Trillium Line (O-Train) Updates

[waterloowarrior]

Dedicated O-Train thread



http://www.octranspo1.com/routes/o-train


Left- Current vehicles - Bombardier Talent BR643
Right - New vehicles for 2014 - Alstom Coradia LINT 41DMU
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Ph...355/story.html




Expansion Plans

The City of Ottawa is undertaking the expansion of the existing O-Train an eight kilometre light-rail service running from Greenboro Station in the south to Bayview Transitway station just west of downtown Ottawa in order to increase the current frequency of the O-Train from 15 minutes to approximately 8 minutes.

The O-Train pilot project’s initial ridership target was 5,100 to 6,400 customer trips per day; actual ridership has now reached more than 12,000 customer trips per day. Growing demands, along with the requirement to enhance non-Transitway service corridors during east-west LRT construction, highlight the need to increase the frequency and capacity of the O‑Train service.

The project will involve the following key elements:

• Acquisition of six new Alstom diesel multiple-unit (DMU) trains to permit concurrent operation of four trains
• Construction of two new passing tracks and signalling infrastructure upgrades along the O-Train corridor at Gladstone Avenue and south of Brookfield pedestrian pathway crossing
• Upgraded O-Train station facilities to improve accessibility and customer convenience
• Expand and upgrade the Walkley yard maintenance facilities to accommodate the larger DMU fleet

Schedule
The O-Train service shutdown is scheduled from April 27, 2013 until August 30, 2013. The bulk of the heavy civil work for the expansion project will be completed at this time. The new Alstom Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) trains will arrive Summer 2013. Testing, training and commissioning of the new system and the new Alstom DMU trains will commence in the Fall of 2013 and be completed by 2014. Implementation of increased service frequency using the new trains is anticipated to commence in Winter 2014.

City Staff Report on O-Train expansion.

Found some updates as of August 2013.


@SherryAske -https://twitter.com/SherryAske/status/369575510155603968


surleyshamit - instagram
http://instagram.com/p/dKdtyOhnq3/

Possible extension in next TMP https://app06.ottawa.ca/calendar/ott...on%20Study.htm

[J.OT13]

I preferred the Bombardier but the LINTs beat the current proposed train/design of the Confederation Line rolling stock by a mile.

Doubling (nearly) the service will no doubt bring a lot more credibility to the line as an actual metro grade rapid transit line.

Question about the second picture? Is that the bridge between University Drive and Campus Avenue (and if so, north near Rideau Canal or south near Rideau River)? And did they really need to replace it?

BTW, thanks for making an O-Train thread.

[S-Man]

I thought that the 'bridge' you described is actually a new parking facility for Carleton students. Am I wrong?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by S-Man

I thought that the 'bridge' you described is actually a new parking facility for Carleton students. Am I wrong?

I know Carleton was considering a parking garage on top of the O-Train Station, but I don't think that's it.

[citydwlr]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I know Carleton was considering a parking garage on top of the O-Train Station, but I don't think that's it.

According to SurelyShamit's Instagram, he says:

this is the bridge at the entrance to campus, near Leeds.

and

if even the overpass for the parking lot isn't done in two weeks, I don't think they'll be able to run the train through here.

So, I guess it is the parking garage! At one point they considered having a building over top of the tracks with a tunnel through the main level for the O-Train. Sadly those plans were thrown out

[waterloowarrior]

The new Carleton parking garage will span across the rail corridor between what is now parking lots 6 & 7. 3 levels, about 600 spaces.



http://carletonnow.carleton.ca/april...w-and-improve/

Here is an update from West Side Action on the parking garage and rail corridor construction
http://www.westsideaction.com/otrain...at-carleton-u/

[OttawaSteve]

re: the plans for an actual building over the Carleton O-Train station, there was definitely something in the works back in the days of the now-cancelled north-south line:

The MOU with Carleton allows the University to construct a major new campus building directly above the North-South corridor. The building would include a station and would also connect with the campus pedestrian underground network.

http://www.ottawa.ca/cgi-bin/pressco...t=7345&lang=en


But there's also this from p. 62 of the 2010 Campus Master Plan (i.e. after the cancellation of the north-south line):

If the O-Train tracks are doubled as previously planned, there is the
opportunity to utilise track air rights with a building encompassing the
station, straddling the tracks and helping to connect east and west
campus. In the mean time, a first phase could be built on the east side,
with the potential to be connected to a western wing at a later date.

http://www1.carleton.ca/fmp/ccms/wp-...Final-CMP1.pdf (big file, but lots of pretty pictures)

[Uhuniau]

Possible extension in next TMP https://app06.ottawa.ca/calendar/ott...on%20Study.htm[/QUOTE]

Wow, maybe a new station at Gladstone OR Walkley some time after 2018?

