OC Transpo

[OCCheetos]

The city’s buses, and everyone has noticed, look empty. This is not a fantasy. At the transit commission last week, we were told ridership in October was only 28 per cent of what might normally be expected. (And that figure is higher than some months since the pandemic struck in March.)

Isn't this kind of backwards, or at least disingenuous? 28% is one of the lowest ridership levels since the pandemic begin, i.e. ridership had been growing until cases started going up again.

Egan's take is about as lukewarm and shallow as it gets.. I mean

I think the “vulnerable” and “essential workers” deserve more credit, being resilient enough to wait 10 minutes for a train or bus instead of five, or some variation thereof. It also seems contradictory to fight for the “livelihood and wellbeing” of your riders by charging them more money, but we’ll let Manconi have his say.

Anyway, I took the 6 on Monday during the afternoon peak and it was closer to full than empty. I think if any trips were to be cancelled out in like the burbs then it would be best to shift them to routes that need more service which is what you were all suggesting!, but it still wouldn't reduce OC Transpo's overall costs which is what Egan is so concerned about.

[J.OT13]

I guess Eagan doesn't know that a bus that's supposed to pass every 15 minutes on Carling/Bnak/Rideau-Montreal actually passes every 40 minutes... two or three buses on a row usually. Imagine if they cut the service. You'd have to wait an hour+ for your 20 minute bus.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I guess Eagan doesn't know that a bus that's supposed to pass every 15 minutes on Carling/Bnak/Rideau-Montreal actually passes every 40 minutes... two or three buses on a row usually. Imagine if they cut the service. You'd have to wait an hour+ for your 20 minute bus.

Are there even any bus routes that run every 5 minutes?

A quick check of timetables for some of the routes that I would expect to be frequent show the most frequent route in Ottawa being the 6 which runs every 6-8 minutes at peak, but it's also perhaps the last route that should have service cut, as I mentioned.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

Are there even any bus routes that run every 5 minutes?

A quick check of timetables for some of the routes that I would expect to be frequent show the most frequent route in Ottawa being the 6 which runs every 6-8 minutes at peak, but it's also perhaps the last route that should have service cut, as I mentioned.

No, I don't think I've ever seen a bus run every 5 minutes. The best I've seen personally was 8 or10 minutes.

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

Are there even any bus routes that run every 5 minutes?

Not since the 95!

I'd be OK with a reduction in suburban rush hour service and re-deployment of resources to a more useful all-day service, but I think we're kidding ourselves if we think that would save a lot of money.

We're not cutting transit because transit is an essential service. I would expect November numbers to be higher now that we moved to the Orange zone and cases are lower.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

We're not cutting transit because transit is an essential service. I would expect November numbers to be higher now that we moved to the Orange zone and cases are lower.

The Atlantic had an article this week on the economic impact of cutting transit services. In essence, it argued that the economies of cities like New York and San Francisco will be crippled if they make the cuts they are discussing.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The problem is that the City expects the Feds and Province to bail them out. The Feds and Province should have placed some conditions like cutting down on rush-hour routes and running smaller buses. If you expect a bail-out, why would you adjust your business mode.

Running smaller buses?

Yeah, no, not until there's a vaccine.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

Are there even any bus routes that run every 5 minutes?

A quick check of timetables for some of the routes that I would expect to be frequent show the most frequent route in Ottawa being the 6 which runs every 6-8 minutes at peak, but it's also perhaps the last route that should have service cut, as I mentioned.

The 6 notionally runs every 6-8 minutes at peak.

What it actually does is runs in platoons of two or three buses every 25-35 minutes at best, at least during non-pandemic times.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

Running smaller buses?

Yeah, no, not until there's a vaccine.

For example in Orleans, where at 8 pm you have a artic with one to five people. They could physically distance in a short bus. In the urban area where more people use the bus, shorter vehicles should not be considered.

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

The 6 notionally runs every 6-8 minutes at peak.

What it actually does is runs in platoons of two or three buses every 25-35 minutes at best, at least during non-pandemic times.

That pretty much sums it up.

[CanadaGoose]

Does the bus type make a difference in costs for it to be material?

[MountainView]

I'm not really sure what thread to post this in... feel free to cross-post it elsewhere.

But OC Transpo has decided to name the lines the following:

Line 1 will run between Trim Station and Algonquin Station

Line 2 will run to Limebank Station and connect with Line 1 and 3 at Bayview Station

Line 3 will run parallel to Line 1 from Trim Station to Lincoln Fields Station, then branch off towards Moodie Station

Line 4 will run to Airport Station and connect with Line 2 at South Keys Station.

