I've grumbled about the Charlottetown Transit routes in the past. This morning the local CBC has an article about the confusion of the system. I decided to take a crack at simplifying it.
This proposed new schedule makes the following assumptions and decisions:
- Public transit is most readily adopted when service is predictable, reliable, and easily understood.
- Some routes will be busier than others.
- Routes should be scalable. Need more capacity? Throw another bus on the line.
- Trying to deal with cross-town needs is not worth the headache (yet). Move to a hub and spoke model. It better fits the shape of our city.
- Give it time. Don't make knee jerk reactions to routes. Leave the routes up and running regularly. Perhaps pay people to go door-to-door on a slow line and explain the schedule/system to them. At the very least do direct mailings to residents around lines.
Route 1 (Loop)
Route Map
- Leaves Confederation Centre, and heads north up North River Road via Euston.
- Takes left on Beach Grove Road.
- Takes right on Mayflower Rd.
- Crosses Trans Canada.
- Turns right at Royalty Road.
- Returns via Lower Malpeque Rd and North River Road
Route 2 - Two Buses
Route Map
- Runs north/south on University.
Route 3
Route Map
- Leaves the Confederation Centre, goes north via Euston then Longworth Ave.
- Takes a left onto Mt. Edward Road.
- Turns around at the Sherwood Road.
- Returns via route it came.
Route 4
Route Map
- Leaves the Confederation Centre, goes north via Euston then Longworth Ave.
- Takes a left onto Brackley Point Rd.
- Turns around at the Airport. *Route could shorten based on flight times/etc*
- Returns via route it came.
Route 5
Route Map
- Leaves the confederation centre, goes north via Euston then Longworth Ave
- Continues on St. Peters Road.
- Turns around at Mel's Petro Can in East Royalty.
- Returns via route it came.
Route 6 (loop)
Route Map
- Leaves downtown via Grafton.
- Turns left on Riverside.
- Turns left on Kensington Road.
- Returns downtown via Fitzroy.
It's simple, easy to understand, and scalable. I'm sure there are a thousands things that I'm missing or am ignorant about. The key is simplicity and regularity. Otherwise we're just going to drive ourselves.
Comments
Charles Pritchett - February 4, 2010 10:57 am
Aww, you just eliminated the bus for all of Lower Malpeque Rd and anywhere past the highway on Upton road. Which is actually as busy as the rest of the #2 route.
Dan James - February 4, 2010 11:04 am
Charles - Didn't know that. How is that? I just changed it.
Charles Pritchett - February 4, 2010 11:12 am
That helps ME get home every day.
The real problem with the schedule as I see it is the "sometimes" stops. There seem to be a lot of asterisks on the current schedules. I'm also pretty ignorant on the details, but it's weird that routes change throughout the day instead of running in a continuous loop to the same stops. I know it's probably based on current ridership, but it seems weird after using the Halifax system for so many years where if you missed your bus, there was another one coming along in 25 minutes. Partly due to more buses on the routes, but also due to smart scheduling (and years of tweaking it I'm sure).
Speaking from personal experience, it seems weird that the bus doesn't ever go by the QEH during shift change times. It's great if you're going to be a patient or to visit someone but doesn't help if you work there.
Also, I have two different bus drivers, they both take different routes to get me home. That REALLY doesn't seem right.
Josh Biggley - February 4, 2010 11:36 am
What about just taking the current routes, stabilizing them (thanks @ruk for the heads up on that one) and publishing them to Google Maps or a similar service?
I also like the publication of area specific flyers or some other method of letting neighbourhoods know that transit is a viable option in their area.
If we were really thinking outside the box we could also follow the lead of Baltimore whose public transit system is free. (The site lists 8 US cities with free transit)
http://www.freepublictransports.com/Cities
My favourite quote from the site is from Whidbey Island, WA --
"The Island Transit Board of Directors feels that charging a fare is contrary to the mission of Island Transit. [T]he farebox imposes an unnecessary inconvenience which is detrimental to ridership, and therefore contrary to the mission."
Stephen - February 4, 2010 11:42 am
+1 for consistent and repetition
Dan James - February 4, 2010 11:47 am
Josh,
I can appreciate the desire for free transit. It would be interesting to see the amount of revenue the routes take in versus their costs. If it is negligible we should make it free.
As for leaving the routes as they are, I'm not sure that's a great idea. The current routes are very confusing. I think we should simplify them as much as possible then let the gel for a while.
Martin - February 4, 2010 11:54 am
I like it! It is a lot more simple and hub based than the current system. I'm sure there's room there for tweaking as well, but it's a great start at something coherent and usable.
I remember over the summer trying to figure out how to get to the airport, and the best I could do was 3 buses (I didn't even bother trying to figure out the timing of that), where with a hub based system it's going to be 2 at most. (lucky for me, with your system it's one.)
Rob Lantz - February 4, 2010 3:05 pm
I think there's plenty of valid criticism of the current routes and schedules. Room for improvement for sure. I know the operators are aware of these issues, but I expect when they make changes they want to get it right. It would be even more confusing for users if the schedule and routes were constantly being tinkered with.
For those advocating "free" transit, remember our transit is operated by a private company with a subsidy from the City in the $600K range (and nothing from the province, btw). To operate without a fare would require that subsidy to be increased substantially.
Jacquie Lanthier - February 8, 2010 9:16 pm
My gosh DAN!!! It's Jacquie, from outward bound!!! I just Googled "pemberton british columbia teaching jobs" because I am becoming a high school teacher, and up popped your OWB blog! WOW! Sorry for posting here but I couldn't seem to write on the 2003 "archives". haha. I am so excited to read it!
how the heck are ya?!
Ryan Hillier - February 15, 2010 9:50 pm
You could also have a live map of the routes and bus locations online, a la Moncton: http://www.codiactranspo.ca/GoBus.htm
singles - June 16, 2010 12:11 pm
Thank you for the inspring very helpful article, This thread seems to be evergreen. I have now bookmarked it.