Calgary Public Transit II

[frinkprof]

Meant to post the link as well.

http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/north_central_lrt_oh_2011.html

[fusili]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

Meant to post the link as well.

http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/north_central_lrt_oh_2011.html

Sweet. I think this is very preliminary, but it is important to start the discussion.

[frinkprof]

There's some open houses ongoing this week for the 7th Avenue Refurbishment project.

7 Avenue LRT Refurbishment Project Information Session, Phase Four


Join us for an inforamtion session on Phase 4 of the 7 Avenue LRT Refubishment Project:
Time: Information boards will be on display from April 11 – 15, with the opportunity to ask questions from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12 and Thursday, April 14.
Location: Municipal Building Atrium
The 7 Avenue LRT Refurbishment Project aims to revitalize an inner city corridor by upgrading the downtown CTrain platforms to accommodate four car CTrains, and creating a pedestrian friendly environment with wider sidewalks, improved lighting and enhanced streetscapes. Phase four covers the blocks from Centre Street to 4 Street SE, and will be under construction throughout this year. This information session will give people the opportunity to see the plans for work on these blocks and ask questions.

Website: www.calgary.ca/ti

http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/7_Ave_Phase_4.html

Seems a little late to be having open houses for this, but this does seem to indicate that Centre Street Station will be extended sometime this year. Centre Street Station will be the last one needing to be extended, and it shouldn't take very long at all.

City Hall Station (both sides) will be open in June.

[Jack Doe]

Thanks for the update Frink. I will definitely be going to one of the open houses to pimp for the Centre St Subway.

I thought the Centre St station was already 4-car capable. Apparently I'm wrong. Good to see it's getting done. Bring on 4-car LRT!

Still no word on the Stephen Av Subway? I thought the planning study was supposed to start this year. Anybody have any info?

[magnetite]

Hey guys, I have a question about the four car extensions. Will every station be closed for 7 weeks or so like Southland is when they extend the platforms to four cars?

[mersar]

Originally Posted by magnetite

Hey guys, I have a question about the four car extensions. Will every station be closed for 7 weeks or so like Southland is when they extend the platforms to four cars?

No. Some will, mainly the south stations from the original leg. The NE stations shouldn't need any prolonged closures (couple days for white horn was all it took), but well have to see as many of the stations are unique in design.

[You Need A Thneed]

Yeah, all of the NE stations will likely only be a series of weekend closures, just as Whitehorn has been.

Southland's closure is longer because of the construction of the platform itslef, and the style of the building around it.

[DarkKeyo]

I visited the open house this afternoon. I didn't have time to get into any discussions about NCLRT or 8 th av subway, but I saw the renderings and asked a few questions. 

The twinned City Hall station will be open in time for stampede, but the tie-ins between the platform and adjacent buildings/sidewalks, particularly on the south platform, will be worked on the rest of the year. The streetscape improvements for all blocks between 3rd st sw and 4 st se will be done this winter, and the rest west of 8th st by when the WLRT opens. 

The plus 15 over City Hall station will be redone, with a new entrance to the Citu Hall building. When I asked about redoing a platform/+15 in front of a potential Central Library site, the representative told me that that part of the platform is being designed with reconstruction in mind. All the new downtown stations have been. 

Except Centre St. Despite it looking like it could be extended with a bit of concrete, the west side of the platform will have to be demolished and rebuilt. Without closing the station. Since I exit the west end of that station to get to work, I'll have a good view of this. 

On the displays, 11th st station is referred to as 'Downtown West - Kerby'. Apparently the name is still 'under discussion', even though we've heard Kerby Centre is moving. I like Downtown West, I find the numbered  stations boring. 

The list of stations on the 201 to be extended this year; the representative has heard that all the 202 stations will be extended by the opening of WLRT. 

I'd love to have a good, non-time-constrained discussion with CT representatives and fellow forum members, about all this... Maybe at the NCLRT open houses?

