Calgary Public Transit - Discussion

[Addick]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I'm trying to decide which is worse- that the easternmost line is named Westwinds, or that we will have a Ctrain line that tourists could easily mistake as being the one that goes to the Saddledome.

Meh.

I'm all for making transit simple but I feel that such naming conventions would be going overboard. If there is sufficient system and line information readily available to tourists such mistakes are completely avoidable.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I'm trying to decide which is worse- that the easternmost line is named Westwinds, or that we will have a Ctrain line that tourists could easily mistake as being the one that goes to the Saddledome.

The Saddledome, as a major year-round attraction and the Saddletown Station (especially as the terminus) shouldn't co-exist for more than a few years.

I disagree with Addick though. I think there should be a switch to colour, number or directional names for lines. If not now, then when the southeast line gets built.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Addick

Meh.

I'm all for making transit simple but I feel that such naming conventions would be going overboard. If there is sufficient system and line information readily available to tourists such mistakes are completely avoidable.

I'm all for making it difficult. Ever try finding where you're going in London? Stare at that map for 12 minutes to find your station, then figure out which platform your line will be on, then make sure you get on the right train, then make sure that train isn't one of the ones that loooooks like it's going there, but then takes an abrupt turn onto a spur. And trying to do it when you're hammered is even MORE difficult!

At least their trains are still running when the pubs close.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by 4X4

At least their trains are still running when the pubs close.

Okay yeah, but Pubs in England close way too early.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I'm all for making it difficult. Ever try finding where you're going in London? Stare at that map for 12 minutes to find your station, then figure out which platform your line will be on, then make sure you get on the right train, then make sure that train isn't one of the ones that loooooks like it's going there, but then takes an abrupt turn onto a spur. And trying to do it when you're hammered is even MORE difficult!

At least their trains are still running when the pubs close.

I can only interpret the emoticon to be a swipe at how things operate in Calgary and that "they" ought to clue in.

Not that I wouldn't want to see train service later into the evening too, but London is hardly a very good comparable. Public transit service in Calgary having deficiencies and public transit service in London being among the best in the world are both a product of the environments and the context of each city. If London were a century-old western North American city a tenth its size that has done the vast majority of its growth since World War II its trains probably wouldn't run after the pubs close. It actually probably wouldn't have train service at all.

[getbak]

We need easy to remember station names, like they have in London:

[OffsideSpecialist]

This one is my personal favourite.....

[frinkprof]

You have to wonder what British people will think of the name "Shaganappi Point Station."

[Addick]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

I disagree with Addick though. I think there should be a switch to colour, number or directional names for lines.

I actually share this belief. It's a much more positive a change than the aforementioned naming convention as I believe station names should precisely state their location.

Originally Posted by 4X4

Ever try finding where you're going in London?

I guess you didn't take note of my location...

[4X4]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

I can only interpret the emoticon to be a swipe at how things operate in Calgary and that "they" ought to clue in.

Nah, I was making fun of how those stupid brits shut down their pubs at 11. That's much worse than the CTrain not running until 2am. But they probably do it so that you have time to figure your way home on that spaghetti bowl map.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Addick

I guess you didn't take note of my location...

South London Ontario, yeah so?

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I'm all for making it difficult. Ever try finding where you're going in London? Stare at that map for 12 minutes to find your station, then figure out which platform your line will be on, then make sure you get on the right train, then make sure that train isn't one of the ones that loooooks like it's going there, but then takes an abrupt turn onto a spur. And trying to do it when you're hammered is even MORE difficult!

At least their trains are still running when the pubs close.

I thought the Tube was one of the most easy to navigate things. It was awesome, and you were only ever like 5 minutes away from a station wherever you were in the city. The metro in Paris was awesome as well.

[frinkprof]

Lots of updates that I've been meaning to get to.

7th Avenue Refurbishment

Work at Centre Street Station is almost complete. Some public art has been installed.

Photos:

Spoiler!

Once this is completed, that leaves 11th Street West (Kerby) Station to be completed and the old 10th Street West Station to be removed. It could be interesting to see how this is done. Since the existing tracks at 10th Street Station need to be re-aligned to tie into the new tracks serving Kerby Station, this could mean that the NE line service could be affected for however long this would take. What we could see is Crowfoot acting as the terminus for both lines for a short period.

New LRVs

33 of the order of 38 LRVs are now in service. Not sure how many have arrived, but the completion of this order is nearing.

NE LRT Extension to Martindale and Saddleridge

Looks like signal work is mostly complete. I'm hearing a late August/early September opening for this extension.

CONNECT Smartcard Fare Payment System

Card readers have been installed at most (or all) LRT stations and many buses. The cards will come in two varieties, disposable and re-loadable with key FOBs also being available. There will be three colours. Adult passes will be red, youth passes will be blue and senior passes will be yellow. Tickets still be sold and accepted as payment, as will cash. U-Passes will be in the form of an e-stickers on student ID cards (similar to the current stickers but electronically readable).

