Calgary Transit

[2102]

2 minutes ago, downbeat said:

Perhaps the most disappointing change is for Route 145. Buses come every 28 minutes midday instead of 25 before. It's transit-hungry part of town, so too bad there aren't the resources to add a third bus on that route, which I reckon would bring the headway down to just under 20 minutes.

P.S. It's listed under Spring service changes but that one looks retro-active. Schedules show a 28-minute headway already.

Good news is that last service change the 128 got midday service so at least there is an alternative now

[downbeat]

1 minute ago, 2102 said:

Good news is that last service change the 128 got midday service so at least there is an alternative now

Good point, I'd forgotten about this. That said, it doesn't look like their schedules are co-ordinated, so there are times when those buses will depart back-to-back.

[2102]

42 minutes ago, downbeat said:

Good point, I'd forgotten about this. That said, it doesn't look like their schedules are co-ordinated, so there are times when those buses will depart back-to-back.

Again with the odd frequencies, apparently it's too hard to make them both 30 minutes and maybe have them interline

[downbeat]

I just noticed the data for the next signup is now visible on Transit55.

[downbeat]

Seeing the blocks has allowed me to do a deeper dive into the unadvertised weekday changes on Route 1. If you’re not interested in minutiae, I suggest you skip this post.

It looks like Calgary Transit tightened the schedule, allowing them to run the route with only 8 buses instead of 9. (Not counting the p.m. Crowchild Trail-downtown short run)
• 9x20 minutes = 180 minutes round trip, including layovers
• 8x22 minutes = 176 minutes round trip, including layovers

Not only is the schedule tighter but the breaks at the ends of the route are slightly longer (outside of rush hour, anyway). During the daytime, the turnaround time is currently 8 minutes. This will rise to about 11.

In the evening and at night, the layovers at the endpoints are as long as 20 minutes, which should make the route much more resilient when there are delays. Currently, with 6 buses on a headway of 26 minutes, anything more than the slightest problem or delay will cause buses to go horrendously off schedule for the rest of the night, barring a short turn. (The current evening service pattern doesn’t really make sense, seeing how on the weekend, it takes 7 buses to offer service every 25 minutes.)

The best change: Dwell time downtown has been shortened to a couple of minutes, instead of about 5 or 6 currently. This should theoretically improve cross-town trips considerably. 

Half the runs are all-day keys, so I presume there won’t be more than 4 articulated buses assigned to the route on a regular bases.

Going eastbound, the new 22-minute all-day schedule is an improvement in the early morning, where buses currently only run every 25-30 minutes at the start of service.

[Calgary transit fan]

Does anyone think the Winnipegers will get the red seats?

[downbeat]

Some more transit news I missed from a few days ago: Calgary Transit says ridership is nearing pre-pandemic levels faster than expected

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/calgary-transit-says-ridership-is-nearing-pre-pandemic-levels-faster-than-expected

[Calgary transit fan]

4 hours ago, downbeat said:

Some more transit news I missed from a few days ago: Calgary Transit says ridership is nearing pre-pandemic levels faster than expected

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/calgary-transit-says-ridership-is-nearing-pre-pandemic-levels-faster-than-expected

I wonder if this will soon make 4 car trains be back on the blue line

[Transit Apologist]

4 hours ago, downbeat said:

Some more transit news I missed from a few days ago: Calgary Transit says ridership is nearing pre-pandemic levels faster than expected

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/calgary-transit-says-ridership-is-nearing-pre-pandemic-levels-faster-than-expected

On a related note: Calgary’s January CTrain ridership surpasses pre-pandemic levels (Livewire) 

“January 2023 saw 7,244,600 passengers board trains and 3,693,500 on buses. The pre-pandemic month of January 2019 saw 6,960,000 passengers use the city’s LRT lines and 5,928,800 use busses.”

[PartiallySD]

Good lord, the 82 was just graced with every PR announcement known to man. I was aware of “Move to the back”, and “Please remember to take articles when leaving the bus”, but I have never once heard;

- Watch your step

- Steps may be slippery

- Eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited on the bus 

- Please keep the aisle clear of personal articles

- Please take backpacks off while on the bus

 

How many of these are at an op’s disposal?

[downbeat]

5 minutes ago, PartiallySD said:

Please take backpacks off while on the bus

This one should be standard! Aboard trains too.

[green_line_26]

1 hour ago, downbeat said:

This one should be standard! Aboard trains too.

I wish the trains had normal luggage racks to throw a backpack on when it's busier. Maybe LRVs are too narrow or low ceiling or something 

[D40LF]

19 hours ago, PartiallySD said:

Good lord, the 82 was just graced with every PR announcement known to man. I was aware of “Move to the back”, and “Please remember to take articles when leaving the bus”, but I have never once heard;

- Watch your step

- Steps may be slippery

- Eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited on the bus 

- Please keep the aisle clear of personal articles

- Please take backpacks off while on the bus

 

How many of these are at an op’s disposal?

So is eating on the bus not allowed again? A year or so before I left CT they decided to allow it.

