Calgary Public Transit II

[MalcolmTucker]

For the option of non Siemens rolling stock?

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

For the option of non Siemens rolling stock?

Apparently, CT isn't very impressed with the latest LRVs, they've been having a bunch of problems. But, also, with the next order being 50 cars, other manufacturers may be interested, which could mean married pairs or even four car consists that are walk able from end to end.

[Stang]

I'm an occasional LRT rider (I don't work near the line), but I do enjoy taking it to hockey, Stampede, etc. So predictably I took the train down to the grounds from Crowfoot yesterday. A few observations and questions for those that know more about the system than I:

- The first train to pull into Crowfoot wasn't actually heading down to Somerset, but rather McKnight. The driver made a brief announcement when the train pulled in that it wasn't going to the Stampede grounds, but some people who arrived after that didn't realize and probably had an unexpected surprise. I assume that the trains were heading that way to be parked for the night at the maintenance facility? I was travelling close to 6:00 pm, so just after the rush.

- The digital boards at Crowfoot are useless as they just display the time. Obviously, as a terminus station, people are less concerned with an arriving train but rather a departing one. It would be helpful to have the signs showing which train will be departing next (there are often two trains sitting at the platform, and sometimes you don't see which one came in first), and in the event of a rare McKnight train leaving Crowfoot, a reminder that it isn't a regular Somerset train. I wonder if the system could be programmed for something like this.

- As others have mentioned in this thread, the new payment options at the stations are nice, however only allowing a single purchase per transaction is unfortunate. It took me twice as long as it should have to buy tickets for my wife and I. When travelling in other cities, the option to buy multiple tickets is pretty much universal.

- The old U2s sure are a lot less smooth and more noisy compared with the newer LRVs. Compounding this is the lack of AC, which means the open windows are letting in every screech and scrape. Not a complaint, just an observation.

All in all a good experience on the train. Not too crowded either, but that's probably to do with the fact that we left before the fireworks as we had to relieve my sister of her babysitting duties.

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Stang

- The first train to pull into Crowfoot wasn't actually heading down to Somerset, but rather McKnight. The driver made a brief announcement when the train pulled in that it wasn't going to the Stampede grounds, but some people who arrived after that didn't realize and probably had an unexpected surprise. I assume that the trains were heading that way to be parked for the night at the maintenance facility? I was travelling close to 6:00 pm, so just after the rush..

Yes there are many Crowfoot to Mcknight trains, especially after the rush hour periods when frequency is decreased. There are also 10Street to Sommerset trains for the same purpose.

The train operators will make announcements in the downtown core advising customers going south to transfer to a Somerset train.

Originally Posted by Stang

- - The digital boards at Crowfoot are useless as they just display the time. Obviously, as a terminus station, people are less concerned with an arriving train but rather a departing one. It would be helpful to have the signs showing which train will be departing next (there are often two trains sitting at the platform, and sometimes you don't see which one came in first), and in the event of a rare McKnight train leaving Crowfoot, a reminder that it isn't a regular Somerset train. I wonder if the system could be programmed for something like this..

Correct a good sign system would have a "this train departs next", for some reason unknown to me (perhaps mersar coud help out) this feature is troublesome for Ctransit to program/operate.

Originally Posted by Stang

- - As others have mentioned in this thread, the new payment options at the stations are nice, however only allowing a single purchase per transaction is unfortunate. It took me twice as long as it should have to buy tickets for my wife and I. When travelling in other cities, the option to buy multiple tickets is pretty much universal..

No comment, other than its usually more beneficial to have a book of 10 tickets on hand for such special occaisions. This is practice at the Cage family house. The ticket books do not have an expiry period and are available at multiple locations.

Originally Posted by Stang

- - The old U2s sure are a lot less smooth and more noisy compared with the newer LRVs. Compounding this is the lack of AC, which means the open windows are letting in every screech and scrape. Not a complaint, just an observation..

Agreed about the noise issue. Edmonton Transit has a refurb program to extend the life of their U2s. The refurb U2s do not have AC but are a lot quieter than Ctransit machines.

