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  #81  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2012, 7:07 PM
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Originally Posted by jeddy1989 View Post
I agree also .. they need to put lights on the outerring road ... no need to put it on all the TCH but at least on the major highways around the city. even the part of teh TCH through Grandfalls winsor has lights


Ideally I'd like to see the lights on the ORR as well as it fenced (just watch the number of moose accidents dramatically drop.. also then they can do work on the highway during the nights! ... solves a BUNCH of problems
No chance of them working on the highways at night around here. That idea was brought up in the news a few weeks ago during the paving of the ORR. Construction companies said it would almost double their costs so they would not even consider it.

But lights should be a high priority. But seeing how it is a federal highway, maintained by the provincial government, it realistically won't happen unless there is a large public outcry for it to happen. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but am I right in saying that the city of St. John's doesn't own or maintain the ORR?)
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  #82  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2012, 7:10 PM
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Then we should move the Confederation Building to Karwood and they'll have to sort it out.
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  #83  
Old Posted Oct 11, 2012, 10:51 AM
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Wiseman on Overpass Lighting

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Although construction of the Kenmount Road / Topsail Road Overpass continues, travellers and commuters have remarked on the lack of lighting on the new structure. The overpass serves the cities of St. John's and Mount Pearl and the Town of Paradise. Capital city mayor, Dennis O'Keefe, has proposed a form of municipal road board aimed at cost-sharing of common highway development, such as street lighting, but Paradise mayor Ralph Wiseman says in this case, his town is the geographic location of the structure and it's the town's responsibility. He says that's the direction they would prefer to take.

Wiseman says they can handle the cost and he would prefer not to get involved in any cost-sharing municipal venture that may not benefit the town or be a disadvantage to them.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?...27350&latest=1
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  #84  
Old Posted Oct 11, 2012, 11:45 AM
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I wish the provincial government would just force amalgamation. This is ridiculous. It's embarrassingly backwards and counter-productive.
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  #85  
Old Posted Oct 11, 2012, 9:10 PM
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I'm not sure how recent it is, but here is something about a traffic study, "City of St. John's VISUM Model Development". The maps are hard to make out, but at least the first one appears to show traffic flows in the city.

http://www.hatchmott.com/projects/ci...el-development
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  #86  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2012, 6:16 PM
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Construction continues at the airport. Looks like they are moving closer to a new entrance road.
Here an announcement from today -

"As of 7am on Monday, Oct. 15th, the road exiting from the Airport Terminal Building will be realigned to accommodate construction. The new route is outlined in blue, while the entrance (outlined in green) will remain unchanged for now. This routing will be in effect until the new access road is complete, scheduled for the end of November."
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  #87  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2012, 9:10 PM
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can't wait for the airport to be done!



ok guys I would like to get a constructive convo on the go about the bus system

What type of system or routes would you like to see in the city or what do you suggest for am efficient system??

here's what I would like to see... it's kind of based on how subway systems work (but with express routes)

I think there should be key hubs (downtown, the village, stavanger, MUN as the major hubs) then some minor hubs such as CNA, Marine institute, confederation bldg) ... between these major hubs there will be express routes (in the future ideally with bus lanes to make it even more effeciant) and with them leaving very frequently

To and from the minor hubs, there should be express or semi express routes connecting them to the major hubs

Then from all major hubs have the standard meandering routes branching from them which would be shorter now than they are currently .. these would be designed to get people to the hubs so they can get from one major area to another fast ..

Also these express routes can use the highway to say connect the avalon mall and stavanger or mun and stavanger etc.

Also Downtown I think there could be one stop in the west end which would be the major one and then another stop for the hub on the east end like in front of the sheraton but between them have the old street car letting people on and off going around downtown.

This system (while we wait for regional cooperation lol) they can make park and ride areas even within the municipal boarders just right at the edge and have shuttle buses to say downtown or to other hubs from them ... then later when other municipallities come on board they can designate a hub or a couple of hubs within their boundries and connect them easily to the others thoughout the city, this way there is a fast and efficient system

Also when this is in place there can be incentives such as the U pass for university students and DT parking deterrents to increase ridership

they could also have buses late night like thurs-saturday nights to shuttle ppl to hubs to be closer to where they live

what do you think?
What do you guys suggest?
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  #88  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2012, 10:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeddy1989 View Post
can't wait for the airport to be done!



ok guys I would like to get a constructive convo on the go about the bus system

What type of system or routes would you like to see in the city or what do you suggest for am efficient system??

here's what I would like to see... it's kind of based on how subway systems work (but with express routes)

I think there should be key hubs (downtown, the village, stavanger, MUN as the major hubs) then some minor hubs such as CNA, Marine institute, confederation bldg) ... between these major hubs there will be express routes (in the future ideally with bus lanes to make it even more effeciant) and with them leaving very frequently

To and from the minor hubs, there should be express or semi express routes connecting them to the major hubs

Then from all major hubs have the standard meandering routes branching from them which would be shorter now than they are currently .. these would be designed to get people to the hubs so they can get from one major area to another fast ..