[BC_YYC]

16 minutes ago, D40LF said:

So is eating on the bus not allowed again? A year or so before I left CT they decided to allow it.

I believe eating on the bus/train is still allowed, as I have never seen such a rule be enforced. They most likely have that announcement there because of the rule existing at one point and they don't care enough to remove it. 

[Nick B]

Could EB 32 Ave/26 St NE possibly hold the honorable title of the worst bus stop in all of Calgary? 4 steps to access it from the main paved sidewalk, almost nonexistent waiting space, shelter is atop a raised platform and opens up to a gnarly 2-foot drop thanks to a missing panel (which in turn is a mere 2 feet from a busy lane of traffic). Admittedly I Parkour-jumped into and out of the shelter via said drop just for fun, try doing that with a wheelchair or mobility aid though 

Agency has been advised of this safety issue.

[TimmyC62]

At least there's a bench at sidewalk level and the "sidewalk" goes all the way to the intersection!

 

No such luck with the one at 12th st! https://goo.gl/maps/ZYMXuWUUKbLwzraf6

[Nick B]

13 minutes ago, TimmyC62 said:

At least there's a bench at sidewalk level and the "sidewalk" goes all the way to the intersection!

 

No such luck with the one at 12th st! https://goo.gl/maps/ZYMXuWUUKbLwzraf6

 

Well, those stairs do have a railing 

[2102]

I still believe SB Crowchild Tr @ 17 Ave SW is the worst in the city. Before it was removed, NB Crowchild Tr @ 9 Ave NW would've been the best contender for that title

[Mark Walton]

On 3/10/2023 at 5:37 PM, PartiallySD said:

Good lord, the 82 was just graced with every PR announcement known to man. I was aware of “Move to the back”, and “Please remember to take articles when leaving the bus”, but I have never once heard;

- Watch your step

- Steps may be slippery

- Eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited on the bus 

- Please keep the aisle clear of personal articles

 Please take backpacks off while on the bus

How many of these are at an op’s disposal?

There should also be one for "Please stand clear of the doors".

[Bonnybrook_Rd]

On 3/10/2023 at 3:37 PM, PartiallySD said:

Good lord, the 82 was just graced with every PR announcement known to man. I was aware of “Move to the back”, and “Please remember to take articles when leaving the bus”, but I have never once heard;

- Watch your step

- Steps may be slippery

- Eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited on the bus 

- Please keep the aisle clear of personal articles

- Please take backpacks off while on the bus

 

How many of these are at an op’s disposal?

On the topic of those PR announcements, how much effort does it take to broadcast one? I once had an artic operator who played the "Be sure you have all your personal belongings before exiting the bus. " announcement at every stop (school express route so it was very often) and it seems repetitive do so manually. Is there some kind of automatic system for playing them once the bus stops?

[LRT]

8 minutes ago, Bonnybrook_Rd said:

On the topic of those PR announcements, how much effort does it take to broadcast one? I once had an artic operator who played the "Be sure you have all your personal belongings before exiting the bus. " announcement at every stop (school express route so it was very often) and it seems repetitive do so manually. Is there some kind of automatic system for playing them once the bus stops?

It’s a pain in the ass (for me) you need to organize yourself with the system and you can only play the messages when the bus isn’t moving. 

[Gsgeek540]

20 hours ago, Bonnybrook_Rd said:

On the topic of those PR announcements, how much effort does it take to broadcast one?

Bus has to be stopped for more than three seconds in order for the CAD screen to unlock and then it is 6 or 7 button pushes, through multiple menus to get to the annunciator.

[D40LF]

On 3/14/2023 at 3:16 PM, 2102 said:

I still believe SB Crowchild Tr @ 17 Ave SW is the worst in the city. Before it was removed, NB Crowchild Tr @ 9 Ave NW would've been the best contender for that title

For me, as an op, the worst one in the city was the stop on NB Crowchild at Glenmore. You had to fight traffic over to service that island and then fight your way back so you could get to 54th Ave. Some of the car drivers were real a**h****, especially at rush hour.

1 hour ago, Gsgeek540 said:

Bus has to be stopped for more than three seconds in order for the CAD screen to unlock and then it is 6 or 7 button pushes, through multiple menus to get to the annunciator.

That is why you used to hear me call in 10-12 instead of doing it through CAD. By the time you stopped and found the selection it was time to move again. Best part was when you stopped the next time the system would reset so you would have to go through all those selections again. It was just not worth it.

[Gsgeek540]

13 hours ago, D40LF said:

That is why you used to hear me call in 10-12 instead of doing it through CAD. By the time you stopped and found the selection it was time to move again. Best part was when you stopped the next time the system would reset so you would have to go through all those selections again. It was just not worth it.

The only way to enter an overload now is operators in real time on CAD. There is alot of data documented and tracked through CAD when it comes to overloads. Controllers are unable to input overloads.

[D40LF]

10 hours ago, Gsgeek540 said:

The only way to enter an overload now is operators in real time on CAD. There is alot of data documented and tracked through CAD when it comes to overloads. Controllers are unable to input overloads.

I imagine that a lot no longer get called in, unless the changed the interface and it is now easier to do it via CAD.