The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[ssiguy]

Holy crap!
I didn't realize the Island was almost 50km long!
I though it was more like 25km.

How many people live on the Island these days and is it's downtown/inner city population growing like Tor/Van or is most of the pop growth happening in the outer areas?

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by Bertie Wooster

^Is that all LRT?

So far A and B-Line has been considered for LRT, $1.1 billion. S, T, and L Line haven't been determined yet. Construction for B-Line the city would like to start building in 2011.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Holy crap!
I didn't realize the Island was almost 50km long!
I though it was more like 25km.

How many people live on the Island these days and is it's downtown/inner city population growing like Tor/Van or is most of the pop growth happening in the outer areas?

The Island of Montreal:
Area 499 km2 (193 sq mi)
Length 50 km (31 mi)
Width 16 km (9.9 mi)
Highest point Mount Royal (233 m (760 ft))
Population 1,861,900 (for comparison, Montreal CMSA is 3,635,571 according to 2006 census). Thus about half the metro pop is on the island.

With a population of 1,861,900 inhabitants (25% of the population of Quebec), Montreal Island is by far the most populous island in Canada as well as the world's most populous island on fresh water. It is also the 6th most populous island of the Americas and the 37th most populated island on Earth, outranking Manhattan Island in New York City. Montreal and the other municipalities on the island are part of the administrative region of Montréal (region).

[francely57]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Holy crap!
I didn't realize the Island was almost 50km long!
I though it was more like 25km.

How many people live on the Island these days and is it's downtown/inner city population growing like Tor/Van or is most of the pop growth happening in the outer areas?

The inner city population hasn't moved much in the last 10 or 20 years. Middle-class families still tend to move out of the island.

Few people know how large the island is, and how huge(ly sprawled) Montreal's region is (...60-70 km diameter, and almost 100 km along the St. Lawrence/Outaouais rivers !)
In fact, as much as we like Montreal, Ottawa and Québec's nice cores, they all have maaad sprawl at the outskirts...

[SteelTown]

You can now ride the HSR with Google

November 12, 2008
Hamilton Spectator

There will soon be fewer excuses to be late for class or for work.

The city of Hamilton's public works department has been working with Google programmers for the past few months to add local transit routes to the popular Google map interface.

It means that, in addition to the best route to drive between point A and point B, you can also find out what bus to take and what the transfer points are if it's more than one bus.

The service goes live tomorrow. The illustration above uses a Vancouver to-from example to show how it will work.

Hamilton is the fifth city in Canada to receive this treatment. Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Fredericton were first.

How did Hamilton get the service before Toronto?

Google spokesperson Tamara Micner says the city of Hamilton was "very co-operative" in the partnership.

In a separate, unrelated announcement yesterday, Google publicized an interactive component to its Google Earth service that allows you to stroll through the streets of Ancient Rome.

[vid]

That's like NextBus, in Thunder Bay and Guelph, you can use a Google Maps version of the interface to see satellite images of the bus stop area, but it isn't integrated with Google Maps for some reason. Google Maps just allows you to click on a stop, see what buses go there at what times. NextBus shows you where buses are, and tell you the almost exact time at which they will be arriving. If they could add that to Google Maps, it would be amazing, since NextBus's website is kinda buggy. Having just the little stop to click on in Google Maps would be much easier for me.

[mersar]

Edmonton is also at least at a testing stage with Google Transit (its not listed as a partner system yet, but you can search the routes, etc) through the Google Maps site. Supposedly Calgary Transit is working on it as well, a lot of us had hoped it would have been done as part of CT's new website they launched last month but it didn't make it.

[vanman]

Vancouver to have Canada's first buses with video billboards


Video-like billboards coming to buses

By Jeff Nagel

Published: November 12, 2008 3:10 PM

New electronic advertising billboards coming to local buses are capable of full-motion video but will initially be limited to more subtly moving graphics out of concern they could distract other drivers.

Just one TransLink bus is so far equipped with a new LED panel as a two-month pilot project, but plans call for the screens to be installed next year on up to 100 buses, according to Lamar Transit Advertising.

"We have decided in conjunction with authorities not to run full-motion video," said Lamar vice-president Byron Montgomery.

"The thinking is slow, but sure. We don't want to come in right away with full-motion video. We want to come in with something that is less intrusive and more gradual."

The new displays, 3.3 metres long by 71 centimetres high, are being tested on the curb side of the bus, beaming six-second spots at pedestrians.

Montgomery said the pilot project has been approved by the transportation ministry, which regulates lighting on commercial vehicles, and the RCMP.

An ad that activates next to a driver and starts to move or scroll might confuse or distract the driver.

But Montgomery said it shouldn't be a problem – buses normally travel in the curb lane and the displays would rarely be visible to other traffic.

Transportation ministry officials say they and local police will review results from the trial before approving any further rollout.

It's the first Canadian use of LED motion panels on buses, although they have been pioneered in London, England and are also undergoing trials in New York and Chicago.

The technology is expected to be lucrative both for Lamar and TransLink, which earns a share of advertising revenue.

Montgomery predicts the LED panels will command five to six times as much revenue as conventional static bus advertising.

Geographically customized advertising is also possible, because GPS units can detect the current position of a bus and switch to the message of a specific advertiser when the bus is nearby.

Advertisers can also rapidly change their messages.

