MiWay

[Someguy3071]

3 hours ago, drum118 said:

Sorry, but it doesn't work that way at MT. Like it or not, its a pure BS decision and a poor one at that considering the 10's of 1,000's buses on the road in NA. I haven't heard of another system doing this or have issues as this. Rode 6 systems on the east coast this summer as well talked to a few systems personnel that were not drivers and nothing was stated like MT issues and before MT issue. What about the world?? Why are manufactures still building buses this way if there a safety issue with these seats?? 

 

So how is whining about it here going to change anything? 

3 hours ago, drum118 said:

Sorry, but far too many drivers have a lead foot regardless which system it is that you are toss around when coming to a stop. One of the 2 drivers for MT gave you a nice toss as well 4 TTC bus and one streetcar driver on Sunday. The other TTC drivers were ok.

I'm rolling my eyes at this comment. People complain that bus is slow. People complain bus is driving too fast.  Not all buses drive or brake the same. But as a passenger if you're not seated, you should be holding a stanchion whenever that vehicle is moving. 

[lip]

14 minutes ago, Someguy3071 said:

So how is whining about it here going to change anything?

I think you missed the point that this is a "discussion board". Where points/ideas/topics are discussed. If you want to classify it as whining than by all means go ahead.

[Doppelkupplung]

I’m sure they did it for liability reasons. Blocking out seats like they’re doing on the rear bench is only reducing total bus capacity, which obviously restricts revenue.  Someone must have obviously been thrown from the seat, and at the end of the day an injury is an injury, and they can argue that the exact same thing could happen to them riding any other MT bus. 
 

I think we’re all scratching our heads at this one, but what I’m saying is they must’ve done it for a reason, because removing seats is not in their best interests.

[ZümmyZüm]

1 hour ago, Doppelkupplung said:

I’m sure they did it for liability reasons. Blocking out seats like they’re doing on the rear bench is only reducing total bus capacity, which obviously restricts revenue.  Someone must have obviously been thrown from the seat, and at the end of the day an injury is an injury, and they can argue that the exact same thing could happen to them riding any other MT bus. 
 

I think we’re all scratching our heads at this one, but what I’m saying is they must’ve done it for a reason, because removing seats is not in their best interests.

Pretty much all it comes down to is risk assessment. Miway had an incident. The risk assessment/insurance department likely had to pay out to a passenger and someone somewhere said “instead of us dealing with this again, let’s just get rid of the risk” 

every major TA has a risk assessment department, some just have better things to do with their day and in reality miway is quite small so they’re able to focus on the “less” important issues a company such as the TTC would choose to not bother with 

just pretend you’re riding an Orion V without the middle seats 

 

[Doppelkupplung]

1 hour ago, ZümmyZüm said:

Pretty much all it comes down to is risk assessment. Miway had an incident. The risk assessment/insurance department likely had to pay out to a passenger and someone somewhere said “instead of us dealing with this again, let’s just get rid of the risk” 

every major TA has a risk assessment department, some just have better things to do with their day and in reality miway is quite small so they’re able to focus on the “less” important issues a company such as the TTC would choose to not bother with 

just pretend you’re riding an Orion V without the middle seats 

 

Exactly; its not worth paying out settlements and etc. over the losses of a few seats. 

That last line gives me a chuckle...reminded me of TTC's DD Orion 7s with their booster seat in the middle. Your feet couldn't even touch the ground if the bus performed an emergency brake. How things have changed. 

[PrimeTio]

The garage looks 50% complete, it’s located south of the 407 on the border of Brampton and Mississauga https://bddy.me/2W5hlic

[Gil]

On 9/21/2021 at 11:20 AM, ZümmyZüm said:

Pretty much all it comes down to is risk assessment. Miway had an incident. The risk assessment/insurance department likely had to pay out to a passenger and someone somewhere said “instead of us dealing with this again, let’s just get rid of the risk” 

every major TA has a risk assessment department, some just have better things to do with their day and in reality miway is quite small so they’re able to focus on the “less” important issues a company such as the TTC would choose to not bother with 

just pretend you’re riding an Orion V without the middle seats 

 

It was either a risk assessment from a passenger injury and MiWay is looking to avoid further payouts or the passenger injury escalated (think Lepofsky and the TTC) and they were forced to remove those seats from service until they could be retrofitted.

On 9/16/2021 at 11:07 PM, Gil said:

With the Churchill Meadows Community Centre finally set to open next week, will that get the route restructuring in the Lisgar and Churchill Meadows back on track?  Pre-pandemic it was originally slated for October 2020 (see the excerpt from the 2020 Annual Service Plan below as a refresher).  Currently there is no way to directly access the new community centre by transit once it opens.  It'll require a bit of a walk from the Ninth Line and Erin Centre stop to get to.

...

So it looks like they just deferred this plan by a year, but it remains to see if it will be implemented as originally planned or if they've come up with other revisions in the mean time.  I'm thinking the recent elimination of Saturday service on the 90 TERRAGAR-COPENHAGEN might be partly foreshadowing the upcoming Service Change.  Would a rush hour extension into Lisgar GO like the 32 LISGAR GO shuttle be a possibility here?  I don't know what the schedules for the proposed 50 LISGAR-CHURCHILL MEADOWS looks like if there's enough room to make the extension vs. reinstating the 32 LISGAR GO when demand returns.

