DRT Updates

Some interesting information was presented to this week’s Transit Executive Committee meeting, in the form of staff reports:

• Staff are recommending that the “loop” at the bottom of the Audley South route, previously blogged about, should be retained.  Interestingly enough, the fuel savings from eliminating the route would actually be less than the lost ridership in DRT’s estimation, meaning that eliminating the route would cost DRT money.
• Ridership is up 13% from the first four months of 2007 to the first four months of 2008.  DRT continues to slowly recover from the effects of the 2007 strike, although it’s reasonable to assume that the creation of the 915 Taunton and 916 Rossland routes represent at least some of the improvement.  Sadly, no such route additions will occur this year.  It will be interesting to see if DRT experiences ridership growth from 2008 to 2009.
• Students continue to represent the major share of DRT ridership at 49%.  In other words, DRT continues to struggle to attract “non-discretionary” riders who actually have a choice.  Indeed, adult ridership is in a decline from 2007 to 2008, although the report I have does not provide specific numbers.
• DRT’s budget situation continues to be unsettled.  As of March 31, DRT staff were projecting a budget deficit between $250,000 and $450,000 for the end of the year.  This is greatly reduced from the deficit that occurred last year, but is still a concern.  Much of the problem is fuel prices, as well as additional snow removal given the harsh winter we had this year.  Unfortunately, DRT does not use a fixed price fuel contract as the TTC does, so impacts of fuel price increases are immediate.  This will bear close watching, as it is essential to ensure that Council does not see this as an excuse to further delay service enhancements.

Updated Metrolinx White Papers Released

Metrolinx has released the white papers for consultation. Regular readers will recall that the board had asked for changes to be made to examine several additional scenarios, and these have been added to the white papers in the forms of new appendixes E and F. These scenarios examine the effect of increased road building (in the form of new highways), as well as decreased road building (e.g. no 407 extension), on several of the scenarios. They also examine the impact of the scenarios on the province’s climate change plan.

To see the online version of the white papers as well as the earlier green papers, visit the Metrolinx consultation site at http://metrolinx-consult.limehouse.com/portal . No PDF versions are available yet, but I’ll post when they are.  UPDATE: PDFs are available from the consultation site, by looking at the Supporting Documents section on each white paper’s page.

I will review in more detail as time permits and provide my own thoughts here on the impact on Durham residents, and of course, I’ll provide the same thoughts to Metrolinx via their consultation site. I urge readers to read, review, and provide comments on the white papers. We are only a few months away from the draft Regional Transportation Plan (now expected in late July), so it’s critical that Metrolinx get useful feedback from all interested parties now.

I’ll also urge readers to not focus exclusively on transit lines but to look at the specific “directions” proposed in the papers. In order to get people out of cars, we need to improve transit service, true - but we also need to make significant changes to people’s attitudes, and this requires more than simply building lines.

Yet Another Destination Sign Problem

Fellow blogger Andy Grant, aka The Retired Bus Driver of Durham, has scooped me in reporting that DRT’s new EZ Rider low 30′ floor bus is now in service as a flag bus.  This is the first of these buses for DRT, with another one on order this year and two next year.

As Andy reports, the bus is displaying “Special” on its destination sign because DRT has not bothered to program “Flag 1″  on the sign.  In other words, we have another case of not bothering to program electronic signs with correct or updated information, despite it being a fairly easy task taking minutes, from Andy’s report.

I hope this will be corrected in the very near future, but the larger issue remains.  DRT needs to establish clear policies and procedures to improve the quality of route sign programming across the fleet. 

Small things, continued yet again

Time for a little rant. I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that the electronic signs on DRT bus 8017 are, well, not quite right.

Some of you may recall my complaint last year that many Audley South buses were still displaying “Shoal Point”, the old name of the route. It’s still true that many older single-height electronic signs in Ajax and Pickering have still not been updated to show the current route names or route numbers, as the larger signs have.  It’s bad enough that route changes made almost two years ago have still not been reflected on all buses in the fleet.

This particular bus, though, is far worse. Instead of “Shoal Point”, it appears to be displaying “Skoal Point”, which can only be a reference to the chewing tobacco. And, while I can’t confirm it which bus it was on, I have seen at least one bus display “Beach Vice” instead of “Beach”.

