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ETS Bus and General Transit Improvements
- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
David A
Senior Member
Yes, fare gates would make more sense a these stations. If we treat everything in the world as one huge problem we will never fix anything. Of course, everything is related, but one thing we can do something about is the rider experience when actually on transit. The station entrances are another issue.
Also lets be honest, the city doesn't have the resources or ability to fix all the underlying problems, that is something other levels of government have to be involved in.
People needing to ride the LRT just want to get where they are going relatively safely and comfortably and should not be forced to bear the brunt of social problems better off people can easily avoid by driving everywhere instead. If it becomes an unpleasant experience, it will not promote social change, just cause people to avoid it and resent it.
archited
Senior Member
Perception is the biggest thing. I remember my first year of study at U. of A. when I abodeled* (coin) in a studio apartment (walkup) in the Oliver district (119th Street north of Jasper Ave.) -- I rode the #5 (headed downtown) transferring to the #12 at 109th Street (two painfully long waits in succession on cold winter days when the sun was almost buried in the South beneath a haze of thin yellow low hanging clouds). Boarding the bus led to either a stand and grab bar with my business in other people's faces or a lucky bench-sit with my face in near proximity to other people's business (sometimes the second option was enlightened by a fair young maiden standing there, whence I would be slowly taken upon to offer up my seat, thereby initiating a conversation). The cold, the odorificity* (coin), the jostle, the sturm and drang of the trip made me so happy when in the second year I had my little (first car) Volksie Beatle-mobile which I loaded up with neighborhood go-withs from same abode to same U. The chore of window scraping was to my mind much more pleasant than "shiver-stance" (the north Canadian version of River Dance) while waiting for the bus that had either passed by earlier, was otherwise late in arriving (sometimes those sparkling power-legs that connected to the overhead power line on heavy frost or heavy snow laden days which just bounce free of their juice-inducing energy source), or didn't come at all (in time for 8:00 a.m. classes in either Biology or Organic Chemistry). "Buses" -- that's someone else's notion of a fun ride.
Glenco
Senior Member
David A
Senior Member
Yes, taking transit is full of enough inconveniences without adding more. I was more fortunate when I went to school that I was within walking distance of a heated transit centre, which I particularly appreciated on such cold winter days.
I still don't get why there are not more heated bus shelters to make things more bearable in a winter city. Freezing your butt off waiting for the bus is no ones idea of fun.
However, it speaks to the heart of how transit is run here and has been for decades, the user experience is not very high on the list, so we get what we have. Rather than encouraging more people to use transit and increasing use, it discourages as many as possible and serves mostly people who do not have better options.
DutchBoy
Active Member
Yesterday, I remembered another reason why I much prefer cycling over transit: so many bus drivers drive like maniacs! I got nauseated from just a 15 minute ride. I love and appreciate the bus – today's rides were much better – but rider experience leaves a lot to be desired. More LRTs, please? 
Also, some models of bus are smoother than others!
Also, some models of bus are smoother than others!
TravellingChris
Active Member
We also need to take a hard look at how some routes are designed. Consider the 914 Jasper Place. It stops on the south side of 100 Avenue at 170 Street, then again on the south side of 100 Avenue at 168 Street. The driver then has to swing wildly across four lanes of traffic in order to make a left turn at 167 Street, in order to get onto Stony Plain Road for the next stop. 100 Avenue is extremely busy inbound, why is an ETS route designed to force the bus to go from the extreme right lane to the extreme left lane in a matter of one block?
IanO
Senior Member
David A
Senior Member
We actually do fairly well considering. We are not a big financial centre with a concentrated work force downtown yet similar to larger cities such as Seattle and ahead of at least half a dozen mostly larger cities. However, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary do very well.
I don't know if the with the new REM line in Montreal opening if that will boost them further, I think it is more commuter oriented, but they could give TO a run for their money.
Kosy123
Active Member
etl-downtown
New Member
New route 31 Leger-University Super Express appeared in the ETS realtime data with the first trips appearing on September 5th. Looks like it will run approximately every 12 minutes in the AM peak hour.
Yegpeople
New Member
New route 31 and also they are increasing service on 500X
Can you share a link to this? I'm able to open route 31 on Transit55 but it just shows an empty page.
etl-downtown
New Member
Sure, just one example here: https://transit55.ca/edmonton/trip/24493388
Here's how I got there:
First use the block explorer to search for blocks with route 31 on September 5th or later (seems like weekdays only), select a block, click the route 31 trip you want to see in that block.
Hope that helps!
ChazYEG
Senior Member
Also, I believe that when (one day, eventually) the valley line opens, we'll see a substantial increase in that and pass Seattle and Atlanta. I also believe that a few simple things would help a lot increasing ridership numbers grow (safety and implementing a no-fare zone between downtown stations and the U of A station, for example)