Calgary Public Transit II

[fusili]

Originally Posted by freeweed

My bus route in Royal Oak has 3 stops in a single block. I'm not kidding. 2 on one road, and a 3rd once you round the corner. And these aren't huge downtown blocks either.

I realize it's not intended to be a rapid transit route, but get serious. CT has some mind-bogglingly stupid stop arrangements.

Facepalm. Almost all feeder routes have ridiculous stop spacing. They should be at least 100m from one another. Rapid transit should be about 600m at a minimum. You could run a bus from Crowfoot LRT station to Heritage Station via Westbrook LRT station, Mount Royal Uni, and Rockyview Hospital all in 12 stops. I imagine it wouldn't take more than half an hour.

[srperrycgy]

Ohhh the Rockyview. My favourite part of the #20.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by srperrycgy

A Circle Route BRT would be a excellent idea. The current Circle Route is ok, except for the f-ing long and largely unnecessary layovers. In my current commute from Killarney to 58th Ave @ Blackfoot: Chinook Station and Crowchild @ 54th Ave SW.

They should get rid of 2/3 of all the stations on the circle route and make it an actual circle route. What is the point of connecting Brentwood station with Glenmore if it takes 1.5 hours to do so?

This city really has to learn how transit should work. Any route of any significant distance has to have large stop spacings, otherwise station times would eat up all the travel time.

Basically we need to completely re-orient transit so that there is a primary transit system, of high capacity, dedicated lanes, and stops spaced far apart (LRT and BRT); and a secondary system that feeds the primary system- and nothing else. No transit route should be travelling crosstown unless it is a rapid route. I mean, WTF is the 9? Or the 10? Or 75% of transit routes in Calgary?

Sorry for the rant, but just talking about the 73 makes me angry.

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by fusili

They should get rid of 2/3 of all the stations on the circle route and make it an actual circle route. What is the point of connecting Brentwood station with Glenmore if it takes 1.5 hours to do so?

This city really has to learn how transit should work. Any route of any significant distance has to have large stop spacings, otherwise station times would eat up all the travel time.

Basically we need to completely re-orient transit so that there is a primary transit system, of high capacity, dedicated lanes, and stops spaced far apart (LRT and BRT); and a secondary system that feeds the primary system- and nothing else. No transit route should be travelling crosstown unless it is a rapid route. I mean, WTF is the 9? Or the 10? Or 75% of transit routes in Calgary?

Sorry for the rant, but just talking about the 73 makes me angry.

annnnddddd...........why do no buses go directly up 10th st (kensington) after 4:45? wtf is that? At least that is how I remember it......I tried to get on a bus at Safeway one day and realized I couldn't....

[mersar]

Originally Posted by kw5150

annnnddddd...........why do no buses go directly up 10th st (kensington) after 4:45? wtf is that? At least that is how I remember it......I tried to get on a bus at Safeway one day and realized I couldn't....

The number 4 runs straight up 10th Street until well after midnight. Last trip past the timing point at 10th and 16th ave is 12:29am.

[SubwayRev]

Another example...the EB #2 has 15 stops between 14th Street and 37th street...

[UofC.engineer]

The Buses will proceed up 14th street to 9thave and then downtown. Lane reversal on 14th street could be an option for the city.

[UofC.engineer]

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/43865227
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/43865225

The area to the east of 14ast was ROW protected by the city in the 50's and 60's in order to facilitate the construction of a freeway to downtown. The LRT option was chosen in the 70's instead.

Check these out if you can't see the pics above

And feel free to shoot holes in the plan, if you see fit

[fusili]

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/43865227
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/43865225

Check these out if you can't see the pics above

That is a pretty amazing bridge beside the dam you are proposing. And cutting through the dog park in Altadore would have everyone up in arms.

[Aegis]

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/43865227
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/43865225

The area to the east of 14ast was ROW protected by the city in the 50's and 60's in order to facilitate the construction of a freeway to downtown. The LRT option was chosen in the 70's instead.

Check these out if you can't see the pics above

And feel free to shoot holes in the plan, if you see fit

This is nuts. Why would you build all this infrastructure, ruin a natural area (sandy beach/river park),destroy a quiet neighborhood, when there's already a freeway (Crowchild Trail) on the periphery of the subject area?

