The future of Ottawa's Transit

[Capital Shaun]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

No surprise, summer ridership is down.

It appears that the 2011 cuts didn't have much impact during the fall and winter, but were significant in ridership losses in the spring and especially summer months when fewer were at work and school. Why would they wait an hour or more for a trip for leisure purposes? It's a challenge trying to serve lower-density communities in off-peak periods, that is for sure.

I would argue, though, that a lot more ridership could be gained beefing up the major corridors than trying to restore service in low-ridership areas.

We also had an unseasonably warm spring which helped get cyclists out much sooner. The city also saw an increase in cycling overall which probably took a small dent out of OC Transpo's ridership.
http://secure.campaigner.com/Campaigner/Public/t.show?Z2S9--HY6k-1N4gsz2#14

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Capital Shaun

We also had an unseasonably warm spring which helped get cyclists out much sooner. The city also saw an increase in cycling overall which probably took a small dent out of OC Transpo's ridership.
http://secure.campaigner.com/Campaigner/Public/t.show?Z2S9--HY6k-1N4gsz2#14

That partially relates to the service cuts, since those with less frequent service would be more apt to do so than wait for an infrequent bus. Do trips involving transfers count as 1 or 2 passenger trips? (For example, if someone took a local bus in the suburbs and transferred to the 95, does he count once or twice? In that situation, he could have taken the bike to the Transitway then took the 95)

[Cre47]

Maybe this little piece might cause some reaction - since this is found in Gray's blog

http://bulldogottawa.com/privatize-oc-transpo-cato-institute/#more-5246

[Dado]

I hope it snows that day so Mr. O'Toole can get a taste of Bus "Rapid" Transit when the weather turns bad.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Cre47

Maybe this little piece might cause some reaction - since this is found in Gray's blog

http://bulldogottawa.com/privatize-oc-transpo-cato-institute/#more-5246

There are definitely pros and cons to such. A full privatization would be unfeasible since no transit system in North America runs on a 100% farebox recovery rate. But contracting out - perhaps in piecemeal approach - might be useful?

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by Cre47

Maybe this little piece might cause some reaction - since this is found in Gray's blog

http://bulldogottawa.com/privatize-oc-transpo-cato-institute/#more-5246

The only way transit could be fully privatized, at least in most North American cities, is if a full road pricing scheme was implemented to put transit on a level playing field.

Otherwise, privatization will just mean elimination, because most transit routes are not profitable and cannot be profitable based on how our cities are built.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by Dado

I hope it snows that day so Mr. O'Toole can get a taste of Bus "Rapid" Transit when the weather turns bad.

Randal O'Toole's views on public transit are widely recognized as being incredibly shortsighted and funded by the oil and gas industries. Here's just one example of someone deconstructing his points:

http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/06/02/randal-otoole-taking-liberties-with-the-facts/

The fact that OTAG is using him completely removes any credibility they held in my view. I think reasonable discussion is great and privatizing the operation of transit can work, but bringing in O'Toole won't help add any credibility to the debate.

[eternallyme]

What would Ottawa's road network be like, I wonder, if the modal share for transit was as low as the worst US cities of its size (like under 1%)?

[Capital Shaun]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

What would Ottawa's road network be like, I wonder, if the modal share for transit was as low as the worst US cities of its size (like under 1%)?

I can already hear the complaining about the traffic from the bus hating, bike hating, car worshipping crowd.

[matty14]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

What would Ottawa's road network be like, I wonder, if the modal share for transit was as low as the worst US cities of its size (like under 1%)?

Remember that 17-lane sunken expressway on Laurier from a 1965 plan?

It would be real.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=4393904&postcount=29

[McC]

more Twentieth Century transit practices coming soon to the Capital

Next bus arrival information — and ads — coming to Transitway stations

By Neco Cockburn, Ottawa Citizen February 12, 2013

OTTAWA — Transitway stations are to feature digital display screens that show when the next bus is coming — and advertising to go along with it, says the company that won a competition to sell ad space on OC Transpo stations and buses.

