The future of Hamilton's public transit

[raisethehammer]

and CAD?

[SteelTown]

Dunno probably a fancy name for the walkie talkie thingy

[markbarbera]

CAD = Computer Aided Dispatch

[omro]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

awesome....the GPS system should help their website and folks with PDA's be right on time with routes.
Help me out - what does CAD/AVL stand for?

Computer Aided Dispatch is the CAD part btw

:-) Mark beat me to it.

[go_leafs_go02]

yeah. London installed them this summer..they're kinda neat, but really annoying too..and the systems has alot of bugs to work out still..misses a few random stops, then gets a few, and misses a whole lot more.

Where the stop request sign is on a bus, is replaced with an LED screen, where the name of the bus stop ahead scrolls by, and if the stop request button is pushed, a voice saying "Stop Requested" comes over, the screen displays the same thing.

[matt602]

I'm assuming our system would work like the TTC's. A new LED sign is installed roughly forward of the regular stop request sign which scrolls the next stop. A computerized voice announces the stops but the stop request system works the same.

I really hope this happens.

[FairHamilton]

For the most part Toronto's work well on the buses (at least the bus I used to ride.

The station call out for subway stops always bugged me because it wasn't the recorded voice of someone local. There were subtle mis-pronunciations of certain stops.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by matt602

I'm assuming our system would work like the TTC's. A new LED sign is installed roughly forward of the regular stop request sign which scrolls the next stop. A computerized voice announces the stops but the stop request system works the same.

I really hope this happens.

yeah, the London system is exactly like the TTC's system.

[mishap]

Originally Posted by matt602

I'm assuming our system would work like the TTC's. A new LED sign is installed roughly forward of the regular stop request sign which scrolls the next stop.

What do you mean by "forward of," as most stop request signs are right at the front? Sorry, I haven't been on the TTC in a years or two, so I'm not familiar with their current setup.

[matt602]

By forward of, I meant towards the back of the bus. I guess that was the wrong wording, I should have said "in front of" or "before" it. The TTC's signs are usually hung from the ceiling, a bit behind the yellow line. I suppose the HSR could also hang it where the ad rack behind the driver is, though.

[SteelTown]

Hopefully with the millions set towards the amenities for the B and A-Line they'll install these with the new stations, details will come out in the fall....

[matt602]

I didn't know those existed in Toronto. They look really awesome. I hope that the stops along the A and B-Line LRT routes will at least get a similar treatment to the St. Clair streetcar ROW in Toronto. There should also be a big HSR logo at the downtown terminal. I was thinking about this yesterday, the only places you can see HSR logo's off of buses themselves are Limeridge and Eastgate terminals (and I'm not even sure if they put it back up after re-doing Eastgate terminal). They're not even fancy, they're actually pretty small signs. The TTC on the other hand has large TTC logo's at every subway stop, bus garage, terminal and every stop along the aforementioned St. Clair ROW. It really adds a lot of identity and makes people think "I'm taking the HSR/TTC today" instead of "I'm taking the bus".

[SteelTown]

That's just a demo unit, they are installing them now on select stations.

I do know that money has been set aside for a large board that will tell you when the next bus will arrive at the new passenger terminal building that should start construction in 2009.

[DC83]

^^ Great idea, Matt! I've been thinking the same lately too: Will they re-brand the HSR/A&B-Lines with new Logos, etc or will they *crosses fingers* stick w/ original HSR logos are re-brand the LRT as the new Hamilton STREET Railway? They'd be stupid not to stick with 'HSR'.

I don't think they put a new HSR / Eastgate Terminal Sign up? And the one at Limeridge has looked pretty rough the past couple of years. I bet they're waiting for a mountain RT line to fix up that terminal.

A great example of branding re: Public Transit is in Portland:


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/...f66643.jpg?v=0
by ahlana on Flickr.com

Imagine "Go By HSR" ontop of the TH&B Stn or James North Stn, etc.

[raisethehammer]

FYI....in case some don't know this - that building pictured in Portland is a loft building.
A private developer slapped that sign on the front of his building (not coincidentally, construction of the tracks and lofts took place at the same time and opened at the same time). How cool is that?

[SteelTown]

Bus route changes coming in September

August 19, 2008

Some changes are being made to HSR bus routes to campus starting Sept. 2. The B-line buses will be re-routed from the current King/Sterling/University alignment and will instead travel along Main Street and use the existing stops in front of the McMaster hospital and Emerson Street.

