The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Hampton Roads Transit will begin a trial bus service to Norfolk International Airport today.
The hourly bus service will run from 5 a.m. to 11:47 p.m. seven days a week until March 10.
HRT officials hope to gauge customer interest in starting a permanent service to the airport.
The service, called Route 7, will connect riders with the downtown area and the Cedar Grove Transfer facility by way of Norview Avenue and Tidewater Drive.
Using the route will cost $1.50.
Also, HRT will install a new section of track for The Tide this weekend.
There will be no light-rail service between Harbor Park and the EVMC/Fort Norfolk stations, a news release said. Normal weekend service will run between Newtown Road and Harbor Park.
Normal weekday light-rail service will resume at 6 a.m. Monday.
For more information, visit HRT's website.
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Great News!
Please remember that air travelers are not the only ones who go to the airport everyday. There's also thousands of employees, some of them low wage, whom this will benefit.
No bus system, in any city, enables everyone to take a single bus to their destination. To those who think it's unreasonable to expect people who live way out in Chesapeake to take two or three buses to get to the airport, they should take a cab. Those of us who live in Norfolk, however, will gladly take a couple of buses not to burden our friends and family with a ride to the airport. Thank you HRT for creating a route that goes where people want to go!
what news?
Above comment must be and HRT planner.... With Va Beach City Hall (17 miles) from the airport....Norfolk City Hall ( 8 miles) Chesapeake City hall ( 16 miles) from the airport and Suffolk (26 miles) from the airport... It should not be unreasonable to reach Norfolk International Airport in 1 hour by public transit in our area.... Otherwise you do not have a useable public transit and you are wasting time and money. Airport employees have designated parking for employees and a shuttle with security available to them to and from employee parking. Most Washington DC metro area to Dulles Airport..apx 28 miles travel time apx 1 hour....Next please....
Nothing but a joke
So, from where I live in Chesapeake, leaving at 7am, it would be a 3 hour trip on #14 and #15. And that's not including the time it would take me to walk 2 miles to the bus stop.
So it's really a joke for anyone who doesn't live in close proximity to the airport.
still can not get there from here...
looks like a minimum of 2 hours to get to the airport from most locations in Norfolk, va beach Chesapeake and portsmouth with multiple transfers... most will spend more time on their flight than getting to the airport on HRT...the taxi providers are not losing any business over this. Which is I am sure the intent.
Why HRT would not just add the airport stop on the Route 15 Bus (for example) connects direct to the Tide at military...naval base and greenbrier ....or does that make to much sense? Am I missing something or is this planning just nuts?
Schedule for Route 7
http://www.gohrt.com/routes/route-7.pdf
Couldn't find any links to it from the HRT home page, press release, or Norfolk bus routes page, but it showed up in a search of the HRT site.
Note that the route will also serve Civic Plaza. People wishing to avoid Cedar Grove can transfer there to the light rail, bus Rt 45 to Portsmouth, Rt 6 to Chesapeake, and MAX Rts 960 (Wards Corner & Newport News) & 961 (VB Oceanfront).
It will effectively increase service along the southern half of Rt 8 to 3 buses/hour, so it could be useful even to customers not going to the airport -- which may increase the chance that HRT actually makes it permanent.
what a tour
I am sure passing through cedar grove will make business people and tourist flock back to norfolk!
One would think bus....
….service would be provided from the airport to the choo-choo's parking lot on Curlew for the thousands of visitors Norfolk's proposed conference center will attract.
interesting, where is the secure long term parking
Where are people supposed to park, and what will be the security for those parkers.
route map?
I can see that it lists hat neighborhoods the new route serves. But I can't fid a map or even a list of the stops. How is anybody supposed to ride this thing if they don't know where the stops are other than the two ends? Should we just wander up and down Norview Ave until we see the bus and then run hoping we can catch it? Oh yeah, it won't stop unless somebody's actually at the stop... How would we EVER figure out where the stops are? Will the put up signs? Really curious and the HRT website didn't help...
again no service
As can be seen by the stops this is not going to be a service that the traveling public can use....One would think at that stops should be
downtown Norfolk.....Town Center...Va beach oceanfront and back....no stops in bettween....
So it looks like a regular bus route added with a stop at the airport to tick that box for some reason and nothing more. But I am sure HRT was looking for a way to be able to say that they has some sort of airport service with out ticking off the cab and limo companies. I wonder what the limitations for HRT in this area. I am sure there are agreeements with the cities for some protection of the cab and limo services to be able to offer quality service.