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2 hours ago, Articulated said:

I think the only thing more concerning to me than the fact that one of these crashed (so quickly into the pilot, mind you) is that the on-board operator was unable to stop it before it left the roadway and collided with the tree. There's gonna need to be a lot of questions surrounding how even the "fail-safe" couldn't prevent the accident from occurring.

The crash happebed at 4pm and service ends around 3:30pm. The bus is suppose to be manually driven back to the yard. There have been a few recorded crashes with the Autonomous bus. Las Vegas in 2017 and in an Olympic Villiage in Japan earlier this year. This accident may also spell the end of the use the Autonomous bus trial in Whitby and also Rouge Hill. Hopefully the driver makes it out okay. A few of us were out at Whitby a few weeks ago.

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15 hours ago, Articulated said:

I think the only thing more concerning to me than the fact that one of these crashed (so quickly into the pilot, mind you) is that the on-board operator was unable to stop it before it left the roadway and collided with the tree. There's gonna need to be a lot of questions surrounding how even the "fail-safe" couldn't prevent the accident from occurring.

I haven't had the chance to see one of these in person yet so I was wondering if there were any big red emergency stop buttons that the attendant (or passengers, eg. like the emergency brake cords on subway, Go trains) could press the moment things went awry.  Then again, looking at the pictures of the accident, even if there were, the attendant might not have been able to get to one if they got knocked down by the vehicle mounting the curb by the time they realized things were going south if it happened quickly.

I hope the vehicle's attendant makes a full and fast recovery.  It's going to be interesting to see what there is to be learned from this accident because autonomous vehicles are still very much in their infancy and might not be as ready for prime time as had been hoped.

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3 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

I haven't had the chance to see one of these in person yet so I was wondering if there were any big red emergency stop buttons that the attendant (or passengers, eg. like the emergency brake cords on subway, Go trains) could press the moment things went awry.  Then again, looking at the pictures of the accident, even if there were, the attendant might not have been able to get to one if they got knocked down by the vehicle mounting the curb by the time they realized things were going south if it happened quickly.

I hope the vehicle's attendant makes a full and fast recovery.  It's going to be interesting to see what there is to be learned from this accident because autonomous vehicles are still very much in their infancy and might not be as ready for prime time as had been hoped.

image.thumb.png.111f64f82d19f2aab0d1752d1f8d3e65.png

here’s a photo from “Articulated” that he posted on Facebook awhile back, it shows the control system is a joystick and what could be a red emergency stop button. I haven’t seen it in person to know if that’s indeed it’s function 

 

edit: zoomed in an it’s indeed a “emergency stop” button 

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1 minute ago, ZümmyZüm said:

image.thumb.png.111f64f82d19f2aab0d1752d1f8d3e65.png

here’s a photo from “Articulated” that he posted on Facebook awhile back, it shows the control system is a joystick and what could be a red emergency stop button. I haven’t seen it in person to know if that’s indeed it’s function 

Interesting.  I zoomed the photo and that is indeed an emergency stop - it’s labelled as such on the side of the yellow enclosure.

The location looks a bit too out of the way for my liking especially since the vehicle is intended to be autonomous, it’s far from guaranteed that the attendant will be standing right at the operator controls, and if things go bad fast or violently and the attendant can’t get to the button in time, the results could be bad.

Actually, it will be interesting to see the results of the accident investigation if the emergency stop button did get pressed or if it happened in such a way that the attendant didn’t get a chance.

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On 12/16/2021 at 8:58 PM, Articulated said:

I think the only thing more concerning to me than the fact that one of these crashed (so quickly into the pilot, mind you) is that the on-board operator was unable to stop it before it left the roadway and collided with the tree. There's gonna need to be a lot of questions surrounding how even the "fail-safe" couldn't prevent the accident from occurring.

I suspect the high winds, poor road conditions, and the overall design of the bus contributed to the crash, as opposed to some sort of technological flaw. 

On 12/17/2021 at 1:05 AM, Someguy3071 said:

This thing drives what, 20km/h? 

Yes, 40km/h in manual mode.

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7 hours ago, DavidH said:

Durham Police have released a statement on the autonomous bus crash.  

Key points:

- The driver has been released from hospital and a full recovery is expected.

- The vehicle was being operated in manual mode and therefore the safety systems were disabled.

- The investigation is ongoing.

Boy I'm glad to hear that he's going to be okay. He was a nice guy when I met him.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Fingers crossed the Cornell Terminal actually opens this spring as expected, how far down the priority list is getting DRT service to it?  GO is currently the only option for people commuting by public transit between York and Durham. 

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On 1/28/2022 at 10:03 PM, Gil said:

Fingers crossed the Cornell Terminal actually opens this spring as expected, how far down the priority list is getting DRT service to it?  GO is currently the only option for people commuting by public transit between York and Durham. 

