Matt Dunlop Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 Two of the new Vicinity CNG's (4202 and 4203 respectively) were out in service today in the Peninsula. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmward Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 Neat! I updated the tracker to show those properly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiNorth Posted July 28, 2020 Report Share Posted July 28, 2020 5 hours ago, jmward said: the tracker The... what? You telling me you've created a T-Comm equivalent for Victoria? Take my money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dunlop Posted July 28, 2020 Report Share Posted July 28, 2020 6 hours ago, jmward said: Neat! I updated the tracker to show those properly. I saw a post on Facebook with a new (2020) New flyer XN40, 1186. Not sure how many there will be, but it has USB ports. May want to add it into the tracker when it comes in service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmward Posted July 28, 2020 Report Share Posted July 28, 2020 On 7/27/2020 at 6:37 PM, InfiNorth said: The... what? You telling me you've created a T-Comm equivalent for Victoria? Take my money. Lol yeah, "equivalent" isn't fair though. It's not nearly as slick (though you can browse schedules on it). I've been meaning to find time to make it look prettier but I've been busy lately... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dunlop Posted July 28, 2020 Report Share Posted July 28, 2020 14 minutes ago, jmward said: Lol yeah, "equivalent" isn't fair though. It's not nearly as slick (though you can browse schedules on it). I've been meaning to find time to make it look prettier but I've been busy lately... Well, we all appreciate your effort! The only weird thing is the "Block ID" doesn't match the Paddle. So when you look at the Blocks, you can't really tell if it's a Langford or Victoria bus unless it's out all day in town, then it's likely a Victoria bus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmward Posted July 28, 2020 Report Share Posted July 28, 2020 26 minutes ago, Matt Dunlop said: Well, we all appreciate your effort! The only weird thing is the "Block ID" doesn't match the Paddle. So when you look at the Blocks, you can't really tell if it's a Langford or Victoria bus unless it's out all day in town, then it's likely a Victoria bus. Yes, I figured that was the case. Same is true for tcomm in Vancouver - the block codes in the data have no correspondence to the paddles at all. There's not much I can do about that, that data just isn't public I don't think. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dunlop Posted July 29, 2020 Report Share Posted July 29, 2020 On 7/27/2020 at 9:35 PM, jmward said: Yes, I figured that was the case. Same is true for tcomm in Vancouver - the block codes in the data have no correspondence to the paddles at all. There's not much I can do about that, that data just isn't public I don't think. Just a heads up - there's a new 2020 New Flyer XN40 (1186) in service today. There might be more of them, not 100% sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmward Posted July 29, 2020 Report Share Posted July 29, 2020 20 minutes ago, Matt Dunlop said: Just a heads up - there's a new 2020 New Flyer XN40 (1186) in service today. There might be more of them, not 100% sure. Again! Two new orders in in three days, wow. It should be updated now. Wiki has 1186 - 1202, I'll assume thats correct. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dunlop Posted July 29, 2020 Report Share Posted July 29, 2020 1 hour ago, jmward said: Again! Two new orders in in three days, wow. It should be updated now. Wiki has 1186 - 1202, I'll assume thats correct. Not sure how many of this series we're getting - but thanks for getting your website updated so fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted July 29, 2020 Report Share Posted July 29, 2020 I admit I don't pay that close attention to individual buses, but I think 1186 has been running for a while?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dunlop Posted July 29, 2020 Report Share Posted July 29, 2020 2 hours ago, Dane said: I admit I don't pay that close attention to individual buses, but I think 1186 has been running for a while?? No, it's brand new. First day of service is today. It's the only XN40 (so far) with USB ports, and it's a 2020 model, where 1152-1185 are 2019 models Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted July 29, 2020 Report Share Posted July 29, 2020 Gotcha, interesting even in this one purchase there's inter-year model differences. Ive been avoiding Transit since March, but look forward to eventually riding one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urban_96 Posted July 30, 2020 Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 On 7/27/2020 at 8:49 PM, jmward said: Lol yeah, "equivalent" isn't fair though. It's not nearly as slick (though you can browse schedules on it). I've been meaning to find time to make it look prettier but I've been busy lately... Could you please post the link? I’d love to check it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmward Posted July 31, 2020 Report Share Posted July 31, 2020 On 7/30/2020 at 3:00 PM, Urban_Monkey Transit said: Could you please post the link? I’d love to check it out! Click the link in the post you quoted! (maybe I was too subtle) In any case, https://bctracker.ca/ 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiNorth Posted August 1, 2020 Report Share Posted August 1, 2020 21 hours ago, jmward said: http://bctracker.bumblesquash.com/ I would love to see a map using the realtime GPS data you have access to here. NextRide sucks for virtual spotting. Thanks for the website, it's great to see a good representation of what's on the road at any given time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dunlop Posted August 1, 2020 Report Share Posted August 1, 2020 14 hours ago, InfiNorth said: I would love to see a map using the realtime GPS data you have access to here. NextRide sucks for virtual spotting. Thanks for the website, it's great to see a good representation of what's on the road at any given time. That would be really cool to see a virtual map of the city with every bus on it, and showing whether it's running early or late or on time. www.transit55.ca has that feature, however it's only for Calgary, Edmonton, Mississauga, and Saskatoon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dunlop Posted August 2, 2020 Report Share Posted August 2, 2020 Got a picture of the Vicinity CNG if anybody is interested. Driver was okay with me taking the picture of his bus. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiNorth Posted August 2, 2020 Report Share Posted August 2, 2020 2 hours ago, Matt Dunlop said: Driver was okay with me taking the picture of his bus. Are driver's ever not okay? They're publicly owned vehicles on public roads providing a public service - obviously we're not going out to do mugshots of the drivers, but can they oppose your taking photos of the bus? Also, I only just noticed - we only have one 71 in the inbound direction and two in the outbound direction each day right now. I know they're a commuter service... but only one? At 6AM? I guess for people that need to be downtown early that live along the otherwise lightly serviced parts of its route that makes sense, but that seems pretty sparse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dunlop Posted August 2, 2020 Report Share Posted August 2, 2020 15 hours ago, InfiNorth said: Are driver's ever not okay? They're publicly owned vehicles on public roads providing a public service - obviously we're not going out to do mugshots of the drivers, but can they oppose your taking photos of the bus? Also, I only just noticed - we only have one 71 in the inbound direction and two in the outbound direction each day right now. I know they're a commuter service... but only one? At 6AM? I guess for people that need to be downtown early that live along the otherwise lightly serviced parts of its route that makes sense, but that seems pretty sparse. Some drivers will say "as long as I"m not in the picture" or "why do you want a picture"? I'm fairly well known with the drivers so they're usually okay with me taking a picture of their bus. Some drivers will approach you if you just randomly take a picture of their bus at the exchanges. Good point about the 71. I honestly don't know where it goes, never rode it (as I live in Langford). Maybe there isn't enough demand to justify having it run more often right now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SidneyTransitfan Posted August 3, 2020 Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 12 hours ago, Matt Dunlop said: Good point about the 71. I honestly don't know where it goes, never rode it (as I live in Langford). Maybe there isn't enough demand to justify having it run more often right now. The 71 has changed a lot since it was first introduced nearly twelve years ago. The old 70A became the 73 (discontinued in 2011). The 70B became the 72. The 70C was what loosely became the 71 - it initially ran like any other 72/73 as far as Saanichton, then on Mt. Newton to Lochside, up to McTavish, then sharing the 70A/73 route through West Sidney along Canora, Weiler and Epco to Stirling Way, across Hwy 17 and turning onto Beacon, taking the same route as today's 72 to McDonald Park Road and Mariner Way. The morning route was the direct inverse of this, starting at McDonald Park Road and Mariner Way instead of Swartz Bay. Today's 71 isn't much different from the express 70, until it gets to McTavish - it then runs through West Sidney like it used to (but avoiding Weiler/Epco) and taking the same route as the 72 when it gets to Beacon and Fifth, with the exact inverse in the AM. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dunlop Posted August 3, 2020 Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 12 hours ago, SidneyTransitfan said: The 71 has changed a lot since it was first introduced nearly twelve years ago. The old 70A became the 73 (discontinued in 2011). The 70B became the 72. The 70C was what loosely became the 71 - it initially ran like any other 72/73 as far as Saanichton, then on Mt. Newton to Lochside, up to McTavish, then sharing the 70A/73 route through West Sidney along Canora, Weiler and Epco to Stirling Way, across Hwy 17 and turning onto Beacon, taking the same route as today's 72 to McDonald Park Road and Mariner Way. The morning route was the direct inverse of this, starting at McDonald Park Road and Mariner Way instead of Swartz Bay. Today's 71 isn't much different from the express 70, until it gets to McTavish - it then runs through West Sidney like it used to (but avoiding Weiler/Epco) and taking the same route as the 72 when it gets to Beacon and Fifth, with the exact inverse in the AM. Alot of people won't remember that the 70 used to detour through the Airport. Apparently (from what I heard) nobody used it, so they removed the Airport extension and put Community Shuttles on it (I assume around 2005?) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiNorth Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 6 hours ago, Matt Dunlop said: Alot of people won't remember that the 70 used to detour through the Airport. Apparently (from what I heard) nobody used it, so they removed the Airport extension and put Community Shuttles on it (I assume around 2005?) See that would have been brilliant if the 88 actually timed with the 70 conveniently. With the current schedule, there are very few times when an airport-bound passenger can make a convenient transfer of less than fifteen minutes. These transfer times are so abysmal that Google Transit usually recommends walking from East Saanich/McTavish or taking the 83 and then walking from the Coast Guard Station to the airport because of how utterly useless the 88 is. Every iteration of a trip that involved transferring to the 88 takes at least ten minutes longer than walking. The 88 is an absolutely horribly planned bus. I get that it's not just there for the airport, but I don't understand why it serves the airport if it is virtually unusable as an airport shuttle. I could understand a fifteen minute wait if you were, say, at Royal Oak, but waiting fifteen minutes for a bus that can't go further than a fifteen minute walk would take you is downright stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeIslandKid Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 3 hours ago, InfiNorth said: See that would have been brilliant if the 88 actually timed with the 70 conveniently. I just think BC Transit is incapable of lining up transfers well based on how awfully timed Westshore local routes are. Yeah they're totally doing a good job reducing overcrowding on the 50 by making transfers to the 39, 46, and 51 near impossible, and lining up local routes with 50-61s. The 39 especially is awful for Interurban students since at least in the case of the 59 it's a 40-50 minute (pre-COVID at least) wait or doing downtown to transfer and it used to be good before the 59/60 scheduled got moved by 30 minutes Oh also another thing, but after the nightly drop from 15 to 30 minute service on the 4 and 50 the downtown bound 4s always got to Douglas just after a Langford bound 50 left making for an extra 30 minutes waiting in a not exactly comfortable for everyone environment. I found the 27/28 and 14(15?) lined up with the 50 better, but those aren't options for a decent chunk of Hillside (never tested the 6) so there's another poorly planned transfer that makes transit just not work nearly as well as it could. Like just move them offset by a couple minutes each and suddenly people visiting friends have a realistic option again. I know there's factors of why including how hard it is to slot everything in with limited resources, and it's a complicated thing to plan, but dang they could make some decent improvements without increasing the number of trips or revenue hours just by lining transfers up well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiNorth Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 8 hours ago, SomeIslandKid said: I know there's factors of why including how hard it is to slot everything in with limited resources, and it's a complicated thing to plan, but dang they could make some decent improvements without increasing the number of trips or revenue hours just by lining transfers up well. That's the thing. I recognize why they can't move times around easily for buses that are generally standalone, high-usage routes (like the 4, 6, 27, 28...). Those routes accomplish their base-goal of providing convenient downtown service to those along their corridor. Meanwhile, the 88 exists explicitly for the purpose of getting to the airport from Sidney/McTavish. It doesn't even accomplish its base goal. The same can be sad for the local buses on the westshore that only serve to connect to the 50. The only feeder bus that I can think of that seems to be expertly timed up with its parent service is the 64 when it passes by 17 mile house to connect to the 61 - a feat which is normally accomplishes with a less-than ten minute wait. And of course the 13 Ten Mile Point because it dumps you at UVIC Exchange where a bus leaves for downtown once every seven seconds or so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now