News and Notes
60 Foot Buses on Route #3
Starting in September (and coinciding with the fall service revisions that start on September 3rd), some D60LFR model buses (articulated or "bendy" buses) will be operated on Route #3. Many of the facilities at bus stops along the south end of the route have been lengthened to accommodate this.
Route #3 has long been the busiest bus route in the city. At a committee meeting several months ago, Transit Camp suggested both this solution and the creation of a limited stop version of the route as an augment to accommodate the immense ridership and crowding it sees.
Although I have yet to hear an official opening date for Chinook Station, this news would lead one to think that Chinook will re-open on or close to the same date since several articulated buses are currently being used on the interim shuttle route between Chinook Station and 39th Avenue Station and the "extra" buses to employ on the Route #3 would have to come from being freed up somewhere.
Bench Seating Trial/Pilot
In the coming months, you will see some of the seating on the SD160 Series 8 LRVs (newest train cars) replaced with a "bench" style seat, which would eliminate the groove partitions with the current bucket style seats. This will be done on a trial basis to see how it goes. This is in response to the feedback related to these cars/seats.
I think it may be only one of the 38 of this model that will be part of the trial. Can't remember. This all came up in a recent meeting with some members of Calgary Transit management.
Centre Street Transit-Only Lanes
Not really news, just a link to a small infographic about this project.
http://www.calgarytransit.com/pdf/Ce...Only-Lanes.pdf
The only factoid I might add on the topic is that there are more people who cross McKnight Blvd. on Centre Street during rush hour on transit than any other mode.
Website Improvements
Just last week, an RFP (Request for Proposals) was issued by the City looking for vendors to submit their proposals for revamping the Calgary Transit website.
No idea on budget, scope or timeline, just that one tidbit of news. Progress I suppose.
Fare Increase Policy Improvement
This is a small change but in the future, when fares are increased, the "old" books of tickets will be accepted without having to add the difference at the fare box, in a similar fashion to the way postage stamps have worked for quite a few years now.
This came out of discussions between the Customer Advisory Group and the Senior Management Team at Calgary Transit. Quite a few other operational/policy/process changes and tweaks have come out of these discussions, but this one was the only real "quick win" type of change.