"McMaster's Campus Plan emphasizes the University's goal of maintaining and strengthening the pedestrian nature of campus, and in order to achieve that goal, the number of buses moving through the centre core of campus needed to be reduced," says Terry Sullivan, director of parking and security. "The City requirement that trucks coming to campus must use the centre core made it necessary to ask the HSR to develop a plan to reduce the bus traffic."

Jim Dahms is the manager of transit planning for the HSR. He says that moving the B-line rather than one of the other bus routes through campus was the best decision as it means better future alignment with the potential new Light Rapid transit or Bus Rapid transit corridor along Main Street.

The other bus routes that come to campus will continue to follow their usual routes. Route maps are available at the Compass Information Centre in the McMaster University Student Centre.

Sullivan says the University will keep working with the HSR to find longer term solutions to enhancing bus service to campus while maintaining the University's goal to not have any buses run directly through the centre of campus within three years. He says McMaster has also asked the HSR to continue to ensure that safety is a top priority for students, staff, faculty and visitors who use the bus to get to and from campus.

[raisethehammer]

old Jim Dahms should be brought up to snuff. it's "future LRT planning".
BRT is out brother.

[adam]

I've spoken to quite a few Hamilton people who don't even know rapid transit is in the works! I wonder if this is being advertised at McMaster, students are just starting to come back into the city now. There are over 20,000 students there..
The survey is still up: http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/...r+Hamilton.htm

[SteelTown]

Route tweak boots B-Line off campus

August 22, 2008
Rebecca Penty
The Hamilton Spectator

McMaster University students say the express city bus will no longer be the fastest way to get to class.

Come Sept. 2, the No. 10 B-Line bus will bypass its former three on-campus stops and run east and west only along Main Street.

"Everybody likes to take the 10 because it's an express," said Ahmad Jomaa, a biochemistry graduate student who takes the bus to school daily from east Hamilton.

"Now it's not going to be any good because it doesn't stop on campus," Jomaa said.

The Hamilton Street Railway will discontinue the B-Line's campus service through the Sterling Street entrance at the university's request. It plans to move out three other buses that run through campus by some time in 2011.

Jomaa says the move will cost some students who use the No. 10 B-Line an extra 10 to 15 minutes to get to school and will mean those coming from Westdale can't hop on the B-Line to get to class.

The B-Line now runs west on King Street, stopping twice in front of the Museum of Art at University Avenue and Sterling Street, at another stop south on University Avenue and at McMaster University Medical Centre.

Soon, half of B-line buses will drive east from University Plaza and loop at the medical centre, while those travelling west from Eastgate Square will stop on Main Street West at Emerson Street.

An online notice explains the change: "The City requirement that trucks coming to campus must use the centre core made it necessary to ask the HSR to develop a plan to reduce the bus traffic," Terry Sullivan, McMaster's director of parking and security, is quoted as saying.

A two-year-old dispute saw the city ask McMaster's delivery and construction trucks to use the Main Street West campus entrance instead of the Sterling Street entrance to reduce traffic in the residential Westdale neighbourhood. This spring, McMaster and HSR agreed to cut buses to keep campus pedestrian-friendly.

In an interview with The Spectator, Sullivan said HSR's move of the No. 10 B-Line was done to comply with the university's campus vision.

"All along our master plan for the university was to make the university pedestrian-friendly," he said.

Sullivan said McMaster is working with HSR to plan future bus terminals or turnarounds at the east and west ends of central campus.

Student union president Azim Kasmani said convenience for students on campus is trumped by safety concerns over traffic.

But Kasmani said the B-line's move might not be the best solution. "With more buses off campus, with students crossing main streets, that's also a concern," he said.

Arts student Elizabeth Buczek said McMaster should keep its balance between convenient transportation and pedestrian planning.

[raisethehammer]

I predicted this.
McMaster is being foolish to take transit right out of campus.
When LRT comes the city needs to lay down the law and tell them that the line WILL run right up into the middle of campus at their new entrance.
Transit is NOT trucks. Not even close. Transit is necessary to meet your 'stated goals' of being pedestrian friendly.
And to not have every bus stop at Mac Medical Centre is stupid. And Longwood. Both of those should be stops, both ways, with ALL buses.