Calgary Public Transit II

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Toronto has lots of taxis in certain places because there are lots of offices, entertainments, hotels and residences compressed. There are issues with multiple classes of medallions (human rights complaint on racial discrimination of all things).

Sure, taxis would be great to fix. But it is worth the political capital to fix it, especially when by the end of the decade the problem may have fixed itself?

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

^ Calgary had an over supply of medalions, I don't think we are under served per capita compared to Toronto and others, but I could be wrong. (remember for comparisons that Toronto's ambassador class medlions are only allowed on the road 12 hours a day)

I think you actually nailed it in the first comment. Yes, Calgary might have a comparable number of taxis where there's lots of busineses/hotels/houses compressed. The key is ALL of 'old toronto" is like that, and hence it seems like there are loads of taxis everywhere in Toronto, because there is, whereas the only parts of Calgary similar is the centre city and perhaps one community adjacent to it.

I think per capita isn't a useful comparison, as imagine this ridiculous scenario, where Calgary is the size it is now, but only has 1000 people all living on acreages. If that Calgary only had one taxi, it might be ahead of the game 'per capita' compared to Toronto, but the service would be much worse. Per capita makes partial sense, but it fails to take into account that the less dense the city is, the longer rides are likely to be. I would guess (and this is just a guess), that most cab rides in Toronto are under 10 mins. I wouldn't expect that to be the case here.

I supposed the best metric would be average wait per taxi call / hail attempt, as that is really what anyone cares about.

[DarkKeyo]

I was reading about the new Herald Square development in the construction thread, and realized that any construction where the Bow Parkade currently is would be right beside the 7th Ave underground station planned for the SELRT. And, looking at the map, the new City Centre development is adjacent to the planned Eau Claire station.

Would either of those developments be required to take into account a subway station in the basement, as hearsay says that Bankers Hall and Eigth Avenue Place have?

[fusili]

Transitcamp blog post:

Why Transit Needs to be Like a Good Restaurant

http://transitcamp.ca/2012/06/13/branding-why-transit-needs-to-be-like-a-good-restaurant-2/

[You Need A Thneed]

Final Bus Routes for NE extension:

http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/ne_lrt_extension.html

Confirms an opening date of August 27th.

I think there's at least two places that the roads still have be be finished and opened so that the busses can do the route - both in Saddlestone.

[You Need A Thneed]

I've looked at those bus routes before, and wondered whether combining the 95 and 71 into one route would work, and the 71 would continue on Falton Drive instead of turning onto 64th ave, then use falconridge drive to meet up with Westwinds drive.

You could even combine the 95, 85, and 71 into a loop route in the area. (you would need CW and CCW routes). This would connect Saddletowne circle, Falconridge, Westwinds business park, and Martindale all together with one bus route (and no need for a transfer.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

I've looked at those bus routes before, and wondered whether combining the 95 and 71 into one route would work, and the 71 would continue on Falton Drive instead of turning onto 64th ave, then use falconridge drive to meet up with Westwinds drive.

You could even combine the 95, 85, and 71 into a loop route in the area. (you would need CW and CCW routes). This would connect Saddletowne circle, Falconridge, Westwinds business park, and Martindale all together with one bus route (and no need for a transfer.

I haven't looked at all the routes you mentioned, but combining too many routes can make it too long a loop - and you'd have to run frequent large buses on the entire route. Splitting them, you can make each route quicker, and you can run different frequencies, change things up one route to another based on time of day, and run smaller buses for some.

Question:

What is Route 85 supposed to achieve. It simply runs directly between two adjacent LRT stops. Am I missing something here?

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by suburbia

I haven't looked at all the routes you mentioned, but combining too many routes can make it too long a loop - and you'd have to run frequent large buses on the entire route. Splitting them, you can make each route quicker, and you can run different frequencies, change things up one route to another based on time of day, and run smaller buses for some.

Question:

What is Route 85 supposed to achieve. It simply runs directly between two adjacent LRT stops. Am I missing something here?

Make that all 3! Hardly seems a good use of resources.

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

Make that all 3! Hardly seems a good use of resources.

To serve the people along Martin Crossing Drive and Martindale Drive that aren't within 400m from other routes. Such as myself.

Also, to provide one bus route that brings people to the Superstore, and other things in that area.

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

Make that all 3! Hardly seems a good use of resources.

I imagine for times when here is maintenance at Saddletowne station, Trains will only go as far as MKWW, shuttles will go between MKWW and Saddletowne, and the 85 will serve Martindale Station.

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

To serve the people along Martin Crossing Drive and Martindale Drive that aren't within 400m from other routes. Such as myself.

Also, to provide one bus route that brings people to the Superstore, and other things in that area.

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

I imagine for times when here is maintenance at Saddletowne station, Trains will only go as far as MKWW, shuttles will go between MKWW and Saddletowne, and the 85 will serve Martindale Station.

