren’t enough to fix the problem alone.

The project also has renewed interest in enacting tolls on U-4 between Laneston and Quentinsburgh, as there will not only be several viable commuter options, but a new roadway alternative as well. The Freedemian National Legislature is supposed to meet later this week to make a final decision, a meeting which originally wasn’t supposed to happen until January. A recent vote done during the Monday general elections passed with 68% in favor of the tolls as long as an effort was made to improve alternative routes.

A diagram showing the current bottleneck situation (U-4 corridor in red, current alternatives in yellow-brown) and the alternative that the Freedemian Department of Transportation (and state departments) are trying to create with current projects. The area highlighted in green is undergoing new construction and road improvements. The green line indicates the corridor that they hope drivers will start to use as an alternative when complete.

One month after typhoon in Iucan, Brugas – Neo Delta gets ready for the Isle & City Games

TAIAGO – After more than one month of the passage of the Typhoon Nakoe through the city of Iucan, in the Brugas archipelago (Neo Delta), which has brought destruction to the city and other areas of the islands, efforts are being taken in order to rebuild the most affected places and  get the archipelago ready to host the next edition of the Isle & City Games.

Although Iucan is not expected to host ny sport events (the closest event shall take place in Danipa), the area is well-known for the Jolia Beach and the Janni Dunes, which attract thousands of tourists every year. Most of the events of the Isle and City Games will take place in Taiago, the capital of Brugas, in the newly build Athletic Village. The region was not greatly affected by the typhoon. Even so, the organization of the games decided to hold the beginning of the event.

Flooding and damaged areas of Iucan – Brugas.

Some areas of Iucan still suffer with eventual floods during rainy periods. The government of Brugas started a campaign to gather money and resources parts of Iucan. It is expected that more six months will be needed to Iucan look like it was before the typhoon.

 

Typhoon Nakoe to hit Iucan and other cities in Brugas, Neo Delta

DANIPA – Typhoon Nakoe is expected to make landfall near the city of Iucan in the Danipa Island next Friday night (local time).

The Taiago Climate Observatory said that Nakoe was the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale until this morning, but it is expected to lose strengh as it hit the Brugas archipelago. Winds could reach 93 mph as of Wednesday afternoon.

Typhoon Nakoe approaching the Brugas Archipelago.

More than 76 milimeters of rain is expected in the region of north Danipa and the Reme Islands.

In Iucan, thousands of citzens evacuated the eastern part of the city, which must be hit by strong winds and heavy  waves in the Iucan Beach. Hundreds of people took refuge in government shelters across the city. Cities of Danipa, Fluka, Tedema and Reme are also in alert. More than 20 flights to and from Danipa might be canceled. In Iucan, bus and tram services will be suspended on Friday evening.

Authorities expect Nakoe to weaken to a tropical storm but still to produced heavy rain in areas north Danipa, mainly in Iucan.

 

Freedemian Department of Transportation considering new tolls on U-4 between Vandover and Quentinsburgh due to improved rail service

FORT ELWOOD- Drivers traveling between Quentinsburgh and Vandover may soon see new expenses added to their trip, as the federal and state departments of transportation consider putting tolls on Unionway 4 between north Quentinsburgh and southern Vandover. This means the extensions of U-4 running through Haroldsborough and Fort Elwood  would also be toll highways, although local traffic will be able to drive for free. Tolls would most likely be located between towns, such as between Quentinsburgh and Haroldsborough, between Haroldsborough and Fort Elwood, and between Fort Elwood and Vandover. An entry toll will also be added to the Freedemia/Nature border for entering traffic.

The reasoning behind pushing for the new tolls is improvement of parallel rail transportation. After recent changes to the MetroWest Commuter Rail, one can easily get back and forth between Nature City (in Nature), Laneston, Vandover, Fort Elwood, Haroldsborough, Mathersboro, and Quentinsburgh, and technically, even further south to places like Graham City. The MetroWest line is the most reliable and frequently running regional intercity rail line in the country, and is generally seen as the most reliable in all of Western Tarephia. It is also reasonably affordable, with prices at f’5.50 per ride.

