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Brampton Transit/Zum

Considering the amount of construction on Queen St/Highway 7, and this is BT's first serious attempt at a limited stop express routes, I am not surprised there is bunching. The Excelsiors are an entirely new product line from New Flyer, so it's expected there will be issues. I just hope the issues are worked out quickly.
I rode Zum from York University all the way to Downtown Brampton, and it took me exactly 1 hour. I think over time, BT can actually shave 5 minutes off that time, but 1 hour to downtown Brampton is really good.

Living in Brampton for most of my life, Brampton always made service changes in Sept, so I understand why they started Zum before construction was complete, but I think BT should have waited until the shelters, and terminal was complete. There is still a lot of work to go.
 
Justin10000 said:
Considering the amount of construction on Queen St/Highway 7, and this is BT's first serious attempt at a limited stop express routes, I am not surprised there is bunching. The Excelsiors are an entirely new product line from New Flyer, so it's expected there will be issues. I just hope the issues are worked out quickly.
I rode Zum from York University all the way to Downtown Brampton, and it took me exactly 1 hour. I think over time, BT can actually shave 5 minutes off that time, but 1 hour to downtown Brampton is really good.

Living in Brampton for most of my life, Brampton always made service changes in Sept, so I understand why they started Zum before construction was complete, but I think BT should have waited until the shelters, and terminal was complete. There is still a lot of work to go.
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Despite what you say about BT needing improvements (which I think we can all agree upon) you can't say that they haven't done an excellent job in improving their service from 5 years ago. I remember the times when taking my bike to soccer was faster than waiting for the bus.
 
I never stated BT needs improvement. Out of all the GTA agencies, BT has improved the most by far. I just wish they started Zum a little later, when it was complete.
 
I guess they wanted it out early in the school year when it is most effective. Regular BT tickets are used on Zum right?
 
Right.

Personally, I'm a fan of doing what you can now versus waiting to do a "perfect" job.
 
Brampton has a way to go still, but it certainly deserves the "most improved" transit agency in Ontario over the last 5 year period, perhaps Oakville as the runner-up. I'd exclude Grand River Transit and York Region mostly because they've boosted their linear express services while their conventional systems have lagged, or in YRT's case, declined somewhat.

Zum will become a bonafide system when the 502 Main-Hurontario route starts operating this time next year.
 
meh most likely Viva will look the best once they implement their next phase i.e. the BRT - starting around Warden and Hi-way 7. I've been watching the stop under construction ... it's hard code - taken months to build one stop : )
 
The next-bus display at Torbram Road WB was turned on today around 8:15 pm. I was driving so I didn't get to see what it actually said, but it showed two lines of text and the top line was flashing when a 1 QUEEN was pulling into the stop.
 
ShonTron said:
Brampton has a way to go still, but it certainly deserves the "most improved" transit agency in Ontario over the last 5 year period, perhaps
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Have lived in Brampton most of my life....use the buses infrequently....but it does give me a large level of civic pride how the city has pushed the transit system forward and made such dramatic and rapid improvements....it would be all to easy to just say "we are a bedroom community/suburb and transit won't work" but they have taken an opposite approach and I am sure the improvements will keep coming.
 
Not that I don't think Brampton has improved a lot, but you all think you all are overreacting slightly? "Improved the most by far"? C'mon...

Additional Revenue Service Hours, 2006-2010

BRAMPTON TRANSIT
2006 - 91,500
2007 - 35,000
2008 - 39,000
2009 - 55,000
2010 - 42,000
Total - 262,500

YORK REGION TRANSIT
2006 - 34,400
2007 - 51,800
2008 - 80,300
2009 - 71,300
2010 - 13,000
Total - 250,800

MISSISSAUGA TRANSIT
2006 - 46,000
2007 - 72,000
2008 - 87,500
2009 - 35,000
2010 - 30,000
Total - 270,500

Justin10000 said:
I just wish they started Zum a little later, when it was complete.
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I noticed at my time in UTM that when MT added new service it was mostly first year students using them. First year students are the best hope for new riders. So it is good the Zum service is there even if it is not 100% yet. Better than no service at all. It's not difficult to fix. On the other hand, it takes a long time for the ridership to build up. Once the students ditch transit, likely they won't turn back to transit, and that is not so easy to fix.
 
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Weren't the Xcelsior buses were in use in Winnipeg before they were in Brampton? A while back I saw a promo video for them which looked like they were in revenue service there, but that may have just been for demonstration purposes (since New Flyer is based out there).

I think that the TTC could learn a thing or two from Zum and Viva and implement better seats and a more visible look on their higher order services (subway, ICTS, express buses). While it may just be marketing, I don't see any downside to improving the attractiveness of these services.
 
Electrify said:
Weren't the Xcelsior buses were in use in Winnipeg before they were in Brampton? A while back I saw a promo video for them which looked like they were in revenue service there, but that may have just been for demonstration purposes (since New Flyer is based out there).
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The Xcelsior has ran in revenue service for other agencies prior to Brampton. They have all be demonstrations only, however. For example a demo ran in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul for a few days in June, and there was the one demo that you may be refering to that ran in Winnipeg for most of July.

Electrify said:
I think that the TTC could learn a thing or two from Zum and Viva and implement better seats and a more visible look on their higher order services (subway, ICTS, express buses). While it may just be marketing, I don't see any downside to improving the attractiveness of these services.
Click to expand...
I wonder if the TTC is just more concerned about running the "basics" and not deal with extra cost of trying to be attractive. But with the TTC looking for a livery for the new streetcars, they might actually be looking for a more visible look with a design that stands out.
 
doady said:
Not that I don't think Brampton has improved a lot, but you all think you all are overreacting slightly? "Improved the most by far"? C'mon...

Additional Revenue Service Hours, 2006-2010

BRAMPTON TRANSIT
2006 - 91,500
2007 - 35,000
2008 - 39,000
2009 - 55,000
2010 - 42,000
Total - 262,500

YORK REGION TRANSIT
2006 - 34,400
2007 - 51,800
2008 - 80,300
2009 - 71,300
2010 - 13,000
Total - 250,800

MISSISSAUGA TRANSIT
2006 - 46,000
2007 - 72,000
2008 - 87,500
2009 - 35,000
2010 - 30,000
Total - 270,500
Click to expand...

York Region is a lot bigger than Brampton or Mississauga, so this would seem to suggest that it has lagged compared to those two.
 
And Brampton is half the size of Mississauga. Mississauga had some minor service cuts over the last few years, so yes, I stand by my "most improved" comment, even if only because 6 years ago, BT was a joke.

"Most improved" means just that.
 
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