Ottawa Rapid Transit Network developments

[Dado]

Originally Posted by d_jeffrey

Yawn... O-Train is rapid transit, and it's success shows that transferring from a bus to a train is quite successful in the city. I disapprove replacing the O-Train with other rail-based transit. The Transitway conversion will serve more people and cost less to build, so it has all my support.

It also resolves a load imbalance in the tunnel and provides more capacity to take passengers from Gatineau.

O-Train capacity can be quadrupled by coupling a second vehicle and doubling its frequency, both of which are easily done. That would provide more than enough capacity for ages to come. Well, that and telling OC Transpo to get rid of the fencing at Carleton University and the bottleneck exit at Bayview. We love our black fencing in Ottawa, we really do.*

Other cities have shown that transfering to rail is not a big deal, because it's a comfortable transfer. I absolutely despise to transfer from a bus to another, just because there's either rain, a snowstorm or whatever climate issue there is. The Transitway stations are the worst designed transit shelters I had the displeasure to wait at.

Probably designed by engineers (and if an architect designed them, they should be ashamed of themselves). The overhangs are great at depositing rain, snow and ice down one's back as one steps on or off a bus, which is why they added these helpful yellow diamonds hanging there warning one not to stand right where one needs to be to board a bus. A suitable form of punishment for the Transitway's principal promoters would be to force them to stand along the front edge of these shelters on a rainy spring day when the snow is melting.

That said, I think Lion's Park Station in Calgary has to take the cake for miserable transit shelters. It won't drip on you, but on a cold blustery winter's day it is absolute misery since there is no real shelter.

*Anyone gone past the new West Transitway work at Bayshore recently? Check out the stretch of black fencing at the westbound Queensway offramp to Richmond Rd where the transitway goes under the off ramp. Not a sidewalk or pedestrian facility in sight (we're on the Queensway, after all) but we have some black fencing to keep pedestrians from jumping over the edge. Way to go, Ottawa! Not even the MTO could top that.