Now when service begins to the Churchill Meadows Community Centre how will that be displayed on the destos?  It's up there for length (one letter shorter than Mississauga Valley!) especially for the side desto.  Churchill Meadows is already a street in the neighbourhood one "block" east and signing it to simply Churchill Meadows might cause confusion (Meadowvale anyone?).  Ninth Line wouldn't convey the change to the 35 EGLINTON as that's what it's already signed as westbound.  Likely Churchill Meadows CC on the front and some abbreviated form (Ch'hill Meadows CC like with the older destos when service first began in the area and the 49 McDOWELL was originally the 49 CHURCHILL MEADOWS). 

MiWay seems to like really long hyphenated route names which then runs into the problem of cramming them onto the destos even with the newer models.  The restructured 10 BRISTOL-BRITANNIA has had much (half?) of its Britannia segment eliminated only running between Erin Mills and River Grove.  The side desto only reads 10 BRISTOL while the front reads 10 BRISTOL-BRITANNIA.  The 43 MATHESON-ARGENTIA gets truncated on the side desto to 43 MATH-ARGEN which was seemingly required after the western end of the route was changed to serve Argentia so the 27 MATHESON was abandoned.  A number or name change should be enough to convey the change.  A brand new identity seems like overkill. 

Conversely, the 9 has gone through a bunch of name changes over its history STREETSVILLE, RATHBURN-WINDWOOD, RATHBURN-THOMAS without the complete identity overhaul, perhaps due to its historic longevity.  Personally, I think the RATHBURN portion of the name is redundant and potentially confusing with another existing RATHBURN route (which has since been extended to cover the entire length of its namesake street).  Flipping the order of the name to THOMAS-RATHBURN would probably fix that in my mind and would also make it sound like a person's name!  Thomas is also the longer of the two segments of the route, which will only get longer once the extension to the new community centre takes effect.

[drum118]

Starting next months and the rest of the year, routes 3 & 8 will see temporary detour with the closure of Elm Dr due to work on the LRT. As to how long the detour will be and when is unknown, but short time frame for notification for these changes will happen as needed.

Off hand will say a few weeks at times.

[PrimeTio]

1359 had another fire today at Central Parkway. Right now CP is closed and there parking buses outside on the street.

 

(no one was hurt)

[anyfong]

5 hours ago, SpadinaAve2134 said:

1359 had another fire today at Central Parkway. Right now CP is closed and there parking buses outside on the street.

 

(no one was hurt)

Second MiWay bus fire in the same week! Crazy.

[PrimeTio]

5 hours ago, anyfong said:

Second MiWay bus fire in the same week! Crazy.

This same unit had another fire back when it was new, it was taken out of service for about a year, and was fixed in Arnprior I believe.

[MiExpress]

On 9/16/2021 at 11:07 PM, Gil said:

With the Churchill Meadows Community Centre finally set to open next week, will that get the route restructuring in the Lisgar and Churchill Meadows back on track?  Pre-pandemic it was originally slated for October 2020 (see the excerpt from the 2020 Annual Service Plan below as a refresher).  Currently there is no way to directly access the new community centre by transit once it opens.  It'll require a bit of a walk from the Ninth Line and Erin Centre stop to get to.

At the rate things are being planned along Ninth Line (and probably better to implement once all of the road improvements are completed) it might make some sense to have a route running down it from either Meadowvale Town Centre or Lisgar GO down to the proposed terminal in the Laird/Vega area.  It doesn't make much sense for Oakville Transit to service Ninth Line from a network connectivity standpoint unless it gets extended further south along Ford Dr. into Clarkson GO.  Peak period to start and increase service as ridership builds.

My understanding is while the 50 is still part of the plans, it will not be introduced with this round of service changes and the 39 will still go to Meadowvale Town Centre.

The 9 and 35 will serve the community centre however, route 9 will use Churchill Meadows to Erin Centre and then up Ninth Line, this routing may be temporary until route 50 is eventually introduced. Route 35 will have the 35A branch eliminated and all trips will go to the community centre.

In addition, route 49 won't have any routing changes but service is being cut back to only operate from 10am to 8pm rather than the current 530am to 1100pm span.

Unrelated to the Churchill Meadows changes, the 66 will finally get improved weekend service with 20-22 minute service all day on both Saturdays and Sundays. Currently only Saturday midday service has 22 minute service with 30 minute service at all other times.

---

In other news, some interesting reports for next week's committee meetings:

MiWay 2022 and 2023 Bus Procurement, Subject to ICIP-MIS-01 Funding Approval

Approval is being requested for the city's portion of the bus replacement program funded through 2027 through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Fund. This will allow the 2022 and 2023 buses to be procured as soon as the ICIP funding announcement is made without any delay. The city has been waiting two years for the funding to be confirmed.

