Collingwood Transit

[2822]

10 hours ago, Articulated said:

LINX route 4 already runs 7 days a week...

I wonder if it could justify every 30 minutes during the summer months? 

[GTAmissions1]

17 hours ago, 2822 said:

I wonder if it could justify every 30 minutes during the summer months? 

I have been out along the Route 4 and it definitely attracts a lot of volume. Especially when people travel between this corridor and how Collingwood has a lot of residential development planned and under development. I know one friend who has a home during the summer in that area.

Though I think they should be running a 40 ft bus versus 30 ft. Considering the hourly frequency can be challenging if a passenger cannot be accommodated. The demand is there. It is more of how much of a cost the county is willing to accommodate operating an additional bus. 

[G.A]

Bus 712 has apparently been sold to Wasaga Beach Transit and numbered 59. 

[G.A]

After reading a few articles recently about the transit service be coming on demand and talking with a few of the drivers. Apparently the town only owns 6 buses but they do have 7 on the roster. Did they retire 708 or do they not count it on their roster as it is only used for the Blue Mountain route. One driver did mention that 708 is owned by Blue Mountain and operated by Collingwood. I did not dismiss that thought. I have only seen it in active service a few times before 2021. I did see it sitting in the section where sidelined buses park before auction. Bus 701 was sitting at Public Works as well.

[Shaun]

It would make more sense to extend GO transit to Wasaga Beach and Collingwood with 30min frequency. This way there is a larger pool of equipment and reasources. Plus the GO equipment is better suited for suburban routes.

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

8 hours ago, Shaun said:

It would make more sense to extend GO transit to Wasaga Beach and Collingwood with 30min frequency. This way there is a larger pool of equipment and reasources. Plus the GO equipment is better suited for suburban routes.

I had been advocating for the same reason (for over a decade). 

I heard that the Simcoe County LINX bus offers bus service from Wasaga Beach to Collingwood - but it also runs on weekends. There's also another Simcoe County LINX bus route that runs from Wasaga Beach to Barrie - only problem is, it runs on the weekdays with no weekend/holiday service. That's one gap (and barrier) on getting to/from Blue Mountain for a weekend getaway. 

I actually found this video about two travellers who embarked a journey on getting to Blue Mountain (in Collingwood) by using public transit:

Another thought: if Blue Mountain were to win a bid (one day) on hosting a winter sports event (like the X-Games or the Dew Tour), it would require a significant amount of investment on shuttling not only the athletes and representatives, but crowds as well! 

[TTC Guy]

I spend a good deal of time in the Blue Mountain-Collingwood area throughout the winter, as my family has a place there so I ski almost every weekend. I have strongly considered try to use public transit to get there, with exception of the debilitating LINX route 2 schedule. Another interesting service to check out if you're interested is Grey County Route (GTR) to see their route network.

[Shaun]

15 hours ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

I had been advocating for the same reason (for over a decade). 

I heard that the Simcoe County LINX bus offers bus service from Wasaga Beach to Collingwood - but it also runs on weekends. There's also another Simcoe County LINX bus route that runs from Wasaga Beach to Barrie - only problem is, it runs on the weekdays with no weekend/holiday service. That's one gap (and barrier) on getting to/from Blue Mountain for a weekend getaway. 

I actually found this video about two travellers who embarked a journey on getting to Blue Mountain (in Collingwood) by using public transit:

Another thought: if Blue Mountain were to win a bid (one day) on hosting a winter sports event (like the X-Games or the Dew Tour), it would require a significant amount of investment on shuttling not only the athletes and representatives, but crowds as well! 

The track bed from Barrie is still there and there are places where you can add a passing tracks. 

The easiest thing to do right now would be to extend GO to Owen sound along 26.

Why didn't Hammond or someone else take over the Greyhound route?

[Articulated]

1 hour ago, Shaun said:

The track bed from Barrie is still there and there are places where you can add a passing tracks. 

The easiest thing to do right now would be to extend GO to Owen sound along 26.

Why didn't Hammond or someone else take over the Greyhound route?

Because no other company decided to operate there, is the simple answer.

There are also provincially-subsidized local routes already along the corridor - LINX between Barrie/Wasaga Beach/Collingwood, and GTR between Collingwood/Blue Mountain/Meaford/Owen Sound. A private company wouldn't want to compete with another service, and especially not one which can operate at a lower fare (or lower break-even point) due to the subsidies.

Greyhound was only operating one trip per direction per day - that tells me it wasn't a super profitable service they had.

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

2 hours ago, Articulated said:

Because no other company decided to operate there, is the simple answer.

