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The city is broke. The trains are proving not to be a cost saver. In fact, since the trains have not been able to meet passenger demand since January, we are spending more on stop gap buses just to somewhat maintain what the Transitway used to deliver. And that all means that resources are being removed from the neighbourhood bus network.
We keep getting told that more transfers are good for us. Except frequency on the bus network has been cut because the cost of train service exceeds the cost of the previous bus network. Poor frequency = bad transfers = poor rider experience. My neighbourhood now requires two transfers to get downtown. That is a big disincentive from using transit.A Carling LRT really makes no sense unless it can go right into the downtown area, or at least connect with the Confederation line. An LRT that starts at Carling station requiring two transfers to get into the core is going to provide worse service than what it replaces. Like the airport extension
6 months into Stage 1 of 2+ is a poor sample size. I think you've been told this before on SSP. Stage 2 is where the big savings come in, even if there are ultimately none in Stage 1.
Nevermind the fact that at the end of the day this is all coming out of withheld payments...
Which is very different from what the Baseline BRT is.
I am not convinced that Stage 2 is the big difference maker that you claim. After all, the most buses ran through the central section of the Transitway, which is Stage 1. As we move further out, we are covering fewer and fewer passengers. We still have to cover the costs of running and maintaining all that additional infrastructure and trains at similar levels as Phase 1. The worst offender will be the airport spur that we already know will run at an enormous loss, much more than the bus service that it will replace.
Most buses ran through it, but it is also the smallest portion of the distance covered by those buses. Each station along the extensions may serve fewer and fewer passengers as you go out from the core, but we will still be funneling the same number of passengers onto those trains which is where those savings come from.
It's actually 5 minutes outside of rush hour here in Ottawa. It's supposed to be a little under 4 in rush hour, but you only get that when you have all the trains. They were actually fairly consistently hitting this before the great train shortage in January. Now we're lucky when it's 5.
Unfortunately, 13 trains is the bare minimum to service the required ridership demand. Anything less than that requires supplemental bus service as has been the case on every day since January. At 13 trains, frequency is 4 minutes. The original plan for 15 trains would reduce crowding and bring frequency down to almost 3 minutes during peak periods.
