Quote:
You have a fixation on trying to build a transit network with single seat rides everywhere.
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Because of my opinion on the Trillium Line, you assume this. But just remember, that you already have to transfer to get on the Trillium Line in the first place with only a small number of exceptions. All I want is to be able to reach downtown with one transfer during all time periods. The Trillium Line as planned will not deliver that to most south end residents. I do not think what I am asking for is unreasonable.
I want the Trillium Line to be a big success and as I pointed out, it is not going to be competitive. So how will it ever move beyond being just a secondary transit line with modest ridership?
We have already seen the situation with Rapibus and the gradual return of Express routes because of the lousy service being delivered by Rapibus in its original configuration. Given the fact that almost everybody will be forced to transfer onto the Confederation Line, how is this not the same scenario that Rapibus created? The Confederation Line does not remotely serve the south sector of the city, yet we will be required to transfer onto the most crowded segment of the route. I can really foresee the same situation that occurred with Rapibus happening and pressure being placed on the city and the transit commission to resume some direct services into downtown, especially from the south end of the city.
The comment has been made about Bayshore versus South Keys. How are they different? The question remains that there should be a degree of equity of service from all major sections of the city. Why should the whole south sector of the city (which is now the fastest growing) permanently receive a second class service in order to reach downtown. The same debate has been in occurring in Toronto regarding Scarborough RT line and it appears that something is finally going to be done about it.
Also, what city of 1,000,000+ creates a single route transit system through downtown as their long-term plan? Other than Ottawa, none of the five biggest cities in Canada are doing this and yet, we have really made no allowances for interprovincial transit at all in our rapid transit plans either. We say, we can't interline yet many cities do so including a much bigger city, San Francisco. We say we can't build a second line into downtown because we cannot look beyond 100% grade separation.
I am looking for what is best for the overall city. I am also looking towards a vibrant Ottawa downtown in the future. The meeting place for Ottawa residents. We are not creating a scenario where that is possible. As I have said, I just returned from Europe and what I saw there for cities bigger and smaller than Ottawa was the number of transit lines that entered the centre of the cities. Whether tramways or subways or whatever, the coverage of direct lines into the city centre was substantial. These cities are not afraid of interlining, often 5 tram routes sharing the same track. No, you don't always get single seat rides, but at least you are limiting the number of transfers.
The Confederation Line is a big step forward for Ottawa, a necessary one, but it is not the end answer towards reversing the decline of downtown Ottawa over the last 50 years. The coverage of the Confederation Line is going to be far too small and most people will not travel downtown if it requires multiple transfers at 10:00 p.m. when connecting routes only run every 30 minutes or 60 minutes. You just have to look at Canada Day or even Red Black Games. Transit is very successful under those conditions because direct service runs to many locations in the city. No, I am not suggesting direct service to every neighbourhood, but it should be much easier to get downtown than what we are planning.