Not much of a priority at this point. Seaton development needs to build up more before DRT could feasibly start serving the terminal. Rumours of the 915 serving Cornell have been circulating ever since the terminal was planned, but I can't see that happening before Seaton development. The 915 is better suited to extend to Markham and Steeles before Cornell. That being said, there was a proposal of a DRT route along Highway 7, but with GO service along that corridor, I can't say for sure how much of a priority that is either.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/1/2022 at 9:34 AM, 110B West Pickering said:

Who's ready for an underwhelming budget? Not to say it's not interesting, but they're still being cryptically vague about specific service enhancements, because... you know.

So. What do we have then? (https://calendar.durham.ca/meetings/Detail/2022-02-02-1330-Transit-Executive-Committee-Meeting/a25d30bc-bbe8-4c74-9e62-ae2b01536abe)

Metrics:

- 4.4 Million Passenger Rides in 2021, 40% of pre-pandemic and 82% of 2020 ridership.

- 96% of trips taken were are conventional buses, 3% OnDemand Trips and 1% Specialized Services.

- December was the first month since march 2020 that ridership had surpassed 50% of pre-pandemic ridership, this got destroyed by Omicron again. 

- DRT anticipated for 2021, farebox revenues of $14.9 Million, but only reached 93% of this total at $13.9 Million

- PRESTO adoption up from below 40% pre-pandemic to now 80% thanks to suspension of paper fare media, introduction of fare incentives and the electronic PRESTO Ticket u-pass.

Budget Amount

DRT annual budget amount is $117.3 million from all sources, $69.2 million from property taxes.

DRT operating and capital is divided among these departments.

- Administration

- Operations

- Maintenance

- Specialized Services

- Northern Services

- Facilities Management

- 551,075 2022 Service Hours, increase of 2.3% and 12,398 service hours in 2021.

- 486,153 Conventional Service Hours, 64,922 OnDemand Hours.

Service Highlights

There are very few noted service related changes, this is due to the fact that the covid pandemic still adds uncertainty to if and when specific routes will return. This is year one of "The Route Ahead" 2022-2025 Service Plan, so here's what that definitely entails, 

- Introduction of more frequent service on existing routes to support ridership recovery. including,

- 901 PULSE Simcoe,

- 902 King

- 915 PULSE Taunton, with 15 minute minimum daytime service level, 7 days per week. (who remembers when it was hourly...)

- 920, with an extension to Harmony Terminal from Durham College.

- 302 Brock/Baldwin, additional two way service between Brooklin and Durham College.

- 917z will have additional trips, in 2021, the service ran every two hours, so perhaps this year it may be hourly.

While these are the only listed service enhancements coming in 2022, this represents $0.4 Million of the 2022 $1.5 Million service plan, with the other $1.1 Million for "returning Service" but no details are available as to which routes or services may be restored.

2022 Capital investments

- $16.1 Million in capital investments

- 2 additional PULSE replacements (likely 7123-7124) ($1.4m)

- 4 replacements specialized buses ($0.8m)

- Raleigh Admin Building Design ($0.6m)

- Bus Stop Infrastructure improvements ($3.1m)

- Planning, Design and engineering of 2400 Thornton Road North Indoor Facility ($2.5m)

- E-bus charging infrastructure ($3.1m)

- Westney Fuel Tank Replacement ($0.8m)

And then there's this

"As a result of network realignment, scheduling efficiencies and delivery of demand responsive services in rural and low demand urban areas, DRT will be reducing the size of its fleet from 188 buses at the beginning of 2022 to 157 buses. This will allow for the retirement of 31 buses at end of life and savings from repair costs to keep these vehicles in operation (-$0.5 million). These buses will be replaced when required through enhanced frequency of service and as demand increases in lower demand areas over the next three to five years as included in the capital forecast."

Essentially, DRT doesn't want to pay the price to maintain the D40LFs anymore as parts are becoming increasingly expensive and hard to find, while letting the issue of not having enough busses be a future them problem. 

Staff

- Five new Full Time Positions

- three new "DRT Ambassadors" which are essentially the roaming customer service reps like TTC, and YRT have.

 

 

 

I can see how retiring D40LFs now would save a whole bunch of money. But I think I may have misread something. With the arrival of the Nova LFS HEVs, would they help replenish the fleet and allow DRT to further be prepared for future reinstatment of services or the introduction of new services? And would the electric buses also be future expansions? Overall though I am pleased with the fleet management.

Are the two Pulse replacements meaning to replace two current Pulose XD40s into local conventional scheme?

I also like the fact that the 302 would be the route that would be stended along Winchester to Simcoe to the Durham college North Campus. Would this kill the 310 again?
Would the possible extension of the 920 replace the 905 going to Harmarny Terminal, thus, making the 905 terminate at the Durham College North Campus?


 

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