The future of Ottawa's Transit - Page 257

S-Man · #**5121** Posted **Oct 20, 2012, 3:40 AM**

I agree - I don't think fare evasion is a problem. For examply: Because it's so f#cking hard to get bus tickets anywhere, I often pay with change. If I have a pile of change that comes to a nickel short of basic fare, Ithrow it in and ride the bus (like last night). If I'm strapped for small change and can only put in two toonies (well above fare, like tonight), then that's what I do. They still come out ahead. Don't do anything with this LRT that's costly to implement and hard to figure if you're getting value for your money. Lets PLEASE move past the McGuinty era, where it's cool to burn money for ideology purposes. Lets start being rational, and introducing knowledge of HUMAN NATURE into our planning decisions.

Cre47 · #**5122** Posted **Oct 24, 2012, 10:21 PM**

STO is increasing the fares by 6% next January, just ridicoulous. Gas prices remained virtually the same, so that excuse is bull. My obvious guess is the conversion of the Express routes into regular local routes, unless they decide to keep the Express routes. If for some reason, the Express routes are kept, there's no reason to increase the fares by 6%. Considering what's going, it would in their interest to keep the Express routes, no matter if Mayor Watson complains about the number of buses downtown.

eternallyme · #**5123** Posted **Oct 25, 2012, 10:02 PM**

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/More+night+...able+groups+memo+says/7447355/story.html

Some holes will attempt to be plugged from the 2011 cuts. I would argue a few other changes (several being cuts) are needed.

A few others I would change:

14/16/151/NEW 155: Basically flip back to the pre-2011 setup with the 155 as a peak period route. Extend Route 14 to Central Park to serve that area, and realign Route 16 to best cover the 151 section. Shorten Route 151 to Westboro-Tunney's Pasture and reduce the frequency to hourly, with some trips continuing to Carlingwood replacing that part of the 2.

129/185/NEW 19: The summer weekend routes to Aviation and Agriculture Museums would be replaced by a single route, call it Route 19. That would run through downtown, along Sussex to Rideau Hall and then on to Aviation the quickest way possible (Rockcliffe Parkway if possible) every hour on weekends only - all year.

5/16/NEW 17: The extra 5s and 16s on the short routes would be eliminated. In addition, the 16 would run a shorter route through Sandy Hill, ending in the community, via Rideau Street. Route 17 would be a new route along King Edward, Lees and Main to the hospitals, reconnecting it to downtown. It would run weekdays only, every 15 minutes at peak, hourly midday and two evening round trips.

99/144: During peak periods, only limited 144 trips would run to Findlay Creek (most would end in Blossom Park). Instead, a quicker 99A branch would provide several peak-period direct to downtown trips from the community along the 99 route to downtown.

Uhuniau · #**5124** Posted **Oct 26, 2012, 3:15 AM**

Eliminate the extra 5s?

Are you nuts?

eternallyme · #**5125** Posted **Oct 27, 2012, 3:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

Eliminate the extra 5s?

Are you nuts?

The useless 5 to the hospital from Lees Avenue. Combine that with the extra 16 from Sandy Hill to Rideau Street (on a different routing) in a reorganization.

Zach6668 · #**5126** Posted **Nov 3, 2012, 4:58 PM**

Is there any sort of plan with respect to improving transit around Merivale to help alleviate the basically constant congestion? It's kinda in the middle of nowhere, transit-wise. Transitway isn't really close.

I don't know, there are obviously frequent local busses going up and down, but I just find the traffic annoying. Unfortunately I need to be on the road often for my job.

Dado · #**5127** Posted **Nov 3, 2012, 6:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zach6668

Is there any sort of plan with respect to improving transit around Merivale to Leo alleviate the basically constant congestion? It's kinda in the middle of nowhere, transit-wise. Transitway isn't really close.

I don't know, there are obviously frequent local busses going up and down, but I just find the traffic annoying. Unfortunately I need to be on the road often for my job.

Please elaborate a bit on where you're asking about... I can't even find a 'Leo' in the list of Ottawa street names on the back of my city map.

But if you are asking about Merivale in general, from Carling to the Greenbelt, then the answer would basically be "no". I believe the idea has come up a few times on this forum for some kind of tram service along it at some future date that would tie into a future Carling line, but that's basically wishful thinking on our part.

Zach6668 · #**5128** Posted **Nov 3, 2012, 6:23 PM**

Oops, Leo was an autocorrect error.

eternallyme · #**5129** Posted **Nov 21, 2012, 11:06 PM**

PRESTO delayed another 3 months - if problems continue in the winter, they could scrap it (per CTV News).

If they scrap it, where could OC Transpo turn to?

Aylmer · #**5130** Posted **Nov 21, 2012, 11:32 PM**

... On the up side, OC Transpo's become a joy to use for us Gatineau residents!

gjhall · #**5131** Posted **Nov 22, 2012, 1:02 AM**

I'm part of the friends and family trial, and I find this all very weird. I can't remember the last time there was either no reader or a reader that didn't work...Problems must be on the backside of things.

eternallyme · #**5132** Posted **Nov 22, 2012, 1:33 AM**

Transit commission approves OC Transpo’s $463M budget

Transit boss explains $550,000 program to determine future of aging hybrid buses

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/...+budget/7590548/story.html#ixzz2CuWxF8Vw

They are unsure what to do with the hybrids, since:

1) Diesel engines from 2012 are nearly as efficient (although they weren't a few years ago)
2) Orion, the manufacturer, has gone out of business as Daimler stopped making transit buses

They are supposed to last at least another 8-10 years (they are 2-4 years old). Options OC Transpo is considering:

1 - Replace them with diesel engines
2 - Hold on to them until replacement in the early 2020s and do nothing
3 - Sell them to another agency, likely as a trade-in deal with similar-age diesel buses
4 - Sell them and buy new buses (what model though?)
5 - Some combination of all that

Dado · #**5133** Posted **Nov 22, 2012, 1:36 AM**

At what point do we finally just say "screw PRESTO, we're going with what the STO is already using"?

