downbeat Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 12 minutes ago, Blake M said: I think we need a bunch of us to send out the tweets Oh, that would be interesting … I am also intrigued by the description that it was a “light blue bus”. Haven’t seen one of those in forever! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake M Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 54 minutes ago, downbeat said: Oh, that would be interesting … I am also intrigued by the description that it was a “light blue bus”. Haven’t seen one of those in forever! 1046 WAS ON THE MAX ORANGE TODAY GUYS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvarushin Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 Well, to be fair.. the CT app only displays the route as MO. No mention of the 303. We're all transit gurus here, so it's obvious to us. Especially with the 7600s unable to display "MO" rather than "303" (?) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 1 hour ago, yvarushin said: Well, to be fair.. the CT app only displays the route as MO. No mention of the 303. We're all transit gurus here, so it's obvious to us. Especially with the 7600s unable to display "MO" rather than "303" (?) That was my point: Transit should make it more obvious that MAX routes also have numbers. Something like “303 MAX ORANGE” on the front and side, and “303” on the back? (Can the sign at the back show alternating messages? MO and 303 switching back and forth would be cool, if feasible.) 1 hour ago, Blake M said: 1046 WAS ON THE MAX ORANGE TODAY GUYS That would be a lot of fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvarushin Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 They shouldn't even be numbered in the first place, IMO. Same as the 201/202, CT got away from displaying route numbers or referring the routes by 201/202 and switched over to colours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake M Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 Does the destination code 303E exist then? And does it display route 303 or Max Orange? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 1 hour ago, yvarushin said: They shouldn't even be numbered in the first place, IMO. Same as the 201/202, CT got away from displaying route numbers or referring the routes by 201/202 and switched over to colours. That’s certainly a valid opinion. It is definitely better from a marketing standpoint. It is important for customers to be able to identify a bus and know where it takes them. On the other hand, I don’t see the point in have MAX BRTs (colours) vs. non-MAX BRTs (numbers). MAX routes have fancier shelters and other amenities, but BRT is BRT and I wish all the BRT lines were marketed together as being part of Calgary’s rapid transit network. But in any event, a non-numbered bus seems not to work with the way Transit currently functions, technologically speaking. Not having numbers means it would be impossible to look up routes under Calgary Transit’s system, in any way. Teletext, as I mentioned earlier depends on having route numbers. And schedules on Transit’s website have route numbers — even the trains. So while it might be nice from a customer’s standpoint not to have to know that 303 = MAX Orange, 306 = MAX Teal, and 307 = MAX Purple, we might be stuck with this — hence my suggestion that riders be told/educated about this in the meantime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick B Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 I never understood why Teletext requires entering the route number now anyway. Seems pointless to me. Back in the day it would work nicely by showing next bus times for all routes at a particular stop if you just entered the stop number. Since I don't use Teletext much these days with all the transit apps, the odd time I use it, I often forget to type in the route number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armorand Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 Winnipeg Transits BusTXT just had the five digit stop numbers you had to text, and it would send any and all routes for that stop, over the next 60 minutes. Instead of the complicated way that will piss off everybody, why not just switch it over to texting for the bus stop itself, and being sent all route info instantaneously, without the need to translate Max lines to numerical routes? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 2 hours ago, armorand said: Instead of the complicated way that will piss off everybody, why not just switch it over to texting for the bus stop itself, and being sent all route info instantaneously, without the need to translate Max lines to numerical routes? Seeing how the system can't accept MO, MP or MT as route numbers during input, I wonder how difficult (or unlikely?) it would be for the system to use MP, MO, or MT as route numbers when it outputs information back to riders/whoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armorand Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 11 hours ago, downbeat said: Seeing how the system can't accept MO, MP or MT as route numbers during input, I wonder how difficult (or unlikely?) it would be for the system to use MP, MO, or MT as route numbers when it outputs information back to riders/whoever. Computers have been around for decades, can't be that hard to code it in... [value]"307"="Max Purple[/value] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechSpotlight Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 22 hours ago, downbeat said: Or maybe everyone can be a little more open-minded and flexible, and learn/promote that the MAX lines are also assigned route numbers … (You can’t make teletext work without the route number, for example.) Unfortunately lots of drivers don’t punch the keycodes in anymore on the old flipdots, and with a route like the MAX runs, it would be beneficial for drivers to set their signs to 303 MAX ORANGE / 307 MAX PURPLE. Of course the CT Twitter doesn’t know that the flipdots will never be updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake M Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 2 minutes ago, TechSpotlight said: Unfortunately lots of drivers don’t punch the keycodes in anymore on the old flipdots, and with a route like the MAX runs, it would be beneficial for drivers to set their signs to 303 MAX ORANGE / 307 MAX PURPLE. Of course the CT Twitter doesn’t know that the flipdots will never be updated. I have indeed seen 307 Max Purple before 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechSpotlight Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 Just now, Blake M said: I have indeed seen 307 Max Purple before Yes same here, however my point is that drivers often do not punch in the keycodes on the flipdots. There are certainly drivers who do (mostly senior drivers) however tons don’t, which can lead to confusion such as on the max routes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TransitOp Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 This is not a big issue. The guy could have easily asked the operator what the route is. The 7600 buses out of Stoney are supposed to have a sheet behind the operator seat with a listing of all the codes for Vultron signs. 