Durham Region Transit

[John Oke]

14 minutes ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

I've been using the OnDemand Service that DRT had offered for a while now and each trip I took - was a DRT-Branded Promaster vehicle.  Is it uncommon to see a "contracted taxi" appear on the DRT On-Demand app as one of the vehicles requested for the service?

During my observations down at the Ajax GO, I often see "Circle Taxi"-branded vehicles acting as a"guise" for the DRT On-Demand Service.

I’ve never done on-demand I just walk a mile to Thickson or up to Taunton or over to Brock 

[Chris W]

53 minutes ago, 110B West Pickering said:

It really depends on where you are

Pickering and Ajax each get 1 ProMaster deployed to them, Bowmanville and Courtice each have one.

they keep a 5th as a spare.

the rest is all contracted

People will get confused by the cabs. There needs to be at least 3 ProMasters for every area that's lost service. Cabs are not acceptable in my mind.

[John Oke]

I have seen some busses with the September 7th Update exposure on the destination sign and to check the website however at the time of writing (August 10th) there's nothing about the Sept 7th service update on the website and the only schedules available are the ones effective June 21, 2021, does anyone know when we could see the new schedules? 

[GTAmissions1]

2 hours ago, 110B West Pickering said:

So, looks like they’re updating the website now, but it doesn’t look finished yet, it could disappear, but at the very least, here are the schedules for September 7th not including the OnDemand changes.

https://www.durhamregiontransit.com/en/routes-and-schedules/resources/September-7-2021/920.pdf

the blue night network is now consisting of the N1 (Centennial Circle to Harmony Terminal via Highway 2, Simcoe and Taunton) which will run all night and the N2 (DC to Simcoe and Wentworth) which will run until 2:30 approximately 

Regarding N1 and N2 Blue Night routes, it will be interesting if there will be enough demand to support these two routes. Some people always demanding service around the clock or accessible. 

Off-hand, I know these transit agencies offer 24 hour service in Ontario:

• Mississauga has 24 hour service along Route 1 Dundas, Route 2/17 Hurontario, Route 3 Bloor and Route 7 Airport on weekdays ONLY
• TTC has Blue Night network operating during the early morning hours when the subway and Scarborough RT finish for the night.
• Ottawa's OC Transpo has 24 hour service every day on select rapid transit routes which is 39, 45, 75 and 97. Route 57 and 61 have their final departure between 2 AM and 3 AM depending on their first stop. The six rapid transit routes are extended downtown when Confederation Line trains are finished for the day under NightBus with N beside the route number like N39 Rideau. 

Reading this article years ago regarding how the London subway system runs around the clock. Of course, it is a bigger system where as Boston reduced the early morning service years ago instead having their final departures at around 1 AM for subway and select bus routes due to cost. I hope it works out for Durham Regional Transit. 

https://www.wired.com/2016/08/londons-subway-now-runs-night-doesnt/

 

[John Oke]

Does anyone know if there’s a shortage with Pulse busses? I saw 8605 which is in the standard DRT livery on the 900 earlier today 

[John Oke]

2 minutes ago, 110B West Pickering said:

Do you mean 8505?

8605 is a PULSE XD40, unless they were finally repainted

No it was 8605 it’s repainted already. It’s still on the 900 according to Transsee

[John Oke]

5 hours ago, 110B West Pickering said:

Just now at Simcoe and Bond,

maybe you had seen 8506 which is also out on the 900 right now

I must be seeing things then, but I swear I saw a normal livery XD40 on the 900 today

Also in Whitby along the residential side streets of Highway 2, there are a lot of Anti-BRT lawn signs up 

[John Oke]

I’ve noticed in Whitby south of Victoria there are new signs up for the autonomous shuttle telling drivers to slow down, it looks like they’re still planning on going ahead with it as well, by the parks along the lake there are also what looks like little platforms for it. 

[Shaun]

On 8/13/2021 at 9:09 PM, John Oke said:

I must be seeing things then, but I swear I saw a normal livery XD40 on the 900 today

Also in Whitby along the residential side streets of Highway 2, there are a lot of Anti-BRT lawn signs up 

NIMBY people. Why can't they appreciate public transit for those who want to use it. 

[Ultimate]

6111 has a wrap on the closed side of the bus and the rear of the bus for 917Z service to Toronto ZOO.

 

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

For those who are attending (or returning to) Durham College or OnTechU (Ontario Tech University aka UOIT IUniversity of Ontario Institute of Technology)), please note that the U-PASS has been "migrated" to a digital format - by the means of the PRESTO E-Tickets mobile app.

Further information can be founded here: https://durhamcollege.ca/student-life/campus-services/campus-id-u-pass#universal-transit-pass-u-pass

OnTechU has yet to provide a similar announcement - yet. It was a decade since I had graduated from Durham College and the UPASS was offered in the form of a sticker affixed to the student ID card. It would have been nice if the folks at Durham College and OnTechU (and to a lesser extent, TUD (Trent University Durham)) would have adopted a similar scheme that Carleton University, Algonguin College and uOttawa (not sure if La Cité (a francophone college in Ottawa) is covered) has.