Included in the report is a updated fleet procurement/replacement schedule. A few takeaways:

• 2022 and 2023 will be when all the 2003-2006 D40LF/R buses are replaced. 2024 looks like the 2008 D40LFRs being replaced and then from there, a more normal replacement cycle based on 15 years for 40' buses and 12 years for 60' buses.
• The 2010 D60LFR buses will be replaced in 2023 rather than 2022 as planned to smooth out purchases. Given the lower mileage and usage profile on these buses compared to the 40' MiExpress buses, this is not a surprising move.
• 16 MiLocal 60' buses are being purchased for 2022 replacing 40' buses, representing an expansion of the articulated bus fleet. 8 additional 60' MiLocal buses are being purchased in 2024.
• The total amount of buses being purchased in 2022 and 2023 is 165 buses -  127 MiLocal 40' buses, 16 MiLocal 60' buses (143 total) and 22 MiExpress 60' buses (replacing 2010 D60LFRs). In addition there are 10 MiLocal 40' Fuel Cell buses being purchased for 2023 delivery (not covered in this update)
• Of the 169 2003-2006 D40LF/R buses, 42 have already been decommissioned with most not being officially replaced due to reduced service requirements due to COVID-19.
• All buses purchased from now until 2027-2028 will be hybrid buses. 2028 is the target year for the city to begin purchasing exclusively zero emission buses.

MiWay Fare Strategy - 2022

MiWay's 2022 fare strategy will see no increases to fares (outside the UPass program and charter rates) to encourage ridership recovery. Adult monthly passes are proposed to be reduced by $4 from $135 to $131 to provide better value for adult passholders and also to move towards similar pricing as Brampton due to the upcoming Hurontario LRT launch.

Also, the senior $1 off peak fare will be available on PRESTO beginning in spring 2022. 

[PrimeTio]

2 hours ago, MiExpress said:

My understanding is while the 50 is still part of the plans, it will not be introduced with this round of service changes and the 39 will still go to Meadowvale Town Centre.

The 9 and 35 will serve the community centre however, route 9 will use Churchill Meadows to Erin Centre and then up Ninth Line, this routing may be temporary until route 50 is eventually introduced. Route 35 will have the 35A branch eliminated and all trips will go to the community centre.

In addition, route 49 won't have any routing changes but service is being cut back to only operate from 10am to 8pm rather than the current 530am to 1100pm span.

Unrelated to the Churchill Meadows changes, the 66 will finally get improved weekend service with 20-22 minute service all day on both Saturdays and Sundays. Currently only Saturday midday service has 22 minute service with 30 minute service at all other times.

---

In other news, some interesting reports for next week's committee meetings:

MiWay 2022 and 2023 Bus Procurement, Subject to ICIP-MIS-01 Funding Approval

Approval is being requested for the city's portion of the bus replacement program funded through 2027 through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Fund. This will allow the 2022 and 2023 buses to be procured as soon as the ICIP funding announcement is made without any delay. The city has been waiting two years for the funding to be confirmed.

Included in the report is a updated fleet procurement/replacement schedule. A few takeaways:

• 2022 and 2023 will be when all the 2003-2006 D40LF/R buses are replaced. 2024 looks like the 2008 D40LFRs being replaced and then from there, a more normal replacement cycle based on 15 years for 40' buses and 12 years for 60' buses.
• The 2010 D60LFR buses will be replaced in 2023 rather than 2022 as planned to smooth out purchases. Given the lower mileage and usage profile on these buses compared to the 40' MiExpress buses, this is not a surprising move.
• 16 MiLocal 60' buses are being purchased for 2022 replacing 40' buses, representing an expansion of the articulated bus fleet. 8 additional 60' MiLocal buses are being purchased in 2024.
• The total amount of buses being purchased in 2022 and 2023 is 165 buses -  127 MiLocal 40' buses, 16 MiLocal 60' buses (143 total) and 22 MiExpress 60' buses (replacing 2010 D60LFRs). In addition there are 10 MiLocal 40' Fuel Cell buses being purchased for 2023 delivery (not covered in this update)
• Of the 169 2003-2006 D40LF/R buses, 42 have already been decommissioned with most not being officially replaced due to reduced service requirements due to COVID-19.
• All buses purchased from now until 2027-2028 will be hybrid buses. 2028 is the target year for the city to begin purchasing exclusively zero emission buses.

MiWay Fare Strategy - 2022

MiWay's 2022 fare strategy will see no increases to fares (outside the UPass program and charter rates) to encourage ridership recovery. Adult monthly passes are proposed to be reduced by $4 from $135 to $131 to provide better value for adult passholders and also to move towards similar pricing as Brampton due to the upcoming Hurontario LRT launch.

Also, the senior $1 off peak fare will be available on PRESTO beginning in spring 2022. 

Speaking of 2003-2008 buses, has there been any newer retirements in the last few weeks? 

[drum118]

On 9/22/2021 at 1:03 PM, SpadinaAve2134 said:

The garage looks 50% complete, it’s located south of the 407 on the border of Brampton and Mississauga https://bddy.me/2W5hlic

They are in the process of building an LRT bridge over the creek at the west end of the yard and will start on the ROW from there to Terry to Top Flight to Hurontario. This area and south to Matheson will be the test zone for the new LRV's. Some work taking place on the ROW now.

[MiExpress]

MiWay has announced some mid-board period service changes to take effect tomorrow (October 4), ahead of the October 25 service changes. A summary:

• Additional school trips on various MiLocal routes
• Trip time adjustments on school routes 313, 314, 315 and 321
• Trip adjustment on route 7 (4:21am SB trip from Westwood now departs at 4:16am)
• Trip adjustments on route 71 (7:40am and 8:42am trips from Kipling now depart 10 minutes earlier at 7:30am and 8:32am)
• Additional articulated buses will be assigned to specific trips on routes 42 (Saturdays), 51 (weekdays), and 103 (Weekdays)
• Route 25 frequency is reduced to 26 minutes from 13 minutes, going from 2 buses to 1 in both rush hours.
• Route 34 weekday late evening service is eliminated with service ending at approximately 10pm instead of 1:30am. Last trip EB from Erin Mills at 9:59pm, last trip WB from City Centre at 9:25pm)
• Route 11 has it's pre-September runtime reinstated as the new schedule that went into effect on September 6 was completely unrealistic, cutting 12 minutes of round trip time in both rush hours and 9-10 minutes during the midday. As a result buses on the route were constantly falling behind schedule all day. However the 6th rush bus that was cut due to the schedule change is not being reinstated yet which means rush hour frequency will drop from 12 to 14 minutes.

https://www.mississauga.ca/miway-transit/announcements/service-changes-take-effect-on-monday-oct-4-2021/

 

Quote

 

Service changes take effect on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021

MiWay will be implementing service changes on October 4 – ahead of the planned service changes on October 25 – to ensure that our on-street service continues to adapt and respond to customer needs and evolving travel patterns.

As students returned to in-person learning and traffic volumes increased in September, MiWay remains committed to monitoring ridership levels across the transit network.

The following service changes will launch on Monday, October 4, 2021:

1. Adding more service where demand has increased
Trips have been added on the following routes in response to growing demand on routes serving Mississauga secondary schools:

• 2 Hurontario (serving Port Credit Secondary School)
• 3 Bloor (serving Applewood Heights Secondary School)
• 8 Cawthra (serving Cawthra Park Secondary School)
• 13 Glen Erin (serving St. Aloysius Gonzaga and John Fraser Secondary School)
• 23 Lakeshore (additional connecting trip servicing Port Credit Secondary School)
• 26 Burnhamthorpe (serving Glenforest Secondary School)
• 29 Park Royal-Homelands (serving Clarkson Secondary School)
• 36 Colonial Ridgeway (serving Loyola Secondary School)
• 39 Britannia (additional connecting trip)
• 61 Mavis (serving St. Marcellinus Secondary School)

Please check for updated schedules.

2. More passenger carrying capacity on busy corridors
Due to an increase in customer demand, larger articulated buses will be used to provide some trips on these routes to reduce potential overcrowding:

• 51 Tomken (Weekday)
• 42 Derry (Saturday)
• 103 Hurontario Express (Weekday)

3. Trip adjustments will be made on the following routes:

• 7 Airport – to provide earlier weekday AM trips
• 71 Sheridan-Subway – to provide earlier weekday AM trips
• 313 Streetsville Secondary-Meadowvale – to align with high school dismissal times
• 314 Rick Hansen-Creditview – to align with high school dismissal times
• 315 Rick Hansen-City Centre – to align with high school dismissal times
• 321 Stephen Lewis-St. Joan of Arc – to align with high school arrival and dismissal times.

4. Service reductions to match customer demand
Schedules will be adjusted on the routes below; these routes will continue to be monitored for changes in customer demand.

• Route 25 Traders Loop (weekday service frequency reduction)
• Route 34 Credit Valley (weekday evening service cancelled after 8:30pm); customers can use alternate routes 35 Eglinton, Route 9 Rathburn Thomas, or Route 61 Mavis.

Please check for updated schedules.

5. Other schedule adjustments

• Route 11 – Westwood (weekday) to improve service reliability.

Please check for updated schedules.

Next planned service change – Monday, October 25, 2021.

 

 

 

[Gil]

Is it that rare to have a mid-board period service change with the ones that were hastily announced for October 4?  I think I first saw the notice for it the Thursday or Friday before.  There were also several school trips which were included in the Service Change whose departure times were adjusted to better match the afternoon dismissal.  Wouldn't they have been worked out with the school boards before the school year started, or was the issue so pressing that they couldn't wait until the regular Service Change on October 25?

Anyway, the October 25 Service Changes are now posted (see below) along with updated Weekday, Express, Saturday and Sunday system maps. 

Service changes take effect on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021

MiWay will be implementing service changes to ensure that our on-street service continues to adapt to customer needs and connect to new destinations.

MiWay is committed to monitoring ridership levels across the transit network as travel patterns continue to evolve in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery framework.

The following service changes will launch on Monday, October 25, 2021:

1. Routes will be revised and schedules will be updated to service the new Churchill Meadows Community Centre

• 9 Rathburn will service (Mon to Sun) the Churchill Meadows Community Centre via Erin Centre Blvd and Ninth Line.
• 35 Eglinton will service (Mon to Sun) the Churchill Meadows Community Centre via Erin Centre Blvd and Ninth Line.
• 35A Eglinton-Tenth Line will be cancelled to avoid service duplication. Service coverage will be provided by the revised Route 35 – Eglinton.

2. Reducing service where demand has decreased

• 49A McDowell-Streetsville GO will be cancelled due to low ridership demand. Customers can take Route 9 Rathburn to the Streetsville GO Station.
• Route 49 McDowell will continue to operate on weekdays with revised hours of service (10:00 AM to 8:00 PM).

Please check for updated schedules.

3. Adding more service where demand has increased
   There will be more trips on these routes:

• Weekday: 42 Derry (late night), 51 Tomken (rush hours and midday), and 53 Kennedy (rush hours and midday)
• Saturday: 66 McLaughlin (morning)
• Sunday: 22 Finch (all day), 42 Derry (all day), and 66 McLaughlin (all day).

The hours of service will be extended on these routes:

• Weekday: 103 Hurontario
• Saturday: 23 Lakeshore, 26 Burnhamthorpe, and 39 Britannia
• Sunday: 1 Dundas, 5 Dixie, 11 Westwood, 17 Hurontario, 26 Burnhamthorpe, 39 Britannia, 42 Derry, and 103 Hurontario.

Please check for updated schedules.

4. Schedule Adjustments to Improve Service Reliability
   Schedules will be adjusted on these routes in response to changes in traffic conditions:

• Weekday: Routes 3 Bloor, 10 Bristol-Britannia, 26 Burhamthrope, and 46 Tenth Line-Osprey.
• Saturday: Route 39 Britannia.

Please check for updated schedules.

5. Revised Weekend Service to Sheridan College

• Route 61 Mavis weekend routing and schedules will change to service Sheridan College seven days a week. The weekend routing will be consistent with the weekday routing.

6. Platform changes at the Westwood Square Transit Terminal

Bus stop locations will change at this terminal to support service delivery using more, 60-foot articulated buses on Derry Road.

• 11 Westwood moves to Platform B (from Platform J)
• 16/16A Malton moves to Platform E (from Platform H)
• 42/42A Derry moves Platform H (from Platform
• 107 Malton Express: Platform K is renamed Platform I (same location on Morning Star Drive – stop #7100)

Westwood Square Transit Terminal revised map.

Next planned service change – Monday, October 25, 2021.

I guess the Meadowvale Village/Financial portion the weekend 61 MAVIS was another victim of reduced ridership.  I don't foresee the 57 COURTNEYPARK seeing weekend service any time soon.  Perhaps once the Hurontario LRT is up and running as a feeder service?  Though I'm not quite sure how well used the eastern half of the route would be on weekends.

I did also report their typo on the next planned service change being the date of the one being reported on.  I did not however catch their listing the 9 as 9 RATHBURN (again, one of the reasons to avoid repetitive route names) instead of the hyphenated 9 RATHBURN-THOMAS. 

There is also a page on the new service to the Churchill Meadows Community Centre (see below).  According to the new route maps for the 9 RATHBURN-THOMAS and 35 EGLINTON they will display Churchill Meadows Community Centre on their desto, but likely shortened to Churchill Meadows CC though the system maps simply identify it as Churchill Meadows with the community centre icon beside it.

The 49A McDOWELL-STREETSVILLE GO was the last of the GO shuttle routes to get axed.  I think it survived this long by virtue of it being a rush hour variant of a regular route rather than being a standalone route.  GO has restored all of the train trips on the Milton Line, but has rejigged them so that the trains are more evenly spaced.  If ridership to the stations ever returns to pre-pandemic levels it may be easier for MiWay to serve with the GO shuttles since the trains are at an even headway.

Service to Churchill Meadows Community Centre and Sports Park starts on Oct. 25

MiWay will be revising routes 9 Rathburn-Thomas and 35 Eglinton to service the new community centre, located at 5320 Ninth Line.

You can load your PRESTO card inside the community centre during facility operating hours.

The routing changes, effective October 25, are summarized below:

Routes	Hours of Service	Service Frequency during Peak Hours
Route 9 Rathburn-Thomas will service the Churchill Meadows Community Centre via Erin Centre Blvd and Ninth Line.	Weekday: 5:00am-1:00am Saturday: 7:00am-12:00am Sunday: 7:30am-11:00pm	21 minutes
35 Eglinton will service the Churchill Meadows Community Centre via Erin Centre Blvd and Ninth Line.	Weekday: 5:00am-1:00am Saturday: 7:00am-12:00am Sunday: 7:30am-11:00pm	11 minutes

Service Area Map:

Other service adjustments are summarized below:

• Route 35A Eglinton-Tenth Line will be cancelled to avoid service duplication. Service coverage will be provided by the revised Route 35 – Eglinton.
• 49A McDowell-Streetsville GO will be cancelled due to low ridership demand. Customers can take Route 9 Rathburn to the Streetsville GO Station.
• Route 49 McDowell will continue to operate on weekdays with revised hours of service (10:00 AM to 8:00 PM).

Photo Gallery:

There really isn't any indication where the bus loop is in relation to the new community centre but it's nice to see that it was planned for.

As had been reported earlier MiWay isn't planning a cash fare hike next year and will actually be reducing their adult monthly PRESTO passes to be more in line with Brampton Transit's pass price.  They are also looking to implement a Customer Charter which will among other things report quarterly on customer satisfaction.  I will post an excerpt on ridership levels:

WHERE IS RIDERSHIP NOW?

After years of over 10 per cent growth in ridership numbers and plans expand MiWay service, the pandemic has cut Mississauga transit use down to half of what it was in 2019 for much of the last 18 months.

August 2021 ridership numbers are around 62 per cent of what it was in the same month in 2019.

While still low compared to historic levels, the recent August ridership is significantly higher than earlier in the pandemic.

According to the strategy, October 2020 ridership was 45 per cent of what it was in the same month in 2019.

The city is anticipating that bringing back ridership to something resembling historic levels may take years.

Mississauga.com: No fare hikes: 3 things to know about Mississauga's plans to bring MiWay riders back or the free Outline version

insauga.com: Mississauga residents will pay the same fare to ride the buses in 2022

One particular problem I ran into last week were last-minute detours that weren't communicated to passengers.  When the QEW and South Service Rd. were closed last week I noticed on Transit55 that the 5 DIXIE buses were detouring along Dixie with no service on Ogden but no mention was made on the Service Update page aside from a general announcement about traffic-induced delays or on Twitter.  The second which could have been foreseen was road work being done at the intersection of Erin Mills Pkwy. and Erin Centre Blvd. which prevented buses from making the right-hand turn to access the stop at Erin Mills Town Centre.  (After all of the renovations the mall has been undergoing, they couldn't find a better location for it?!)  Buses were instead using the internal ring road going all the way around the mall to get to the stop.  A bit of an unexpected detour for some of the passengers!

Finally, managed to snap a photo (again, uploaded sideways for some reason) of the sign at the Kipling Terminal outlining how on-street service within Toronto operates.  How much longer until this is rendered obsolete with MiWay's takeover of TTC's 49 BLOOR WEST and 50 BURNHAMTHORPE? 

The Exception 2 example given: 11 WESTWOOD South to 1 DUNDAS West only makes sense if you're trying to get to Dundas and Neilson after transferring at Billingham.  Using one of the Bloor or Burnhamthorpe routes after transferring at Kipling sounds more like a real-life example for second half of Exception 2.

 

2700

[PrimeTio]

A lot of stuff has been going down around MiWay lately mostly regarding the fleet. As for now 2152 is the only 21xx XDE60 on property and got the MiExpress Logo removed. 2151, was spotted in Winnipeg a few days ago by someone on Facebook which I will not be naming. Abubakkar was able to get most of us photos by a friend of his of 2152, (getting the MiExpress Decal removed) 2053, and 2059 at the garage getting repairs to the skirts, and the windows. 2059 seems to have a big hole on the side skirt which could have came from road debris? And 2053 with the window missing beside the 2nd rear door. 1359 should be gone for sometime until it’s fully functional and repaired back to service, since it had a 2nd fire a few weeks back. The first one was during the first week or two? When it arrived from New Flyer and took 1 year to be repaired at Arnprior according to comments on a Facebook group regarding 1352

It’s posted all on Facebook.

[Gil]

Barring another (presumably) weather-related delay temporary platform relocations at the City Centre Transit Terminal are slated to begin this weekend as work progresses on the Hurontario LRT.

This Weekend: Bus Stop Relocations at the City Centre Transit Terminal Starting Saturday, Oct. 23

Starting at 2:30am on Saturday, Oct. 23 and continuing on Sunday, Oct. 24, the bus loop at the City Centre Transit Terminal will be closed due to Hurontario Light Rail Transit construction. All bus stops inside the terminal loop will be temporarily relocated to Rathburn Road.

City Centre Transit Terminal map of bus stop locations for October 23 and 24.

The bus loop is expected to reopen on Monday, October 25 at 4 a.m.; however: when it does, the following changes will be in effect until the end of Friday, November 5:

• Platform A will be closed; and
• The north-south Rathburn pedestrian crossing on the east side of Station Gate Road will be closed. Customers can use the pedestrian crossing on the west side of Station Gate Road to access platforms N and O.

Customers taking Routes 107 Malton Express or 109S Meadowvale Express can board at stop #0085 at Platform L. Platform L is located on Rathburn Road to the west of Platform A.

City Centre Transit Terminal map of bus stop locations for October 25 to November 5.

Platform L on Rathburn Road

More Bus Stop Relocations: October to December
2021

From October to December 2021, bus stops at the City Centre Transit Terminal will continue to be temporarily relocated – in different phases – due to construction on Rathburn Road for the Hurontario Light Rail Transit (LRT) project.

Please watch for posted stop notices.

For more information, visit miway.ca/cctt.

 

For those who can't view the .pdf:

 

 

[MiExpress]

On 9/29/2021 at 4:37 PM, MiExpress said:

My understanding is while the 50 is still part of the plans, it will not be introduced with this round of service changes and the 39 will still go to Meadowvale Town Centre.

The 9 and 35 will serve the community centre however, route 9 will use Churchill Meadows to Erin Centre and then up Ninth Line, this routing may be temporary until route 50 is eventually introduced. Route 35 will have the 35A branch eliminated and all trips will go to the community centre.

In addition, route 49 won't have any routing changes but service is being cut back to only operate from 10am to 8pm rather than the current 530am to 1100pm span.

Unrelated to the Churchill Meadows changes, the 66 will finally get improved weekend service with 20-22 minute service all day on both Saturdays and Sundays. Currently only Saturday midday service has 22 minute service with 30 minute service at all other times.

---

In other news, some interesting reports for next week's committee meetings:

MiWay 2022 and 2023 Bus Procurement, Subject to ICIP-MIS-01 Funding Approval

Approval is being requested for the city's portion of the bus replacement program funded through 2027 through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Fund. This will allow the 2022 and 2023 buses to be procured as soon as the ICIP funding announcement is made without any delay. The city has been waiting two years for the funding to be confirmed.

Included in the report is a updated fleet procurement/replacement schedule. A few takeaways:

• 2022 and 2023 will be when all the 2003-2006 D40LF/R buses are replaced. 2024 looks like the 2008 D40LFRs being replaced and then from there, a more normal replacement cycle based on 15 years for 40' buses and 12 years for 60' buses.
• The 2010 D60LFR buses will be replaced in 2023 rather than 2022 as planned to smooth out purchases. Given the lower mileage and usage profile on these buses compared to the 40' MiExpress buses, this is not a surprising move.
• 16 MiLocal 60' buses are being purchased for 2022 replacing 40' buses, representing an expansion of the articulated bus fleet. 8 additional 60' MiLocal buses are being purchased in 2024.
• The total amount of buses being purchased in 2022 and 2023 is 165 buses -  127 MiLocal 40' buses, 16 MiLocal 60' buses (143 total) and 22 MiExpress 60' buses (replacing 2010 D60LFRs). In addition there are 10 MiLocal 40' Fuel Cell buses being purchased for 2023 delivery (not covered in this update)
• Of the 169 2003-2006 D40LF/R buses, 42 have already been decommissioned with most not being officially replaced due to reduced service requirements due to COVID-19.
• All buses purchased from now until 2027-2028 will be hybrid buses. 2028 is the target year for the city to begin purchasing exclusively zero emission buses.

The tender for the 165 hybrid buses was posted today with a closing date of November 16, so bus procurement is in full swing:

PRC003192
Bid Name:	Manufacture, Supply, Delivery of (165) 2nd Generation Hybrid-Electric Low Floor Buses

https://mississauga.bidsandtenders.ca/Module/Tenders/en/Tender/Detail/58aa7346-c1b5-4f04-844b-4da905feab24

[Baabs]

I feel for the operators of both directions of the 9 having to drive through Middlebury Drive while the roadwork on Erin Mills Prkw is going on. 

It's an absolute mess during drop off and pick up with the school and the speed camera on a 30 zone. Pretty sure the handleful of operators I saw drive by got nabbed by it. 

[drum118]

16 hours ago, Baabs said:

I feel for the operators of both directions of the 9 having to drive through Middlebury Drive while the roadwork on Erin Mills Prkw is going on. 

It's an absolute mess during drop off and pick up with the school and the speed camera on a 30 zone. Pretty sure the handleful of operators I saw drive by got nabbed by it. 

The law is the law and if you don't follow it, you get the ticket.

My route sees drivers doing 10-20 over the limit daily with a few doing more and some at or below the limits. Been on other routes and seen it also. Since cameras are coming to my route has seen a drop in speeding by drivers, but still a number doing more than they should with schools open. This applies to other systems as well.

Far too much speeding by the car folks and look forward to these cameras to start to cut the speeding down.

Its the pit for drivers travelling construction zones as some can change daily and then deal with fool drivers who cut them off or illegal try to pass them.

Took a drive on Finch Ave west of the 400 a few days ago and you will not see me on that road until 2023/24 as its a war zone and worse than Eglinton when the LRT construction was first started. Feel sorry for anyone who has to use it between 27 and 400 as its a real zig zag road with long backup cause by left hand turning. Transit riders have no choice to deal with longer travel time compare to drivers who can bypass the area.

The drivers on 2, 17 and 103 still have another 3 years to deal with the construction of the LRT on Hurontario and only going to get worse in 2022 with the rebuilding of the 403 and 407 bridges. Between Matheson and Top Flight next year, it will be 2 lanes only to allow the building of the guideway as this will be the test zone for the vehicles as well training drivers.

[PrimeTio]

1063 and some other units are receiving new seating railings.

 

 

Also 1785 will be MIA after it was sideswiped on the 35.

 

not my photos

[Gil]

With the new Amazon plant opening up in Clarkson after being rejected from setting up shop in Oakville and given how both the TTC and DRT have diverted their overnight services to serve processing centres in their jurisdictions would MiWay be considering the same?  Granted the overnight service here isn't 7 days a week, but it'd certainly help with some of the employees.

The new processing centre is on Avonhead Rd. southwest of Royal Windsor and Southdown.  It's about a 5 minute walk from Royal Windsor and 15-20 minutes to Clarkson GO.  I don't think the 45 WINSTON CHURCHILL has quite the right criteria for overnight service.  The 13 GLEN ERIN stops short of the processing centre ending at Clarkson GO unless an overnight extension is put in.  I don't know if the site has enough room to accommodate a bus loop seeing as there isn't an easy option for an on-street loop in the area.