The primary reasoning used over the past decade or so against tolls on U-4 was the lack of reliable public transit alternatives. However, with the MetroWest, there is a viable reliable transit option. Local transit systems have even started better serving the commuter rail stations to connect them to the rest of the area. This is the alternative that was needed.

In order to make the commuter rail much more viable to intercity  travelers, the toll price currently proposed is f’6.00 for a full trip to Vandover, a full fc50 more than the MetroWest line. While many will continue driving, the hope is many will switch to using the MetroWest commuter rail instead.

Tolls are also being considered for the U-4 between Franklinsburgh and Anneitasburgh, perhaps the country’s most important and longest stretch of unionway, connecting the isolated eastern corner of the country, the populated western part, and the many towns lining it. However, more improvements to rail transit in the area are still needed before that can happen.

QUARTA reveals plans for new line 10 to alleviate north south traffic on lines 1, 14, and 5

QUENTINSBURGH- QUARTA, Quentinsburgh’s metropolitan transit authority, revealed plans today for a new line through northwest central Quentinsburgh to be completed in 2026.

The new line, to be named (when completed) Line 10- Wellson/Barbour/March Point Line, serves two primary purposes. First, the line, running north and south through one of the densest areas in the city, will help alleviate overcrowding and traffic on parallel lines 5 to the west and lines 1 and 14 to the east. Second, it will serve several large dense neighborhoods that rely on frequent bus service that currently don’t have convenient subway access.

The line will start along line 2 tracks in downtown at DaSilva/Lieber Concert Hall (2). The line will continue north along line 2 to Wellson/QSU Hospitals (2)(2X)(4)(4X)(5)(5X)(13)(13X), where it will switch to the line 5 tracks and proceed north until just before Quentinsburgh/Hayes/Redent Beach (5), where the line will branch off and go east on Hayes St, North on Wellson St, transfer to Barbour St via Jackson Rd, and go north to Huxtable Towne Center. Then the line would proceed north of the mall via Apex Drive North and then turn onto March Point Rd, where the line would eventually merge with the 5 again to terminate with the 5 alongside the 1 in Matherspark Village.

Line 10 will be built in 2 phases. Phase I, building the track between Hayes Street and Huxtable Towne Center, is expected to be done in 2022. Phase II, building the track between Huxtable Towne Center and March Point/M. Williams Dr and opening the entire line, is expected to be done in 2026. With planning done, construction should begin in early 2017.

Line 10 will run entirely local, and will be given a pink circle/route line, a characteristic taken from the recently discontinued line 12.

Speaking of line 12, QUARTA did mention that a new line 12 between North Quentinsburgh, Northcross, Berkeley Ridge, Carrol Hill, and Franklin Hill is in planning, as well as an extension of line 9 into Meisler and Horizon Springs, but didn’t go into great detail.

Most funding for these lines will come from local and state funds, as most federal funds go to Graham City and their recovery process. This is part of the reason why the estimated construction time is so much longer than other recently built similar lines.

MGTA announces plans to demolish condemned elevated subway lines, replace with BRT lanes

PRINCE, GRAHAM CITY- Several condemned elevated subway lines throughout Graham City will not be renovated or rebuilt, MGTA announced today in revealing the preliminary version of the city’s new transit plan. As a long term solution, the structures will be torn down and replaced by street running Bus Rapid Transit, an alternative cheaper to build and cheaper to operate. The system also announced routes for a frequent transit network, effective almost immediately, to restore transit to the entire city, especially until the BRT is at least partially complete.

MGTA Frequent Transit Network and restored bus service to all five boroughs

The plan released today consisted largely of short term plans and long term proposals. Realizing the need for immediate improvements, MGTA announced the restoration of local bus service to almost every major neighborhood in all five boroughs. The service has been made possible by renewed funding and a newly purchased fleet of no-frills buses. While many lines will be “underserved” in comparison to overall demand, in comparison to current service it will be a much needed improvement. Several major lines have also been chosen to be part of MGTA’s new frequent service network, largely serving lines that will be turned into BRT over the next three to four years.