[UofC.engineer]

Originally Posted by fusili

That is a pretty amazing bridge beside the dam you are proposing. And cutting through the dog park in Altadore would have everyone up in arms.

Haha, I guess the dam could be turned into a two lane bridge for buses, it was used for traffic until glenmore was built. Another pedestrian bridge would have to be built then.

And i think the dog walkers could handle a bus coming every 5-10 mins. It's not Deerfoot trail we're talking about here.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/BRT%20on%20grass/Ocklawaha/StreetcarGrass.jpg

[that_twisted_cm]

Originally Posted by srperrycgy

A Circle Route BRT would be a excellent idea. The current Circle Route is ok, except for the f-ing long and largely unnecessary layovers. In my current commute from Killarney to 58th Ave @ Blackfoot: Chinook Station and Crowchild @ 54th Ave SW.

A Circle Route BRT IMO should centre itself on six points, clockwise from Northwest:

- UofC Campus/Foothills Hospital
- SAIT Campus
- Sunridge Mall/Peter Lougheed Hospital
- Southeast Industrial (north of Glenmore)
- Chinook Station
- Mount Royal University

(I'm trying to get a map up, but Google Maps is being a pain in the butt...)

[that_twisted_cm]

Originally Posted by Aegis

This is nuts. Why would you build all this infrastructure, ruin a natural area (sandy beach/river park),destroy a quiet neighborhood, when there's already a freeway (Crowchild Trail) on the periphery of the subject area?

Plus it doesn't go to MRU, which is hugely key.

I think the BRT would be better served going down Richmond Road. But a bus-only bridge over/next to the dam would be a good idea.

[MalcolmTucker]

Re: BRT / LRT over the dam

You can always build a new pedestrian/bike trail over the water distribution pipe and turn the road back into a road for buses. Would need some pretty easy signaling to prevent collisions. For LRT a gauntlet track would work (but I doubt traffic would get to a level to make LRT or even a street car worth it).

Truth be told, move the river park section onto 16th St, add some skip lanes and a traffic signal at 14th St and 38th Ave and you would have likely a very good route for maybe $15 or $20 million. There would be obvious capacity limitations but I doubt the route would ever need much more than 1000 people per direction per hour. If you need more than a one lane road could handle, you can always just run a different route on the backhaul with the main commuting direction still going over the dam.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by that_twisted_cm

Plus it doesn't go to MRU, which is hugely key.

I think the BRT would be better served going down Richmond Road. But a bus-only bridge over/next to the dam would be a good idea.

People could switch to the MRU BRT at one of the common 14th St stations. With a stop at MRU, the SW BRT likely will be a poor alternative for downtown commuters.

[that_twisted_cm]

Perhaps this would work?:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&h...14.045639&spn=0.216149,0.512924&t=h&z=11

[that_twisted_cm]

And here's my own proposal for the Circle Route BRT:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&h...14.016628&spn=0.054044,0.128231&t=h&z=13

[Riise]

What about having a core circle busway running along 16th Ave North, Crowchild, Glenmore, and 52nd Street East? In addition to a circle BRT route, there could be feeder BRT routes that would fully utilize a bus' ability (i.e. being able to leave the busway).

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by that_twisted_cm

Perhaps this would work?:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&h...14.045639&spn=0.216149,0.512924&t=h&z=11

I am not sure it would save time much time for a rider from lets say Woodbine vs a transfer onto another BRT at a combined
Rockyview Hospital station. (the other BRT Being a Heritage Station to MRU route going over the causeway, possibly as part of a larger route)

The SW BRT is there to be a relief valve for frustrations in the SW until the south LRT has its capacity problems dealt with. I don't see it as a trunk line - local feeder buses would still feed to the south LRT. It may stay in place after 4 car upgrades are done but I would hope it would be capacity limited as it would be awfully expensive to operate vs feeding the riders onto the south LRT.

That is different than routes feeding MRU which will be in place for a long time.

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by that_twisted_cm

And here's my own proposal for the Circle Route BRT:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&h...14.016628&spn=0.054044,0.128231&t=h&z=13

It should connect directly to a NE LRT station, your proposed line does not.