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Brampton Transit/Zum

doady said:
BRT for Bovaird seems excessive. What are the busiest corridors right now? Queen, Steeles, Main, Kennedy, Dixie, McMurchy... Bovaird isn't even top 5. You don't need BRT or LRT everywhere. That was the fact lost upon the people who came up with VIVA and Transit City, and Zum is the same. "Rapid transit" along Mississauga Rd? Don't make me laugh. And I can't help but notice they are not planning at all to make use of 407 Transitway (a real BRT corridor).
Click to expand...

Like I said earlier, even though I would benefit personally from a 505, it is not intuitive to me that it should be "next". I would have thought the 4th line would/should have been a second north south route....I thought Airport Road others suggested Dixie or Bramalea Road.

I think what Bovaird has going for it is that it has a GO Train station on it. The common feature of every Zum line to date is that it connects/interconnects with the major GO hubs in Brampton.

EDIT: Aside form the link to the GO station (which, from the outside looking in, seems to be a big driver in the Zum) is that the only hospital in town is on Bovaird and there is a sort of mini-BT terminal at Trinity Common.....while Bovaird would not, intuitively, be the next place I would think of for a Zum line it does make a bit of sense on further reflection.
 
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doady said:
BRT for Bovaird seems excessive. What are the busiest corridors right now? Queen, Steeles, Main, Kennedy, Dixie, McMurchy... Bovaird isn't even top 5. You don't need BRT or LRT everywhere. That was the fact lost upon the people who came up with VIVA and Transit City, and Zum is the same. "Rapid transit" along Mississauga Rd? Don't make me laugh. And I can't help but notice they are not planning at all to make use of 407 Transitway (a real BRT corridor).
Click to expand...

Actually, Bovaird IS in the top transit corridors in the city. It has one of the highest frequencies in rush hour outside Queen, Main, and Steeles.

They are planning.

They're using Mississauga Road not because it needs the RT, but to LINK the Queen Street RT to Mt. Pleasant GO Station.
 
They may not need higher grade rapid transit everwhere, but in the suburbs, projects like Zum (which I would call lower grade rapid transit) are definately needed. The branding, the stations, the more comfortable bus, and the great frequencies, the more direct routing are driving people to transit. They have chosen a good corridor in Bovaird, as another commenter pointed out, it already has high frequencies and more people would be jumping onto the bus if this zumified.

The reason I think non-blue VIVA is so lackluster is because (in addition to less direct routing of its highway 7 lines) it has not expanded to other important corrdiors like Rutherford, Major Mackenzie, Leslie/Don Mills, and Jane. VIVA (at least now) is not higher grade rapid transit like a subway so it needs to be more prevalent to get people to get onto it.

I think Brampton's Zum plan has been engineered beautifully and looks to be working.

As for Mississauga Rd, I found that odd too but Im assuming this is for when there is ample development in West Brampton and there is a need for a strong north south Zum corridor there too.
 
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DKsan said:
Actually, Bovaird IS in the top transit corridors in the city. It has one of the highest frequencies in rush hour outside Queen, Main, and Steeles.
Click to expand...

Rush Hour Frequencies (minutes)

1. Steeles East: 4.2
2. Queen: 4.3
3. Main: 6.2
4. Dixie: 7.5
5. Kennedy: 7.5

6. Airport: 10.0
6. Bovaird: 10.0
6. Bramalea: 10.0
6. Chinguacousy: 10.0
6. Torbram: 10.0
 
doady said:
Has anyone seen the latest ridership figures on Brampton's Transit website? They are disconcerting. It looks like there will be another recession, or maybe it is happening already...

http://www.brampton.ca/en/residents/transit/facts-figures/Pages/RidershipStats.aspx
Click to expand...
Growth has slowed, but it's still up from last year in each month (don't forget February had 29 days last year, and 20 working days, compared to 28 days, and 19 working days this year). By the time you pro-rate for that, ridership is up.
 
Bovaird is a great choice and is needed badly. The reason why the east-west routes take precedent over the north-south routes is because Brampton has no east-west highway linking the city together (the 407 does not count). It is literally a nightmare trying to travel across Brampton from east to west. The fastest route is probably Mayfield but thats the northern border. Steeles takes forever, Williams Parkway is too windy & gets cut off at Humerwest, Queen is a nightmare especially from airport to Main, and Bovaird is just brutal its entire stretch. Brampton needs a highway going east-west in the middle of the city or at least have the 427 extended north and curve to an ending point at Mayfield & Highway 50..it surely does not solve the problem but it would take a lot of eastern residents of the 410 and of the dumping ground of Queen (current terminus of the 427).
 
b13 said:
Bovaird is a great choice and is needed badly. The reason why the east-west routes take precedent over the north-south routes is because Brampton has no east-west highway linking the city together (the 407 does not count). It is literally a nightmare trying to travel across Brampton from east to west. The fastest route is probably Mayfield but thats the northern border. Steeles takes forever, Williams Parkway is too windy & gets cut off at Humerwest, Queen is a nightmare especially from airport to Main, and Bovaird is just brutal its entire stretch. Brampton needs a highway going east-west in the middle of the city or at least have the 427 extended north and curve to an ending point at Mayfield & Highway 50..it surely does not solve the problem but it would take a lot of eastern residents of the 410 and of the dumping ground of Queen (current terminus of the 427).
Click to expand...

I think the extension route for the 427 has been determined.......http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/environmen...sessments/projects/STDPROD_082704.html?page=3

I found the mini-extension beyond Queen to Zzenway quite useful to get onto 50 a bit easier/smoother.
 
nfitz said:
Growth has slowed, but it's still up from last year in each month (don't forget February had 29 days last year, and 20 working days, compared to 28 days, and 19 working days this year). By the time you pro-rate for that, ridership is up.
Click to expand...

