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Blue Line/Southwest Transitway

DavidW

By DavidW
in Manitoba

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trebor204

trebor204

Posted
Posted

I wonder if they can fix the traffic signals along the Transitway. There is no need for traffic to wait crossing the Transitway (@ Chancellor or Chevrier)  if there are no buses coming. Likewise buses shouldn't  be stopped at red lights at those crossings.

 

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Wpgtransit11-25

Wpgtransit11-25

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, trebor204 said:

I wonder if they can fix the traffic signals along the Transitway. There is no need for traffic to wait crossing the Transitway (@ Chancellor or Chevrier)  if there are no buses coming. Likewise buses shouldn't  be stopped at red lights at those crossings.

 

I agree I will email Janice Luke’s about this issue right away 

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armorand

armorand

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Posted
16 hours ago, trebor204 said:

I wonder if they can fix the traffic signals along the Transitway. There is no need for traffic to wait crossing the Transitway (@ Chancellor or Chevrier)  if there are no buses coming. Likewise buses shouldn't  be stopped at red lights at those crossings.

 

Agreed. Traffic lights hold up Calgarys BRT routes so badly... can only imagine how bad it is, back home in Winnipeg, with the Graham gongshow, Kenaston and others being brutal examples of wasted time & unnecessary traffic conflicts.

Reminds me, how bad are the lights down Kenaston now? In 2012, it was a nightmare trying to get to Ikea for work. 2017 when I left? Even worse. Could only imagine the gongshow it is, in present times...

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LilZebra

LilZebra

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Posted

BLUE Line Observations - Day 2

No use going all the way to the Univ. of Manitoba. I wanted to 1) study Plaza Station a bit more closely on what it had for pathways between the station platform and that Chinese restaurant parking lot and sidewalk. And 2) get off at Beaumont Stn. and wait for a 29 Sherbrook to take me HOME.

Again, bus 382 from Balmoral Stn. I ain't makin' this up, was parked on layover. Different driver this time. Like someone else said, there is "bus bunching" going on because of a lack of passengers the buses are arriving back sooner.

There was a Transit supervisor van there at Plaza, so I felt a bit self-conscious about taking photos. And with my poor eyesight, the sun was too bright on my phone to frame the photo properly. Managed to snap two images.

iV7vFEC.jpg

FtiFvRA.jpg

(NOTE: Excuse the poor quality images. Sunlight and maybe a dirty lens made the images appear a tad cloudy. I hope to do better next time. I tried my best to improve them using GIMP and G'MIC).

In addition to the grassed area, there should be a way to "corral" passengers in and out of the Station, leading them to the platform, using the 'rt' styled gate/fence. Then passengers would "know" where to step and not be bewildered when they get off the "train" towards Pembina Hwy. In fact, it seems like there is sufficient room to install a gated area with tunstiles or some such, and allow for payment before boarding. However, as backwards as WT and the BRT concept is, that's just "wishful thinking" at this point.

Plaza will really be "safe" come Winter, with the unplowed "curated" ice and snow.

So now, off to Beaumont. Rode 390 (I think) to Beaumont. Was confused/unsure of where to catch the 29. Asked the driver. Had to cross to the northbound platform, as the southbound platform is for the 677. What a s**t show that is because 29 and 677 are not 'rt' routes and vehicles should not be on the 'rt' R-O-W. Can't see well, but managed to see the telebus # 61202. "Current time 11:46....BLUE...BLUE ...BLUE ...BLUE ...29 Sherbrook next bus is at 12:14".

Okfelqr.jpg

What? I'm not waiting 30 minutes for a bus. An acceptable wait for me would have been about 15 minutes. So I got another BLUE, got off at another station, kind of defeating my "trial" of the spine and feeder system.

On 4/13/2020 at 6:20 PM, ConnorsCompShow said:

I thought you were one of those CityNews people at first, seeing as they do their whole story process start to finish in the field.

Apparently, if you see his other videos on that YouTube channel he's done camera work for Shaw Tv in the past.

Yeah, he's got a good "reporter's voice". Maybe Josh will go on to work for CTV or Globzl one day.

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LilZebra

LilZebra

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Posted

BLUE Line Observations - Day 3

Returned to Plaza Station. This time via the 29 to Beaumont Stn. to see how it got from Pembina Hwy.

4aT4ICY.jpg

I don't like how Plaza Station is pronounced. No one in Winnipeg that I know pronounces it as Plaw-za. We pronounce it as Plah-za.

I "found" the designated walkway from the platform to the sidewalk at Plaza. And also spotted the sort of roundabout, with the pedestrian and "AT" cycling path, and the STOP sign telling all to yield to one another. When I'm at the northbound platform, all my brain sees is the un-landscaped mud/dirt. Still, like I mentioned on my Day 2 report, there should be fencing, or short shrub bushes (not high enough for riff-raffs to hide in) to help passengers to and from the  designated walkway.

jgvexsS.jpg

Did you know... there is a rapid transit Station called Plaza if you are on Pembina Hwy.? No, didn't know that. Because, aside from a cycling sign posted to a street light, there is no indication as such. Desperately needs signage with 'rt' branding as a wayfinding tool to find the darned thing on the Pembina Hwy. side.

0IcVpUH.jpg

As for people using Plaza Station, compared to Tuesday and Wednesday, today I found a few more passengers waiting for their northbound "train".

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SirAndrew710

SirAndrew710

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Posted
11 minutes ago, LilZebra said:

I don't like how Plaza Station is pronounced. No one in Winnipeg that I know pronounces it as Plaw-za. We pronounce it as Plah-za.

I pronounce it that way, though maybe I’m wrong.