Pretty bold there, Ottawa. Dream no middle-sized dreams.

[J.OT13]

So is the new garage built over the track or over the station? Regardless, I'm looking forward to the electrification of the O-Train line (and hopefully direct to downtown service) so that Carleton can revive plans to build a permanent building on top of the station. The more climate controlled, enclosed stations the better.

Oh well, it won't happen for at least another decade.

Thanks everyone for the info and I can't wait to read the Carleton Master Plan.

[S-Man]

The garage is over the tracks at the north end of the campus. There was much pile-driving earlier this summer, echoing across Dow's Lake. The station remains open air for now, I believe.

A new residence is either proposed or already approved, so the parking lot scenario at the north end of campus is being reconfigured.

[eemy]

Does anyone know if OCTranspo publishes ridership data for individual routes? I would be interested in seeing how the O-Train compares to some of the transitway routes.

[J.OT13]

I don't think so; it would be tough calculating ridership for each individual route. Quite frankly, I'm not sure how they calculate ridership of both the O-Train and of OC as a whole.

I got to say, I would love to see those numbers if they exist. Main Transitway routes, the 90 series vs. express routes.

[Schattenjager]

Perhaps now that more and more people use Presto and since these users are required to swipe their passes, even when they transfer, that'll help with obtaining transit statistics and patterns.

It won't be completely accurate since there's still users using U-Pass, Tickets, Change, Eco Pass, etc, but it'll still be a good sample to work from.

[NOWINYOW]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I don't think so; it would be tough calculating ridership for each individual route. Quite frankly, I'm not sure how they calculate ridership of both the O-Train and of OC as a whole.

I got to say, I would love to see those numbers if they exist. Main Transitway routes, the 90 series vs. express routes.

If the electronic passes ever get fully implemented, would not each transaction be registered to facilitate getting a more accurate read on each route?

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by NOWINYOW

If the electronic passes ever get fully implemented, would not each transaction be registered to facilitate getting a more accurate read on each route?

Correct. I'm sure that the long term plan is to phase out all the other forms of payment other than Presto and I guess cash. When Council voted on Presto, one of the sticky points was what to do with social agencies that give out tickets so that those on extremely low income can make medical appointments, etc. Council mandated OC/Metrolinx to develop a one-time use version of the Presto card for this purpose. Tickets are toast. Ecopass is being switched to Presto this fall, I can see no reason not to move U-Pass onto Presto as well.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by gjhall

Correct. I'm sure that the long term plan is to phase out all the other forms of payment other than Presto and I guess cash. When Council voted on Presto, one of the sticky points was what to do with social agencies that give out tickets so that those on extremely low income can make medical appointments, etc. Council mandated OC/Metrolinx to develop a one-time use version of the Presto card for this purpose. Tickets are toast. Ecopass is being switched to Presto this fall, I can see no reason not to move U-Pass onto Presto as well.

Not sure about the UPass going over to Presto. In Kingston they have transit smart cards (their own technology, not Presto--they started the process before Presto was a thing), and the students there still use their student cards (there they put a sticker on the back of a card that serves as the pass) instead of using the smart cards.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Not sure about the UPass going over to Presto. In Kingston they have transit smart cards (their own technology, not Presto--they started the process before Presto was a thing), and the students there still use their student cards (there they put a sticker on the back of a card that serves as the pass) instead of using the smart cards.

Why would that anecdote prevent Ottawa moving U-Pass to Presto? Especially when they could gain considerable user data?

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by gjhall

Why would that anecdote prevent Ottawa moving U-Pass to Presto? Especially when they could gain considerable user data?

One of the only reasons to have U-Pass students use PRESTO is if there are fare gates on the Confederation Line. If they go that route I expect the cards to have pictures on them like they currently do, because the infrastructure to issue photo cards already exists (at the universities) and the U-Pass is a major opportunity for abuse.

