Calgary Public Transit II

[Innersoul1]

I just wanted to say that the media is doing a fcuk up job of building controversy around the closing of the Southland LRT stations for renos. All of the stories on the news seem like they are seeking to get people upset and angry for the inconvenience.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Innersoul1

I just wanted to say that the media is doing a fcuk up job of building controversy around the closing of the Southland LRT stations for renos. All of the stories on the news seem like they are seeking to get people upset and angry for the inconvenience.

I haven't seen any media reports on it, but I'd say CT is doing the cock up here. From what I understand (just talking with people and what little I see here) there was very little notice given and it's going to be out of commission for a long time. This isn't like 7th Ave where you can just walk another couple of blocks to the next station, either.

I'd be highly pissed off if my local station had to close for a couple of months, too. I'm sorry, but this is insufficient (from calgarytransit.com):

Please make arrangements to access the CTrain at one of the adjacent stations (e.g. Anderson or Heritage). Bus service will remain unaffected and buses will drop off and pick up customers at Southland Station.

Calgary Transit is providing Route 556 service (accessible) to shuttle passengers between Southland and Heritage Stations, every 15 minutes.

Seriously CT? Buses are still going to go to a CLOSED STATION? And a 15 minute shuttle? Gee, maybe changing feeders to go to an ACTUAL STATION would be an idea.

I dunno, I find it hard to believe the media could make this look any more stupid than it already does. It's funny, because I was a bit "meh" on this until just now when I checked the website to see how they're handling it. Only to discover they're pretty much NOT.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Cage

Park and Ride Reservations and payment is quite the gong show this morning.

Wow, I haven't paid much attention to this until you mentioned it, but.. again, wow.

In the NW, fully 50% of the parking spots will be reserved. From the sounds of it, a whole ton of people are going to be signing up for these. So basically, instead of fulfilling his promise to remove the PnR fee, Nenshi has reduced it by an average of half in the NW. And for those that don't use the lots every single day of their lives, there are now half the spots available as before. Not sure what it's like on the other lines.

The only saving grace here is that it looks like the "reserved" spots are available to anyone after 10am. Statistically there should always be a spot or three open then.

For the person who occasionally wants/needs the convenience of a PnR spot - you're now effectively screwed. And for someone who uses it every day, it looks to be about the same except now I guess you're "guaranteed" - so long as you show up before 10am. Talk about a fix that makes things worse. This is just stupid. It's a compromise that pleases no one except the dedicated (and paying!) early morning rush hour crowd, while making things worse for everyone else.

They might as well make the entire lots reserved, and charge $200/month. Oh, and slap a "welcome, Cochranites" sign on the lots.

[CTrainDude]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I haven't seen any media reports on it, but I'd say CT is doing the cock up here. From what I understand (just talking with people and what little I see here) there was very little notice given and it's going to be out of commission for a long time. This isn't like 7th Ave where you can just walk another couple of blocks to the next station, either.

I'd be highly pissed off if my local station had to close for a couple of months, too. I'm sorry, but this is insufficient (from calgarytransit.com):



Seriously CT? Buses are still going to go to a CLOSED STATION? And a 15 minute shuttle? Gee, maybe changing feeders to go to an ACTUAL STATION would be an idea.

I dunno, I find it hard to believe the media could make this look any more stupid than it already does. It's funny, because I was a bit "meh" on this until just now when I checked the website to see how they're handling it. Only to discover they're pretty much NOT.

I agree with you to an extent, but how much notice is enough? People will be inconvenienced and pissed off whether you give two weeks notice or 6 months. Either way, people will probably continue to use the station till they can't anymore, then complain.

Plus, all feeder buses to Southland already service other LRT stations except the 16 and 84, so you really only should have those people riding this shuttle from Southland to Heritage (or you could transfer to a northbound route 3 at Elbow, which may be faster anyway). If people are silly enough to drive to Southland to catch a shuttle to the train, I doubt they are really tight on time to begin with.

[DizzyEdge]

How much notice was given, and how long is it out of service?

[Jack Doe]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

How much notice was given, and how long is it out of service?

CBC news website said it would be out of service for six weeks.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Jack Doe

CBC news website said it would be out of service for six weeks.

The date of the announcement on the city news page is 4 days before the closure, but I'm not sure if there was anything before that.

[Cage]

Originally Posted by freeweed

In the NW, fully 50% of the parking spots will be reserved. From the sounds of it, a whole ton of people are going to be signing up for these. So basically, instead of fulfilling his promise to remove the PnR fee, Nenshi has reduced it by an average of half in the NW. And for those that don't use the lots every single day of their lives, there are now half the spots available as before. Not sure what it's like on the other lines.

Northwest line 50% reserved. Note I had to exclude about 1150 spots that are at locations not associated with C-train (e.g. North Pointe on Harvest Hills).

