Calgary Public Transit - Discussion

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I really wish they'd keep the 301 where it is, it would be a faster alternative than the LRT and those who don't want to cram into the trains when they hit Westbrook and Shaganappi. I don't want to be one of those people who stand around 26th waiting for a bus and have to miss every third one because they're full!

What? The 301 BRT was specifically designed and implemented to be a precursor to LRT in the west, and also to be fully replaced by the higher-capacity, faster and more reliable LRT service. It has limited stops at approximately where the LRT was planned to stop to develop and grow the travel patterns for when LRT could be built and operational.

Also, there's no need for redundant and supplemental bus service along the corridor (unless it is an infrequent community shuttle service like the route 81 in the south to provide some people with local service). The West LRT will not systematically fill to crush loads (as seen on other lines) or even uncomfortably crowded loads in the foreseeable future. Capacity will be such that it will outstrip demand due to the line being operationally linked to a line with higher ridership.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

What? The 301 BRT was specifically designed and implemented to be a precursor to LRT in the west, and also to be fully replaced by the higher-capacity, faster and more reliable LRT service. It has limited stops at approximately where the LRT was planned to stop to develop and grow the travel patterns for when LRT could be built and operational.

Also, there's no need for redundant and supplemental bus service along the corridor (unless it is an infrequent community shuttle service like the route 81 in the south to provide some people with local service). The West LRT will not systematically fill to crush loads (as seen on other lines) or even uncomfortably crowded loads in the foreseeable future. Capacity will be such that it will outstrip demand due to the line being operationally linked to a line with higher ridership.

Fair enough. But I just fear that their capacity forecasts are going to be off, considering they are taking away, for example, the 101, 104 and 301 going down Bow Trail into downtown. That may not seem like much, but that is a lot of people filling these routes every 5-10 minutes. And After taking these routes day in and day out for the last four (almost five) years, I just see a huge bottleneck forming at Westbrook station, unless they are really confident that a fourth car on a train is going to handle capacity. And fill loads are not going to get better as the city grows; they're likely to get worse.

Is there any public information on load forecasts that can be accessed? I'd be curious to know.

[frinkprof]

^Yes.





From this report, prepared earlier this year: http://agendaminutes.calgary.ca/sire...1113750203.PDF

[SebC]

^ Ridership has more than doubled from 2000 to 2010 for the AM trips on the South line. The only way to keep up with that kind of growth is the 8th Ave subway.

[bizaro86]

Why does outbound ridership increase in the afternoon, to the point that the NW line increases in ridership over the NE line. It looks like nearly a 30% increase from morning to evening rush, which doesn't seem intuitive to me. Any ideas?

[MrMastodonFarm]

@markusoff
seniors: your annual transit passes are going up to $55 from $35 in January. 12-3 council vote.

From Jason Markusoff via twitter

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Why does outbound ridership increase in the afternoon, to the point that the NW line increases in ridership over the NE line. It looks like nearly a 30% increase from morning to evening rush, which doesn't seem intuitive to me. Any ideas?

Car poolers who get downtown without transit but take it home due to different hours?

Not impressed with the reserved parking at Crowfoot. Looking for a parking spot at about 9:15 AM, all 4 hour parking is gone. Reserved parking doesn't open until 10 AM. And non-reserved parking had one free spot. Good thing the paid parking pays for improved maintenance and snow removal at the lots, otherwise I would have had to risk my life navigating the icy stairs of doom to make the 1 km walk to the train platform. Oh wait, they weren't cleared at all. Not at 9:15 AM, not by 12:15 PM.

smh

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

From Jason Markusoff via twitter

wait, annual passes? if they can make those for old folks why can't they make them for everyone else?

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Why does outbound ridership increase in the afternoon, to the point that the NW line increases in ridership over the NE line. It looks like nearly a 30% increase from morning to evening rush, which doesn't seem intuitive to me. Any ideas?

Yeah that one's odd. My best guess is some peculiarity with classes at SAIT and/or U of C - like people taking evening classes or something.

[OffsideSpecialist]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

From Jason Markusoff via twitter

Seriously? $35 bucks for an ANNUAL pass? That is stupidly cheap and even for seniors it ought to be more expensive than that for a yearly transit pass. Especially since as far as I know it is free to travel by train downtown.

[ken0042]

The one thing with the cheap annual pass; I know of many senior who got it because the price was spo cheap. Those seniors started taking the train or bus to doctor's appointments instead of driving. After seeing my uncle's driving I was quite happy to pay my regular fare knowing I was subsidizing him driving less. (He no longer has his license.)

