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Transit City surface stop spacing poll

What stop spacing do you think is best for the new LRT lines?

  • 800m - Regional and local arteries

    Votes: 20 64.5%
  • 400m - Regional, local, and extra local arteries

    Votes: 9 29.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 6.5%

  • Total voters
    31

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This is not about whether it is above or underground, technology, etc. This is to see what kind of stop spacing you would like to see. The options are based off of the two strategies discussed for Eglinton:

Option A: 800m - Laid, Leslie, Don Mills, Wynford, Bermondsey, Victoria Park, Warden, Birchmount, Kennedy

Option B: 400m - Laird, Leslie, Don Mills, Ferrand, Wynford, Bermondsey, Victoria Park, Pharmacy, Lebovic, Warden, Birchmount, Ionview, Kennedy
 
I voted 800m. I do not think you could go farther apart and ignore every second arterial (collector) road. If it is at grade, I could see Pharmacy being added since there is a major North-South bus passing there. Similar thing for one between Ionview and Kennedy (closer to Kennedy), also since the distance from Birchmount to the actual Kennedy station is about 1.2km. I am in favour of grade-separated, in which case I wouldn't want these extra stations. Even at grade I would probably be happier to leave them out but would be willing to make the compromise.
 
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800 m for sure. We don't need a bus on rails.

My thoughts exactly. I wish the people who voted 'other' would have commented, as to what they thought was best. I did consider adding options for every 1600m (regional arteries only) and 200m (current stop spacing), but didn't want the poll to get too messy, so I decided to leave it with the two stop spacing plans which have been proposed.
 
800 m for sure. We don't need a bus on rails.

Depends on the street. For Finch a bus on rails is exactly what we need from Jane to Yonge. It is a very high turnover local route with capacity issues due to the current vehicle length/traffic congestion. Finch needs a higher capacity local service.


For other streets like Sheppard, you're right, a large majority of passengers would be served better by 800m or larger stops with a few popular stops between major blocks like Consumers Road.
 
Depends on the street. For Finch a bus on rails is exactly what we need from Jane to Yonge. It is a very high turnover local route with capacity issues due to the current vehicle length/traffic congestion. Finch needs a higher capacity local service.


For other streets like Sheppard, you're right, a large majority of passengers would be served better by 800m or larger stops with a few popular stops between major blocks like Consumers Road.

Even on Finch I'm not convinced 400 m stop spacing is appropriate. Then again, I don't think I've ever driven down Finch.
 
Even on Finch I'm not convinced 400 m stop spacing is appropriate. Then again, I don't think I've ever driven down Finch.

Don't drive down finch. Ride the bus for a couple of dozen trips and watch where people get on and off and watch where they walk to after getting off.
 
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Don't drive down finch. Ride the bus for a couple of dozen trips and watch where people get on and off and watch where they walk to after getting off.

I'd be more interested to see which stops are used more than others. Sure, every stop might get used, but I'm certain more people are getting on/off at Jane than at Alexdon. You could also consolidate stops as well to ensure greater speed and accessibility. For example, under TC there was to be a stop at Gracedale and Pearldale, I put one in between as it is right in front of a large plaza and would serve almost the same amount of people with one stop rather than two.

This is the hardest part about public transit and suburban sprawl. Because things are much more spread out and oriented for cars, speed becomes far more important that it is in the city. However to achieve this speed to be competitive, it means cutting stops, thus making it less accessible. It's like people don't take transit because it sucks, and it sucks because people don't take it...

...But the interesting thing is that people DO take it in these areas! Thanks to class migration trends, we have people stuck in suburbia who cannot afford a car. While the suggested maximum walking distance to local transit is 400m, it is a safe assumption that the majority of riders walk much, much further. By focusing too much on accessibility and not enough on speed, all we are doing is continuing to limit the mobility of people along Finch when compared to those who do drive.
 
I'd be more interested to see which stops are used more than others.

As a data geek (I manage/design large OLTP DBs) I would kill for anonymized full trip data (start/stop and transfer points).

I don't have confidence that Presto will give us that type of information simply because GO stats haven't improved yet.
 
It certainly depends on what streets it stops at as some major intersections are closer together than others.
As a general rule I think stops should average about one per km.
I voted for 800 meters.
 
As a data geek (I manage/design large OLTP DBs) I would kill for anonymized full trip data (start/stop and transfer points).

I don't have confidence that Presto will give us that type of information simply because GO stats haven't improved yet.

You should drop the TTS people a line.
 
http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Co.../May_11_2011/Reports/Opportunities_for_Im.pdf

Page 8 of this document shows origins and destinations (roughly) for the Finch West bus route, though they aren't paired.

The 'one size fits all' approach to stop spacing ignores local patterns and needs. There's no reason transit city routes can't combine different spacing patterns, just like the subway does.

Great article. Looks like I'm going to have to reintroduce my stop at Arrow Rd on my map.

Anyways, the poll is more for average stop spacing rather than a strict law. Obviously there are places where it should stop more frequently and places it should stop less. This is to determine what are the guiding principles as to how often the lines should stop.
 

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