Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[lrt's friend]

This is not news to me. My father worked on Queen Street in the 1960s and there was road work at that time. Guess what? They dug up human remains at the same location. They attributed it to an early Bytown cemetery, the same as shown on the above maps. I understand the concerns of all involved but this should not be a big mystery given that it has happened before. Perhaps, this should be noted on all maps that city engineers work with so they are aware that digging up bones is a real possibility.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

This is not news to me. My father worked on Queen Street in the 1960s and there was road work at that time. Guess what? They dug up human remains at the same location. They attributed it to an early Bytown cemetery, the same as shown on the above maps. I understand the concerns of all involved but this should not be a big mystery given that it has happened before. Perhaps, this should be noted on all maps that city engineers work with so they are aware that digging up bones is a real possibility.

I knew that too; learned about it on one of the ghost walks years ago. That might have also been one of the reasons against the Confederation Square entrance; prevent delays due to necessary archeological digs.

[m3i6]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I knew that too; learned about it on one of the ghost walks years ago. That might have also been one of the reasons against the Confederation Square entrance; prevent delays due to necessary archeological digs.

That's so cool. Ottawa will have it's own full scale tunnel of horror.
Find lemons... make lemon aid. Find bones... make soup.

Construction on!!!

[Dado]

It does all make one wonder about the value of our so-called Environmental Assessments when readily accessible historic maps are not consulted even though EAs are supposed to look at the archaeological potential of the study area.

[J.OT13]

It's interesting how they dug up LeBreton Flats, but nowhere else. Maybe they figure that the area around Confederation Square has been dug up and rebuilt so many times that it's not worth it or, maybe they just have no idea about the history of the place; they just winged it.

[Radster]

Anyone been to Athens, Greece? They should do like in the Athens Metro, make the archeological findings into a kind of art gallery inside the metro stations, along the escalators in the walls, under glass floors, etc... http://www.birdonherhead.com/2012/02/athens-metro-system.html

On second thought, maybe not, this is 100-150 year old remains, versus 1000yrs+ I am comparing here, hahaha

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Radster

Anyone been to Athens, Greece? They should do like in the Athens Metro, make the archeological findings into a kind of art gallery inside the metro stations, along the escalators in the walls, under glass floors, etc... http://www.birdonherhead.com/2012/02/athens-metro-system.html

On second thought, maybe not, this is 100-150 year old remains, versus 1000yrs+ I am comparing here, hahaha

I am not sure that placing human bones on display in a subway station will be an attractive addition.

[Kitchissippi]

We could display artifacts from the old Transitway: Bits of rusted red tubular steel in scratched, cloudy acrylic display cases; Punched coloured transfer tickets; Old CRT monitors that show inaccurate arrival times. There could be interactives — press a button and you get a whiff of stale urine, press another and find out how chlorine bleach can mask the smell. Who needs a new Science and Tech museum when you can learn while commuting?

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

We could display artifacts from the old Transitway: Bits of rusted red tubular steel in scratched, cloudy acrylic display cases; Punched coloured transfer tickets; Old CRT monitors that show inaccurate arrival times. There could be interactives — press a button and you get a whiff of stale urine, press another and find out how chlorine bleach can mask the smell. Who needs a new Science and Tech museum when you can learn while commuting?

I would only support this idea if it were historically accurate. The CRT monitors should displays Windows 95 error messages - in particular those displayed by the Dr Watson utility. Frozen boot screens are also allowable.

[Capital Shaun]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

I would only support this idea if it were historically accurate. The CRT monitors should displays Windows 95 error messages - in particular those displayed by the Dr Watson utility. Frozen boot screens are also allowable.

Since I work in IT I'd always laugh when I'd see those crashed schedule displays.

[Dado]

I'm pretty sure that prior to the introduction of Windows 95, the old CRT monitors did display inaccurate arrival times...

[J.OT13]

How about a station waiting area simulating -40 temperatures? Or maybe the station entrance could be shaped like a articulated bus wrapped around a poll.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

How about a station waiting area simulating -40 temperatures? Or maybe the station entrance could be shaped like a articulated bus wrapped around a poll.