If a solution can be found to serve the Clarkson facility, a route running along Erin Mills might not be a bad idea.  I don't know what or if there is a demand for overnight service in the Financial Dr. area, but the route would likely terminate at Meadowvale Town Centre.  There's the Amazon YYZ1 facility at Erin Mills and Millcreek, the Peel Paramedic centre at Thomas, Credit Valley Hospital at Eglinton, the Erin Mills Transitway station if GO's 24-hour route 40 were to stop there, Peel Police 11 Division at Dundas and then the Amazon Clarkson facility at Lakeshore/Royal Windsor.  Granted, staying along Erin Mills/Southdown doesn't serve as many residences, but it should help speed up travel times along the corridor.  I guess the tradeoff is between getting people home overnight vs. hitting potential overnight high ridership nodes.

Ideally, an Erin Mills route would be added in conjunction with another east-west route north of the 403.  Britannia seems a likely candidate since it runs through a lot of industrial areas on the eastern half of the route.  The eventual re-routing of the western terminus to Churchill Meadows Community Centre will cut down on having to run through residential streets overnight.  Derry also fits the same criteria as Britannia.  Eglinton would likely seen as another arterial connection with Credit Valley and Canada Post's Gateway facility being the biggest overnight draws and already has service on the east side with the 7 AIRPORT.

When is the trial period for the overnight service supposed to end?  Or was it extended in light of the pandemic skewing the ridership numbers?  Once ridership recovers, I'd be interested to see where the overnight network expands to next.

[MiExpress]

3 hours ago, Gil said:

With the new Amazon plant opening up in Clarkson after being rejected from setting up shop in Oakville and given how both the TTC and DRT have diverted their overnight services to serve processing centres in their jurisdictions would MiWay be considering the same?  Granted the overnight service here isn't 7 days a week, but it'd certainly help with some of the employees.

The new processing centre is on Avonhead Rd. southwest of Royal Windsor and Southdown.  It's about a 5 minute walk from Royal Windsor and 15-20 minutes to Clarkson GO.  I don't think the 45 WINSTON CHURCHILL has quite the right criteria for overnight service.  The 13 GLEN ERIN stops short of the processing centre ending at Clarkson GO unless an overnight extension is put in.  I don't know if the site has enough room to accommodate a bus loop seeing as there isn't an easy option for an on-street loop in the area.

If a solution can be found to serve the Clarkson facility, a route running along Erin Mills might not be a bad idea.  I don't know what or if there is a demand for overnight service in the Financial Dr. area, but the route would likely terminate at Meadowvale Town Centre.  There's the Amazon YYZ1 facility at Erin Mills and Millcreek, the Peel Paramedic centre at Thomas, Credit Valley Hospital at Eglinton, the Erin Mills Transitway station if GO's 24-hour route 40 were to stop there, Peel Police 11 Division at Dundas and then the Amazon Clarkson facility at Lakeshore/Royal Windsor.  Granted, staying along Erin Mills/Southdown doesn't serve as many residences, but it should help speed up travel times along the corridor.  I guess the tradeoff is between getting people home overnight vs. hitting potential overnight high ridership nodes.

Ideally, an Erin Mills route would be added in conjunction with another east-west route north of the 403.  Britannia seems a likely candidate since it runs through a lot of industrial areas on the eastern half of the route.  The eventual re-routing of the western terminus to Churchill Meadows Community Centre will cut down on having to run through residential streets overnight.  Derry also fits the same criteria as Britannia.  Eglinton would likely seen as another arterial connection with Credit Valley and Canada Post's Gateway facility being the biggest overnight draws and already has service on the east side with the 7 AIRPORT.

When is the trial period for the overnight service supposed to end?  Or was it extended in light of the pandemic skewing the ridership numbers?  Once ridership recovers, I'd be interested to see where the overnight network expands to next.

It's important not to treat all Amazon facilities as the same. As a matter of clarification, the new Amazon facility in Clarkson is a delivery station. These delivery stations are more a "last mile" for Amazon and is where orders are routed to be shipped directly to home, Canada Post locations, Amazon lockers, pick up counters, and the like. These delivery stations do not have the same employment levels as a fulfillment centre would have; the article you linked to references an employment complement of around 100 people while a typical fulfillment centre could have at least 1,500 employees or more. Not only is the employment complement lower it is possible that shift timings are not the same as a Amazon fulfillment centre.

It is possible if there are enough requests that earlier or late trips on the 45 Winston Churchill could be implemented; MiWay has actually been quite proactive on adding earlier and later trips to routes that receive requests especially in employment areas and this practice has continued even during the pandemic. I think given the current employment levels talking about overnight service to this facility is a non-starter.

The overnight service as introduced in April 2019 was never intended as a pilot or trial program and ridership was not the main factor in introducing overnight service, it was more about favorable driver crewing and freeing up storage capacity at the garage. I'm not suggesting that it won't be eliminated or modified in the future especially given the current financial conditions the city finds itself in, just that it shouldn't be viewed through the normal ridership/cost recovery lens as there were other factors in the decision. However, given the financial conditions I would be surprised to see any further expansion of overnight service for the time being. Prior to the pandemic, the overnight service as defined by the trips added in April 2019 were seeing approximately 275 boardings combined across the 4 routes (1, 3, 7, 19).

 

[PrimeTio]

It appears 0301 was involved in a major collision and the front end of the bus was damaged. Occurred on October 22nd while on route 42.