South line is 17% reserved. Anderson currently has no reserved spots with a capacity for 1750 vehicles, Canyon Meadows, Chinook, and Heritage are also 100% free for the month of April. I suspect that Canyon Meadows Heritage and Anderson will get reserved spots in either May or June depending upon the demand.

Northeast line is 17% reserved. I expect this percentage could increase a little but if Franklin lot gets some reserved spots. But Whitehorn will likely remain with 820 spots free.

Originally Posted by freeweed

The only saving grace here is that it looks like the "reserved" spots are available to anyone after 10am. Statistically there should always be a spot or three open then.

I suspect that Crowfoot and Dalhousie will have all their reserved spots taken up by 10am. Crowfoot has 654 reserved stalls for 658 reservations. Also take into account that during the winter, about 20-30 stalls are occupied by mountains of snow. Additionally, I suspect that atleast 5-8 spts will be removed by parkers who cannot stick within the lines. Overall I expect there to be a shortage of 30-40 stalls unless Calgary Transit has the snow removal crews haul away the snow.

Finally, I suspect that at least 5-10 spots will be taken up by people who have not reserved stalls but are willing to risk a ticket or tow and park in the reserved area. Constant vigillence by Calgary Parking Authority will be required.

Calgary Transit has done away with another provision, and its a sneeky back door policy change that will impact anyone whoe currently parks after 10am. Can you figure it out??

Originally Posted by freeweed

For the person who occasionally wants/needs the convenience of a PnR spot - you're now effectively screwed. And for someone who uses it every day, it looks to be about the same except now I guess you're "guaranteed" - so long as you show up before 10am. Talk about a fix that makes things worse. This is just stupid. It's a compromise that pleases no one except the dedicated (and paying!) early morning rush hour crowd, while making things worse for everyone else.

Current system on the Northwest line still screws the occaisional parker, unless that parker currently gets to PnR before 7:30am.

People royally screwed is the downtown commuter who uses PnR during inclement weather. The reserve spot will effectively lockout this commuter from using CTrain. This is especially true for Cochrane commuters, who do not have access to bus-train combination.

Another group screwed is the 6:30am arrival Crowfoot station commuter who does not buy a reserved spot. While they will save money, their commute will now include a trip through an otherwise empty reserved parking lot on their way from the back lot. However other frequent commuters who arrive at 7:40am will have a reserved spot that close to the Ctrain entrance awaiting them.

Originally Posted by freeweed

They might as well make the entire lots reserved, and charge $200/month. Oh, and slap a "welcome, Cochranites" sign on the lots.

Kidding aside, I have often thought that PnR should be variable rates depending upon where the parker resides. Have a City of Calgary address and get charged 1/2 the PnR rate of an out of towner.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Cage

Calgary Transit has done away with another provision, and its a sneeky back door policy change that will impact anyone whoe currently parks after 10am. Can you figure it out??

Not sure what you're getting at. The 4 hour parking spots maybe?

[Cage]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Not sure what you're getting at. The 4 hour parking spots maybe?

Yep. Short term spots that were never fully utilized are now taken up by the reserved spots.

Personally I like the removal of 4 hour spots. Not a realistic option for Crowfoot or Dalhousie, if you can get into a car and are headed downtown for a short meeting, it just as easy to drive to Brentwood as Crowfoot. Brentwood might make sense to have 4 hour time limit spots, but only because there is no Transit PnR after Brentwood.

[floobie]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Wow, I haven't paid much attention to this until you mentioned it, but.. again, wow.

In the NW, fully 50% of the parking spots will be reserved. From the sounds of it, a whole ton of people are going to be signing up for these. So basically, instead of fulfilling his promise to remove the PnR fee, Nenshi has reduced it by an average of half in the NW. And for those that don't use the lots every single day of their lives, there are now half the spots available as before. Not sure what it's like on the other lines.

The only saving grace here is that it looks like the "reserved" spots are available to anyone after 10am. Statistically there should always be a spot or three open then.

For the person who occasionally wants/needs the convenience of a PnR spot - you're now effectively screwed. And for someone who uses it every day, it looks to be about the same except now I guess you're "guaranteed" - so long as you show up before 10am. Talk about a fix that makes things worse. This is just stupid. It's a compromise that pleases no one except the dedicated (and paying!) early morning rush hour crowd, while making things worse for everyone else.

They might as well make the entire lots reserved, and charge $200/month. Oh, and slap a "welcome, Cochranites" sign on the lots.

Hm. I take the train about twice a week from Dalhousie station, and do park there. I've usually been able to get a spot before about 9:30am. But after that, I'm screwed and have to drive to the university and pay more to park there... and usually have to walk way further to get where I'm going than I would if I were walking from the University station.

I have no opinion about the reservations so far. I'm not buying one for twice a week. But, I certainly don't mind not having to pay for parking. So, my satisfaction with this decision will be entirely dependent on how likely I am to get a spot at my usual time when this all goes into effect.