Aren't all our surface stations going to simulate wind tunnels and therefore -40 temperatures for 3 months of the year?

[lrt's friend]

I know this is not going to happen but once the Confederation Line opens and so many will be facing additional transfers to get around the city, can we not improve service frequency on some of our major bus routes so that transfer wait times can be reduced? I had to take 3 different bus routes to make a relatively short trip this morning and I found that, with one exception, the waits were longer than they should be for a central part of the city. If we really want people to get out of their cars, we need to do better. We also need to make transfers more convenient and better located. For example, we need to restore transfers at Carling and Bronson. This was lost when the 85 was moved to Preston Street.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I know this is not going to happen but once the Confederation Line opens and so many will be facing additional transfers to get around the city, can we not improve service frequency on some of our major bus routes so that transfer wait times can be reduced? I had to take 3 different bus routes to make a relatively short trip this morning and I found that, with one exception, the waits were longer than they should be for a central part of the city. If we really want people to get out of their cars, we need to do better. We also need to make transfers more convenient and better located. For example, we need to restore transfers at Carling and Bronson. This was lost when the 85 was moved to Preston Street.

That change was a disaster in more ways than one. We also lost westbound service on Carling entirely between Bronson and Preston.

As I understand it, OC Transpo concentrates on a coverage objective - i.e. a route within 500m of 90% of houses, without focusing on frequency at all. In my view, the primary objective for OC Transpo should be improving frequencies on urban routes. Without higher frequencies, the bus becomes a much less attractive option for those with alternatives.

Despite what they claim, I have no doubt that the 2011 cuts are a big reason for the decrease in ridership last year.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

We could display artifacts from the old Transitway: Bits of rusted red tubular steel in scratched, cloudy acrylic display cases; Punched coloured transfer tickets; Old CRT monitors that show inaccurate arrival times. There could be interactives — press a button and you get a whiff of stale urine, press another and find out how chlorine bleach can mask the smell. Who needs a new Science and Tech museum when you can learn while commuting?

Are there any surviving pieces of the Rideau Bus Mall anywhere?

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

How about a station waiting area simulating -40 temperatures? Or maybe the station entrance could be shaped like a articulated bus wrapped around a poll.

Also: one simulating +40 temperatures, like commonly experience in the red-tube greenhouses?

[MountainView]

They should also expand Baseline Road to 6 lanes between Prince of Wales and Woodroffe (or at least Clyde). The 118 would be a great cross town route for many to take (as it is now-ish) if it had it's own bus lane. The Baseline-Heron corridor is a great alternative for me during rush hours as oppose to the 417. And the poor 118 is stuck in all that traffic! Talk about 'rapid' transit.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by phil235

That change was a disaster in more ways than one. We also lost westbound service on Carling entirely between Bronson and Preston.

As I understand it, OC Transpo concentrates on a coverage objective - i.e. a route within 500m of 90% of houses, without focusing on frequency at all. In my view, the primary objective for OC Transpo should be improving frequencies on urban routes. Without higher frequencies, the bus becomes a much less attractive option for those with alternatives.

Despite what they claim, I have no doubt that the 2011 cuts are a big reason for the decrease in ridership last year.

Yes, this is exactly consistent with my comment that we need to start assessing times to get from A to B and actually compare it with car travel. This will be a rude awakening for those at OC Transpo and city hall. Again tonight, it took a full hour to use transit for a trip that consistently only takes 10 minutes by car. I asked another rider whether service reliability was a regular problem and got the comment that another bus (the other route serving the area) also didn't show up and she wished the routes were more direct. EXACTLY. Of course, there used to be a more direct route but was cancelled in one of the many rounds of service cuts. Our transit planners are missing the boat. No wonder ridership is falling.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Aren't all our surface stations going to simulate wind tunnels and therefore -40 temperatures for 3 months of the year?

The designs seem to be better suited to achieve passive climate control. In addition to this, the system will have a few more underground stations; in addition to the existing St. Laurent station, obviously the downtown stations and also, when extended west, the system will see at least three more underground stations.