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by DarkKeyo

I'd love to have a good, non-time-constrained discussion with CT representatives and fellow forum members, about all this... Maybe at the NCLRT open houses?

We really should get more SSPers, including you DarkKeyo, involved with Transit Camp. It's an arm of Civic Camp. We're having a meeting tonight. Our first one where Calgary Transit officials will be attending.

Here's the agenda:

http://www.civiccamp.org/2011/04/transitcamp-april-12-meeting-agenda/

It's at Sunalta Community Hall, 1627 10 Avenue SW at 7 PM this evening. Everyone is welcome if you can make it, even if you'll be late.

SSPers involved so far are myself, fusili, srperrycgy and the (dormant, as far as SSP goes) Beltliner. Some people from the Civic Camp side of things are involved, and some others.

[McPaul]

Ooh!

That looks like a great idea...

Too bad it will be over by the time I could get down there.

Next time.

[Arch26]

Originally Posted by DarkKeyo

On the displays, 11th st station is referred to as 'Downtown West - Kerby'. Apparently the name is still 'under discussion', even though we've heard Kerby Centre is moving. I like Downtown West, I find the numbered  stations boring. 

That is the station's official name. The reference to Kerby has nothing to do with the Kerby Centre per se. It is actually a historical reference to Rev. George Kerby who founded Mount Royal College and Central United Church. The site of the station is actually the original site of the school (the main building sat across the street from the Kerby Centre--now a parking lot). The Kerby Memorial Building (the Kerby Centre) was also originally part of MRC. George Kerby's house was also located on the site.

[Stang]

Originally Posted by Arch26

That is the station's official name. The reference to Kerby has nothing to do with the Kerby Centre per se. It is actually a historical reference to Rev. George Kerby who founded Mount Royal College and Central United Church. The site of the station is actually the original site of the school (the main building sat across the street from the Kerby Centre--now a parking lot). The Kerby Memorial Building (the Kerby Centre) was also originally part of MRC. George Kerby's house was also located on the site.

Thanks for the clarification. Now if they could just get rid of the hyphenation. What's wrong with "Kerby Station"? You'll either know where it is and that it is in the west part of downtown, or you'll be looking at a map. The redundancy is a bit silly.

I would still prefer that they name it after a landmark that actually exists, however, and something like Mewata Station would still have historical significance, people would know that it is near... well... Mewata Armouries. I'm sure that the city would still botch that by calling it "Kerby - Mewata - Downtown West - Old Planetarium" station.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Stang

Thanks for the clarification. Now if they could just get rid of the hyphenation. What's wrong with "Kerby Station"? You'll either know where it is and that it is in the west part of downtown, or you'll be looking at a map. The redundancy is a bit silly.

I would still prefer that they name it after a landmark that actually exists, however, and something like Mewata Station would still have historical significance, people would know that it is near... well... Mewata Armouries. I'm sure that the city would still botch that by calling it "Kerby - Mewata - Downtown West - Old Planetarium" station.

Write in vote for Mewata?

[DarkKeyo]

Originally Posted by Arch26

That is the station's official name. The reference to Kerby has nothing to do with the Kerby Centre per se. It is actually a historical reference to Rev. George Kerby who founded Mount Royal College and Central United Church. The site of the station is actually the original site of the school (the main building sat across the street from the Kerby Centre--now a parking lot). The Kerby Memorial Building (the Kerby Centre) was also originally part of MRC. George Kerby's house was also located on the site.

Interesting bit of history.... A bit they should put a sign up at that station about. I'd take "Kerby Station", in that case, or "Mewata Station". Since this is the first official document (or display in this case) I've seen that doesn't give the name as 11 St, I can believe the comment that it's "under discussion".

Slightly off topic... Why would they ever get rid of the original MRC building? They knocked down so much else in the downtown core to make parking lots and ultimately buildings, and they saved other heritage buildings. Having such a heritage building right beside the station platform would have been quite interesting. It would certainly help reduce the general sense of repetition that the all-identical downtown platforms have.

