UD2
Active Member
i like it.
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TTC: Transit City Bus Plan
- Thread starter W. K. Lis
- Start date
Jonny5
Senior Member
This is actually working now. My westbound 512 made a queue jump last night.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
The Transit City Bus Plan is still on the TTC's website. See this link to download it.
21 bus routes were planned to get 10-minute headway service or better. Express bus routes were to have been implemented. Transit priority at intersections. More shelters... Yawn.
Just wondering how much of the plan will be implemented by the target year of 2014?
(Insert sinister laughter here.)
21 bus routes were planned to get 10-minute headway service or better. Express bus routes were to have been implemented. Transit priority at intersections. More shelters... Yawn.
Just wondering how much of the plan will be implemented by the target year of 2014?
(Insert sinister laughter here.)
ssiguy2
Senior Member
I don't know if it's going ahead but it's not a very ambitious plan.
The buses should be articulated, only stop at MAJOR intersections averaging about one per 1 to 1.5 km, have POP, all door entry/exit and run at least every 6 minutes all day. The buses should be easily recognisable like different colour schemes and there should also be express transit only roadways such as York Transitway
If they were to do this they would be faster, cheaper, and more reliable than TC Sheppard or Finch LRT.
The buses should be articulated, only stop at MAJOR intersections averaging about one per 1 to 1.5 km, have POP, all door entry/exit and run at least every 6 minutes all day. The buses should be easily recognisable like different colour schemes and there should also be express transit only roadways such as York Transitway
If they were to do this they would be faster, cheaper, and more reliable than TC Sheppard or Finch LRT.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
The stops should be about 500 - 700 m apart. 1.5 km is a long way to walk to a stop. I don't even think there are any subway stations that are that far apart.
And what you propose wouldn't be more reliable than the ECLRT, FWLRT, SELRT. In fact it would be significantly less so. These busses would still have to operate in mixed traffic, unlike the ECLRT, FWLRT and SELRT which can operate with ATC, run in an exclusive ROW and have signal priority across the whole line.
cyruskafaiwu
New Member
What is even happening with this project. The traffic signal priorization and queue jump lanes should provide great benefit to any bus route.
Wrenkin
Active Member
Eglinton, Lawrence, York Mills, Sheppard are 2ish. St Clair West to Eglinton West is quite far.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Furthest is Warden to Kennedy, at 2.4km. St. Clair West to Eglinton West is 2.4km as well. Standard concessions are 2km wide, so that is how far apart York Mills is from Sheppard, Lawrence is from York Mills, and Eglinton is from Lawrence.
drum118
Superstar
Express buses need longer spacing to do their job.
They should only stop at cross streets where there is bus/streetcar/subway/GO service or a major traffic generator. In some cases, some of those feeder lines don't generate enough riders to the point they should be bypass to speed service up.
Yes you will get 1-2k if not more distance, but the riders still have the option to catch the local service that will be servicing the stops between the express stop. There is nothing stopping these local riders from taking a local bus to/from an express stop to get a faster trip to/from where they want go to.
Mississauga runs express buses on 19 and 1 where stops are over 3k apart since there is no connecting route or no traffic generator in the first place. Took me 7 years to get a traffic generator stop in for the Cooksville GO Station and that was before the service every hit the road.
The current stop spacing on Sheppard is very close to where they should be with a couple stops being remove.
A Dufferin Express would be Ex, King, Queen, Dundas, College, (1 of the 2 Dufferin Mall Stops and which one), Bloor, Dupont, Davenport, St Clair, Roger Rd, Eglinton, Lawrence, Yorkdale, Wilson Station. Hard to make an argument for a stop between Lawrence and Yorkdale as well Eglinton as there is no real trip generator outside peak time and even then it a toss up. Some people will want a stop a Wilson and again a toss up if there should be one as the numbers don't support one in the first place.
They should only stop at cross streets where there is bus/streetcar/subway/GO service or a major traffic generator. In some cases, some of those feeder lines don't generate enough riders to the point they should be bypass to speed service up.
Yes you will get 1-2k if not more distance, but the riders still have the option to catch the local service that will be servicing the stops between the express stop. There is nothing stopping these local riders from taking a local bus to/from an express stop to get a faster trip to/from where they want go to.