More info: Can be found here

[J.OT13]

Seems like the consultation one station names was an exercise in futility. None of the names OC had proposed have changed. No surprise; they make decisions, then they consult, and then they do what they want.

• Video Link

[OCCheetos]

But what are these lines going to be called? Are they retiring "Confederation" and "Trillium"?

[TransitZilla]

Full network map and station names:



https://www.octranspo.com/en/news/ar...train-network/

But what are these lines going to be called? Are they retiring "Confederation" and "Trillium"?

They essentially already have retired them. They almost never refer to either line by those names in customer information media. They only use them to refer to the construction projects.

[CanadaGoose]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

Full network map and station names:



https://www.octranspo.com/en/news/ar...train-network/



They essentially already have retired them. They almost never refer to either line by those names in customer information media. They only use them to refer to the construction projects.

My only thing with this new map is that the colours of the lines are very similar to each other.

For the colour blind, it is not very friendly. Red and Olive are very similar colours. They could of selected Red and Yellow instead (Line 1, and 3)

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by CyrusKafaiwu

My only thing with this new map is that the colours of the lines are very similar to each other.

For the colour blind, it is not very friendly. Red and Olive are very similar colours. They could of selected Red and Yellow instead (Line 1, and 3)

I think those colours have been colour-blind tested. You see that mustardy colour in a lot of modern public infomation schema that have been brought up to accessibility standards.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

I think those colours have been colour-blind tested. You see that mustardy colour in a lot of modern public infomation schema that have been brought up to accessibility standards.

They are definitely OADA compliant. You also have to consider contrast, there's also all sorts of factors when doing it. It's also why they have a number in addition to colour, because it's actually against guidelines to rely on colour alone. I had guessed some time ago that they'd use 3 and 4 as line numbers, it was obvious when they left the hole between the trains ending at 2 and buses at 5. It's fairly logical from a wayfinding perspective, though I wonder of line 3 will be open circle instead of filled circle for stations past Blair, as not all trains don't continue on

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

They are definitely OADA compliant. You also have to consider contrast, there's also all sorts of factors when doing it. It's also why they have a number in addition to colour, because it's actually against guidelines to rely on colour alone. I had guessed some time ago that they'd use 3 and 4 as line numbers, it was obvious when they left the hole between the trains ending at 2 and buses at 5. It's fairly logical from a wayfinding perspective, though I wonder of line 3 will be open circle instead of filled circle for stations past Blair, as not all trains don't continue on

Bus routes should start at 10. I'm pretty confident that Gatineau tramway will be considered part of the O-Train. In addition, the Carling streetcar is still in the TMP.

[OTownandDown]

One would think naming each train terminus would simplify the lines a bit, no?

Line 1 - Algonquin vs. Line 1 - Moodie? Its not like a rocket-science kind of split we're talking about here.

I'm of course referencing the king of line splitting:


Also note on the upper right, two lines running in parallel (not sure if the same tracks, probably like, either side of a 5-track super train highway). But anyways, parallel to eachother, but alternating station stops. Double the stations, half the stops , twice the efficiency? Maybe if we're going to pretend we built two lines in Line 1 and Line 3, we should do the same?

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

One would think naming each train terminus would simplify the lines a bit, no?

Line 1 - Algonquin vs. Line 1 - Moodie? Its not like a rocket-science kind of split we're talking about here.

I'm of course referencing the king of line splitting:


Also note on the upper right, two lines running in parallel (not sure if the same tracks, probably like, either side of a 5-track super train highway). But anyways, parallel to eachother, but alternating station stops. Double the stations, half the stops , twice the efficiency? Maybe if we're going to pretend we built two lines in Line 1 and Line 3, we should do the same?

Since trains can't pass each other in the same direction it doesn't really have any benefit to do skip stops. Interlining like what they are proposing is fairly normal in North America, think Washington, Atlanta, or LA who just switched to letters. Their B and D lines, (formerly red and purple) is pretty much the exact same lines as branches thing we are going to do.

For wayfinding I personally think the numbers are easier and faster then having to stare at the destination of each train. If it's a 3, it goes to Moodie, if 1 it goes to Algonquin. When rushing onto the train I'm way less likely to get on the wrong one, at least in my opinion

It's also easier to remember 3 and 1 if you aren't from here. Riding metros in foreign cities, I've often forgotten the name of the terminus I'm supposed to be going to, especially in a foreign language

Asian cities take it one step further by often assigning numbers to the stations themselves to make it easier to navigate