Durham Region Transit / Pulse

[DavidH]

I attended the meeting last night. A few key points:

- Hwy 2, Taunton (up to just before the Toronto border), and Simcoe are being identified as eventual LRT routes.
- Hwy 2 service will use Ellesmere to access the TTC at Scarborough Town Centre.
- A route "923 Bayly/Bloor/Victoria" into Toronto will come in a few years; they are waiting for completion of widening of Bayly/Victoria through the Lynde Shores area. This should start next year unless it has been delayed again.

 

[SunriseChampion]

No word on route changes in Pickering-Ajax?

 

[DavidH]

No word on route changes in Pickering-Ajax?

There was some mention of it (e.g. criticism from participants) but DRT staff didn't say anything. My guess is that they are not at a point that they are willing to talk publicly about what they will be able to do.

 

[kEiThZ]

I attended the meeting last night. A few key points:

- Hwy 2, Taunton (up to just before the Toronto border), and Simcoe are being identified as eventual LRT routes.
- Hwy 2 service will use Ellesmere to access the TTC at Scarborough Town Centre.
- A route "923 Bayly/Bloor/Victoria" into Toronto will come in a few years; they are waiting for completion of widening of Bayly/Victoria through the Lynde Shores area. This should start next year unless it has been delayed again.

I am curious on how they plan on accessing Ellesmere from Hwy 2/Kingston. It might play into our designs for an Ellesmere BRT.

 

[DavidH]

I am curious on how they plan on accessing Ellesmere from Hwy 2/Kingston. It might play into our designs for an Ellesmere BRT.

They didn't say, and they may not be at that level of detail yet. I suspect it would be Kingston Road - Meadowvale-Ellesmere.

EDIT: I just realized that I should clarify that this is the long term plan. It doesn't mean that the initial phases of Highway 2 service will use this routing.

 

[SunriseChampion]

There was some mention of it (e.g. criticism from participants) but DRT staff didn't say anything. My guess is that they are not at a point that they are willing to talk publicly about what they will be able to do.

*sigh*

I'm moving downtown next spring...so, I guess I'll be alright


Thanks.

 

[DavidH]

Long term study newsletter for October is now available at

http://www.durhamlongtermtransitstrategy.ca/img/DRT_LTSnewsletter3_web_final.pdf

This includes the map that I posted earlier.

Open houses start this week; I urge you to participate.

Open House 1:
Thursday Oct 29 2009
Uxbridge Coummunity Centre (Arena)
291 Brock Street West, Uxbridge, ON
6:00 - 9:00 pm

Open House 2:
Monday Nov 2 2009
Bowmanville
Garnet Rickard Centre
2440 King Street West (Highway 2), Bowmanville, ON
4:00 - 8:00 pm

Open House 3:
Thursday Nov 5 2009
Whitby
Whitby Civic Recreation Complex
555 Rossland Road East, Whitby, ON
2:00 - 7:00 pm

Open House 4:
Saturday Nov 14 2009
Ajax Community Centre
75 Centennial Road, Ajax, ON
10:00 am - 2:00 pm

 

[DavidH]

The DRT Long Term Transit Study team has posted a detailed report on the route evaluations for the proposed network:

http://www.durhamlongtermtransitstrategy.c...Report%20v5.pdf

The maps in here match what was shown earlier but it does reveal something that I hadn't realized earlier: that the "enhanced conventional routes" along streets like Bayly/Bloor/Victoria, Rossland, Westney, Harmony, and Stevenson are envisioned as being similar to Viva Phase 1, with enhanced stop amenities, transit-priority measures, and shared branding with the BRT/LRT services.

Given this, what is being proposed is very ambitious indeed and the funding question will be interesting. The final Community Advisory Committee meetings are in January so I will be sure to ask questions about this aspect.

