The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Doug

Wouldn't the lowest cost solution be higher fines for not paying? Maybe $500 and posting stats as to how many people are charged each month.

Part of the problem is that the sort of people who don't pay their fare are also the sort of people who don't pay their fines. Until recently as far as I know there was no real way to go after these people (reminds me of the story in Halifax where I think the only real penalty for not paying your parking tickets was that you couldn't run for city council or mayor).

They have changed the rules somewhat. Apparently the fines now increase if they go unpaid for a year or longer and you cannot renew your license if you have outstanding fines. These changes required new legislation, but it still seems a bit weird that they're coming in right before the fare gates. Even this has the flavour of a politically-motivated "crackdown" rather than a rational attempt to improve the service or increase revenues.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by someone123

Part of the problem is that the sort of people who don't pay their fare are also the sort of people who don't pay their fines. Until recently as far as I know there was no real way to go after these people (reminds me of the story in Halifax where I think the only real penalty for not paying your parking tickets was that you couldn't run for city council or mayor).

They have changed the rules somewhat. Apparently the fines now increase if they go unpaid for a year or longer and you cannot renew your license if you have outstanding fines. These changes required new legislation, but it still seems a bit weird that they're coming in right before the fare gates. Even this has the flavour of a politically-motivated "crackdown" rather than a rational attempt to improve the service or increase revenues.

Even not raising the fines and simply an intense but short term crack down on ticketing those caught not paying would at least give you a better metric on what percentage aren't paying. Over 6 months see if you can check the fares of every passenger on 14 random days, 2 of every weekday.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by srperrycgy

Sunalta Station - Opening December 2012 (part of the new West Line)

WLRT-05062012-50 by srp775, on Flickr

Saddletown Station - Opened August 27, 2012 (current terminus of Northeast Line)


Westbrook Station - Opening December 2012 (Calgary's first underground station, complete with Daylight Cannons installed in the ceiling)


Chinook Station - Opened May 25, 1981, Reopening August 2013 (Calgary's busiest c-train station outside of downtown)

Chinook by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

[SignalHillHiker]

I love Saddletown. It seems so retro and modern at the same time.

[caltrane74]

Union Station Renovation - Glass Trainshed



Union Station undergoing redevelopment to increase the stations capacity from 300,000 people per day to nearly 800,000 per day.

[Symz]

Wow, the Calgary LRT stations are really cool. Calgary seems pretty progressive with mass transit, I would think even Edmonton too.

[Chadillaccc]

Yeah both cities are pretty good. In fact the redevelopment of Seventh Avenue (Calgary's downtown LRT avenue) is nominated for an award for design.

Here is an example of what it looks like;


By me

[armorand93]

So much for any future SSP skyline shots from Chinook Stations building...

[Metro-One]

Here is an interesting story regarding the highway 1 rapid bus:

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.953910

It also has some nice shots of the new Port Mann Bridge.

[caltrane74]

Union Station renovation

[Chadillaccc]

when will it be done?

[caltrane74]

Subway Platform - 2014
Union Station - 2015

[someone123]

The Dartmouth bus terminal is almost complete. I didn't know this but apparently this is the second busiest transportation terminal in Atlantic Canada after the Halifax airport in terms of number of people passing through. It gets around 20,000 passengers per day; that is more than I would have expected.

It seems like transit is being taken a lot more seriously in Halifax lately. This terminal cost in the tens of millions. A decade ago the city built only minimalist terminals for a couple million dollars each. One of the busiest terminals (maybe 3rd or 4th in the city) is a collection of bus shelters located behind a strip mall.

Originally Posted by SekishikiMeikaiHa

Updates:



This is the layout:

http://www.halifax.ca/metrotransit/Schedules/documents/MapAug2012.pdf

[Nouvellecosse]

Huh? In what way are they classifying "bays" that allows them to get 16 separate ones there? I guess I'll have to wait until it opens and explore it first hand because I don't understand that...

[ciudad_del_norte]

^^ Cool. I am happy to see they are doing something there. When I lived in Halifax I always wondered what the deal was with that terminal. The infrastructure seemed like an afterthought for such an important local transit hub.

[davidivivid]

This image has been popular on facebook in the last few days so I thought I'd post it here.

[Doug]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Transi...creases/7269117/story.html#ixzz271IpQ4rA

Transit eyeing overloads as ridership increases

BY BRYAN WEISMILLER AND THANDI FLETCHER, CALGARY HERALD SEPTEMBER 19, 2012



Transit use is on the rise in Calgary, but it comes with an increase in the number of people frustrated with having to watch buses pass them by because they are at capacity.

While transit tickets are being punched at a record clip, city officials are eyeing an uptick in the number of riders left behind on busy routes.

In the past eight months, there’s been a “surprising increase” in ridership of at least five per cent over last year, according to Calgary Transit director Doug Morgan.

.....


Meanwhile, it seems more Calgarians have been ditching their wheels for buses and Ctrains since 2009, with an all-time high of 96.2-million trips last year. Ridership is also up more than 20 million from a decade ago.

Calgary Transit conservatively forecasts 98 million trips in 2012, but the 100-million mark could be eclipsed by year’s end if the surge continues.

When compared to the 2012 civic census — which revealed a 2.86 per cent population increase from April 2011 — the new figures suggest part of the increase is likely the result of residents leaving their cars at home in favour of using public transit, rather than an influx of newcomers.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by someone123

Part of the problem is that the sort of people who don't pay their fare are also the sort of people who don't pay their fines. Until recently as far as I know there was no real way to go after these people (reminds me of the story in Halifax where I think the only real penalty for not paying your parking tickets was that you couldn't run for city council or mayor).

If they are unlikely to pay fines or fares they aren't lost revenue to the system. The only real justification for turnstiles would be to restrict undesirables from transit infrastructure.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Doug

If they are unlikely to pay fines or fares they aren't lost revenue to the system. The only real justification for turnstiles would be to restrict undesirables from transit infrastructure.

I agree. I don't think Translink's accounting of "lost revenue" is correct because they don't know that the people who were on with no fare would have paid had there been turnstiles.

The turnstiles might keep some undesirables out, but it seems pretty likely that the worst people will still either find a way to get in or will hang out by the entrances to the stations. The fundamental problem around stations like Main Street is that there are lots of homeless people and drug addicts in that area.

The other day the transit police were in the midst of what they called a "crackdown" at the Broadway/Commercial 99 stop. An officer got on our bus and delayed us for about 5 minutes. The only person supposedly without a valid fare that she found was some poor girl with a U-Pass who took too long to produce a second piece of ID. The officer gave the girl a couple seconds while yelling at her and then apparently physically yanked her off the bus. In the process of looking out for this supposed lost revenue they decided to treat everybody riding transit like criminals. That is not the right way to manage a transit system.

[Chadillaccc]

Chinook Station construction. This small build UC here will be the passenger house where we will wait for buses after getting off the train. The main building in the background is to be demolished.


3 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr