MiWay

[YYZ Rampdog]

I guess they better get the Blue Buses back on Express. The 6:56 109 didn't show up at MTC this morning. Third time this year.

[Gil]

I guess they better get the Blue Buses back on Express. The 6:56 109 didn't show up at MTC this morning. Third time this year.

I have seen on occasion orange MiLocal buses running and signed for express routes. Either there weren't enough to go around or there could have been some sort of tie-up with getting buses back to Meadowvale Town Centre.

While on Meadowvale, an observation I posted in the Sightings thread:

An observation with the external announcements with hyphenated routes like the 87, 76 or 43 is that there's a really long pause at the hyphen so that it sounds like "Route 87 North Meadowvale . . . Skymark to Meadowvale" I don't really like the generalization of "Meadowvale" are they referring to Town Centre? GO station? Boulevard? Theatre? Secondary School? Community Centre/Library (post-rennovation)? The historic Village or the suburban sprawl? Coupled with the numerous routes that have Meadowvale in their names can get somewhat confusing!

[Tramguy]

Hindsight is always 100% MT should have stuck with the orange and white colours. That challenge solved! Then people would be forced to read the destination signs. Good for colour blind persons too. lol

[Gil]

Hindsight is always 100% MT should have stuck with the orange and white colours. That challenge solved! Then people would be forced to read the destination signs. Good for colour blind persons too. lol

This is probably a case of "well everyone else is doing it..." with VIVA, Züm and now DRT's Pulse. Would it be easier to wrap a bus orange or blue rather than getting the livery done if it's going to be a short-term problem if they wanted to maintain the brand identities? How about if we limited the wrapped buses to just the express routes too? Don't know if that'd affect ad revenue or not as the exposure would be limited to certain corridors. On the other hand, your ad would be associated with express service.

Still a mystery what that purple was for from the earlier version of the MiWay website. It's gone now, but it did raise a few eyebrows when they announced the blue MiExpress buses.

[TransferCutter]

The 6:56 109 didn't show up at MTC this morning. Third time this year.

Could be due to the limited amount of report and circle check time given. If the driver is the type that punches in at the last minute and there is a long slow line due to the allocator, then that driver will be late in getting on the road. When they call control they will be told to plug in on schedule and this will mean no service at MDVL. Most drivers will report 10-15 minutes early due to the long line up at CP allocation but there are a few who won't give the company an extra second. They punch in on time but will be late out on the road due to the line.

[GM artic 5001]

Could be due to the limited amount of report and circle check time given. If the driver is the type that punches in at the last minute and there is a long slow line due to the allocator, then that driver will be late in getting on the road. When they call control they will be told to plug in on schedule and this will mean no service at MDVL. Most drivers will report 10-15 minutes early due to the long line up at CP allocation but there are a few who won't give the company an extra second. They punch in on time but will be late out on the road due to the line.

Maybe it's time to go TTC style and dispatch buses on a big board so there is no line ups. This problem doesn't exist at TTC.

[Gil]

Maybe it's time to go TTC style and dispatch buses on a big board so there is no line ups. This problem doesn't exist at TTC.

Could it be also that the majority of the buses in the fleet are stored in one location? With that many routes needing to get covered out of Central Parkway there'd undoubtedly be some traffic getting out of the garage. The TTC has the luxury of having additional garages scattered across the city. I know based on the City's Business Report that the third garage has been deferred until 2018 beyond the scope of the mid-term budgetary process. Any other updates on that front? I seem to recall them scouting for a location in Meadowvale, but since the project is on the back burner could other locations have come up?

[902]

Could it be also that the majority of the buses in the fleet are stored in one location? With that many routes needing to get covered out of Central Parkway there'd undoubtedly be some traffic getting out of the garage. The TTC has the luxury of having additional garages scattered across the city. I know based on the City's Business Report that the third garage has been deferred until 2018 beyond the scope of the mid-term budgetary process. Any other updates on that front? I seem to recall them scouting for a location in Meadowvale, but since the project is on the back burner could other locations have come up?

I don't see how that would make a difference, Most of the TTC's garages hold more buses then Central Parkway and we still don't have that issue. Like Mr. Artic said we don't wait in line to get a bus. I'm surprised Miway does it like that.

That is insane, wow. Looks like City Hall needs to start firing some people. To refuse to use spare buses while riders get stranded because of bus shortages, that's just unbelievably stupid.

Why is it whenever there's a problem you always jump to the conclusion that people need to get fired over it? I didn't realize you were perfect and never make mistakes. Chill out!

Yes on paper it makes sense to use spare buses regardless if they are local or express but if you put a Blue Express on a local route you are going to cause confusion. Maybe not as much if its the only bus route along that street but try doing that on Dundas coming out of Islington. There's 10+ routes along Dundas. Put a Blue bus on the 35 and see how many people wave it off.

[rob9701]

Blue or orange there's a sign above the windshield that shows the route and where the bus is going. It's easier to understand if there's a couple of blue buses held back as spares for the express routes. But if there's a whole row of them that could be used to replace a bus that conked on Lakeshore or Mississauga Road or Glen Erin maybe breaking the rule might be the right thing to do in protecting/enhancing the reputation of the regular service.

[TransferCutter]

.

[ngdvd]

Why is it whenever there's a problem you always jump to the conclusion that people need to get fired over it? I didn't realize you were perfect and never make mistakes. Chill out!

Yes on paper it makes sense to use spare buses regardless if they are local or express but if you put a Blue Express on a local route you are going to cause confusion. Maybe not as much if its the only bus route along that street but try doing that on Dundas coming out of Islington. There's 10+ routes along Dundas. Put a Blue bus on the 35 and see how many people wave it off.

They're cancelling trips on the 35 Eglinton, a route that mostly serves Eglinton, and completely eliminating any chance for the riders along the entire route from taking those trips, to prevent a few people on Dundas from missing that chance? In other words, MiWay's solution to prevent certain people from missing any buses is to simply not provide any buses for them and for others? That is completely and utterly insane. What the hell.

[ngdvd]

Huh? Please stop posting like an idiot! Thanks.

The only reason why a run would be canceled is there are no buses left in the active lanes of the garage. I've seen a 30 footer on the 1 last year.

You haven't been reading the thread have you? Or even read my post or what I was reesponding to? Stop being a retard, thanks.

[Tramguy]

Friday: 0154 dead eastbound Burnhamthorpe at Central Parkway at 9:45 AM.

Saturday: 0334 dead at Islington Station at 3:45 PM.

[lip]

Friday: 0154 dead eastbound Burnhamthorpe at Central Parkway at 9:45 AM.

I think that this may be the end of the line for 0154...

[Chris W]

I think that this may be the end of the line for 0154...

Not necessarily. It could be back in service on Monday. You never know.

[MiExpress]

1003 on the 23 today. At least they didn't just cancel the run!

[Gil]

The new System Maps are out with the March Service Changes:

Weekday

Express

Saturday

Sunday/Holiday

The new maps still have the missing express stop roundels even though they are labelled on the Express Map and on the Eastgate & Tomken stops on the 107 and 109.

The routing for the 55 MEYERSIDE LOOP looks odd. Aside from the old 5B it continues west of Dixie to Ordan, south to Meyerside and then back to Dixie. The odd part is what appears to be a double loop with buses turning both west and east at Bonhill and Trinity. I can't tell if it first loops back onto Dixie and then continues on the 5B looping east on Trinity.

The March miTransit brochure isn't available just yet along with the online route schedules and maps. I guess we'll just have to wait it out!

[Sid]

The service change text is also up. It's quite sneaky regarding the service reduction on the 1, especially considering the 50% cut for late night service.

[YYZ Rampdog]

1057 broke down across from Sheridan Center this morning.

[Gil]

Was hoping to pick up a 2013 MiGuide from City Centre before the new 2014 ones came out. The one I got was dated January 27, 2014. Coinciding with the fare increase. However, the map inside was dated from September 2, 2013. Will they be releasing another version with the March changes and probably the implementation of the eastern busway? Or is it like Brampton Transit where they only produce them once a year?

[Doppelkupplung]

Serious service changes! I'll be happy to see the 101 running all day. What will happen to all the 201 runs? Will they be replaced with the 101?

1313 died today at North Service road.

Something odd, you won't believe it but 0152 was called up from retirement to serve the 1C today! Strange! Any comments on that?

[lip]

Serious service changes! I'll be happy to see the 101 running all day. What will happen to all the 201 runs? Will they be replaced with the 101?

There will no longer be a 201 once the service changes have been implemented. The 201 is essentially the 101, while the 101a runs to Laird/Vega.

[Doppelkupplung]

0152 was never retired.

0152 and 0154 are active till their MTO's expire.

Oh, sorry my bad. I thought it was just 0154 that was left.

[MT0603]

Oh, sorry my bad. I thought it was just 0154 that was left.

I don't blame you, 0152 hadn't been spotted in service in well over a month. It is on the 1 today as well. Haven't seen 0154 since it was last reported broken down a couple weeks ago.

Their MTO stickers expire at the end of March.

I rode 0154 at the beginning of January and it seemed pretty solid, at 13 years old they've held up much better than their 1997 counterparts did.

[Doppelkupplung]

I don't blame you, 0152 hadn't been spotted in service in well over a month. It is on the 1 today as well. Haven't seen 0154 since it was last reported broken down a couple weeks ago.

Their MTO stickers expire at the end of March.

I rode 0154 at the beginning of January and it seemed pretty solid, at 13 years old they've held up much better than their 1997 counterparts did.

When were the '97 60 footers retired?