Also these express routes can use the highway to say connect the avalon mall and stavanger or mun and stavanger etc.

Also Downtown I think there could be one stop in the west end which would be the major one and then another stop for the hub on the east end like in front of the sheraton but between them have the old street car letting people on and off going around downtown.

This system (while we wait for regional cooperation lol) they can make park and ride areas even within the municipal boarders just right at the edge and have shuttle buses to say downtown or to other hubs from them ... then later when other municipallities come on board they can designate a hub or a couple of hubs within their boundries and connect them easily to the others thoughout the city, this way there is a fast and efficient system

Also when this is in place there can be incentives such as the U pass for university students and DT parking deterrents to increase ridership

they could also have buses late night like thurs-saturday nights to shuttle ppl to hubs to be closer to where they live

what do you think?
What do you guys suggest?
Just wondering, would you (or anyone else) know anything about the new NovaBus LFS buses that Metrobus has ordered?

Winnipeg has a variety of the same system, the park and rides definitely need some work. However the rush hour service works quite well! Late night, with 30/45/60 min feeder frequencies do well, any higher frequencies usually suffer. Late night buses on main routes die down fast after 12am.

Do the outer towns already have service? I honestly have no idea, came here because my transit forum has no St. Johns members, and I can always rely on SSP to have transit threads
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  #89  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2012, 11:00 PM
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Here is something which may be useful, or at least info-taining, when thinking about public transit.

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  #90  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2012, 11:08 PM
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Originally Posted by armorand93 View Post
Do the outer towns already have service? I honestly have no idea, came here because my transit forum has no St. Johns members, and I can always rely on SSP to have transit threads
Outside St.John's, only Mount Pearl has some service from Metrobus - all the other towns in the St. John's CMA as of yet have no public transit. That's about 70,000 people out of about 200,000 (or ~35%) with no public transit.
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  #91  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2012, 11:21 PM
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there's a system in chile which is like a taxi/bus hybrid ... it's called colectivos (collectives)

How it works is there are set routes and there are taxis which only go along these routes, and they go when someone gets in them and pick up people along the way who need to go on the same route (like a bus) and you pay a fraction of the cost that you would for a taxi because its like a cost shared taxi. and you pay different prices based on how far you are going. it was great in vina chile ... however its very dense there I dont know how we could maybe adapt it for our city .. it would probably have to be for MUN students .. I could see it working for that quite well actually going to and from areas that commonly have students and acts like small buses or taxis that you share hmm

Of course they had buses too and Taxis, this was just another piece of the puzzle

Apparently this is quite common all around the world lol

even says quebec has a form of this

Quote:
A share taxi is a mode of transport that falls between taxis and buses. These vehicles for hire are typically smaller than buses and usually take passengers on a fixed or semi-fixed route without timetables, but instead departing when all seats are filled. They may stop anywhere to pick up or drop off passengers. Often found in developing countries,[4] the vehicles used as share taxis range from four-seat cars to minibuses.[5] They are often owner operated

"In Quebec, taxis collectifs
or transport collectif par taxi
or taxibus"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_taxi

Last edited by jeddy1989; Oct 14, 2012 at 11:46 PM.
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  #92  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2012, 11:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Architype View Post
Outside St.John's, only Mount Pearl has some service from Metrobus - all the other towns in the St. John's CMA as of yet have no public transit. That's about 70,000 people out of about 200,000 (or ~35%) with no public transit.
Thats actually kind of disturbing, not going to lie. Time to see what I can plot on Google Maps...
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  #93  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2012, 11:59 PM
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+1 for the park-and-ride system; although, a caveat here is that it must be an efficient way to travel. No one wants to take an extra 30 mins to arrive to their destination, they'll all resort back to using cars... and in a car crazy city such as this place, it wouldn't take much. In all seriousness, even if public transit progresses in the city I think we're quite some time away from park-and-rides. I'd settle for better express routes in the interim.
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  #94  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2012, 12:06 AM
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Originally Posted by armorand93 View Post
Thats actually kind of disturbing, not going to lie. Time to see what I can plot on Google Maps...
How do you plot stuff on google maps? I've been trying to figure it out
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  #95  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2012, 1:54 PM
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Here's some news articles from metrobus.com

There actually are some very good things happening with the buses, only of the system routes are revamped it could become a very good transit service

New semi-express services to start in September

Quote:
Starting September 4th, two new morning semi-express routes will be offered; one from Airport Heights to MUN, the other from Kenmount Terrace to MUN. Route 24 will service Airport Heights and travel express from Airport Heights Drive to MUN Centre. Route 26 will service Kenmount Terrace and Seaborn Street and then travel express from Thorburn Road to MUN Centre. For more details, click the "schedules" link at Metrobus.com.
http://www.metrobus.com/reader.asp?guid=104