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Car poolers who get downtown without transit but take it home due to different hours?

Not impressed with the reserved parking at Crowfoot. Looking for a parking spot at about 9:15 AM, all 4 hour parking is gone. Reserved parking doesn't open until 10 AM. And non-reserved parking had one free spot. Good thing the paid parking pays for improved maintenance and snow removal at the lots, otherwise I would have had to risk my life navigating the icy stairs of doom to make the 1 km walk to the train platform. Oh wait, they weren't cleared at all. Not at 9:15 AM, not by 12:15 PM.

smh

Don't worry, they've increased the number of reserved spots at Crowfoot/Dalhousie, even though not all of the previously set aside spots (at Dalhousie anyway) were getting used.

To me the current system is much worse than either of the preceding choices (all free, or all $3/day). When it was free I had to get there early on the very infrequent days I needed to drive to the station. When it was $3 I could come any time and pay my $3.

Now that it's monthly reserved/free my choices are get there even earlier for free parking, or buy a monthly pass for 1-2 days that I drive (might as well just drive downtown)

[frinkprof]

Some photos of the northeast extension stations at Saddletown and Martindale taken by "AB Born" on SSP.

Originally Posted by AB Born on SSP

Saddleridge LRT Station by JordanW.ca, on Flickr


Saddleridge LRT Station by JordanW.ca, on Flickr


Saddleridge LRT Station by JordanW.ca, on Flickr


Martindale LRT Station by JordanW.ca, on Flickr


Martindale LRT Station - Northbound by JordanW.ca, on Flickr


Martindale LRT Station - Southbound by JordanW.ca, on Flickr


Martindale LRT Station - Southbound by JordanW.ca, on Flickr

[stampsx2]

The two people that live almost on the tracks....I feel sorry for them. If that wasn't bad enough, they have a station at arms length from their window.

[Joborule]

Ya that's pretty a bad spot for a house to be. Was the ROW established before the community was built? If so developers didn't really give a damn about personal space here.

As for the Saddleridge station, I dig the lanterns concept.

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

The two people that live almost on the tracks....I feel sorry for them. If that wasn't bad enough, they have a station at arms length from their window.

Hard to feel sorry for them when the area has been pegged for LRT and plans made available for more than a decade.

Those homes are probably dirt cheap.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Ya that's pretty a bad spot for a house to be. Was the ROW established before the community was built? If so developers didn't really give a damn about personal space here.

As for the Saddleridge station, I dig the lanterns concept.

The LRT Right of Way was secured and designated as part of the 1984 Saddleridge Area Structure Plan, which is a statutory plan that will proceeds any development work on the land, so yeah the land use (for single family housing, not necessarily the exact layout of the lots) would have been part of the same process, and the configuration of the lots would have followed that.

[Super_Jason]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

The two people that live almost on the tracks....I feel sorry for them. If that wasn't bad enough, they have a station at arms length from their window.

At least they wouldn't have to walk too far to catch public transit!

[frinkprof]

Wind storm fallout: City predicts full LRT service restored by afternoon rush hour



Every bus in fleet put into action



By Jason Markusoff and Sherri Zickefoose, Calgary Herald November 28, 2011 12:09 PM

UPDATE 12:02 [P.M.]
City of Calgary Fire Chief Bruce Burrell said full LRT service will be restored well in advance of the afternoon rush hour.


Areas of the downtown still closed off Monday, after Sunday's high windstorm, will also reopen soon, Burrell added.

[..................]

City crews were still trying to reopen the 7th Avenue LRT corridor mid-morning Monday after a rush-hour mess left hundreds of commuters waiting in frustration for shuttle buses into downtown.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said every bus in the city fleet was put in action trying to clear the backlog. But buses were no replacement for three-car trains.


Downtown-bound trains dropped off passengers at Erlton (south line), Lions Park (NW) and Bridgeland (NE) stations, and hundreds waited in queues at each for shuttles.


Many people decided to walk instead. And the glut of buses added further to morning road congestion.

[...]

"Every single bus we had was on the ground, so you can’t create buses out of thin air overnight, unfortunately,” the mayor told reporters.

“I understand that there were some problems with information to passengers on the trains and at the stations, and given that we’ve got those fancy new signs, we’ll learn about how to do that better in the future.”

Link to full article

[Rathji]

That explained why they sardined us into an old style bus on the 302 this morning.