While I’ve been very critical of DRT’s corporate communications in the past, this level of unprofessionalism in signage is simply not acceptable. Surely someone in DRT must have noticed that this bus’s sign exposures have been tampered with, and yet it appears that no one has bothered to do anything about it.

This is yet another example of why DRT can be such a frustrating system at times. I can sort of accept that they are having trouble doing significant service expansion due to funding issues. I don’t like it, and I don’t necessarily agree with the reasoning behind it, but I can accept it. What I find impossible to accept are “small things” like this that can be easily rectified, if only the organization valued them. And yet, 16 months into DRT’s existance, these issues continue to exist. Other examples would include the web site’s continued dependence on PDF files files for schedule information, the lack of printed schedules at GO stations and other high frequency stops, and the continued lack of service rationalization in Ajax and Pickering.

When is transit essential?

Regular DRT riders may remember that during the three week long DRT strike in 2006, no mention was made at either of the local or provincial level of declaring DRT an essential service.  In fact, the strike seemed to go by without making all that much of an impact on the GTA as a whole.

The abrupt TTC strike this weekend, on the other hand, quickly resulted in back to work legislation being passed.

Now, it’s clear to anyone that a TTC strike impacts far more people than a DRT strike does, and its impact on traffic is much greater.  But is that the sole criterion for declaring something essential, or are we concerned about the impact of transit strikes on people who, for whatever reason, cannot drive?

I’d like to think that transit is an essential service for those who take it, regardless of its impact on the larger world, and that all transit services should be declared essential services.

When private sector unions go on strike, the profitability of their employer is the direct target of the strikers.  When public sector unions like transit workers go on strike, sadly, members of the public are the effective target.  The goal is to hurt enough people to put political pressure on the employer to force a settlement.  Surely in 2008, we’ve progressed beyond that and can simply allow these cases to go to binding arbitration in which both workers’ and employer’s needs are taken into account.

Instead, we’re creating an unfair situation where the 20 year old in downtown Toronto gets more protection against transit strikes than the 75 year old in Oshawa.

Metrolinx White Papers

Note: I’ve removed the maps, as the Metrolinx board has decided to update these papers and re-release them in two weeks in order to include several more test cases.  Therefore, the information in this post should be considered a draft version.  I will do an updated new post when the new papers are available, presumably next week.  I will also postpone more detailed analysis until after the updated papers are available.

Draft versions of the Metrolinx white papers are now available:

Paper 1: http://www.metrolinx.com/docs/1/Board/Apr2…_Appendix_A.pdf
Paper 2: http://www.metrolinx.com/docs/1/Board/Apr2…_Appendix_B.pdf

Some caveats: These are not approved by the board yet and in particular, lack the final formatting that will be applied over the next few weeks.

Paper 1 is interesting, but dry, as it’s a summary of principles and vision. Basically, it sets out the specific goals to be addressed by the regional transportation plan. These are mostly the sorts of things you would expect to see addressed.

Paper 2 is utterly fascinating, in that it sets out a series of specific policy directions to be considered, and sets out a series of three test concepts for transportation systems called linear, radial, and web.

At this point, these proposals are for discussion, rather than specific recommended routes. Recommendations will come in June with the draft RTP, so these should not be taken as commitments on the part of Metrolinx. Still, it’s interesting and instructive to take a closer look.

• Test Concept A - Linear consists of the the MoveOntario 2020 projects, Regional Express service along the Lakeshore line, extension of the Scarborough RT to Malton, and several LRT/BRT lines.
• Test Concept B - Radial adds to that regional express on multiple lines to Union Station, an Eglinton subway line, and an extension of the Sheppard subway, and further increases in the BRT/LRT network
• Test Concept C - Web adds 401 and 407 east-west corridors to Regional Rail, and further subway, LRT, and BRT extensions.

There are maps of all three visions near the back of Paper 2, and I’ve shown them below.

The following summarizes items shown in Concept C - Web, with items affecting Durham shown in red. For a list of items in the other concepts, please see the full draft report.