Metrobus Partners with the AIR MILES Reward Program, Becomes First Transit Authority in the World to Offer Consumer Loyalty Points with Every Ride

Quote:
(ST. JOHNS, May 2, 2012) For the residents and visitors in St. Johns, the Metrobus system provides a reliable and environmentally responsible way to navigate the city and, starting on May 2, Metrobus will also become the first transit authority anywhere in the world to reward its passengers with consumer loyalty points for every bus ride. Through a new and unique partnership with the AIR MILES Reward Program, riders in St. Johns will be able earn reward miles every time they take the bus on any route in the city, with a simple tap of their m-‐Cards. Riders can find out more and learn how to take advantage of this offer on www.metrobus.com.

"We are excited to be launching such an innovative partnership with the most popular loyalty program in the country," says Judy Powell, General Manager of Metrobus Transit. "Public transit provides opportunities, options and choices for people from all walks of life, giving them easy access and freedom to the things they need in everyday life and by adding such a powerful and versatile reward offering, we are supporting an even more meaningful shift toward responsible behavior among the residents of St. Johns."

"This is a truly groundbreaking initiative for us and for the public transit industry," says Andreas Souvaliotis, President of AIR MILES for Social Change. "Our mission is to continue to harness the remarkable popularity of our loyalty program in order to inspire and reward socially responsible choices on a mass scale, across the entire country."

NLC Adds a Second Layer of Social Responsibility by Offering Double Miles for Rides on Weekend Evenings

Encouraging responsible behaviour has always been a core mission of the Newfoundland Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC) and, starting on June 2, the liquor retailer will join into the Metrobus/AIR MILES initiative by doubling the reward miles for riders travelling between 7:00 p.m. until 'last ride,' every Friday and Saturday.

"Whether out on the town or visiting friends, we are proud to be rewarding our fellow citizens for responsible behavior and to be contributing to our societys fight against drinking and driving," says
NLC President & CEO, Steve Winter. "Making the smart and responsible choice to take the bus instead of driving on a weekend evening has just become twice as rewarding."
http://www.metrobus.com/reader.asp?guid=82

So there are good things happening .. also the wifi is a good step as well

Metrobus Transit takes delivery of nine new fully accessible low-floor buses

Quote:
The St. John's Transportation Commission has taken delivery of nine Nova LFS Smart Buses as part of its six-year fleet replacement plan. The current order includes an option to purchase twenty-one additional buses by 2017. The Smart Bus technology solution can improve fuel economy by up to 18% and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

From the outside, the new buses look very similar to the other 23 low-floor buses already in its fleet, but Metrobus Transit General Manager Judy Powell says these buses are quite different. "These buses are fully accessible and include a wheelchair ramp and other related equipment. We will be phasing-in accessible bus routes in the near future."

The accessible low-floor buses are part of Metrobus Transit's plan to become a fully accessible transit system and prepare for an aging population, as recommended in a recent Transit Market Study report prepared by Dillon Consulting Limited. Commission Chair Tom Hann says more accessible buses are on the way. "The Commission made the decision that all new buses purchased will be fully accessible which will allow us to better service our current and future customers."

The nine new buses are 40-foot clean-diesel vehicles with a stainless steel structure, a must-have in the corrosive operating conditions prevalent in St. John's.
http://www.metrobus.com/reader.asp?guid=80

Also the bike spaces on the buses are another step in the right direction


AND HERE'S THE KEY:

Transit study recommends increased investment and regional transit service

Quote:
The St. Johns Transportation Commission released its comprehensive report entitled "Metrobus Market Assessment and Strategic Directions Study" December 13 during a press conference at St. Johns City Hall.

The report, which was developed by independent consulting firm Dillon Consulting Ltd., recommended improvements to service levels, transit terminal facilities and technology through increased investment. It also encourages the province to work with municipalities to establish an appropriate public transit service for the entire region.

"This report provides us with a strategic approach for the future of public transit in St. John's and in the region as a whole," says St. Johns Councillor At Large Tom Hann, chair of the St. Johns Transportation Commission. "We must invest in our public transit and take a more regional approach to dealing with our transportation issues. We are calling on the provincial and federal governments to take the lead on this issue. We hope to engage the province in a dialogue on the need for regional public transit and we also need the federal government to step forward and develop a national public transportation policy."

Dillon Consulting Ltd. was contracted in 2010 by Metrobus Transit to look at the reasons behind ridership stagnation in recent years, as well as to identify growth opportunities and recommend strategic directions for the transit agency.