Also prepare for “station domination,” when a station is blanketed with ads, according to Pattison Outdoor Advertising, whose bid won the advertising rights for 10 years.

OC Transpo gets a cut of the revenue for advertising arranged by the company. Transit officials had hoped to bring in more money by finding companies that want to sell space on its assets.

OC Transpo estimated that advertising opportunities put up for bids — on buses, stations, “digital” properties such as the OC Transpo website and mobile app, and printed materials at bus stops — could add as much as $1.3 million to the approximately $3 million a year brought in through shelter and bus advertising.

Where the expectations stand after the contract was awarded last month for the buses and Transitway stations was not immediately clear on Tuesday.

No bids were received for the digital or printed material, “but those probably aren’t the big cash cows,” said Councillor Diane Deans, who chairs the city’s transit commission.

“We’ll go back now and have another conversation with Pattison to see if there’s any way that we could compel them to do it, or maybe we’ll take a look at doing it in-house,” Deans said of getting ads sold in those categories.

OC Transpo estimates it will receive about $25 million over the life of the decade-long Pattison deal, Deans said, and there’s a revenue-sharing formula that could increase what it gets should advertising exceed what’s written into the contract.

“We think that this has been a very successful contract,” Deans said.

Pattison said it had previously held the contract for ads on buses alone. OC Transpo had received about $14 million over the past nine years from its contract with the company, said Deans.

The possibility of selling ads on the OC Transpo app stirred up controversy early last year. Former transit services general manager Alain Mercier promised to provide bus arrival data free to app developers in the community, but then wanted to hold off and look into advertising opportunities for OC Transpo’s own app first.

The flip-flop got Mercier a rough ride from the transit commission and the public, and the data was made public.

In bid documents, specific ad opportunities were said to include the interiors and exteriors of more than 1,000 buses, as well as 42 Transitway and O-Train stations, about 1,400 bus stops that have schedule display cases, and 750,000 printed pocket timetables.

“Station domination” would be possible at 22 stations, according to the documents. Pattison stated in a press release that it means “an advertiser can literally take over a Transitway station for a given period with a multitude of advertising messages.”

The documents indicated that 57 high-definition display screens were expected to be installed to show passengers when buses will arrive, and those could display ads.

Testing is expected to begin in a few stations later this year, and the system is expected to be fully operating by 2014, according to Pattison. The screens will be “very useful” for people waiting in Transitway stations, said Frank Wilson, Pattison’s sales manager for Ottawa and Eastern Ontario.

“That’ll carry a full-time stream of transit scheduling information and there will be some spots available on there for advertising,” he said.

The company also highlighted an opportunity for ads to be displayed as large murals on OC Transpo’s new fleet of double-decker buses.

Pattison’s new contract expires on Dec. 31, 2022, with a five-year renewal option “solely at the discretion of the transit commission,” Wilson said.

Bus shelter and bench ads are sold under contracts that expire at the end of June, according to bid documents.

[email protected]">ncockbu...awacitizen.com

twitter.com/NecoCockburn
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

[eternallyme]

Major problems today due to a bomb threat(?) at Bayview. O-Train and Transitway routes shut down in the area.

Only a few alternatives exist to bypass the area:

* 85 along Carling and Preston, only route from downtown avoiding the area

* 101 from Hurdman to Lincoln Fields or Bayshore (best option for west end)

* 118 from Hurdman or Billings Bridge to Baseline or Kanata (best option for southwest, an alternative for some in Kanata)

[McC]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Major problems today due to a bomb threat(?) at Bayview. O-Train and Transitway routes shut down in the area.

!!!

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by McC

!!!

It's virtual gridlock there now.

One solution to reduce it IMO is to split the locals and expresses onto different patterns. Keep the 95, 96, 97, etc. running on the detour to serve all stations, while the expresses (60s and 70s) should bypass the area completely using the Parkway to Lincoln Fields. That would mean no express service between LeBreton and Dominion inclusive (those boarding at Tunney's, for example, would have to take a Transitway bus to Lincoln Fields to meet up).