Mississauga runs express buses on 19 and 1 where stops are over 3k apart since there is no connecting route or no traffic generator in the first place. Took me 7 years to get a traffic generator stop in for the Cooksville GO Station and that was before the service every hit the road.
The current stop spacing on Sheppard is very close to where they should be with a couple stops being remove.
A Dufferin Express would be Ex, King, Queen, Dundas, College, (1 of the 2 Dufferin Mall Stops and which one), Bloor, Dupont, Davenport, St Clair, Roger Rd, Eglinton, Lawrence, Yorkdale, Wilson Station. Hard to make an argument for a stop between Lawrence and Yorkdale as well Eglinton as there is no real trip generator outside peak time and even then it a toss up. Some people will want a stop a Wilson and again a toss up if there should be one as the numbers don't support one in the first place.
Express bus routes would do wonders for the TTC. Heck, even a combination of express and local would be great. For example, a route hits a couple major trip generators in Rexdale, and then runs express to the Spadina or Bloor-Danforth Subways, stopping at only a few additional key intersections along the way. That way a 1hr ride to the subway becomes a 15 min ride. Add in a few queue jump lanes along the route and you're well on your way to a decent bus service.
This would function very much like the suburban express routes on Ottawa's Transitway. They run local in a particular neighbourhood, and then once they exit the neighbourhood they run express along the Transitway, only stopping at key hubs on their way to downtown. Obviously running them into downtown isn't possible right now, so the closest subway station will do.
This would function very much like the suburban express routes on Ottawa's Transitway. They run local in a particular neighbourhood, and then once they exit the neighbourhood they run express along the Transitway, only stopping at key hubs on their way to downtown. Obviously running them into downtown isn't possible right now, so the closest subway station will do.
ssiguy2
Senior Member
Seattle has a fantastic express bus service.
All along I-5, there are bus-only and HOV lanes with special exit and entry ramps exclusively for buses. The stations are on top of the freeway in many cases so people get to the station using local service and then hop on the I-5 express buses. Seattle also has a new BRT system with 5 lines using regular roads with frequent articulated buses, POP, proper stations, and stops averaging about every mile.
All along I-5, there are bus-only and HOV lanes with special exit and entry ramps exclusively for buses. The stations are on top of the freeway in many cases so people get to the station using local service and then hop on the I-5 express buses. Seattle also has a new BRT system with 5 lines using regular roads with frequent articulated buses, POP, proper stations, and stops averaging about every mile.
nfitz
Superstar
And yet in old neighbourhoods near I-5, not far from downtown, they have 60-minute off-peak service ... being run with articulated vehicles!
If you live near a station near the I-5 you might be laughing ... but most people don't.
They've done some things good there ... and other things really bad. That I-5 service is probably more comparable to GO than TTC.
Surely Montreal ... or even Mississauga ... is a better example to us than Seattle.
JayBeeGooner
Active Member
The TTC already run express routes. They can do with more, but it's not like express routes are new to the TTC.
diminutive
Active Member
Finch and Steeles East both seem like natural candidates for this type of set up.
Build a BRT route along the hydro corridor from the 404 to Yonge, about 6km.
Send half of the 39 & 53s along this corridor until Seneca without stopping, then local until their current termini.
Short turn the other half of buses at Seneca.
Riders east of the Seneca would win from getting ~10m shaved off their trips. Riders west of of Seneca would be more or less unchanged (half the buses travelling half the distance...). Steeles buses East of Seneca would also benefit from avoiding Yonge street.
ssiguy2
Senior Member
Vancouver's B-Line system is an excellent one and one that Toronto should emulate.
It also has excellent spacing.................it only stops where there are other intersecting bus routes. Makes for easy transfers but also uses a very logical determination of station spacing.............if the cross street isn't important enough to have a bus route then it's not an important enough street to have a rapid transit stop. For those who want more local service, the #9 still runs frequently.
It also has excellent spacing.................it only stops where there are other intersecting bus routes. Makes for easy transfers but also uses a very logical determination of station spacing.............if the cross street isn't important enough to have a bus route then it's not an important enough street to have a rapid transit stop. For those who want more local service, the #9 still runs frequently.