[John Oke]

Has 915 unofficially been added to PULSE? The only busses I saw on it today where all Pulse ones, 8620, 8621 and 7100

[John Oke]

3 hours ago, 110B West Pickering said:

The first few paddles of the day are buses that come off the N1, so in a way, yes, the pulse interlines with the 915 technically.

Next year, the 915 will be added to the PULSE network according to the Durham Region Transit 2023-2025 “The Route Ahead” Service Plan released to TEC today, I’ll write something up at some point about it, but the 916 will be added in 2023, and the 902 in 2024.

I saw them at like 3:30 this afternoon, as well they where also going on 4XX routes 

[newflyerinvero]

3 hours ago, 110B West Pickering said:

The first few paddles of the day are buses that come off the N1, so in a way, yes, the pulse interlines with the 915 technically.

Next year, the 915 will be added to the PULSE network according to the Durham Region Transit 2023-2025 “The Route Ahead” Service Plan released to TEC today, I’ll write something up at some point about it, but the 916 will be added in 2023, and the 902 in 2024.

I'm intrigued by the 915 and 916 becoming PULSED in a couple years. I'm guessing that there won't be too many stops and thus, wouke take away from any local demand there might be?

The 902 I feel like, the 902A specifically would be the main Pulse route, whist the B woukd be the local variant, or known as the 402? 

46 minutes ago, John Oke said:

I saw them at like 3:30 this afternoon, as well they where also going on 4XX routes 

The only Pulse bus on a local route I'd seen was 8611 on 405C. Pulse buses on local routes are a common place and not unusual.

[John Oke]

On the 915 a few nights ago, the driver was talking with another passenger saying that the 915 will be extended along Steeles to Finch Station in a few years as well DRT was considering express service, I doubt any of that is true

As well, I want to say 60 or so percent of 915 buses are PULSE ones at any given time the main ones I've seen are 8618, 8619, 8622, 7101 and 7102

[John Oke]

21 minutes ago, 110B West Pickering said:

Some night bus services start their paddle as an N1 or 900 between 2:00 and 5:00, these buses that end at Harmony then become early morning 915 buses. The same in reverse, the last few WB N1 buses become 900s, depending on what was assigned to the N1 for early paddles, decided what ended up on either the 900 or the 915. Both Westney and Raleigh operate trips of the N1.

The Pulse busses seem to be there all day though, for example I’d be on one on the 915 at like 3:30 in the afternoon or 8:00 in the early evening 

[John Oke]

5 hours ago, Gamer Studios said:

Depends whether or not they get changed off

Prior to the pandemic, 915 buses and 916 buses interlined during rush hour in the east end, however 915 buses usually came from Ajax routes in the west end.

But then again conventional have been making appearances still on the 915 (so it's just a matter of dispatch / luck)

I must have pretty good luck then, I also saw I think it was 8566 on the 901 earlier, It was conventional LFS on the 901. Also 6117 has entered service as I've seen it along Taunton once or twice but haven't rode it yet.

[newflyerinvero]

23 minutes ago, 110B West Pickering said:

Believe it or not, DRT claims that in Q1/Q2 2022 a new livery will make its way to buses. This lines up with the delivery timeline of the 11 Hybrid Novas we ordered this year.

https://calendar.durham.ca/default/Detail/2021-10-06-1330-Transit-Executive-Committee-Meeting/f4835a38-6cf8-4a4c-89e7-adb400bf5cdf 
 

the information is found in the Demand Responsive service report

I've felt that the new livery could've been something similar to what a couple of the Orion Vs DRT had several years ago, an additional green (grey?) line inbetween the windows and the bottom skirting panels. Maybe something similar?

I also seem to remember a full ad on an XD40 from a year and a bit ago which made it look like a 'new livery' of sorts. 

[John Oke]

For now the 302’s are diverting along Garden between Kenneth Hobbs(One block north of Rossland) and Manning. It’s weird seeing busses on Garden again for the first time in like 18 months 

[DavidH]

4 hours ago, 110B West Pickering said:

Believe it or not, DRT claims that in Q1/Q2 2022 a new livery will make its way to buses. This lines up with the delivery timeline of the 11 Hybrid Novas we ordered this year.

It refers to “branding”, not just a livery, so this could be a much more far-reaching change, possibly including new logos.

[MRD10]

On 9/28/2021 at 10:27 PM, 110B West Pickering said:

There (from my understanding) some talk of a 915 branch that would serve the Amazon Facility at Steeles and Markham Road area. That has since been dropped.