90% of the buses don't have this sheet of paper. This is the only series of bus that has this sign. At present, the best you are going to get is "Route 303" without someone coming to program all of these buses for Max Orange. With budget cuts, I am not sure how high a priority this will be. Transit website shows Max Orange as 303, Purple as 307, etc. As an example, If you are doing a route like the 124, you need a code for Evanston and another for North Pointe. Usually its: 124 XXX 00, where 124 is route code and XXX is what gets changed manually by the operator. The problem lies where you don't know the code and don't have the sheet. Default is to put something like this: 124 124 00. This will display "Route 124" all day long until it's changed. 00 is public message which most of us don't use. All other buses change signs automatically no matter if they are Balios or Luminator signs or anything else. CAD automatically changes and stores destinations into Destination A. The operator rarely has to manually change signs on their own and most don't. In fact, several hundred people have been trained since CAD was installed and most don't change signs on their own. CAD does all the changing. 7600 is only series of bus that requires manual changing. It used to be fun driving 7500 and 7600's with vultron signs when doing a 28 and then switching to 83 as you have have to change 6 numbers and hit reset. I always waited til I got to Canyon Meadows station after bus was stopped before changing. It did confuse the people a bit but was the safest way of doing it. Another solution to the issue is maybe put an Orange coloured piece of paper where the keybox is. This twitter rant really is a non-issue. What is an issue is the new Nova CNG buses. Many of them display "OFF" on the back sign when they are used for Max Orange. I would think that this would be a more important thing to fix then 7600's whose best days are behind them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyC62 Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 19 hours ago, armorand said: Winnipeg Transits BusTXT just had the five digit stop numbers you had to text, and it would send any and all routes for that stop, over the next 60 minutes. Instead of the complicated way that will piss off everybody, why not just switch it over to texting for the bus stop itself, and being sent all route info instantaneously, without the need to translate Max lines to numerical routes? Vancouver used to be nice like that - no need to specify the route. But in 2016, they changed it so it's like ours: https://buzzer.translink.ca/2016/08/some-tweaks-to-the-next-bus-sms-service/ I seem to recall them citing reasons of excessive strain on the telecom infrastructure or something not-entirely-convincing-but-I-don't-know-enough-to-reject-it like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 Very cool and handy, if true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transit Fan Posted August 30, 2019 Report Share Posted August 30, 2019 Quite a few interesting detours this Sunday afternoon for the Pride Parade. A number of downtown routes will be on EB 7th Ave. A few routes like the 10, 24, MP and Red Line shuttle are short-turning at 9th Ave. 4th and 9th Ave are probably gonna get real busy that afternoon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transit Fan Posted September 1, 2019 Report Share Posted September 1, 2019 Saw 8019 out at East Hills. Likely acting as a floater bus for the MP. Downtown routes will likely see significant delays today so I imagine there are many other floaters out there as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick B Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 Is there a reason the real time info is virtually nonexistent today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 50 minutes ago, Nick B said: Is there a reason the real time info is virtually nonexistent today? Seems to occur when schedules change … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 Now that I think about it, it seems to randomly happen with certain routes at all times in a less widespread manner — when the real-time info goes wonky, or the schedule will show the correct schedule for a second but then suddenly skips the next two/three buses. I wonder if there’s something wonky with the way Calgary Transit’s GTFS info is interacting with the Transit app. I’ve practically never seen it happen on the odd time I am using Transit while travelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downbeat Posted September 4, 2019 Report Share Posted September 4, 2019 Well this is neat: one of the oldest (7623) and newest (8390) buses in the fleet operating on Route 3 tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armorand Posted September 6, 2019 Report Share Posted September 6, 2019 When the bus is 15 minutes late, and the driver gives you a transfer for 45 minutes ago beforeboarding, then the trains 15 mins late and jampacked before it even hit Fish Creek... I'm just curious, is it just all coincidence, or has the new service changes along with loss of service hours for transit employees and pressure on the rest, been causing tons of issues on the drivers, especially to the point of being 15 mins late on a suburban feeder and not bothering to adjust the transfers? Unless anyone knows why someone would be -15 minutes schedule adherence in the middle of Auburn Bay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick B Posted September 6, 2019 Report Share Posted September 6, 2019 1 hour ago, armorand said: When the bus is 15 minutes late, and the driver gives you a transfer for 45 minutes ago beforeboarding, then the trains 15 mins late and jampacked before it even hit Fish Creek... I'm just curious, is it just all coincidence, or has the new service changes along with loss of service hours for transit employees and pressure on the rest, been causing tons of issues on the drivers, especially to the point of being 15 mins late on a suburban feeder and not bothering to adjust the transfers? Unless anyone knows why someone would be -15 minutes schedule adherence in the middle of Auburn Bay? Is this a consistent issue for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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