I also think there was a lot of latent demand that Brampton Transit tapped into, resulting in the impressive growth over the last several years, partly due to the direct bus to York U, the takeover of much of the demand on Hurontario, and general service improvements that might have made the difference in customers switching to transit. The growth has slowed now that those easy new markets have been tapped.

Steeles 511 in 2012-2013 was really more of a reorganization of the Steeles corridor, not the relative revolution that 501/A represented in 2010 that helped with the highest absolute growth in BT's history.
 
Some nice customer service improvements coming to Brampton Transit:

http://www.brampton....de_May_2013.pdf

New PRESTO upgrades starting June 3, 2013
• Brampton Period Pass users will be able to transfer
onto other participating systems using the PRESTO
card.
• Automatic clearing of overdraft (negative) balance,
rather than having to go into a Brampton Transit
terminal.
• Ability to make transfer(s) when card is in overdraft
provided trips are made within the valid two-hour
timed transfer limit.
• Setting concession (discounted) fares for Student,
Senior, and Child can be done without having to
first register the card – it can all be done at the time
of initial purchase.
• Future enhancements: ability to load Brampton
Transit period passes (weekly and monthly) online
to your PRESTO card.


Effective May 13, Brampton Transit launches Next Ride Notification
Next Ride Notification is a free subscription service that
lets you sign up for notification of when your next bus
is departing from a bus stop.
Signing up is fast and easy! Visit the Next Ride
webpage at bramptontransit.com, click on the
Next Ride Notification link and subscribe by using
your email address. You can also add your mobile
phone number to receive your information by text.*
On the webpage, you will then select a day of the
week, time and notifications that you want to be
notified about. You can select up to 10 different
notifications per subscription.
It’s that easy! Now you will receive regular notification
of when your next bus is departing.
 
May Read and Ride Guide:
Effective May 13, 2013

2 MAIN • Weekday, Saturday and Sunday
schedules adjusted to improve
service reliability
3 MCLAUGHLIN • Weekday, Saturday and Sunday
schedules adjusted to improve
service reliability
4/4A CHINGUACOUSY • Weekday schedules adjusted to
improve service reliability
35 CLARKWAY • Weekday trips added to improve
service reliability
50 GORE ROAD • Weekday and Sunday schedules
adjusted to improve service
reliability
56 JAMES POTTER • Weekday trips added to improve
service reliability
115 AIRPORT EXPRESS • Weekday, Saturday and Sunday
schedules adjusted to improve
service reliability.
Next service improvements: June 24, 2013

National Public Works Week
National Public Works Week energizes and educates
the public on the importance of public works to their
daily lives. Learn more about how public works serves
your community at these free public tours.
When:
Tuesday, May 21 & Wednesday, May 22
10 am – 2 pm
Where:
• Brampton Transit Clark Facility
185 Clark Boulevard
• Brampton Transit Sandalwood Facility
130 Sandalwood Parkway West
• Sandalwood Works Yard
120 Sandalwood Parkway West
 
Through some poking, I found Brampton Transit's 2013-2017 Business Plan!

Some highlights:
All lists include substantial frequency updates, including longer operating hours, new local and Base Grid routes, realignments and extensions of existing routes, etc.
2014:
  • 505 Zum Bovaird
  • Restructing of the 5 Bovaird
  • NEW Route 6 Queen West from Downtown Brampton to Mt Pleasant GO, in advance of the 501 west extension
2015:
  • 511 Steeles west extension
  • A new limited-stop express (not Zum!) on Kennedy. 107 Kennedy?
  • Restructuring of the 4
2016:
  • 501 Queen west extension
  • (it was in 2015, but I moved to here for obvious reasons) Realignment of the 501/A to serve VMC and Highway 407 subway stations, major bump in frequencies to service this
2017:
  • Extension of the 115 Airport Express north to Brampton Civic Hospital, as well as implementing limited stop express on Bramalea
  • Implementing a limited stop express on Dixie (118?)

Also, to 2017 there will 195 new buses (Zum and non-Zum) buses to be bought. Brampton Transit should be completely accessible by 2017.
 
DKsan said:
Through some poking, I found Brampton Transit's 2013-2017 Business Plan!

Some highlights:
All lists include substantial frequency updates, including longer operating hours, new local and Base Grid routes, realignments and extensions of existing routes, etc.
2014:
  • 505 Zum Bovaird
  • Restructing of the 5 Bovaird
  • NEW Route 6 Queen West from Downtown Brampton to Mt Pleasant GO, in advance of the 501 west extension
2015:
  • 511 Steeles west extension
  • A new limited-stop express (not Zum!) on Kennedy. 107 Kennedy?
  • Restructuring of the 4
2016:
  • 501 Queen west extension
  • (it was in 2015, but I moved to here for obvious reasons) Realignment of the 501/A to serve VMC and Highway 407 subway stations, major bump in frequencies to service this
2017:
  • Extension of the 115 Airport Express north to Brampton Civic Hospital, as well as implementing limited stop express on Bramalea
  • Implementing a limited stop express on Dixie (118?)

Also, to 2017 there will 195 new buses (Zum and non-Zum) buses to be bought. Brampton Transit should be completely accessible by 2017.
Click to expand...

I birefly looked over the document -- THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FINDING THIS -- and it looks like they are planning on making Zum Queen West and Zum Steeles West into their own routes. What's the point of that? If they want to have lower frequencies on the Western branches then they could just create a short turn routes that dont go west of Main. By keeping two separate routes they are creating an unnecessary linear transfer for folks in west Brampton.
 
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