"This is the future of transit advertising," Montgomery said. "It's a quantum leap for our industry."

B.C. Trucking Association spokesman Paul Landry questioned whether moving images on buses would pose a road hazard.

"If cell phones are a problem it seems to me very attractive attention-getting advertising would potentially have the same sorts of problems," he said.

But if the technology gets ultimate approval on buses, Landry predicted various trucking fleets may be interested in profiting from video advertising as well.

"If it's okay for buses, one would think the same thinking would apply to a truck."


SkyTrain video screens coming

Video screens are also coming soon to SkyTrain stations.

Lamar Transit Advertising has installed its first 46-inch LCD video monitors at Waterfront station.

Up to 140 of the screens that display advertising and information are to be installed at other SkyTrain stations throughout the system in the months ahead.

Montgomery said more than $5 million is being invested here in new advertising technologies as part of a deal with TransLink to extend Lamar's advertising management contract five years to 2020.

He estimated the deal will be worth $150 million to TransLink over 15 years.

Although advertising spending has softened amid crumbling stock markets and consumer confidence, he said transit advertising tends to be more resistant to downturns.

TransLink increasingly views the stream of riders through its system as an audience who advertisers will pay big bucks to reach.

The more money that can be raised through advertising, officials say, the less will have to come from other sources like taxes or fare increases.

The new advertising technologies are predicted to generate an extra $12 million for TransLink over the next three years.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vanco...deo-like_billboards_coming_to_buses.html

[vanman]

A clip of the video billboards in action:

• Video Link

[vid]

I think that would be distracting to other motorists.

[Metro-One]

I just saw one the other day, it was the coolest thing i have seen in a while! I am pretty sure DVD players in cars, talking with friends in your car and gazing at the scenery around you as you drive are more distracting than these. It caught everyone at the bus stop by surprise and you could hear people talking about it at every stop. Bring them on i say! Vancouver needs more of these innovations. They should be on the sky-trains too!

[Dmajackson]

I have a question...

In Halifax there has been some talk about installing a reversing-bus lane on one of our busiest streets. I was curious to know if anyone knows how these works and if they only work for a specific type of bus route, like conventional or express? How the buses would get to the stops are what is confusing me since this street also has two malls on it and many houses and businesses.

[SpongeG]

Toronto transit fares frozen in 'unpredictable' economy

In a step to address Toronto's deteriorating economic situation, Mayor David Miller has announced a freeze on public transit fares.

Miller told reporters at city hall Wednesday that current economic conditions are "nothing short of unpredictable" and no fare increase will be imposed next year by the Toronto Transit Commission.

"The scope of what we're witnessing is unprecedented and worldwide," Miller said as he headed into a meeting to discuss the city's $1.6-billion capital budget,

Right now commuters pay a $2.75 cash fare, or $22.50 for 10 tokens, with discounts for seniors, children and students.

A monthly adult Metropass sells for $109.

Miller's announcement means those fares will stay put for at least the next 12 months.

Miller acknowledged that many people are out of work or likely to lose their jobs, and it would be a bad time to increase the cost of public transportation for people looking for work.

"The TTC's budget is under considerable pressure. I spoke to the general manager last night and asked him to do everything in his power where I could be able to recommend a fare freeze. Which means the TTC's going to have to look at its budget very carefully," Miller said.

The last increase in TTC fares was in November 2007, when the price of a Metropass increased from $99.75 to $109.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/12/10/ttc-fares.html

[Dmajackson]

Torontonians pay more to use the bus than us here in Halifax? That seems backwards because we have a lower percentage usage rate and our buses move less people a day.

BTW Halifax is $2.00 with free transfers and $60.00 for a monthly pass on conventional buses. Link and Community Transits are different

Are other cities paying that much or is it just T.O. with the high rates?

[LeftCoaster]

Vancouver ranges from $2.50 for a 1 zone to $5.00 for a 3 zone, monthly passes are $73 to $136 respectively

[mersar]

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

Are other cities paying that much or is it just T.O. with the high rates?

Calgary is $2.50 for single fare with transfers within 90 minutes, and monthly fare is $75 (going to $83 in 2009).

[vid]

Thunder Bay is $2.35, increased last April for the first time since 2003, and there are no increases in the future as far as I know. A monthly pass is $67, $57 if you qualify for a discount pass. (They went up 2 dollars each in April, from $65 and $55 respectively.) Transfers last 1 hour, but you can use them as much as you want most of the time, and they're good on any route.

[g35]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

I just saw one the other day, it was the coolest thing i have seen in a while! I am pretty sure DVD players in cars, talking with friends in your car and gazing at the scenery around you as you drive are more distracting than these. It caught everyone at the bus stop by surprise and you could hear people talking about it at every stop. Bring them on i say! Vancouver needs more of these innovations. They should be on the sky-trains too!

Nobody sees the train between stations and they could just put the video screens in the stations for the people there.

[Metro-One]

Actually in many places one can see the side of sky-trains between station simply because they are outside for the majority of time. But LED billboard inside the stations would be a better idea. On the walls facing the platforms where they already have simple poster advertisements plastered everywhere.

[mersar]

Heres a video/animation of the new West LRT for Calgary that the city put together. Just gives a general overview of where the route goes, though since it is a design build somethings may be slightly different (such as the stations, which are either very rough in design or absent in the video)