Bus Rapid Transit to replace condemned elevated subway lines, service new major routes

MGTA made the announcement that only one abandoned subway line, the K in Creeklyn, would be restored to service, due to huge demand around the tracks and relatively good conditions. All other abandoned, condemned or demolished lines will be torn down (or used for non-subway purposes) and replaced with new street running BRT lines. Current proposals take six lane streets and make the middle two-to-four lanes (depending on the location) traffic lanes (and sometimes street side parking) and the outer two lanes into Local Bus and BRT lanes.

The BRT network will go beyond just demolished subway tracks, too. Routes will be modified to best serve the surrounding areas, and a couple other major corridors never serviced by rail will gain their own BRT routes. 

MGTA speculated that if twenty-five to thirty years from now Graham City was booming again and had made a full recovery and needed even stronger transit, that the BRT could be converted into a Light Rail system. However, the plan for now is to build the BRT. All BRT routes are expected to be minimally operating with ordinary buses by 2020, although some more expensive aspects (modern BRT stations instead of regular bus stop shelters, special buses for BRT, etc) likely won’t come until around 2025.

Volkman-era highway interchanges being demolished across Lornesse

Winterlyn City (Angel News Channel, Sakura News Center) – As temperatures are getting warmer in the Winterlyn Mountain Range, the government of the state of Winterlyn launched a long-term highway interchange reconstruction project on all Interstate Highways and National Routes across the prefecture of Lornesse, signaling that the construction season has begun.

According to local news outlets in Winterlyn City, the Lornesse prefecture government and the Lornesse Department of Transportation (LORDOT) studied the traffic volume and roadway design involving Volkman-era highway interchanges between the Clear Heart and the current Moka periods, that in the current period, the Volkman-era interchanges are pushed to the limit, to the point the highway interchanges cannot handle anymore strain from increasing traffic volume. In a statement by LORDOT’s president, Nimi Hirochi, said “the Volkman-era highway interchanges are not just cannot handle a lot of traffic along interstate highways, the overpasses and the gray asphalt pavement are starting to deteriorate, even those that are retrofitted or rehabilitated, they became ‘structurally deficient’. We have concluded that the traffic volume on those Volkman-era interchanges keeps increasing, the highway interchanges will start failing.”

Hirochi also said that since the Moka period began, an overpass at exit 59 on Yusaka Toll Road collapsed during a 6.1 earthquake in March. In April, chunks of concrete fell from an overpass near the Benisaro Rest Area resulting in one person seriously injured and two cars were damaged along Interstate 72 (B 72) between Winterlyn City and Yusaka Toll Road. On May 12, asphalt pavement deterioration and formation of potholes appeared at exit 140 near Gasagi Road in Celiniel. In response to Lornesse’s roadway design problems, the Belphenia Department of Transportation designed new highway interchange designs including better roadway designs, pavement design, and stronger overpasses for LORDOT.

Construction projects on the highway interchanges started in early 2016 with the demolition of all Volkman-era highway interchanges in phases. The new highway interchange designs will replace the old interchanges along Lornesse highways and will come with new and improved roadway designs, wider on-and-off ramps, new overpasses, street lights, guardrails, reflective road signs, traffic cameras, and new pavement markings.

“We are urging people to obey posted speed limits, traffic signs, and pavement markings along highways in active work zones, avoid using cell phones or other distractions while driving, and expect delays when you are traveling to your destination. Speed limits will be set to 45 mph and are strictly enforced in active work zones, and will be photo enforced. We are enforcing the speed zones so motorists can get to their destination alive and safely upon arrival, and to increase safety among other drivers, passengers, construction workers, police, and everyone.” Yuki Hirojima of the Winterlyn State Police said.

Lornesse will be the 24th prefecture to demolish all Volkman-era interchanges along Interstate Highways. The construction projects on the new interchanges are expected to be completed sometime in 2017.