It seems you could eliminate the section between MKWW and Martindale except in case of maintenance and just run the section between Martindale and Saddletowne for regular services something like this and this during maintenance

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

It seems you could eliminate the section between MKWW and Martindale except in case of maintenance and just run the section between Martindale and Saddletowne for regular services something like this and this during maintenance

That would overserve the North side of Martindale, and underserve the middle, and forces people to ride further around either to or from the station.

Plus, it really saves very little. Either way, there's probably only going to be one bus on the route when it's running every 15 minutes.

Also, like I said, there's no route that takes people in Martindale to Superstore, etc - and I think there's a significant number of riders that do this. They would have to bus to Martindale, Train to MKWW, and then walk further from the end of the transit ride than before.

[suburbia]

Makes sense. Clearly there are more subtleties and also more science than the drive by route mapper might recognize. The Superstore has a lot of people in and out over the course of a day / week - and you're right about the additional people along that path. Additionally, the great thing about transit systems is they are always a work in progress. They'll run the numbers and the audits and if things aren't right, it will get adjusted.

To those commenting about combining and more gung-ho about eliminating routes than myself, would hate to see what you'd do with the downtown transit map and a red marker!

[mersar]

Summer service revisions are now posted. Nothing too major but the usual scale back of service for the summer on many routes. Some permanent changes too, the 402 extended further into Silverado and 406 also has changes to serve the new South Hospital better.

[Radley77]

Originally Posted by fusili

Transitcamp blog post:

Why Transit Needs to be Like a Good Restaurant

http://transitcamp.ca/2012/06/13/branding-why-transit-needs-to-be-like-a-good-restaurant-2/

Great article! A transit wayfinding system should be designed with the end user in mind. Station names should be truncated, thicker lines for LRT and use of colour coding, and interchange stations should be bolded.

[fusili]

Transitcamp Blog Post: The Red Bus Goes Fast- Mistakes in Branding.

http://transitcamp.ca/2012/06/21/the-red-bus-goes-fast-mistakes-in-branding/

Feedback always appreciated.

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by fusili

Transitcamp Blog Post: The Red Bus Goes Fast- Mistakes in Branding.

http://transitcamp.ca/2012/06/21/the-red-bus-goes-fast-mistakes-in-branding/

Feedback always appreciated.

I like it!

[Cage]

I was under the impression the reason for changing the Ctransit livery to Red, Grey, White was to highlight all the new equipment hitting Calgary streets and railways.

I like the idea of using color coding for the bus network on BRT, however I feel the BRT network would have to be expanded to accomodate the fleet reassignent. To put it more succintly, BRT fleet would have to be completely separate from the rest of the bus network. I am not sure there is sufficient BRT network to completely separate.

Airlines have expiremented with this concept before. Air Canada Tango and ZIP were examples. Others included Continental Lite, Shuttle by United and Ted, Delta's Song, BMI Baby, Jetstar. Air Canada LCC concept is also looking to provide this different brand concept to go along with the differentiated expirence.

The airline experience teaches that Zip,Shuttle by United and Continental Lite were all failures while Air Canada Tango, Song, and Ted were sucess stories. Ultimately the sucessful airlines transformed the legacy parent airlines to compete with the low cost carriers. People often say that AC Tango was a failure, however AC of today bears more resemblence to Tango that AC mainline of 1990's.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by fusili

Transitcamp Blog Post: The Red Bus Goes Fast- Mistakes in Branding.

http://transitcamp.ca/2012/06/21/the-red-bus-goes-fast-mistakes-in-branding/

Feedback always appreciated.

I agree with the BRT comment, our "BRT" is really just an express bus with some signal prioritization.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by Cage

I was under the impression the reason for changing the Ctransit livery to Red, Grey, White was to highlight all the new equipment hitting Calgary streets and railways.

I like the idea of using color coding for the bus network on BRT, however I feel the BRT network would have to be expanded to accomodate the fleet reassignent.To put it more succintly, BRT fleet would have to be completely separate from the rest of the bus network. I am not sure there is sufficient BRT network to completely separate.

You hit the nail on the head. We need a to expand the "BRT" (hate that term) network. We have the 300, 301, 302 and 305 currently, and will be implementing the 306 (Westbrook to Heritage via MRU and Rockyview Hospital). With a few more routes (16th Avenue N, 52nd ST E, 14th ST SW), we will start to create a real network of these routes. That is where the branding would be useful. I do admit that with only limited routes being "BRT" having a distinct set of vehicles does cause problems.

[Wooster]

I would much prefer if the BRT was simply rebranded along with other routes as "fast & frequent" services. Perhaps unique liveries are useful, but more than that I think things like the stop/station amenities need to go beyond the bus stop painted red. It needs things like real-time arrival information embedded at the station, enhanced waiting areas, wayfinding, better route information etc. Also operationally, much more dedicated bus lanes, signal priority etc.

Look at TransLink for how they've really effectively branded, communicated that kind of service - "B-Line"

We've been talking a lot about that in RouteAhead planning.