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General BRT discussion

Blake M

By Blake M
in Calgary and Area

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Transit Fan

Transit Fan

Posted
Posted

The last section of regular traffic lanes on 17 Ave SE was moved into its final alignment this past weekend. The median is now completely clear for them to work on between Hubalta Road and 30 St SE. Work has now started on every single one of the stations along the transitway.

Construction looks to be moving along at a good pace. Hopefully the weather cooperates for the next few months so we're able to make the November launch.

Noticed some folks on Reddit and Twitter were wondering why the big network overhaul wasn't ready for the Fall Service Changes.

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Transit Fan

Transit Fan

Posted
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The south side of the intersection at 17 Ave SE and 19 St was reconstructed over the weekend. Here's a good view of the intersection from the nearby traffic camera this morning.

I thought they were only going to use the red concrete at the stations so it's nice to see it being used at a major intersection. I bet 26 St and maybe even 28 St get a similar treatment.

Screen Shot 2018-09-04 at 8.05.46 AM.png

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Transit Fan

Transit Fan

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Nice to see that stops are being added in the backend. If you type in the right keywords in the online "Next Ride" feature, you'll notice that most of the stations for the two crosstowns are in as well. Also added is the new East Hills terminal (2298) as well as new stops along 68 Street for the new Route 68 (Saddletowne - East Hills).

Here's some shots of the WB 52nd Street Station from the intersection camera. It's probably the furthest one along.

If you look carefully, you'll notice there's an extra section/lane of red concrete. It looks like they've modified the design a bit from the original plans to allow the Route 1 to slip out of the median directly into the left turn lane to turn onto NB 52nd Street. The BRT will continue straight through using it's dedicated signal. The slip lane looks like it's long enough to fit an artic so even if the turn lane gets backed up, the 1 should have enough space to pull over without blocking the BRT.

 

20180919_loc77.jpg

20180919_loc77 (1).jpg

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Transit Fan

Transit Fan

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It's interesting to note that those maps nor that page make any reference to the route numbers 303, 306 and 307.

I wonder what will be displayed on the front destination signs and rear number signs of the MAX buses when they're in service.

The two LRT lines are still technically 201 and 202 but those number's aren't really displayed on the trains or on any signs around the stations. Could this be similar for the MAX service? Can the rear sign of the buses display anything other than OFF and numbers (e.g. MO, MP, MT)

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downbeat

downbeat

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, Transit Fan said:

Can the rear sign of the buses display anything other than OFF and numbers (e.g. MO, MP, MT)

I’ve seen CTrain shuttles showing RED and BLUE on their rear displays … so I guess the answer is yes?

3 hours ago, TimmyC62 said:

CT's released the maps and schedules for the changes relating to the MAX/Nov 19 launch: http://www.calgarytransit.com/news/2018-transit-network

I think they need to clarify “span” end times are referring to when the last bus of the day leaves its first stop. Their current verbiage could cause unnecessary concern and confusion. 

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Transit Fan

Transit Fan

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To get a sense of how much faster the dedicated transitway will be for the 1/307, I did a comparison between the existing 1/305 and the upcoming 1/307. The results are attached.

Westbound refers to departing from WB 52nd Street to arriving at 1 St SE. Eastbound refers to departing from 1 ST SW to arriving at 52nd St SE. I picked 4 times which represents the time that a bus departs at to cover the various times of day (morning peak, midday, afternoon peak, evening). Example: 4:30pm WB means departing 52nd St at 4:30pm.

Summary:

  • The existing 305 is faster than the 1 by about 3-5 minutes
  • The new 1 will be faster than the existing 1 by 3-8 minutes
  • The new 307 will be faster than the existing 305 by 2-5 minutes
  • The new 307 is faster than the new 1 by 0-3 minutes (307 EB has slightly more time savings than WB)
  • Peak hour schedules between the two routes have been staggered such that there is a bus every 5-7 minutes.
  • Off-peak schedules are a bit of a mess with both routes running at irregular frequencies; many times where the 1/307 will depart within minutes of each other

Of course, this is all based off of the scheduled times so actual travel times may vary. Still, it's good to see a general improvement in travel times for both routes. However, I think the biggest benefit will be the consistency. On a good day with low/moderate traffic, travel times won't feel too different. On a bad day where traffic on Blackfoot or 17th is horribly backed up, the time savings will be quite noticeable. My biggest concern at this point is the off-peak scheduling due to the two routes running at different frequencies. If a 1 comes first and a 307 comes a few minutes later, why would there be any reason to wait for the 307 and vice versa?