"We know there are challenges ahead of us," says Metrobus Transit General Manager Judy Powell. "With a new depot opening this year and a commitment for new buses over the next few years, we are confident that we are moving in the right direction to meet the needs of our customers and develop strong relationships with our future riders."

The report identifies urban sprawl and the suburbanization of the population as leading to ridership stagnation, as well as contributing to the issues surrounding downtown parking in St. Johns and traffic congestion in the region.

"The City of St. Johns continues to grow at a rapid pace, as does the entire region," says Councillor Hann. "The population of the suburbs has increased 70 to 90 per cent since 1981 which shows that we must begin to look at a regional public transit service."

The report also identifies that with an aging population, the need to invest in fully accessible equipment, as well as terminal and bus stop upgrades is very important to the long-term viability of the public transit service. The senior population is expected to grow to 30 per cent by 2026 and is expected to have a major impact on conventional and para-transit services in the region.
http://www.metrobus.com/reader.asp?guid=77

There are good things happening with the buses and improvements are being made (even innovative ones) however the keys are (1) a route overhaul with various types of routes including express routes... (2) a regional system
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  #96  
Old Posted Oct 18, 2012, 4:01 PM
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Rough ride

Quote:
For all its big-city bluster and growing economy, St. John’s has no concentrated urban core.
The downtown is small, buildings are not tall, and the population is spread far and wide over a hilly terrain.
In 2011, the combined population of Mount Pearl, Paradise, Conception Bay South, Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s and Torbay stood at 81,590, a 13.1 per cent jump from the 2006 census total of 72,077. Over the same period, the population of St. John’s proper rose a little over half that amount, from 100,646 to 106,172.
It’s no place to run a bus system, and municipal leaders in the region are all too aware of it.
A new poll conducted exclusively for The Telegram and the St. John’s Board of Trade found that public transit in the metro area is nothing to ride home about. And talk of a major refocus on regional service is not gaining much traction.
A single question on the MQO Research survey found that almost 80 per cent of respondents in the metro area never use public transportation — i.e. Metrobus. That reflects chronically low ridership on the existing Metrobus system, which takes in the boundaries of Mount Pearl and St. John’s.
In August, The Telegram’s Andrew Robinson surveyed mayors of communities around St. John’s and found little interest in expanding the transit system beyond its current borders.
“You’re not going to put people on a Metrobus in Seal Cove and take them all the way to St. John’s,” said C.B.S. Mayor Woodrow French. “People just are not going to do that.”
MQO poll numbers for outside the capital city back up French’s assessment; 86 per cent of respondents said they never use transit, with the rest using it once a month or less.
This is a problem for St. John’s, which subsidizes the bus service to the tune of $10.5 million annually. (Mount Pearl pays an annual subsidy of $800,000.) St. John’s Coun. Tom Hann expects the total will rise to about $13 million in the years ahead.
Meanwhile, car-centric residents are not much happier with infrastructure in their region.
According to the MQO poll, only 30 per cent of respondents felt it was easy to get around in the metro area. Thirty-four per cent said they were happy with snowclearing services, and a paltry 14 per cent were pleased with road maintenance.
(One caveat: there was a lot of roadwork and traffic delays in late September when the poll was conducted.)
Today in The Telegram’s continuing MetroView series, Bonnie Belec takes a further look at road and traffic woes, while Steve Bartlett examines the struggle to get more people riding the bus.
http://www.thetelegram.com/Opinion/E...5/Rough-ride/1
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  #97  
Old Posted Oct 18, 2012, 9:07 PM
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Originally Posted by jeddy1989 View Post

This is a good article about the total lack of a good public transit system and lack of regional cooperation.

I think what needs to happen is that all these small towns on the border of St. John's start their own small services that will bring people to major drop off points in the city. Run one every hour (or to suit the demand) to let's say, the village mall (major hub for metrobus), downtown, stavanger drive, avalon mall, etc. on a non-stop express route and see how well that works out for a while. As the article states, these towns are growing at rapid rates, have increasing revenues and I think they should be investing some of this into doing something creative about transit. Metrobus doesn't have to be the one and only.
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  #98  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2012, 5:37 PM
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Landing System Installation Could Face Delay

Quote:
The St. John's International Airport Authority is looking at a possible delay in the installation of its new Category 3 Instrument Landing system. The state-of-the-art system would allow planes to land in less than ideal visual conditions like thick fog, and make the airport much more accessible to air traffic. The president of the Airport Authority says a tender bid for the first phase of the project came back way over their budget. Collins says they're hoping to re-tender the work over the winter.
http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?...27984&latest=1

I hope they figure it out soon!!
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  #99  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2012, 6:17 PM
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Oh my.. Lets hope they get this figured out soon because we desperately need that tech!
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  #100  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2012, 6:18 PM
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Aww... too bad. Hopefully their budget is realistic and they just didn't get much interest from busy contractors.
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