The ultimate cause for the gridlock is the low capacity at the Transitway entrance and through the lights. Having fewer buses on that route would help out.

[McC]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

It's virtual gridlock there now.

One solution to reduce it IMO is to split the locals and expresses onto different patterns. Keep the 95, 96, 97, etc. running on the detour to serve all stations, while the expresses (60s and 70s) should bypass the area completely using the Parkway to Lincoln Fields. That would mean no express service between LeBreton and Dominion inclusive (those boarding at Tunney's, for example, would have to take a Transitway bus to Lincoln Fields to meet up).

The ultimate cause for the gridlock is the low capacity at the Transitway entrance and through the lights. Having fewer buses on that route would help out.

They were deviating buses all over the place: Parkway, Somerset, and some might have gone further down Preston to Gladstone, 417 or Carling, I couldn't tell... but with the Transitway barred between Lebreton and Tunney's and likewise Albert St between Preston and at least Bayswater/Bayview, everything was going to be a mess!

[Dado]

They're practising for the transitway shutdown.

Gee, it sure would have been a good idea if someone had figured out how to convert the transitway to light rail without shutting it down before it was built.

[McC]

In a classic it's-Ottawa-and-we-don't-give-a-frig-about-pedestrians-and-cyclists, whilst all of the CARS were being clearly detoured away from the Albert Street westbound, the cops didn't say anything to the people walking and riding along the Albert MUP, and let us go all the way to the viaduct, at which point there's nowhere (legal) to go but back to Preston! Luckily, I think that most people in the area know they can ignore the DO NOT ENTER PWGSC PROPERTY warnings and cut under the Somerset viaduct from City Centre Ave. It my case, it was no great mischief: it just gave me the excuse to detour by Art-is-in for 2-for-1 bread and then allowed me to savour the sweet schadenfreude as I walked along Somerset-WestWelli at several times the speed of traffic: whee!

[McC]

Originally Posted by Dado

They're practising for the transitway shutdown.

Gee, it sure would have been a good idea if someone had figured out how to convert the transitway to light rail without shutting it down before it was built.

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...

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by Dado

They're practising for the transitway shutdown.

Gee, it sure would have been a good idea if someone had figured out how to convert the transitway to light rail without shutting it down before it was built.

Presumably the diversion to Scott Street will not come with daily bomb threats during LRT construction?

[Dado]

Originally Posted by gjhall

Presumably the diversion to Scott Street will not come with daily bomb threats during LRT construction?

Was the bomb threat actually the proximate cause of the delays, or was it the very diversion itself?

Take a look at the picture in the following Citizen article:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Suspic...tion+disrupts+Transpo/7986163/story.html

The picture shows westbound buses in a long queue at Tunney's Pasture. It also shows a bus on Parkdale over the Transitway, which indicates that it had come from the Parkway. Since Tunney's is west of where the incident occurred, once buses got here they ought to be "free" of any direct bomb threat-related delays.

So clearly something else is going on. It could be the usual excuse of traffic lights, but the Transitway has traffic lights elsewhere, notably LeBreton and Dominion, which don't generally result in long queues, though in this case the cycles would not be optimized for buses. But what is probably causing the bulk of the delay is the restricted upper level westbound platform at Tunney's Pasture. With the transitway platforms cut off, the upper platforms would have had to be pressed into service. Since Tunney's is a major station where lots of passengers board every kind of bus, including expresses, every single bus has to come to a stop to take on passengers here. The limited stopping space and general confusion as well as bad weather would all have conspired to create delays.


The picture also shows a queue of eastbound buses. That queue could be related to the bomb threat incident itself or it could just be a logical extension of the usual downtown bus jams. It's not clear what route they're taking but given the lack of tracks in the snow it doesn't look like they were turning north onto Parkdale to divert via the Parkway. The easiest might have been to use Garland to Somerset to Preston, with a temporary change of direction on Garland between Armstrong and Somerset.