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Intercity Bus Services

APTA-2048 said:
I believe the original intent of this thread was commentary on the eroding private intercity bus network. GO Transit, on the other hand, has seen great increase in service and coverage.
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Possibly, but the lead into the map I commented on led me to believe it was an all-encompassing map of intercity buses.

“Clearly my familiarity with the intercity bus network was out of date, so I decided to create the 2019 intercity bus map (PDF version here):”

Anyway, I see the error of my ways now and this is all about non-GO intercity bus service. I am just not sure what the value of the map is for someone looking to get from A to B.
 
TOareaFan said:
Possibly, but the lead into the map I commented on led me to believe it was an all-encompassing map of intercity buses.

“Clearly my familiarity with the intercity bus network was out of date, so I decided to create the 2019 intercity bus map (PDF version here):”

Anyway, I see the error of my ways now and this is all about non-GO intercity bus service. I am just not sure what the value of the map is for someone looking to get from A to B.
Click to expand...

I made an intercity bus map. It includes intercity buses, but does not include regional buses (GO), intercity trains (VIA) or regional trains (GO). Connections to those services are indicated by "VIA" or "GO" icons next to the applicable stations.

As with all transit maps, it only shows a subset of the transportation network. Similarly the subway map is useless for someone getting between an A or B that is not directly on the subway, given that it doesn't show all the connecting surface routes. It's the intrinsic tradeoff in map making: more information but less legible, or less information and more legible. The general principle is to include all of the necessary information, but none of the unnecessary information.

For an example of how not to do a transit map, take a look at Grand River Transit's system map. For some reason they decided to also show the cycling network on it, and label every single street - even those that have nothing to do with the transit or cycling network. And they decided to label all the roundabouts too!! What on earth does a roundabout have to do with getting from A to B on transit?

That said, I certainly hope no one is actually using my map to navigate from A to B considering I have no comprehensive source of information and I only update routes when I happen to notice a change. Fellow UT'ers were able to identify numerous of errors in previous versions earlier in the thread, and although I subsequently fixed them I'm sure there are still plenty of issues.


I did initially want to put GO routes on the map, but after a very brief attempt I quickly realized there's no way in hell I can fit them on. Here are my notes on GO route frequencies:
177436

177435

177434


The GO network is highly integrated so you'd need to show the whole thing, including buses and trains. For example, showing the Beaverton-Whitby bus doesn't make much sense without showing the Whitby-Toronto train as well.
 
^I agree that showing all those GO routes would be difficult...but I disagree that you would have to also show train service.....the fact that a route ends or goes through a train station should direct a reader to consult a train schedule.

While it may be difficult to include GO, I think leaving them out paints a poor picture of the overall bus service. Renaming GO as "regional" to avoid calling it intercity is a bit silly. They are buses that go from one city to another...they are intercity.

To go back to what dragged me into this, someone in Brampton trying to figure out how to take a bus to Orangeville, Kitchener or Guelph would look at your map and come away with the conclusion "can't be done"...which we know is not the case.

Anyway, I now know the answer to my original question so I will move on.
 
Personally, I think just showing the non-GO Bus services makes it easier to see and understand. Otherwise it just overwhelms it. There are other maps that show GO services.

I appreciate that reaperexpress did this and showed it to us!
 
nfitz said:
Personally, I think just showing the non-GO Bus services makes it easier to see and understand. Otherwise it just overwhelms it. There are other maps that show GO services.

I appreciate that reaperexpress did this and showed it to us!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I should clarify, I do not mean to disparage his work....It is a nice looking map I just find the end product of limited use . Perhaps a constructive suggestion would be to change it's name from 2019 Intercity Bus Map to 2019 No- GO Transit Intercity Bus Map.?
 
TOareaFan said:
Renaming GO as "regional" to avoid calling it intercity is a bit silly. They are buses that go from one city to another...they are intercity.
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I must be really effective with my renaming because it's already all over the website:

177611

https://www.gotransit.com/en/about-us/what-is-go

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GO Transit is the regional public transit service for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. GO’s distinctive green and white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven million across more than 11,000 square km stretching from Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo in the west to Newcastle and Peterborough in the east, and from Orangeville and Beaverton in the north to Niagara Falls in the south.
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reaperexpress said:
Thanks! Sure, you can repost as you please. I think you can download the pdf, if not let me know and I'll send it over some other way.
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Please excuse the delay - it's now up :)
dudewheresmybusmap.wordpress.com

A New Map for 2019 – made by someone else!

We like to follow the “Intercity Bus Services” thread on Urban Toronto. To our knowledge, this is the best forum for discussing intercity buses in Ontario. If you know of a better one (…
dudewheresmybusmap.wordpress.com dudewheresmybusmap.wordpress.com
 
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Received via email:

From: Stephanie Potter
Sent: September 20, 2019 4:01 PM
Subject: Community Transportation - Public Consultation

As you know, after years of hard work (much of it done by United Way!), the City is launching a Community Transportation pilot program in partnership with Perth County and St. Marys that will connect Perth County with London and Kitchener. We are conducting a public consultation process that includes a survey. I would very much appreciate it if you and your staff could distribute it to your networks as widely as possible.

The survey will be open until Thanksgiving Monday, 14 October and is available here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QHNJB78

Thanks so much – have a great weekend!

-s

Stephanie Potter, PhD

Policy and Research Associate

City of Stratford
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Allandale25 said:
Received via email:
Click to expand...
I’m intrigued by this.

I hope that the Kitchener - Stratford - London service compliments the existing VIA Rail service rather than competing with it. Perhaps a morning trip departing Kitchener (as VIA 85 covers midday and VIA 87 covers evening) and an afternoon trip back to Kitchener from London (with VIA 84 covering morning and VIA 88 covering evening)?
 
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