Your Confederation Line Experiences

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I know it appeared to be an exaggeration but I wouldn't put all my stock in the travel planner these days. I took it that the person didn't live right next to the Transitway. With all the problems with the Confederation Line, shifted buses to downtown service, traffic problems (Baseline can be unpredictable at rush hour), and bus trip cancellations, we don't really know for sure what people are facing in reality. There was more than one twitter comment yesterday saying it took 2.5 to 3 hours to travel from downtown to Orleans. Mind you, in the days of buses only, snow could cause havoc as well. Unfortunately, this is the exactly the circumstance when rail should be able to deliver something better than the old Transitways. Sadly not so far.

I make this exact trip daily. I leave my house on the hour, walk 10 minutes to Greenboro, board a bus or the train to Heron/Mooney's Bay, and switch to the 88. The 88 takes 20 minutes, and I'm at Baseline around :50. Timing was a bit different before October 6th, when the 88 was shifted back by 7 minutes. Then, I could leave on the hour, take the :14 O-Train, switch to the :22 88 at Mooney's Bay, and arrive at the :45 mark. If the 88 was cancelled, the next one would still get to Baseline at :00 more or less. Now, I can either wait for the :29 88 at Mooney's Bay, or leave a few minutes later and take a bus from Greenboro, but that carries more risk and if I miss the :29 88, the next one will get me to class a few minutes late.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

My decision was based on he fact that urban buses have a tendency to not show up. Even if the #14 is supposed to pass every 15 minutes, I likely would have waited 30 minutes, and the same to get back. Going to Place d'Orléans, buses are spectacularly reliable and I have a slew of options.

I find that I rarely encounter any problems when I take an express or suburban bus (the 200 series, 61, 63, 75 and such). They are almost always on time, buses are almost never cancelled and most can be tracked via the app. The routes that give me problems are the urban ones. Too many cancelled buses, too often they cannot be tracked, schedule is unreliable... Going from my place in the West End to downtown by bus outside peak hours is more often than not a bad experience.

[OTownandDown]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Richard, you showed great patience putting up with all that. I would have walked to Rideau Station to avoid that kind of crowding on bridge bus service.

Its strange to me that when there needs to be a bridge like that, the entire line isn't sistered wtih R1 service. Wouldn't that make more sense? That way people arriving at Rideau can take the train going east no problem, and people alighting at Parliament continuing east just stay on the bus to their destination...

When the train starts running again, all R1 buses head to the end of the line as normal, and go back into holding.

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

Its strange to me that when there needs to be a bridge like that, the entire line isn't sistered wtih R1 service. Wouldn't that make more sense? That way people arriving at Rideau can take the train going east no problem, and people alighting at Parliament continuing east just stay on the bus to their destination...

They only have 20 R1 buses and beyond that they have to start pulling from other routes.

The shorter the bridge, the more often the buses can come (given a fixed number of buses).

[OTownandDown]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

They only have 20 R1 buses and beyond that they have to start pulling from other routes.

The shorter the bridge, the more often the buses can come (given a fixed number of buses).

So, a pain in the ass for thousands of people on the line, or a pain in the ass for hundreds of people out at different bus routes across the city.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

So, a pain in the ass for thousands of people on the line, or a pain in the ass for hundreds of people out at different bus routes across the city.

I think the numbers will be similar and it could affect the exact same people, just at a different point on their trips.