downbeat Posted July 14, 2019 Report Share Posted July 14, 2019 1 hour ago, Blake M said: Oh don't worry, I meant it solely as a joke. No problem! My comment wasn’t directed at you or anyone in particular. I was just thinking about how often I bring up this topic and how it might seem … well … annoying/obsessive. (I probably shouldn’t have quoted you, LOL. Whoops. I’ll go fix that.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvarushin Posted July 14, 2019 Report Share Posted July 14, 2019 Have you tried calling 262-1000 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted July 14, 2019 Report Share Posted July 14, 2019 26 minutes ago, yvarushin said: Have you tried calling 262-1000 Yes, but only when I've personally experienced a delay. After Canada Day and a few times since Stampede started. I try to add general comments about Route 1 while I have them on the phone. I am leery of phoning in purely based on what can been seen in Transit55 and the apps, as fill trips and other on-the-spot measures to reduce delays aren't visible there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvarushin Posted July 14, 2019 Report Share Posted July 14, 2019 19 minutes ago, downbeat said: Yes, but only when I've personally experienced a delay. After Canada Day and a few times since Stampede started. I try to add general comments about Route 1 while I have them on the phone. I am leery of phoning in purely based on what can been seen in Transit55 and the apps, as fill trips and other on-the-spot measures to reduce delays aren't visible there. Yeah makes sense! I hope it gets better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted July 17, 2019 Report Share Posted July 17, 2019 On 7/13/2019 at 11:14 PM, Transit Fan said: While we're on the topic of Route 1, they really need to sort out the situation at WB 52nd Street. If this Twitter thread to/from Calgary Transit tonight is accurate, the issue has been sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transit Fan Posted July 17, 2019 Report Share Posted July 17, 2019 I'm about to get on a 1 in 10 minutes. I'm pretty sure that sign has been up for a while on the station pole despite the 1 not using the platform. I feel like the Twitter is wrong unless they randomly "fixed" things overnight. Edit: Can confirm the station signage has the 1 on it. Can also confirm the 1 most definitely picked me up curbside. Two takeaways here, as has been discussed numerous times on this board, take these kind of responses from Twitter with a grain of salt. Also, if they ever make this change, it would probably wouldn't be midweek and would be officially posted beforehand. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 Yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transit Fan Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 1 hour ago, downbeat said: Yikes. Luckily, Stampede is over. Unfortunately, the construction this weekend which has EB 9th Ave closed between 3rd and 4th St SE isn't doing the 1/MP any favors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted July 22, 2019 Report Share Posted July 22, 2019 2 hours ago, Transit Fan said: Luckily, Stampede is over. Unfortunately, the construction this weekend which has EB 9th Ave closed between 3rd and 4th St SE isn't doing the 1/MP any favors. Things have worsened since I was out and about earlier (see attached). The delays on MP are not nearly as bad, however: At the moment, around 6 p.m., 2 of 3 buses are on time and the third is only about 15 minutes behind. That changed as I was typing. All three are now delayed 5-15 minutes. The fact Stampede is over means patronage on Route 1 is lighter this Sunday than last, for sure, and the effects of these lengthy delays wouldn't be noticed by as many people. But that's hardly good news for people who are still relying on the service. On the upside, for a delay that reaches every multiple of 25 minutes, anyone just arriving at a stop wouldn't notice as much … so the bus that's 57 minutes late in the attached screenshot might only appear to be 7 minutes late for somebody! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 2, 2019 Report Share Posted August 2, 2019 Here’s some route history for you! This booklet from 2000 is on one of the “Calgary’s Story” reference shelves on the top floor of the Central Library. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvarushin Posted August 3, 2019 Report Share Posted August 3, 2019 You inspired Nick and I go check out the documents! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick B Posted August 3, 2019 Report Share Posted August 3, 2019 There’s a plethora of transit history goodies in Drawer 388 at the central library! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Parsons Posted August 3, 2019 Report Share Posted August 3, 2019 Great to see you guys digging stuff up like this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armorand Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 2 hours ago, yvarushin said: You inspired Nick and I go check out the documents! If you look at the bottom pic from a cellphone using CPTDB, it kinda looks like ETS font from their system maps and route guides. I'd compare my ETS system map from 2011, if i could only find it... i might go check out the documents myself, this week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 I was looking for the drawers but couldn’t see where that was! Need to make a return trip, clearly. 5 hours ago, yvarushin said: You inspired Nick and I go check out the documents! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvarushin Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 12 hours ago, downbeat said: I was looking for the drawers but couldn’t see where that was! Need to make a return trip, clearly. Go to any computer and typed in "Calgary Transit"... so many options come up. We found these on Level 4 in the Pamphlet section. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 15 minutes ago, yvarushin said: Go to any computer and typed in "Calgary Transit"... so many options come up. We found these on Level 4 in the Pamphlet section. Oh yeah, I did that. I saw lots of historical transit documents in shelves on Levels 3 and 4 but I walked around in circles looking for where old maps were kept … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvarushin Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 3 minutes ago, downbeat said: Oh yeah, I did that. I saw lots of historical transit documents in shelves on Levels 3 and 4 but I walked around in circles looking for where old maps were kept … PAM File 388. 409712 Level 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 18, 2019 Report Share Posted August 18, 2019 Another weekend, another scheduling disaster on Route 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 18, 2019 Report Share Posted August 18, 2019 And the saga continues … (The stop in question is 33rd Street Station westbound, according to an earlier tweet.