Retailers that currently sell passes (7-11, Mac's, Safeway, etc.) will sell both reloadable and disposable cards, but you have to do the re-loading via the internet, they will not be able to do it in the store. The disposable ones will be loaded with a single month pass, which can be done in the store.

It will be a "tap" system where you tap (as opposed to swipe or insert) the card on the readers. Peace officers on C-Train patrols will carry portable card readers.

Most of the technical and hardware work has already been completed and next comes testing, training, marketing and final rollout. There will be a pilot testing phase before the full availability of the card. Looks like I will be a part of this so I'll keep you up to date on that.

"Better Transit in Calgary" Event

Calgary Transit Camp in cooperation with the City of Calgary, Calgary Transit, Civic Camp, SAIT Polytechnic and Sustainable Alberta is holding an event titled 'Better Transit in Calgary.'

Finer details are in the works, but there are activities planned over three days, April 12-14. The main event runs 9:30 - noon on Saturday April 14th at SAIT. This is intended to be an open-ended engagement with just the simple theme 'Better Transit in Calgary.' The model for this type of event follows the hugely successful and well-attended Civic Camp engagement events leading up to and following the last municipal election in 2010.

As a primer for the main event, there will be a lecture given by Jarrett Walker on the evening of Thursday, April 12th at SAIT. Mr. Walker is a Portland, Oregon based author, speaker, blogger and transit consultant who has worked internationally. His 'Human Transit' blog can be found at http://www.humantransit.org/.

There will also be discussions with representatives from Calgary Transit and the City of Calgary on the evening of Friday, April 13th at SAIT, focusing on the Strategic Transit Plan that Transit/The City is working on. This is a 30 year long-term network and service plan for Transit.

Jarrett, some City and Calgary Transit people will be joining us for the main event on the Saturday.

I hope to see some of you there.

[NuclearPizzaMan]

Note that many of the people involved in the Connect rollout were also involved in the deployment of the real-time system and the debit/credit machines. Expect the same "quality" work with Connect.

[Cscutch]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

Lots of updates that I've been meaning to get to.

7th Avenue Refurbishment

Work at Centre Street Station is almost complete. Some public art has been installed.

Photos:

Spoiler!

I like how they have made the art at Centre Street Station functional. I see homeless people sleeping on those vents all the time. The art should help reduce that.

[frinkprof]

Spring Service Revisions have been posted. They will take effect March 12, 2012.

http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/s...ions_2012.html

If you recall, Transit recently made a lot of cuts including cutting the first and last LRT trips of the day, the 302 being served by community shuttle during off-peak times and the 305 seeing less service, among several other cuts. This round of schedule changes sees a lot of this taking effect.

[frinkprof]

West LRT Final Bus Network

The feeder bus network that will be in place when West LRT opens has been endorsed after going through a couple years of drafts and public consultations. Here it is below:



from: http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/west_lrt.html

As some may recall, there was originally going to be a new BRT route (which was actually a new routing of the 301 connecting with the north central leg of that route) which would go to MRU. Due to operational budget cuts, this will not be going ahead at this time and likely not until at least 2014 when bigger budget talks come up again. The other BRT route between Westbrook Station, MRU and Heritage Station will still be operating when West LRT opens. Here is a recent news article discussing the route and why it will not be going ahead at this time.

Express Bus Service to MRU delayed

Other Link Going Ahead

By Jen Gerson, Calgary Herald February 27, 2012

One of the two dedicated bus routes slated to serve Mount Royal University has been put on hold due to budget woes.


Although a third of MRU students use transit to attend the southwest school, city officials have long ruled out a light-rail stop, saying that section of the city would be difficult and expensive to serve except by buses.


Instead, the city proposed two express bus routes, which would have right-of-ways, higher capacity and fewer stops.


One route is still on schedule. That one will connect the Heritage LRT station to Mount Royal and the new Westbrook stop when the western section of the LRT opens.


However, Neil McKendrick, the manager of transit planning, said the plan to convert Route 18 to an express service has been put on hold until 2014.



[...]

"We don't have sufficient operating funds to operate both of those routes that we promised," McKendrick said.


Although the route may be resurrected in a few years, it was disheartening news to the school's president, David Docherty.


"Am I disappointed? Yeah. Am I blaming Calgary Transit? No. I understand the economic reality they're facing," he said.


[...]

Link to the rest of the article

[MrMastodonFarm]

What a gong show that map is, couldn't they do some sort of overlay for each route instead of mashing them all on one?

Disappointing no BRT from MRU-Downtown, but it appears the 18 is now left relatively unchanged, which serves that purpose anyways albeit on a smaller scale.

[NSFL]

Hey frink, do you know if the train stations will have turnstools forcing you to pay before you get on the platform or will they just be stations for payment?

[RW99]

Booo, I lose the 108 AND don't get the express.