Originally Posted by Stang

- All in all a good experience on the train. Not too crowded either, but that's probably to do with the fact that we left before the fireworks as we had to relieve my sister of her babysitting duties.

Yeah try getting out after the fireworks, both stations Erlton and Vic Park are packed with multiple train waits.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

It's like Calgary cabbies think the light is there just to make their cab look pretty. Also on some cabs (Yellow particularly) the light isn't bright enough or the covering too opaque that you cannot tell if it is on or off during the day.

Saw an Associated cab empty with it's light on at the lights on Olympic Way and 12 Ave. Three different groups of people approached it and were denied, and the driver still didn't clue in.

[Stang]

Thanks for the thorough response.

Originally Posted by Cage

No comment, other than its usually more beneficial to have a book of 10 tickets on hand for such special occaisions. This is practice at the Cage family house. The ticket books do not have an expiry period and are available at multiple locations.

That's actually what I normally do, except that I only had two tickets left. So I saved those for the return leg in the event that we got caught in a rush leaving Erlton. At least using plastic was an option, which wasn't the case not too long ago.

Originally Posted by Cage

Yeah try getting out after the fireworks, both stations Erlton and Vic Park are packed with multiple train waits.

We did that a couple of years ago and it was madness. We thought we'd get on at Erlton as we'd be the first stop of the two at the Stampede, which was all find and good, except for the guy that decided to walk out in front of the train at the crossing at the South end of the station just as we got onto the platform. That delayed things substantially, but if I recall correctly he survived, so that's good.

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by Cage

Yes there are many Crowfoot to Mcknight trains, especially after the rush hour periods when frequency is decreased. There are also 10Street to Sommerset trains for the same purpose.

The train operators will make announcements in the downtown core advising customers going south to transfer to a Somerset train.

Correct a good sign system would have a "this train departs next", for some reason unknown to me (perhaps mersar coud help out) this feature is troublesome for Ctransit to program/operate.

No comment, other than its usually more beneficial to have a book of 10 tickets on hand for such special occaisions. This is practice at the Cage family house. The ticket books do not have an expiry period and are available at multiple locations.

Agreed about the noise issue. Edmonton Transit has a refurb program to extend the life of their U2s. The refurb U2s do not have AC but are a lot quieter than Ctransit machines.

Yeah try getting out after the fireworks, both stations Erlton and Vic Park are packed with multiple train waits.

Actually they technically do, but for the most part operators don't seem to care if you use an old one, though occasionally you'll get one that does and makes you put in change to meet the current fare, I've never run into a transit cop with one though.

[DizzyEdge]

On the subject of the LRT, although I completely understand the reasons for the newer configuration with only perimeter bench seating, it really is a much nicer experience to be able to sit on the train, particularly if you're going a decent distance. I would highly suggest CT only use the perimeter seating during rush hour where most people would be standing anyway (perhaps they do already).

[DizzyEdge]

Anyone have a date that 'Connect' will be operational for the general public?

[mersar]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Anyone have a date that 'Connect' will be operational for the general public?

My friendly local 7-Eleven manager told me its pushed to at least September now, he said last he'd heard the connect cards should start arriving around August 15. It was supposed to be July 1, which is why a number of places ran low of the books of tickets last month as CT stopped printing them in May then realized that Connect wasn't going to be ready in early June and started printing more.

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

Actually they technically do, but for the most part operators don't seem to care if you use an old one, though occasionally you'll get one that does and makes you put in change to meet the current fare, I've never run into a transit cop with one though.

The book of ten tickets do NOT expire, however there are unique circumstances whether taking bus or LRT. For LRT the customer is suposed to put in fare difference, however for LRT there is no mechanism for this process. Therefore for pure LRT trips, the old ticket book value is entirely valid. See here for detail: http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/tickets.html

Tickets retain the cash value of the price that's printed on the front of each ticket. At times of fare increases or if you find an old book of tickets around the house or office you may continue to use the outdated tickets. However, you must add cash to the value of the price printed on the ticket that equals the current ticket price. The ticket and cash combined may then be placed in the fare box of the bus. This does not work when taking the CTrain as there is no fare box. Customers are advised to exchange old tickets for current ones.