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armorand Posted August 18, 2019 Report Share Posted August 18, 2019 4 hours ago, downbeat said: And the saga continues... I'm just wondering, so Calgary Transit can cut a bunch of routes and cut back service, yet they will let this keep going on without any actual fixes? It's almost reminding me of a certain city I used to live in... kind of thought that CT would at least *try* to fix problems like this. I mean, if its that much of a problem to get buses flowing between Downtown and Forest Lawn... If theres no BRT plans or actual bus route fixes, maybe they should try having more direct buses to the NE LRT and get people moving, that way? After all, the NE trains are looking quite like low ridership, lately. I've been noticing compared to the Red Line, the Blue is considerably lower in terms of riders whenever I'm downtown, or going to/from Marlborough sometimes, along with trips to 69th and back... So if they can't make room for buses or actually change routes to make things work in terms of timing and schedule adherence - then why not direct these riders to the NE LRT and maybe fill up the trains a bit more, in terms of riders? Plus after all, I'm under the assumption that theres alot of employment for Forest Lawn residents in the NE, let alone retail, entertainment, a cluster of industrial space and malls just outside city limits with virtually no transit service... I know its budget squeezing time, but if CT would stop split-second cuts and do this right, they could still have leaner operations and NOT piss off tens of thousands of riders, because service would still exist - and even be improved upon, if they just looked a little outside the box. Just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 18, 2019 Report Share Posted August 18, 2019 7 hours ago, armorand said: I'm just wondering, so Calgary Transit can cut a bunch of routes and cut back service, yet they will let this keep going on without any actual fixes? […] I know its budget squeezing time, but if CT would stop split-second cuts and do this right, they could still have leaner operations and NOT piss off tens of thousands of riders, because service would still exist - and even be improved upon, if they just looked a little outside the box. Remember: the split-second budget cuts were not Transit's idea. You can blame city councillors for that. I encourage everyone to remind councillors of this every chance you get. The scheduling/timekeeping issues predate the present-day budget worries. Things weren't exactly terrific to start with and for riders of Route 1, things got a little worse with the 17th Avenue S.E. transitway traffic signal timing problems. I was taking the bus yesterday about the same time as the person who sent those tweets to Transit … I observed two operators on my bus. Having taken Route 1 lots on weekends, I noticed it was a trainer driving the bus and a trainee was watching. The trainees usually drive but they switch places when they've fallen significantly behind schedule and there's an attempt to make up time. (I think our bus was late by nearly an entire headway period.) That, plus the earlier delays/issues and Globalfest crowds, made for a difficult night I am guessing. You guys have put up with me moaning and groaning about timekeeping on Route 1 all summer and after watching/living the problem all season (and longer), I finally have some ideas to share. 1) What if Transit tried to anticipate the problems caused by broken-down buses and/or horrendous delays or another nature? From what I can see as a passenger, they wait until there is an observable problem/buildup of people waiting before sending out extras. By the time someone makes a decision and the floater(s) arrive from the garage, the problem has moved on and left a pile of people very unhappy and very late. I'm not a transit planning expert, but I can pretty much guarantee that a bus delay reaching 30 minutes or more on Route 1 at any time of the day is guaranteed to leave lots of people waiting. If bus control knows such a delay is building up, why not pre-emptively send a floater before customers/riders notice there is a problem? (For Canada Day on Route 1, the afternoon was when they were having issues with passenger overloads coupled with silly delays in the east, but by the time floaters were running short-turns on the west leg, the loads were much lighter, at least on the buses I was able to see. But I guess that was the point of the floaters, so it worked I suppose?) 2) Why must the floaters all wait at the garage? Knowing how much of the bus system flows through/near the core, why not have one bus stationed downtown to act as a floater in case of scheduling problems like the ones we've seen this summer? I've seen this happen during big events, with multiple buses on standby. Why not make it a standard operating practice — just with fewer buses? 3) Would it be feasible for transit to assign a supervisor-type person downtown as well, so they can drive around to the various stops and watch for accumulations of passengers? Right now, it seems transit doesn't hear about problems until either a driver signals an overload, or riders complain to them on Twitter (or calling the call centre, if it's open). I am assuming drivers on standby are paid whether they work or not. I also assume there is more than one supervisor working at a time, so sending one of them out on the road wouldn't be an issue. Now, I'm just waiting for someone to tell me Transit is supposed to be doing these things anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTrainDude Posted August 18, 2019 Report Share Posted August 18, 2019 The ideas you talk about are nice, but you assume that there’s floater buses out every day - the only time there’s any floater buses is when there’s a major event going on. It’s not like there’s operators sitting in buses at the garage every day and on weekends. There may be standby operators, but that’s to fill for operators that go sick and don’t report to work. With budget cuts already to regular service, I doubt there’s funding to have operators sitting in buses ready to go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 18, 2019 Report Share Posted August 18, 2019 Ah, that’s a good point. I thought there were always drivers on standby in case they are needed for CTrain shuttles and for shelter during emergencies and whatnot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTrainDude Posted August 19, 2019 Report Share Posted August 19, 2019 Sadly no. Usually Bus Control will try to find some drivers that are out of service going back to the garage for overtime to help with fill buses. There may be a standby at a garage, but it might not be the closest garage, and it can take a long time to setup a bus and get it where it needs to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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