[frinkprof]

I've covered some of this information already, but this post has been written to be copied and pasted to other message boards so it may seem a bit repetitive here on SSP.


So there's been a couple things recently that have given me quite a bit of information, which I'll share below.

First off, I and a few other people have founded a group called "Transit Camp" that aims to be a citizen's group that will advocate for better transit in Calgary, speak to ongoing issues, and tackle new ones that develop from the standpoint of the riders and other interested public parties. The name comes from being an aligned with and an arm of Calgary Civic Camp. We've been meeting for about 4 months now.

At our last meeting, we were able to meet with some representatives from Calgary Transit. It was mostly to present our purpose and goals thus far and to establish a relationship and dialog with CT. We were able to present some ideas and issues and get some feedback, as well as to get some rudimentary information about some hot topics that are current and upcoming with CT.

The other thing was that I stopped by the 7th Avenue Refurbishment open house setup at City Hall today.

I've tried to break all the information up by topic, which I'll share below.


7th Ave. Refurbishment

Both sides of City Hall Station will be open for Stampede 2011. Opening should be late June. The south side may have to close again after Stampede for a short time to finish up some work. There will be a new +15 connecting the two sides of the station (and City Hall building) that will be built just to the west of the station platforms. Removal of Olympic Plaza Station will follow City Hall opening.

Centre Street Station extension starts construction Spring 2011, ends Fall 2011. No closure needed (save for maybe a weekend closure or two).

11th Street Station will be open by Fall 2012.



Realtime Arrival Information (aka "GPS" implementation, but not really that simple)

Still on track for 2012 completion and rollout

Equipment has been on portion of the bus fleet for some time now, and information has been used internally by CT. With full implementation, goal is to analyze routes for pinch points and then help with decisions regarding scheduling, route planning and infrastructure improvements.

System elements will eventually be integrated with "Opticom" signal control system. This system has been in place since start of route 301 in 2003, allows buses on certain routes to allow for longer green lights or shorter red lights. Realtime information will help optimize system, which includes 160+ intersections.

Realtime data from GPS/RFID systems will be available to third-party developers for use in web/smartphone applications, research, etc.


Fare Payment Systems (aka smartcard implementation)

On track for 2012 rollout


Public Engagment

Calgary Transit putting much more focus on engaging public, especially through web and social media

Website will receive overhaul soon

Policy, procedure, planning, etc. information will be made more available to public. For example, documents detailing how and why routes, schedules, stop locations, etc. are planned and implemented will be made available on website soon

Public Engagement process for future NE LRT extensions (past Saddletown on toward Country Hills, Skyview, Stoney Trail and beyond) will be upcoming soon. Focus will be on areas around future stations, design themes, access, providing information, etc.

Open houses for North Central LRT upcoming, detailed more below


Bikes on Transit

One of the people at the meeting was from BikeCalgary, and made a presentation for a proposal for bike racks on buses serving route 3, BRT routes, and route 72/73, based off research from Vancouver and Victoria among other cities

Various attempts at implementing bike racks on certain routes have been tried over last 10 years with very little success

Problems with putting bike racks on are chiefly nuances with assigning buses to routes on a day-to-day basis, an ever-changing bus fleet, and the biggest being a huge storage space crunch at garages.


North Central LRT

Open houses upcoming. This was prompted by what was seen as a need to take a step back regarding the philosophy of the route selection. So, focus of these open houses will mostly be on route, primarily between downtown and Beddington Trail, and presentation of various trade-offs between routes.

3 corridors will be presented - Centre Street, Edmonton Trail and Nose Creek. Attendees are encouraged to provide thoughts on their preferred routes. E-mails and phone call responses also encouraged if unable to attend.

Ideally, this will help narrow down to 2 routes.