I think this is very unfortunate. With the Canada Post plant, this area is going to be immensely busy, and have many jobs to offer. Sadly this is wasted potential, but I see why they made this call. There is nothing on Steeles east of Morningside, (except for Staines, but we aren't going to talk about that LOL).

[John Oke]

9 hours ago, Gamer Studios said:

The same bus also broke down on the 900 - overheard the radio system where another op was calling in dispatch saying of a oil leak

8617 went out of service at Harmony Term, it was 25min late finishing up a run on the 915. The operator said it was going out of service because of mechanical problems 

[John Oke]

3 hours ago, 110B West Pickering said:

According to deputy general manager of operations, the 915 will be confirmed as a PULSE route at the next major service change and once the new PULSE units are in service.

assume either the December or January changes come into effect, likely January 

Any word on frequency/stops yet? 

[brianc1981]

I have been told from 2 sources that work for DRT (one in management and one in scheduling) that the plans for 2022 are very ambitious. 

First the 915 will be a more frequent faster service as pulse. There will be a few less stops and to make up for the less stops will be more local service on certain routes. The idea that has been floated around is there will be a couple of new routes that serve Pickering and Ajax as well as a new route that serves Whitby and Oshawa. The route in Pickering will leave the Pickering Parkway terminal and it will go to Whites road and then north to Taunton, from there it will travel east towards Ajax and will go down Salem or Harwood and go down to Kingston Road and then proceed to Westney and over to the Ajax GO. There will be a similar route that will operate from Whitby GO and it will travel up Brock St to Taunton and then go east to Simcoe, then north to Winfield farms, turning onto Winchester heading east to Harmony and into the Harmony terminal. Another route will start at UOIT and head to Harmony terminal and then down to King and proceed onto Bond and then it will turn onto Stevenson and proceed to the Oshawa GO station. The plan for these routes is they will essentially take pressure off of other routes and it will fill voids, in certain areas where routes were temporarily discontinued and replaced with on demand. The new route that serves Taunton from Whites, towards Salem or Harwood (route to be determined), will be there for all the new houses are built. 

DRT is also going to be upgrading the 920 to a full 7 day a week service. Outside of rush hours all trips will be extended to McCowan station. There will also be service to Simcoe and Founders 7 days a week. Eventually that route will be extended to service Windfields farms. 

There will also be a new branch of the 915 that will serve, Taunton and Steeles going to Markham road and then it will proceed up to highway 7 and serve the new Cornell terminal. There will also be a route from Cornell terminal to service highway 7 to Simcoe and Winchester then over to UOIT. There are also plans to beef up service going to Uxbridge. That route will run hourly and there will be a local route in Uxbridge as well as a potential route headed back to Newmarket, but running more often then it used to. The idea behind that is to get more service running between Newmarket and Uxbridge to connect with the 905 heading south as well as GO service. 

Bowmanville will see the return of local bus service as well as a route that will run to Newcastle from Bowmanville. The local service will be timed to meet the 902 bus at the little bus loop over by the Loblaws on Highway 2. 

A lot of these service changes will be in September but some other ones will be implemented sooner, especially when the Cornell terminal opens in Markham as they want the 2 routes running soon to get the amazon employees. Amazon workers in Durham currently have no service from Markham road so the new branch of the 915 will run 7 days a week for 21 or so hours per day. Possibly with a chance to go 24 hours in the future. Amazon is also currently building a warehouse off of HWY 7 and that is the reason for the new service that will run along that corridor. A lot of these plans have been in place for a few years except the pandemic sped things up. Another thing that I was told was that they will be changing and expanding the on demand service. Currently the on demand service has a lot of limitations on where you can go using it. But soon a lot more of the on demand areas will allow for drop offs at GO stations, and major transfer points. Depending where you are in Port Perry or even Uxbridge you can only go to where you can connect to the 905 route but soon you will be able to go on demand to Harmony terminal or UOIT. 

It is going to be nice to see all the changes over the next year or so. 

Longer term plans (2023) are to see more routes either reinstated or partially replaced by more local loop type routes that connect more areas such as the loops in Pickering to Ajax and Whitby to Oshawa. There will also be some modified local routes in Oshawa, Courtice and Bowmanville to service the future GO stations. Basically the routes will be modified so that when train service finally runs the bus network will already be in place. Also for 2023 there will be a lot of changes to the local services from Pickering all the way to Oshawa. The idea will be to eliminate some of the straight North/South routes and merge portions of routes together to cover more area. Also there will be more routes that cover multiple GO stations. Pickering to Whitby will be covered by a new route that will service parts of Rossland so that when the 916 becomes a PULSE there can be less stops on the PULSE route. 

I saw someone else posting about certain routes and the timeline for turning into a PULSE service, but that timeline is off slightly. By the end of 2023 all the 9xx routes will be PULSE as well as several more. There are plans for around 10-12 PULSE routes in the region including 2 or 3 heading into York Region to connect to VIVA buses. 

 

[John Oke]

When could we start to see more local routes return?