[MalcolmTucker]

^ I'm certain you will be able to use the University LRT pay lot at the east side of McMahon stadium. It will stay the same old $3/day me thinks.

[J-D]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

^ I'm certain you will be able to use the University LRT pay lot at the east side of McMahon stadium. It will stay the same old $3/day me thinks.

Or just park 4-5 blocks from the Banff Trail station on a residential street for free, it works out to about the same distance.

[Blader]

Arrived from YVR at 17:15 rushed to arrivals level and briskly walked from A arrivals area to D and crossed the street to bay 20 - just caught the 17:25 departure and was at the 64th Ave/Martindale intersection by 17:40. The driver kindly allowed me to exit at that intersection. 3 minute walk to my front door. It was sweet - only 18 minutes.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Cage

Yep. Short term spots that were never fully utilized are now taken up by the reserved spots.

Personally I like the removal of 4 hour spots. Not a realistic option for Crowfoot or Dalhousie, if you can get into a car and are headed downtown for a short meeting, it just as easy to drive to Brentwood as Crowfoot. Brentwood might make sense to have 4 hour time limit spots, but only because there is no Transit PnR after Brentwood.

Ah. Agreed. The 4 hour spots always seemed a bit pointless to me. I tried to think once about just how long it would be to a) wait for a train, b) take the train anywhere, and c) do anything, plus d) return trip. I couldn't figure out much that could be accomplished in the 4 hours. Certainly nothing that would be worth taking the risk of overstaying.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by floobie

Hm. I take the train about twice a week from Dalhousie station, and do park there. I've usually been able to get a spot before about 9:30am. But after that, I'm screwed and have to drive to the university and pay more to park there... and usually have to walk way further to get where I'm going than I would if I were walking from the University station.

I have no opinion about the reservations so far. I'm not buying one for twice a week. But, I certainly don't mind not having to pay for parking. So, my satisfaction with this decision will be entirely dependent on how likely I am to get a spot at my usual time when this all goes into effect.

Here's the deal for you then - half the spots you COULD have taken are now going to be reserved, and as you say, you won't buy one for twice a week. So fully half the spots are gone (I'm going to ignore the 4 hour spots discussed above, not sure how many of them there ever were).

Out of the rest, I guarantee you they will fill up before 9:30. Because everyone else who used to have to pay $3 is now fighting for half the available spots. Some will reserve (looks like plenty have), but I have a hard time believing demand is going to go DOWN now that the spots are free. So absolute best case, you might still get your 9:30 spot and it'll be free. Great! But I have an incredibly hard time imagining that happening.

I think I'm going to play around with the car for fun in early April, just to get a sense of what is open and when. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the "free" spots are filled all the way to Brentwood before 8am. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they're filled shortly after 7am. But I'd be very happy to be wrong (I use the PnR very sparingly, but when I do, it saves me a ton of time).

[fusili]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Eventually if a new cancer centre is built on west campus a people mover shouldn't be that far behind connecting all the hospitals. Much beþter to build that and extend it to the University LRT than any other rail options. Likely much cheaper and decades before other options. Last thing want to do is spur a line - imposes huge costs in the long run.

Some sort of people mover connecting Children's Hospital, Foothills and the UofC would work well. Connections to either UofC or Brentwood LRT station as well as a BRT station, perhaps at Foothills Hospital would be great and would make getting to the Hospitals by public transit all that much easier. There is a considerable amount of movement of staff, faculty and students between the UofC, Foothills and Children's already and any future development would only increase that.

[suburb]

Originally Posted by fusili

Some sort of people mover connecting Children's Hospital, Foothills and the UofC would work well. Connections to either UofC or Brentwood LRT station as well as a BRT station, perhaps at Foothills Hospital would be great and would make getting to the Hospitals by public transit all that much easier. There is a considerable amount of movement of staff, faculty and students between the UofC, Foothills and Children's already and any future development would only increase that.

There was CHR/AHS bus service between those sites previously (still maybe?) but it didn't help getting those people to work, rather, it was for people who couldn't find a spot in the 6,000 spots around Foothills and thus needed to park on the field immediately north of the children's hospital. Just reinforces the need to make it easier to get to and from Foothills. 6,000 car stalls - that is about three times the number on the Stampede grounds, to put some perspective on things.

[Radley77]

On this video, the VP of campus development at Bow Valley College mentioned for the new gateway station at city hall, eastbound would be called "Centre City Station" and westbound would be referred to as "Bow Valley College Station."

• Video Link

Video from: CentreCity blog with Bernard Benning, VP of campus development at Bow Valley College

[fusili]

Since it has been discussed to death here, why not read a blog post dedicated to the North Central LRT issue:

http://tinyurl.com/69hzqlb

Hope you all enjoy, you can comment on the blog itself, here or on twitter. Ahhh, social media.