There are also provincially-subsidized local routes already along the corridor - LINX between Barrie/Wasaga Beach/Collingwood, and GTR between Collingwood/Blue Mountain/Meaford/Owen Sound. A private company wouldn't want to compete with another service, and especially not one which can operate at a lower fare (or lower break-even point) due to the subsidies.

Greyhound was only operating one trip per direction per day - that tells me it wasn't a super profitable service they had.

Ontario Northland would have been a proper candidate to run the Collingwood-Barrie-Toronto run (with more frequent service of course!). 

If the Simcoe County Linx Route 2 only operates during the weekdays, then people who wanted to go on a weekend would (sadly) catch a taxi/uber to Wasaga Beach - just to connect with Simcoe County Linx route 4.

 

[Shaun]

1 hour ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

Ontario Northland would have been a proper candidate to run the Collingwood-Barrie-Toronto run (with more frequent service of course!). 

If the Simcoe County Linx Route 2 only operates during the weekdays, then people who wanted to go on a weekend would (sadly) catch a taxi/uber to Wasaga Beach - just to connect with Simcoe County Linx route 4.

 

20 hours ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

I had been advocating for the same reason (for over a decade). 

I heard that the Simcoe County LINX bus offers bus service from Wasaga Beach to Collingwood - but it also runs on weekends. There's also another Simcoe County LINX bus route that runs from Wasaga Beach to Barrie - only problem is, it runs on the weekdays with no weekend/holiday service. That's one gap (and barrier) on getting to/from Blue Mountain for a weekend getaway. 

I actually found this video about two travellers who embarked a journey on getting to Blue Mountain (in Collingwood) by using public transit:

Another thought: if Blue Mountain were to win a bid (one day) on hosting a winter sports event (like the X-Games or the Dew Tour), it would require a significant amount of investment on shuttling not only the athletes and representatives, but crowds as well! 

Do they think that people don't need to travel on weekend's? But for the bus to run on weekends you would need more equipment since you would need more spare equipment to cycle. 

Not to mention funding would be required. 

[MiExpress]

FIN2022-001P - Operation and Maintenance of Conventional & Specialized Transit Services in the Town of Collingwood, the Town of Wasaga Beach & the Township of Clearview

This procurement is a joint procurement between Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Clearview to obtain proposals for contracted operation of conventional and specialized transit services for an initial 5 year term beginning August 1, 2022. 

While the procurement is being conducted jointly by the above municipalities, it does not necessarily mean that one contractor will provide service for all three contracts, nor are the transit systems amalgamating. Each municipality's transit services are to be priced separately as outlined below. with the tender split into three contracts A, B, and C. Award will be made to either one company across all three contracts or split between a maximum of two different operators - as an example scenario, 'Company 1' could be awarded the contract for Collingwood operations while 'Company 2' could be awarded the contract for Wasaga Beach and Clearview.

For conventional transit service, Collingwood will transition to a fully on demand service model with the start of this new contract. Wasaga Beach will continue to offer fixed route service at the start of the contract with the possibility of transitioning to a hybrid or fully on demand service model during the contract. Clearview's transit service will remain as is. In all three cases the existing transit fleets of the municipalities will be used.

Specialized service will be introduced in Clearview and Wasaga Beach (transitioning from Red Cross) with new Dodge Promaster vans being purchased for use on specialized service. 

PART A - Collingwood Operations

Conventional - 18,000 annual hours with fully on demand system. Service to operate Monday to Sunday using existing town buses.

Specialized - 5,700 annual hours. Service to operate Monday to Sunday 7am-9pm using existing buses.

PART B - Wasaga Beach Operations

Conventional - 10,200 annual hours with existing fixed route system. Possibility of transition to hybrid or full on demand system during five year contract. Service to operate Monday to Sunday 7am-9pm using existing buses. 

Specialized - 5,100 annual hours. Service to operate Monday to Sunday 7am-9pm with new vehicles being procured.

PART C - Clearview Operations

Conventional - 4,900 annual hours with existing fixed route system. Service to operate Monday to Friday 6:30am-8:30pm and Saturdays 8:30am to 5:30pm using existing buses.

Specialized - 5,100 annual hours. Service to operate Monday to Friday 6:30am-8:30pm and Saturdays 8:30am to 5:30pm using existing buses.

There is a provisional PART D allowing for pricing for the possibility of combining specialized service across all three municipalities rather than having them as three separate contract operations, however this is just optional pricing. It applies to specialized service only, and not the conventional transit service which will be separate operations.

Currently the tender is scheduled to close on April 14 with contracts to be finalized and awarded in early to mid May for the August 1, 2022 startup.

 

FIN2022-01P Transit Services_final.pdf

[Shaun]

How will people use the on demand if they don't have a phone? Can they call dispatch and order a bus to their location?