Existing Plans

• All of MoveOntario 2020 (not listed individually below)

Express Rail

• Regional Express corridors on the Lakeshore line from Hamilton to Oshawa; to Mississauga City Centre, Pearson Airport, downtown Brampton and Richmond Hill Centre from downtown Toronto; from Pickering through Markham, Richmond Hill Centre, Vaughan Corporate Centre, Pearson Airport, and Mississauga City Centre to midtown Oakville; and an east/west line along
  Highway 401 from Scarborough Centre to Pearson Airport/Renforth Gateway.

Commuter Rail

• Commuter rail services linkages outside the GTHA.

Metro (ie. subway)

• New metro line along Queen Street in Toronto linking with the Bloor Danforth
  subway both in the east and west areas of the city, and an Eglinton metro line
  from Kennedy station to Pearson Airport.
• Extension of the Sheppard subway to Downsview in the west and to Scarborough Town Centre in the east.
• An extension of the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) to Malvern Town Centre.

Other Rapid Transit

• Two lines in Hamilton, along James Street and east/west on King Street to
  McMaster University
• An extension of the Finch line east to Seneca College.
• The Hamilton “T” line along Mohawk Road.
• Lines between Hamilton and Halton through the Waterdown area.
• A line along Dundas Street in Mississauga and Halton from Hurontario to
  Burlington.
• North/south lines from Milton to Lake Ontario and along Trafalgar Road to
  downtown Oakville.
• A link from Markham Centre to downtown Oshawa via Highway 407 East.
• A Steeles-Taunton link from York University to downtown Oshawa.
• A north/south line along Brock Road from north Pickering to downtown
  Pickering.
• A north/south line in Whitby in the Brock Street corridor.

Highways

• 407 East Extension through Durham
• HOV lane network across the GTA

There is a lot of meat here, and it will take some time to digest. We’ll see further refinement in June when the draft Regional Transportation Plan becomes available, but the ideas included in this document form the set of choices that are being carried forward at present.

I’ll have detailed analysis, with a focus on Durham, over the next few weeks as time permits.

BRT, Revisited

I’ve been thinking a lot about transit improvements lately.  This is mostly because of things going on at the Metrolinx level: the Metronauts transit camp, the release of the Metrolinx White Papers in the next few weeks, reading the thoughts of other transit bloggers, and in general thinking about the state of things.

As readers will be aware, the recent provincial budget provided DRT with $82 million to begin the implementation of the Highway 2 BRT.  This money will go for 26 new hybrid buses, new service facilities, new stop amenities (”multi-modal transportation hubs” in the language of DRT’s submission to Metrolinx), increased information for transit users (e.g. real-time schedule information at bus stops) and transit signal priority to ensure that buses are able to move quickly.

However good all of this is, it’s not Bus Rapid Transit yet.  This Viva-like mode of improved quality standard bus service as a phase towards a fuller BRT implementation is sometimes referred to as pre-BRT service.  It’s certainly better than what exists now, both in terms of service frequency (7.5 minutes during rush hour) and quality (travel speed, passenger amenities, and information).  But it’s not  BRT.

Of course, DRT has never claimed it would be.  Instead, the “quick win” implementation that has been funded is a phase towards a fuller implementation including widening of Highway 2 to accommodate shared transit/HOV lanes.  In fact, the DRT quick win submission to Metrolinx asked for funding for the widening to be provided immediately, but this was rejected by Metrolinx not because it was a bad idea, but because Metrolinx is not including items that need to go through environmental assessments, like road widenings, in their quick win packages.  Instead, these sorts of things will be dealt with by the larger Metrolinx investment plan that will be released this summer.  Certainly, the expectation of funding is there, given that MoveOntario 2020 includes the Highway 2 BRT as part of its list of projects.

Even then, the BRT implementation will share a the lane with HOV traffic.  This is a concern.  HOV lanes are a good idea to increase vehicle loading and reduce the total number of cars on the road, but only when they are rigorously enforced by the police.  When enforcement isn’t present (e.g. many “diamond” lanes in Toronto), they become just another lane of traffic.  In other words, the result of widening Highway 2 will be that buses are still travelling in mixed traffic.  Indeed, traffic congestion may not even be much affected, as the extra lanes on Highway 2 may result in traffic being pulled onto Highway 2 from other routes.  In effect, we’d be using the cover of a transit project to pay for a general road widening, and this should not happen.  If road widening is truly necessary, it should be planned, approved, and paid for as such, and not included by stealth as part of larger projects.