On another note, regarding the Ajax/Pickering route change question above, DRT staff presented a proposal for a restructuring to the Transit executive committee a few weeks ago, including a map (which I haven't been able to obtain). Unfortunately, there will be no service improvements for 2010 but it does appear that the restructuring *might* get funding to begin in 2011. This would involve consistent-all-day routing, elimination of those awful evening/Sunday routes, gradual integration of school specials into regular service, and two-way service on streets instead of one-way loops. 916 Rossland would probably go to Church and 915 Taunton would be cut back at Ajax GO, with the Bayly street portion part of a new 923 Bayly service in Ajax/Pickering, which would eventually join up with 922 Bloor/Victoria. There would be a northeast Ajax belt line (Salem/Audley) and another one in Pickering. Service levels (e.g. vehicles on the road) would increase so the cost would be significant, which is why it hasn't happened yet.

Reading the presentation, one gets the distinct impression that staff are frustrated that they haven't had the funding to make these changes yet. In fact, one of the points that they make is that it is getting hard to explain to customers why service hasn't improved significantly since amalgamation.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

With Durham projected to grow so much in the next few decades, perhaps this sheer growth will translate into enough funding to step transit up a notch. Of course, I don't know if the region or its constituent parts is/are willing to change the egg/basket ratio and pump sufficient moneys into something like a Hwy 2 line or Viva-type service on other lines if it means large swaths of Durham may have to keep their bare minimum bus service for longer.

 

[EnviroTO]

Seeing as the Highway 2 BRT to Scarborough Centre is a Top 15 priority Metrolinx project I expect there is provincial funding waiting for it. They can come up with any other number of projects but funding will only be available for Highway 2.

 

[EnviroTO]

This is the first time I have seen reference to a Steeles BRT in the north-east part of the city. I guess I missed it being added to York Regions Transportation master plan because I see it is in there too. I suspect that York Region and Durham would need to be the ones to push it. I think Brampton is pushing a Steeles BRT too.

 

[DavidH]

This is the first time I have seen reference to a Steeles BRT in the north-east part of the city. I guess I missed it being added to York Regions Transportation master plan because I see it is in there too. I suspect that York Region and Durham would need to be the ones to push it. I think Brampton is pushing a Steeles BRT too.

Steeles-Taunton is a Metrolinx route. As for the Highway 2 BRT, the first phase - essentially a Viva Phase 1 type of thing - has already been funded but full funding is awaiting the completion of this long term study.

 

[SunriseChampion]

Man, I've been waiting for some semblance of normalcy in regards to transit here in Pickering since I first moved here just over 9 years ago and even though I won't be living here anymore, I'm looking forward to 2011 with some level of optimism and anticipation.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Steeles is the kind of corridor that currently doesn't make much sense as a rapid transit route, but it's long enough that multiple poor places for rapid transit are lined up in a row and create, to some, a good place for rapid transit, especially since so many municipalities/Regions can support it.

There is future potential for a very long Steeles route, though, particularly since the central section between roughly York U and Pacific Mall could end up seeing an enormous amount of development and really bolster the middle of the GTA as somewhere that people in Brampton and Durham might actually travel to in large enough numbers to make a continuous rapid transit line on Steeles viable. We'll know in about 20 years. A lot of Steeles' regional thunder, however, could be stolen by GO service on the rail corridor just north of Steeles, or even by other GO service that intercepts crowds that would otherwise take Steeles. GO service on that track just north of Steeles may never materialize, though...I don't think it's ever been proposed, and I don't know how much freight uses it.

 

[GregWTravels]

A lot of Steeles' regional thunder, however, could be stolen by GO service on the rail corridor just north of Steeles, or even by other GO service that intercepts crowds that would otherwise take Steeles. GO service on that track just north of Steeles may never materialize, though...I don't think it's ever been proposed, and I don't know how much freight uses it.

I like the concept of the Steeles GO service. Steeles GO Service has easy connections to the airport. It serves two of the fastest growing regions in the GTA (York and Durham) as well as North Toronto, and for Durham is north where most of the growth in the region will be. It connects with two subway lines, crosses the Barrie, Richmond Hill and Stouffville GO Lines and would provide easy connections with Zum, Viva and (depending on the routing through Durham) a number of routes on LRT/BRT plans Durham is looking at.