Until the U-Pass uses PRESTO, any ridership data based on PRESTO will be useless for the O-Train, because of the high number of Carleton students on it.

[Richard Eade]

Currently OC Transpo uses APCs (Automated Passenger Counters) mounded in buses and the O-Trains to get passengers counts on a per stop, per run, or per route basis. These counts are used in route planning; for example, to add additional buses onto a busy route or to determine if a route is not justified. This data already exists and covers ALL riders, not just the sub-set of passengers who use a PRESTO card. (As far as I know, the data is not available to the general public; although it would be interesting if OC Transpo decided to put it on the Web.)

A problem with the current system is that there is no way to tell, short of actually watching people, where a passenger boarding at, say, Hurdman Station came from. Was he a ‘walk-up’, or did she transfer from another bus; and if so, which bus? There are certainly ways of estimating, or guessing, that most of the people who left one bus would be a portion of the people who boarded another, but without directly observing them it is not a sure-thing. Without the whole-route information of each rider, it is difficult to say for sure that the people who alit from their bus on Rideau Street are the same people who boarded buses at the Mackenzie Station to go to Tunney’s Pasture. Thus creating ‘whole trip’ (or transfer-less) routes is a bit of a guessing game.

One method used to help plan more complete routes is Origin-Destination Surveys. Unfortunately, these surveys are voluntary and few riders take the time to complete them.

The PRESTO card provides an opportunity to gather Origin-Destination information on an on-going basis. If OC Transpo can get all PRESTO card users to ‘tap’ their cards when boarding, then those riders would leave a trail which spans transfers. The origin of the journey is easy to discern because it is the first ‘tap’ of the trip. The destination would be determined by the first ‘tap’ of the return trip, since there is no requirement to ‘tap’ when leaving a bus. (Most people will go to a location and later leave that location without doing much walking in between.) With the PRESTO card information, OC Transpo should be able to divine complete Origin-Destination information from many riders and better tailor the system to their needs.

Unfortunately, there are limitations to collecting data from the PRESTO card use. For one thing, a large number of riders will not have the PRESTO card; students will, for the foreseeable future, be using a (non-smart) student card, which can’t be tracked. Also, as described at the last Transit Commission meeting, OC Transpo would like ePass users to ‘Tap’ their PRESTO card, but they are not being forced to do so. Once the information gets out that ePass holders don’t need to ‘Tap’ it is likely that fewer people will do so if boarding by the rear doors. Seniors are being told NOT to ‘Tap’ their PRESTO card on Wednesdays, so that data will not be collected either.

And then there is the significant portion of passengers who currently ride the bus using cash or tickets to pay their fare. The idea is that some of the ticket users will switch to using a PRESTO card with an ePurse. Unfortunately, the remainder will switch to using cash, which will provide no full-route data. (In the past, OC Transpo tried the idea of collecting transfers and issuing new ones at each transfer. This did provide some information across a single transfer, but could not identify a start or end location, nor could it track a trip across multiple transfers. Also, all of the transfer information had to be manually input for evaluation and the transfer time-limit on a trip could not be enforced.)

Tickets were to be phased out with the introduction of the PRESTO card, but there was concern about the need for social groups to provide ‘free’ rides for their customers. (Currently they can hand out tickets, which in many cases are provided free by OC Transpo.) Not only was there the additional cost of $6.00 per PRESTO card, but the funds in an ePurse can be refunded upon request (less a service fee). Because of the technology involved, smart cards will probably not be cheap enough to be handed out free for single use, non-refundable, applications.

Although the PRESTO card readers installed on the buses and at the O-Train stations could have included an optional bar-code reader, this was not ordered by OC Transpo. Thus the option of replacing tickets with cheap bar-code tickets (which could also have been sold in vending machines or displayed on cell phones) is not possible. Until some other form of inexpensive alternative for tickets becomes available, tickets will remain; and I believe that this will be for a long while.

[Beedok]

Couldn't the groups just all use one Presto card? I mean you need to be able to pay for other people lots of times. Giving children a fairly expensive card is a bad idea, and having friends or family from out of town having to hunt for correct change in an increasingly cash free culture is just annoying.