One thing that Metrolinx should insist on as a condition of further funding for this project is that the lanes be constructed as transit-only lanes, enforced by physical barrier, as is currently under construction for Yonge Street between Finch and Steeles, and is planned for the second phase of York Region’s Viva service.

Only if this is done will the service be a true BRT service worthy of the name, and a real step forward in implementation of rapid transit in Durham Region.

Of course, the longer term vision must include conversion of the BRT to Light Rail as demand warrants.  The TTC is building a network of Transit City lines throughout the city, including several in Scarborough that would could be easily extended to provide service in Durham Region.  I’ll be watching the Metrolinx process carefully and advocating for this to happen sooner rather than later. 

Did someone fail math?

You know, given the results of the TTC labour negotiation, I can’t help but wonder if there is a huge opportunity for DRT drivers and employees of other transit agencies in the GTA.  The TTC drivers have won a clause guaranteeing that they will be the highest paid in the GTA.  But what if DRT drivers, say, negotiate the same clause when their contract is up?

We’d have two agencies both required to pay their drivers more than any other agency.  As any high school student can tell you, if no cap was applied, the logical result is that these clauses would cause salaries on the two systems to rise without limit.  Since infinite salaries are impossible in the real world, a practical limit would have to exist somewhere.  Perhaps drivers would end up making $1 million per year?

Obviously, this is ridiculous, and I’m deliberating choosing a scenario to make a point  - but granting any employee of any organization automatic increases to be  “higher than everyone else” clause considering what “everyone else” may do seems like a rather shortsighted thing to do. 

Bikes Galore

Bikes have been in the news in Durham Region transit circles of late, for several reasons:

• DRT has received money to implement bike racks on its buses.  While I have not heard the word “all” used, the roughly $250,000 provided by Metrolinx certainly appears to be enough to equip the fleet.
• Further, DRT has received further monies to provide bike lockers at key transit locations.  No word yet on where these locations will be, but I would expect that they would typically be locations that are natural transit centres, like UOIT or Oshawa Centre.  I do hope that diligence will be taken not to duplicate the efforts of such organizations by simply providing facilities at places that already have them.
• The board of GO Transit has decided to equip all of its buses with racks as well, and to begin a process of equipping GO stations with secure bike lockers.  Ajax GO station will be one of the first equipped in a preliminary phase; this is expected to occur this summer.

Metrolinx, the provincial agency now responsible for transportation planning in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, is making an emphasis in this area.  One of the seven green papers recently released as part of the process of creating a regional transportation plan is focused on active transportation.  This makes complete sense, as anything that can get cars off the road is a good thing, and bikes certainly qualify.

The announced combinations of racks and lockers provides many options for bike riders.  Recreational riders can use bike racks to get to their riding destination with their energy intact, while commuters can use the lockers at GO stations to avoid driving to the station.

I’m not expecting this to make a major difference to congestion on area roads, but it is a good step in the right direction, and further proof that small steps can be useful steps.  Not every transportation project needs to involve spending hundreds of millions or billions of dollars.

Metronauts

I spent Saturday participating in an event called Metronauts. This was a relatively free-form set of discussions on important transit issues put on by the team that did last year’s transit camp, and organized under the auspices of Metrolinx. The idea is to get a bunch of interested people together, collectively set an agenda, and then break up into various topics for discussion. The results of the discussions will be available online for reference, and in may cases, will result in grassroots activity continuing to occur.

The event was located downtown at the MaRS Centre at College and University and was well attended, including a surprisingly large suburban representation. However, this is just the first of six events, and there will be a Durham event coming in the next few months. I’ll provide details as it gets closer, but for now, I urge anyone interested to visit the Metronauts web site and think about issues of local importance that need discussion. These can be big issues (does Metrolinx’s Regional Express concept meet Durham’s needs) down to small ones (how could DRT communicate better).

There was significant TTC and Metrolinx attendance at this event, and I’m hopeful that the Durham Region event will bring out GO and DRT staff as well.  A great many decisions will be taken over the next six months as part of the transportation plan process, and it’s critical to have as much feedback as possible to ensure that the plan meets all our needs.