Screen Shot 2018-10-09 at 8.57.54 AM.png

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downbeat

downbeat

Posted
Posted
On 10/9/2018 at 9:35 AM, Transit Fan said:

On a good day with low/moderate traffic, travel times won't feel too different. On a bad day where traffic on Blackfoot or 17th is horribly backed up, the time savings will be quite noticeable.

I was just thinking … the 17th Avenue S.E. hill between Deerfoot and 26th Street S.E. is subject to snow detours. Will the grade leading to the BRT bridge across the canal/Deerfoot/CP Rail be gentle enough for buses to run under snowy/icy conditions?

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Transit Fan

Transit Fan

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On 10/14/2018 at 1:09 AM, downbeat said:

I was just thinking … the 17th Avenue S.E. hill between Deerfoot and 26th Street S.E. is subject to snow detours. Will the grade leading to the BRT bridge across the canal/Deerfoot/CP Rail be gentle enough for buses to run under snowy/icy conditions?

That's a good point. Just from eyeballing it, the canal bridge will start at about halfway down the hill.

So there's a still bit of a slope to get up/down the hill to 26 Street but not nearly as steep as it is now. I think it shouldn't be as bad so long as they prioritize plowing on the transitway. Lower volume of traffic compared to regular lanes means snow will accumulate faster.

The new bridges will also be much appreciated by pedestrians and cyclists. Going up that hill is rough. Not ignoring the fact that the pathway is narrow and crosses the Deerfoot on/off ramps multiple times.

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Transit Fan

Transit Fan

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Their twitter also tweeted out the slightly more detailed MAX maps with the location of the timepoints:

  • Orange: Brentwood, Children's Hospital, Center St, Rundle, Saddletowne
  • Teal: Westbrook, MRU Bus Loop, Heritage, Riverbend, Douglas Glen
  • Purple: SB 1 St SW @ 7 Ave SW, 9 Ave SE @ 8 St SE, East Hills (WB 17 Ave SE @ 84 ST SE)

I sure hope that one mid-route timepoint at 8 St for the Purple isn't anything too crazy, particularly westbound. Any significant time savings gained from the transitway will be lost if buses end up having to kill time there regularly. Having a timepoint at the Children's hospital seems odd too given that Brentwood is so close. If I was a student going to UofC, I sure wouldn't want to be spending too much time idling at the hospital for too long when the University is one stop away.

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kevlo86

kevlo86

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, BCT-3122-D800-10240 said:

8253 on the 306 this morning on MAX Purple livery!

And 8313 on the route 1 today in MAX Teal livery!

I went to check thesd 2 buses on transit 55 and noticed that both that 1 and 306 are VP runs. Does this perhaps mean VP will be getting XD40's?

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Transit Fan

Transit Fan

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That actually looks pretty slick. It's too bad we can't have a dedicated livery for MAX buses only. Not very practical from an operations standpoint but it would definitely make it clear from a distance if a MAX bus was coming.

I was at the MAX/Network Change info session this past Saturday and was able to confirm a few things:

  • Only MAX Purple will use artics (peak and likely midday at least); standard buses for the Teal and Orange.
  • Current funding for the 17 Ave SE Transitway was only enough for station construction along the transitway portion which is why we won't be seeing MAX stations downtown or east of 52nd St.
  • The MAX Purple stops at 61 St and 70 St are getting a minor facelift (which actually only started a few days ago) so they have a larger waiting area. For signage, expect to see something similar to the existing red BRT signs. Instead, it would say MAX and probably be coloured Purple.
  • Despite the new Route 1 running down the transitway, it actually won't be stopping at both EB and WB 52nd St stations. EB was obvious since it's located east of 52nd St but I was expecting the 1 to stop at the WB station at least. Turns out the design of the station makes it tricky for a southbound 1 to turn into the transitway from 52nd St. It will stop curbside at the same stop as the Route 87 and then sneak it's way into the median before reaching WB 44th St Station. It's not ideal since the two routes won't share a common waiting area. I feel like putting the stop line for EB traffic further back would given enough clearance for a bus to make that turn.
  • This wasn't entirely confirmed but real-time displays should be able to show info from nearby connecting routes as well as the MAX routes.
  • All new/revised routes are to be closely monitored for at least a year to get a better sense of ridership and how travel patterns adjust with the new network. Since the December signup follows so close after launch, any urgent tweaks can be made if needed.
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CTrainDude

CTrainDude

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12 minutes ago, Transit Fan said:
  • All new/revised routes are to be closely monitored. Since the December signup follows so close after launch, any urgent tweaks can be made if needed. However, the routes will likely be monitored for at least a year to get a better sense of ridership and how travel patterns adjust with the new network.

The launch day of MAX service (and all the associated route changes) IS the start of the new signup - there is no December signup this year, it's pushed up to November 19.  Doesn't mean they can't make adjustments, as they do with any routes when required.

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