I had put it in the back of my mind to get back to this post but I didn't remember and have the time until now. Sorry it's so late.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barnes
Well, thanks for the lecture, I guess. So effectively existing transit in the SE can't be improved because it's challenging.
Existing routes that don't meet their primary objectives, driven by drivers who are usually being paid overtime, serving the same low demand, high vehicle traffic areas with numerous bus routes is the best we can do.
I am not asking for a bullet train to my office door just that CT maybe re-evaluate their decisions.
They pay lip service to riders in terms of surveys and open houses yet fail to understand that a number of people would prefer to burden the south line by driving to Anderson, Sommerset or take the community bus to the LRT because it is faster, more convenient alternative to SE transit. Look at the comments from the open house in January.
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I know I went off on a bit of a tangent with my last post. It kind of got away from saying what should have been my main point.
Whether it is Deerfoot or the current route, the bus network in that area really can't see a marked improvement in service. It will be either long, circuitous, unreliable or more likely all 3 of those (even relative to most other transit service on those fronts) without an influx of infrastructure improvements. This brings us to SE Transitway. Originally I was actually very much against it because I thought it would be a lot of money to spend on a temporary measure that would just push back and complicate the inevitable (LRT) and wouldn't make a significant enough improvement to even justify the expense today. I figured it was better to just wait for LRT and that the current BRT would just have to do for now.
I am now for the SE Transitway because the fact of the matter is that service to the SE is so bad using existing infrastructure that the BRT and express routes will utterly fail to achieve ridership growth and establish a travel pattern that will justify the LRT. It needs immediate improvement to have any hope of doing so. After learning that much of the infrastructure that would be built for the Transitway could in fact be leveraged into the eventual LRT with minimal BRT operations setbacks during construction of the LRT as well as minimal sunk costs on short-term infrastructure for the Transitway, I was a lot more sold on it.
It will be expensive but it will see some return as it's really the only thing that will improve transit service in the southeast in any significant way. The reality is that BRT and expanded bus service in the southeast is nowhere near the easy interim situation on its own as it was in the west and north central areas of the city. Both this reality and the fact that it will be expensive is an inherent trait of this area.