16 minutes ago, LilZebra said:

Did you know... there is a rapid transit Station called Plaza if you are on Pembina Hwy.? No, didn't know that. Because, aside from a cycling sign posted to a street light, there is no indication as such. Desperately needs signage with 'rt' branding as a wayfinding tool to find the darned thing on the Pembina Hwy. side.

0IcVpUH.jpg

I don’t think there’s such signage for any RT stations, old or new. That might be because you can take the 60 just about anywhere you can take the BLUE line, but it’s a lot slower. Why did they make the stupid decision to remove express buses from Pembina Highway? Slightly unrelated, but I wonder if you can arrange for a DART drop-off at Plaza Station.

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LilZebra

LilZebra

Posted
Posted

https://imgur.com/gallery/k6oSQhn

Posting the photos yielded some comical responses for the title "Where is Plaza Station from Pembina Hwy.?", such as:

From "myviewsareonlymine": Depends on how you’re facing. It could be in front of you, behind you, to the right of you or to the left of you.

From "TheRedOnesTasteLikeBurning": Over that way a little.

From "AlwaysUpvoteBeerCigarsWhiskey": North

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tctf101

tctf101

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, SirAndrew710 said:

I pronounce it that way, though maybe I’m wrong.

I don’t think there’s such signage for any RT stations, old or new. That might be because you can take the 60 just about anywhere you can take the BLUE line, but it’s a lot slower. Why did they make the stupid decision to remove express buses from Pembina Highway? Slightly unrelated, but I wonder if you can arrange for a DART drop-off at Plaza Station.

From what I know, the 101 driver will take you all the way to Victoria hospital given there’s enough time, so I don’t see why a DART drop off at plaza station can’t be done although there could be a better end of the road built where plaza meets the transitway as of right now I can’t see how the DART is supposed to turn around after dropping off at plaza station 

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SirAndrew710

SirAndrew710

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Posted
10 minutes ago, Thewinnipegtransitfanhuang said:

From what I know, the 101 driver will take you all the way to Victoria hospital given there’s enough time, so I don’t see why a DART drop off at plaza station can’t be done although there could be a better end of the road built where plaza meets the transitway as of right now I can’t see how the DART is supposed to turn around after dropping off at plaza station 

Last June, I was on a Spirit and the driver had to make a three-point turn to get out of the Forks because the roundabout was blocked. Seeing as the DARTs always get the D30LFs, I’d imagine that the driver would be able to do something similar. Or maybe there’s room to turn around somewhere in a nearby parking lot.

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ConnorsCompShow

ConnorsCompShow

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53 minutes ago, SirAndrew710 said:

Last June, I was on a Spirit and the driver had to make a three-point turn to get out of the Forks because the roundabout was blocked. Seeing as the DARTs always get the D30LFs, I’d imagine that the driver would be able to do something similar. Or maybe there’s room to turn around somewhere in a nearby parking lot.

There's plenty of space in the lot just behind 88 Mart to loop back out. I remember bringing up the idea of having route 16 turn left instead of right and having Station be its terminal at one of the TMP outreach sessions and was told that although it's something that was considered, there were some leases that would need to lapse.

4 hours ago, LilZebra said:

I don't like how Plaza Station is pronounced. No one in Winnipeg that I know pronounces it as Plaw-za. We pronounce it as Plah-za.

I'd probably chalk it up to it sounding a little more robotic. Dunno why that is, but at least you know what's new(-ish) based on that. They tweaked Dr. Jose Rizal a couple of service changes back, it first sounded like the rest but it was said as Dr. Jose Rye-zal. I guess someone made a stink somewhere because it got regenerated to Riz-al(l), but robotic.

4 hours ago, LilZebra said:

Did you know... there is a rapid transit Station called Plaza if you are on Pembina Hwy.? No, didn't know that. Because, aside from a cycling sign posted to a street light, there is no indication as such. Desperately needs signage with 'rt' branding as a wayfinding tool to find the darned thing on the Pembina Hwy. side.

0IcVpUH.jpg

As for people using Plaza Station, compared to Tuesday and Wednesday, today I found a few more passengers waiting for their northbound "train".

That stadium bicycle route sign could probably be flipped over too. Not much need to have to fight with residential streets these days when Bohemier Trail is a thing.

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SirAndrew710

SirAndrew710

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Posted
1 hour ago, ConnorsCompShow said:

I'd probably chalk it up to it sounding a little more robotic. Dunno why that is, but at least you know what's new(-ish) based on that. They tweaked Dr. Jose Rizal a couple of service changes back, it first sounded like the rest but it was said as Dr. Jose Rye-zal. I guess someone made a stink somewhere because it got regenerated to Riz-al(l), but robotic.

I have noticed that the newer stops do sound different (and sometimes aren’t displayed - on the 77, one stop is announced as “Costco” but the display says “Wellington North”). What makes no sense to me is that (also on the 77) “Reenders South” is announced normally but “Reenders“ is not.

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Viafreak

Viafreak

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Posted
6 hours ago, Wpgtransit11-25 said:

Got two forty footers on the blue line this am 39066D9C-4AE9-4DD6-AB31-C62C5EB9D555.thumb.png.725aa4e87ef838b403b4e9ace5f6fe86.png

And one that is very old (550) at that. I feel for those passengers. Time has not be kind to those buses!

19 hours ago, LilZebra said:

I don't like how Plaza Station is pronounced. No one in Winnipeg that I know pronounces it as Plaw-za. We pronounce it as Plah-za.

There are more stops like that in Winnipeg including Killarney on the Blue Line. Watching Taylor's video, I heard the next stop announcer say Hardy instead of Killarney. 

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