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TTC: Bus Service

ehlow

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I don't think I've seen a thread about TTC bus service other than the Transit City bus plan, so I'll start one since there has been a lot of news lately on improving or enhancing bus service.

This seems to be in line with what many of us have been talking about on this forum:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ttc_to_add_express_buses_to_cut_crowding.html

Councillor wants TTC to add express buses to cut crowding

Councillor Josh Colle is asking the TTC board to approve a study of adding additional express bus service.

By: Tess Kalinowski Transportation reporter, Published on Wed Mar 26 2014
Councillor Josh Colle wants the TTC to study the cost of more express bus routes as a potentially cheaper option to alleviating crowding while the city waits for more subways.
“Given increasing wait times and crowded conditions on many regular TTC bus routes, the implementation of new express routes along major arterial roads, such as Bathurst St. and Dufferin St., during the peak periods could provide an excellent option for riders for a fraction of the cost of building new transit infrastructure,†says a motion before Wednesday’s TTC board meeting of which Colle (Ward 15, Eglinton-Lawrence) is a member.
Riders would continue to have the option of regular buses with more stops on the same routes, or they could ride an express bus on the 10 busiest TTC routes. Those would make fewer stops to get them to their destination faster, according to the motion.
The TTC already runs 11 rush-hour only express buses, mostly in the east and west ends away from the downtown core. It also has six all-day “rocket†buses and five downtown express routes that charge a premium fare for the service.
All of the express services run during Monday to Friday rush hours.
If the board approves Colle’s motion, TTC staff would report back on the costs and benefits of adding more express routes, as well as the possibility of introducing queue jump lanes, priority signaling and dedicated bus lanes.
It would also look at whether express service makes sense on routes that connect major destinations, such as the Airport Rocket that connects the Kipling subway with Pearson.
Colle recently suggested the TTC’s overnight buses and streetcars should be free during extreme cold weather alerts.
 
Very glad to see this option finally being looked at. I guess Colle must have recently taken a trip to Vancouver and saw the light...
Apparently he didn't take TTC to the airport. Steve Munro was tweeting that Colle was recommending an rocket bus from Kipling station to Pearson.
 
Apparently he didn't take TTC to the airport. Steve Munro was tweeting that Colle was recommending an rocket bus from Kipling station to Pearson.

That's a little embarrassing...

I'm hoping that this proposal is seen by both sides of the subways vs LRT debate on Council as a good interim measure worth pursuing though. But with TO Council, you never know.
 
If we end up running a really good, frequent, fast, dependable and rapid-transit-like bus-service, with features like POP, wide stop spacing, level boarding, dedicated lanes etc, then there should be some sort of branding or differentiation of it on transit maps to show people that this is the bus to use like a rapid transit line, and these are the stops.
 
If we end up running a really good, frequent, fast, dependable and rapid-transit-like bus-service, with features like POP, wide stop spacing, level boarding, dedicated lanes etc, then there should be some sort of branding or differentiation of it on transit maps to show people that this is the bus to use like a rapid transit line, and these are the stops.

Yup, good call. A look at other systems shows us that branding is just as important as the actual improvements. Zum really didn't implement anything overly special in terms of increased service quality, but the branding and fancy stations created a very decent ridership jump.
 
On one hand I'd like to see more artics but winter performance will be crucial. I think there was a diversion on Bathurst during the last snow dump?

Once the West Don Lands street grid fully opens up it will be interesting to see what routes are put on. I think TTC should start getting people used to seeing buses on the Bayview extension especially when Crosstown impacts start screwing up Eglinton East buses.
 
On one hand I'd like to see more artics but winter performance will be crucial. I think there was a diversion on Bathurst during the last snow dump?

Once the West Don Lands street grid fully opens up it will be interesting to see what routes are put on. I think TTC should start getting people used to seeing buses on the Bayview extension especially when Crosstown impacts start screwing up Eglinton East buses.

Sure why not run buses down Bayview into downtown? It's a fast road so it'll provide fast alternative to the subway. Same with Mt Pleasant-Jarvis, it should be all day and not cost extra.
 
An easy way to improve the on-time performance for many routes and avoid bunching, is to reduce the number of stops. Should we really be having a bus stop every 200-400m during rush hour, blocking general traffic, which conversely blocks buses further back, when we can easily pin-point stops at intersections where there are significant riders and focus on those. I take the bus every day and it absolutely amazes me how my travel time can fluctuates + or - 10-15 minutes depending on whether ONE person gets on or off at a few random stops along the way. It's a fine line between being convenient at the expense of efficiency. Maybe make the Buses only service high-volume stops during rush hour, and all local stops during off-peak hours?

I think adding express buses MAY reduce crowding depending on what types of Origins and Destinations passengers are showing.
 
I wish we can talk about getting good bus service without calling it BRT.

We should be emulating the service quality and ammenities of Zum and Viva on many bus routes.
 
I wish we can talk about getting good bus service without calling it BRT.

We should be emulating the service quality and ammenities of Zum and Viva on many bus routes.

Exactly. Build BRT lite lines around the city on major corridors. Capital costs would only require Beefing up the stations at each of the stops with ETA screens and just give the buses running on those routes a new paint job that distinguishes it from regular routes and voila.

Transit is just as much about marketing it as it is actually improving the service.
 

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