JCL · #**5134** Posted **Nov 22, 2012, 2:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gjhall

I'm part of the friends and family trial, and I find this all very weird. I can't remember the last time there was either no reader or a reader that didn't work...Problems must be on the backside of things.

I too am on the Family and Friends pilot. I did experience a significant problem in September and October where my bus pass, for no good reason, was being deleted from my PRESTO card before month's end. I understand that it was a software issue with the card reader.

Also, I've been getting quite a bit of the "Tap Card Again" errors since November 7.

There is quite a bit of work to go before it's ready to go-live....

gjhall · #**5135** Posted **Nov 22, 2012, 5:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCL

I too am on the Family and Friends pilot. I did experience a significant problem in September and October where my bus pass, for no good reason, was being deleted from my PRESTO card before month's end. I understand that it was a software issue with the card reader.

Also, I've been getting quite a bit of the "Tap Card Again" errors since November 7.

There is quite a bit of work to go before it's ready to go-live....

Interesting...I'm on the e-purse system (no pass) and have not had anything like that in ages. I wonder if it's a pass issue mainly?

Richard Eade · #**5136** Posted **Nov 22, 2012, 9:50 PM**

Nope, it is not only e-Pass holders who are having trouble. I use the e-Purse and recently I have had wrong locations recorded, an extra fare charged, and several 'lost' transactions. Most of the problems I have submitted seem to be beyond their ability to review. For example, 'lost' transactions seem to be exactly that - LOST. They are still (a month later) trying to figure out how a fare was deducted from my e-Purse but the e-Transfer was not written. If e-Purse transactions are a two-stage process with two distinct writes then it is possible that this is a fundamental problem since it could happen anytime a card gets pulled away too soon. Such a problem could force a sizable change in the code.

The back-office is not immune from problems either. There have been several times when the 'Card Summary' value displayed on the Web is out of sync with the Transaction record. Usually after a few days things get corrected, but in the meantime, it is difficult to keep track of my balance.

As JCL said, there are still a number of issues with the PRESTO system that need to be worked out and I don't think that all problems are getting a high priority. For example, I recently boarded a bus at Albert/Metcalfe but the transacrion record claims that I was at Smyth Station. They are not looking into the matter, claiming that the bus's GPS was probably acting up. The thing is that I check each time I use my PRESTO card and note what is displayed on the NSAS screen. Although there are issues with the NSAS too, I definitly boarded at Metcalfe and the NSAS was displaying correctly - which means that the GPS was working fine on that bus. This is a PRESTO problem - but it doesn't affect revenue so it is low on the list. But that doesn't mean that it can be ignored. It is just another problem that will need to be fixed before 'Go Live' if they want people to have confidence in the system.

eternallyme · #**5137** Posted **Dec 21, 2012, 2:42 PM**

One problem I find is that they never learn from major blizzards and always try to run full service even though: a) many people stay home, and b) articulated buses are impossible to run in heavy snow. Yet another mess today.

If I were planning the schedule, I would have run a Saturday service today (with some exceptions) - entirely with 40-foot buses - and set detours. There would be no express service, although the 600-series school routes would run (unless schools were closed) and a limited number of peak runs where no other service exists. The remaining buses would sit on standby for extra crowds and gaps.

J.OT13 · #**5138** Posted **Dec 21, 2012, 3:13 PM**

Apparently the double deckers aren't too hot either; one flipped over today.

eternallyme · #**5139** Posted **Dec 21, 2012, 3:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Apparently the double deckers aren't too hot either; one flipped over today.

I saw that, not sure if wind might have played a role. I'm curious to see how they fared in the snow overall and how many got stuck.

If they only ran 40-footers, there would still be some getting stuck, but not nearly as many. But there is nowhere near enough to run even close to a full service with just them. In an extreme situation, they could stop all service, but I have never heard of such being required - probably would take snow rates of over 5 cm an hour for several hours or combined with winds of 80 km/h or more, beyond what plows can even attempt to do.

Capital Shaun · #**5140** Posted **Dec 21, 2012, 3:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eternallyme

One problem I find is that they never learn from major blizzards and always try to run full service even though: a) many people stay home, and b) articulated buses are impossible to run in heavy snow. Yet another mess today.

If I were planning the schedule, I would have run a Saturday service today (with some exceptions) - entirely with 40-foot buses - and set detours. There would be no express service, although the 600-series school routes would run (unless schools were closed) and a limited number of peak runs where no other service exists. The remaining buses would sit on standby for extra crowds and gaps.

A Saturday service? That's next to useless for a regular workday. Not everyone can stay home. A reduced weekday service would make more sense.

Only realistic way for such a service reduction to happen is if the biggest employers (the Feds in our case) closed up shop during a storm. The last time the Feds were on skeleton staff due to bad weather was during the ice storm of '98.