Quote:
Originally Posted by RyLucky
My favourite station is probably either sunnyside or something on 7th ave. Whenever you need to take a circuitous pedestrian route just to get out of the station it can add a couple hundred meters to your trip. I get why acquiring ROW along existing roads makes sense, but pedestrian access has to be considered too.
One thing I'd be interested in experimenting with is private investment into station redesign. For instance, what if a future development around Chinook station allowed a pedestrian shortcut right onto the platform? In exchange for creating an enhanced pedestrian route, the developer could force thousands of people to walk past retail storefronts and expose them to advertising. The same could be done at Rundle, Westbrook, maybe Earlton, and a handful of other stations. Of course, there would need to be rules to ensure the pedestrian access is improved, and a discussion would have to happen around commercialization of these spaces, but I think it's more comfortable to walk through a mall than a bus bay, over a busy road, or shortcutting through alleyways. Think of the Montreal metro. This would also help density within walking distance of the station by allowing employers to develop right at stations AND by creating pedestrian shortcuts to other destinations.
Lastly, bus bays suck. What a waste of good land. Not just at LRT stations, but everywhere. Busses should park on cross streets. For example, if the 93 parked on 69th st instead of going into the bus bay, it could save bus commuters and drivers time, and provide a couple acres of prime TOD. In some cases, where the bus is actually turning around (Dalhousie), it might make sense, but most of the time it's just a major delay for everyone who isn't getting off. The 20 at the university is another example: why not just put bus stops along campus dr and not bother taking a minute or two to do the loop. Another example, 93 at foothills: why not cut through hospital drive to ACH instead of loop back onto 29th st. The list goes on. Our circuitous bus routes are wasting thousands of hours per year. We need straight roads. Not loops. /enddoublerant
//recommencerant// One more example. When I went to the opening celebration for 69th st, a shuttle was provided from the east side of the station to Ernest manning, which is literally across the street. It probably took 5 minutes and had 2 left turns. We definitely could have walked faster. I know that was just for one day, but I am beginning to think this is how CT thinks.
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I'm not sure how this "private shortcut" idea works, exactly. With the redesigned Chinook, when you leave the mall, you walk the straightest possible path onto the platform. With Rundle, the station is in the middle of a road. Would the road be replaced with a mall? Or are you talking about putting kiosks back in the station -- as CT veterans will say, that was tried and failed a long time ago. I would have been happy if the mall had expanded towards the LRT station instead of away from it, but that's not really what you're talking about, I don't think.
On bus bays: Most of them accomplish the purpose of getting the bus out of the way of traffic, which everybody else on the road appreciates. You seem to be talking more about bus loops. Firstly, most bus loops are at timing points for the buses, and the buses are supposed to have a minute or two to sit there in normal operation, so driving a little bit extra isn't going to slow them down any. They'd probably just sit 30 seconds longer on the curb. Loops are also useful not just at places where the bus is turning around entirely, but also where a bus has detoured a little to the loop and needs to get back on track, like when the 20 stops at Brentwood.
If all of the bus stops are located at the same place, rather than on four cross streets, then there are several benefits to transferring riders. The obvious one is no walking between stops. This also avoids the situation in your proposed scenario where someone may get off a bus at the NE corner of an intersection, and see the bus they want pull up to the SW corner of the intersection, so they run through traffic to make the connection.
Also, to the degree that there are improved amenities, they can be shared -- the U of C bus loop has a larger shelter and printed schedule; if CT were more on the ball, it would be a heated shelter and real-time information, but in any case, it makes sense to provide it at one location, but not to spend four times as much for four bus stops on cross streets that are near to each other.
Finally, bus loops permit users to take multiple routes -- if you're at MRU and want to go downtown, you can take the 18 which is fast, the 13 which is a little slower, or the 306 or 72 and transfer at Westbrook to the C-Train. If the four buses all stop at the same loop, you can take whichever one comes first, which effectively quadruples the frequency. If they're at different stops, you have to guess or trust the schedule.
Re short shuttles: I'm sure you'll be saying the exact same thing when you're 80 years old and on your third hip replacement.
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