The last sentence is almost never enforced. I supose if a customer were to present a very old ticket book (e.g 5-10 years old), the transit cops would probably write up a ticket, but otherwise a verbal warning is the usual course of action.

[Cruzer]

Does anyone know if CT is going to move away from the recycled "newspaper" type transfers and go towards something like TransLink's automated transfers on their bus fleet and what not? For a city of our calibre... Our current transfers seem HIGHLY dated......

[mrcccondor]

Originally Posted by lubicon

Had a chance to utilize the new payment methods for single ticket use over the weekend. Unless I am a complete idiot and missed something I have to give the new system a huge 'fail' for a grade. While it was definately nice to be able to use Visa/Debit to purchase tickets from the machine, it floored me that you still can only purchase one ticket at a time. Maybe this is the part I missed so correct me if I am wrong. There is absolutely no reason you cannot select the total number of tickets you need (adult, youth etc.) all together in one transaction. Instead we had to do 4 separate transactions to buy 4 tickets which is a huge waste of time. And with a large lineup of people all waiting to buy their tickets too it sure slows things down.

Come on CT, you need to get in the 20th century.

Agreed. Completely idiotic.

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by mrcccondor

Agreed. Completely idiotic.

It's seems to me that you used to be able to do this, I can't imagine why they would get rid of it, idiotic is right

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Cruzer

Does anyone know if CT is going to move away from the recycled "newspaper" type transfers and go towards something like TransLink's automated transfers on their bus fleet and what not? For a city of our calibre... Our current transfers seem HIGHLY dated......

I suspect it's hoped almost everyone will go the route of using one time use or reloadable Connect cards, so that physical transfers are rarely used anymore.

[Elbownian]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

I suspect it's hoped almost everyone will go the route of using one time use or reloadable Connect cards, so that physical transfers are rarely used anymore.

I don't expect many customers who currently pay cash fares will opt to get Connect cards, so demand for transfers will still exist. While the current transfers may seem a bit flimsy and low-tech, they're undoubtedly cheap to produce. Replacing them with a higher cost alternative would be a tough sell.

Should also mention here: Teleride and CT customer service are presently offline thanks to Shaw's fire-induced outage.

[TallisRH]

Originally Posted by Stang

- The digital boards at Crowfoot are useless as they just display the time. Obviously, as a terminus station, people are less concerned with an arriving train but rather a departing one. It would be helpful to have the signs showing which train will be departing next (there are often two trains sitting at the platform, and sometimes you don't see which one came in first), and in the event of a rare McKnight train leaving Crowfoot, a reminder that it isn't a regular Somerset train. I wonder if the system could be programmed for something like this.

The digital signs at terminus stations actually do show departure times for trains and do list their end destination. Both Crowfoot and Somerset have had this disabled for the past few days though.

[andasen]

Phasing update for SETWAY project to go to the upcoming transportation and transit SPC.

Some interesting highlights of the Update.

-Looking at a busway being constructed in two phases. Phase one will have two halves, from 4th Street to Crossroads and from Ogden station to Douglasglen.
- Phase 2 of the bus way will fill in the gap and cross the Bow
-Both phases are expected to be finished by 2019
-Depending on the when the Ogden Road-Glenmore Trail interchange happens the bus way may just tunnel under the intersection should the interchange not be on the books in time.

LRT would be done in Two Phases
- Phase One would include the downtown tunnel and would extend from Eau Claire to Quarry Park.
-Phase two would extend all the way to Seton. To be completed by 2029

-The Bus way would be specifically contructed do be later converted to LRT.

[5seconds]

Article in the Herald about the SE LRT, though they give a final date of 2039, and a budget of $2.7 billion

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/calgary/Southeast+cost+estimate+soars+billion/6936003/story.html

[You Need A Thneed]

Kennedy says "the city just didn't prioritize it?". If the city had put every single dollar from the provincial and federal governments towards the SELRT, other projects wouldn't have been built, and we'd still be trying to save for it.

The SELRT will never be built without a special infusion of cash from the province or Feds.