CT representatives strongly hinted that they hope to see people show preference for more central routing (Centre, Edmonton Trail) rather than Nose Creek

Original selection of Nose Creek alignment in 2006 report was influenced by need to put something on paper and other pressures. Route has since been further complicated by CP Rail corridor becoming unavailable in favour of future High Speed Rail route.


Fleet and Fleet Management

As noted above, there's huge space crunch for growing fleet. New garages needed and expansions to existing garages.

Spring Gardens facility (32nd Ave. North connector) will be expanded, timeline undetermined.

Several new garage locations (both bus and LRV) in various stages of development. 30 acre parcel on 194th Ave. south purchased several years ago, but waiting for site to be serviced by City.

Congestion and operational constraints for LRVs at Anderson garage is growing issue. LRVs may be moved out of Anderson altogether to new facility near 212th Ave. south. Need to wait until LRT line is extended there. If that happens, Anderson would convert fully to bus storage.

This didn't come up at the meeting, but the Oliver Bowen Maintenance Facility (SW of McKnight-Westwinds Station) will need to be expanded (as per plans) to accommodate next order of LRVs, and new LRV storage/maintenance facilities will be part of new SE and North Central lines.

U2 LRV refurbishment (old LRT cars) was proposed by Bombardier and is currently working its way through City Hall for potential approval. New numbers show possible $2.2M cost per car, to achieve maximum 40-50% increase on lifespan of vehicle. Seeing as how average cost of new cars is $3.6M per, this is unlikely to happen, and new cars will be purchased sooner than later to replace U2s. Report with new numbers will be online Friday afternoon.

GM New Look buses (c. 1977-1982, aka "fishbowl" buses) should all be retired by next year.

Calgary Transit has ~$310M total annual operating cost, this is before revenues (primarily fares) are subtracted to get the net. Unfortunately I didn't write down the net figure, but I think it's on the order of $160M.


----------------------------------------

I think that's everything. If anyone has any questions I'll try and answer them based on what I have learned or ask them at my next opportunity to speak with someone at CT.

Also, if you're interested in being involved in Transit Camp, PM me. Involvement can range from just being on the mailing list or contacting one of us with questions, or attending our (so far) rather informal meetings and working on developing responses to various issues that arise.

[srperrycgy]

Thanks for posting this, frinkprof. Working afternoon/evenings now prevents me from attending the meetings.

IMHO, the increased use of Twitter by CT has worked well. It's amazing to get a response from CT from just an off-hand tweet and not a complaint. Especially with the crappy weather today, they were keeping up with all the detours and delays.

[Cage]

For the past couple of weeks I have noticed there are a few SD160 Ctrain cars that appear to have their windows recently replaced. The windows are double paned from top to bottom with no opening at the top of the window for ventilation.

I understand that as part of the air conditioning refurbishment the windows were permanently locked and that all new SD160s would not have windows. However I was not aware that Windows would be replaced.

Another alternative, are there some of the brand new SD160s being delivered without old seat plan (seats face forward or backward)?

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Cage

Another alternative, are there some of the brand new SD160s being delivered without old seat plan (seats face forward or backward)?

Not exactly sure what you're asking here, but all the newest Series 8 SD160s are being delivered with perimeter seating, where all seats are facing toward the inside of the train.

[DarkKeyo]

The westbound new City Hall platform has it's LED's lit up tonight.

[mersar]

Originally Posted by Cage

For the past couple of weeks I have noticed there are a few SD160 Ctrain cars that appear to have their windows recently replaced. The windows are double paned from top to bottom with no opening at the top of the window for ventilation.

I understand that as part of the air conditioning refurbishment the windows were permanently locked and that all new SD160s would not have windows. However I was not aware that Windows would be replaced

CT recently tendered for the replacement of all the windows on both the older sd160s as well as the u2s. Essentially stronger, more vandalism resistant and better insulated glass. They started with doing this on sone of the older sd160s when they did the roofline refurb and there's about a half dozen of those done now I believe now.