Brampton Transit/Zum

[Markster]

It's not BRT, it's BRT-lite, or quality express bus.

...Ottawa Transitway style full BRT

Keep in mind, that by some definitions...

Technically, true rapid transit means grade-separated crossings, in additon to limited stops, all-door boarding, and high frequency.

Ottawa doesn't have rapid transit (full BRT) either.

 

[Justin10000]

I wonder why Brampton Transit did not place a stop at Weford Drive for the 502. The distance between Bovaird and Wexford is quite large.

 

[TOareaFan]

I have wondered that too. I think it is likely a case of there being no bus line on Wexford that feeds into the 502. It is really quite a gap from Sandalwood down to Bovaird and I would imagine that this would be a stop they would consider adding in the future but it would be totally reliant on people walking from the subdivision eat of Hurontario at Wexford as there is no bus route there to feed it.

 

[aleesia]

I wonder why Brampton Transit did not place a stop at Weford Drive for the 502. The distance between Bovaird and Wexford is quite large.

I remember Wexford will be in Phase 2, but looks like the PDF link has been snipped.

 

[RedRocket191]

I remember Wexford will be in Phase 2, but looks like the PDF link has been snipped.

I found a version of the map you speak of, and Wexford is not identified as a stop. I live in the area, and while I think a stop would be useful, it would probably not be well used based on my observations of ridership at that particular location.

In any event, there is an objective criteria for what locations get stops and which ones do not. Bus connections are one factor, as is the locations of residences, jobs and other trip generators. Past ridership is probably on the list, as well as development potential (which Wexford has a lot of in comparison to other locations).

There is a reason why Wexford was left off, but unless we know the criteria we can wonder until the cows come home (or horses, since there is a farm near there).

 

[TOareaFan]

I found a version of the map you speak of, and Wexford is not identified as a stop. I live in the area, and while I think a stop would be useful, it would probably not be well used based on my observations of ridership at that particular location.

In any event, there is an objective criteria for what locations get stops and which ones do not. Bus connections are one factor, as is the locations of residences, jobs and other trip generators. Past ridership is probably on the list, as well as development potential (which Wexford has a lot of in comparison to other locations).

There is a reason why Wexford was left off, but unless we know the criteria we can wonder until the cows come home (or horses, since there is a farm near there).

It really is amazing how that horse farm has managed to just keep on being where it is. Can't last much longer...can it? That said, I used to walk my daughter to it when she was a toddler and I said the same thing then....now she is getting ready for university and it is still there!

To keep this sentimental post on topic....I bet those horses don't use public transit

 

[Justin10000]

Yeah, I am trying hard to find a reason for a stop there, and I cannot find one. I remember that farm! Cannot believe it is still around. Hope the farmer holds out. I lived in Brampton long enough to remember the old brick factory where Wal-Mart is now.

Did the 502 always go into Shopper's World terminal, or is that a new revision?

 

[Allandale25]

Is there a date when Zum will have automated ticket purchases like VIVA?

 

[TOareaFan]

Yeah, I am trying hard to find a reason for a stop there, and I cannot find one. I remember that farm! Cannot believe it is still around. Hope the farmer holds out. I lived in Brampton long enough to remember the old brick factory where Wal-Mart is now.

Did the 502 always go into Shopper's World terminal, or is that a new revision?

The brick factory moved up Hurontario.....the company, Brampton Brick, has some related companies in the home building business....the Walmart/Fortinos Centre used part of the lands (developed by Smart Centres) and the rest became a townhouse/quad development built by one of those related home builders.

I think the only reason you would put a stop at Wexford would be in the hope that you could attract some of the folks from the subdivision to walk to the bus there....probably would not generate a lot of trips....but since it is such a long way between the existing stops it probably would not hurt either....so I guess you could mark me down as "indifferent" on a stop there.

 

[RedRocket191]

Yeah, I am trying hard to find a reason for a stop there, and I cannot find one. I remember that farm! Cannot believe it is still around. Hope the farmer holds out. I lived in Brampton long enough to remember the old brick factory where Wal-Mart is now.

Did the 502 always go into Shopper's World terminal, or is that a new revision?

I'm old enough to remember that there was a time before wal-mart, but perhaps to young to remember what was actually there.

The 502 always went into Shoppers World. The 2 is the route that can't make up its mind.

Is there a date when Zum will have automated ticket purchases like VIVA?

There were no plans to give Zum pre-purchased tickets when the system was in the planning phases, so the short answer is "no".

Given that PRESTO has been rolled out, I doubt there will ever be pre-pay ticket stations. They may add presto readers to the rear door of the buses one day, and that will probably be much cheaper anyway.

 

[ShonTron]

The brick factory moved up Hurontario.....the company, Brampton Brick, has some related companies in the home building business....the Walmart/Fortinos Centre used part of the lands (developed by Smart Centres) and the rest became a townhouse/quad development built by one of those related home builders.

It was an active brickyard, all the way south to just short of Williams Pkwy. I also remember the CP spur that crossed Main St. to serve it in the early 80s, before Brampton Brick moved. I also remember quite clearly the Kodak plant on McLaughlin; my father processed his photos there.

 

[aleesia]

This is it guys!!!

http://www.brampton.ca/en/residents/transit/service-alerts/Pages/welcome.aspx#PIC

Highlights for Local Service:
- Lisgar GO Station gets Brampton Transit service during rush hours only with 50-minute frequency.
- Either 4 or 23 will serve Mount Pleasant Village and end at the north side of Mount Pleasant GO Station.
- 5 Bovaird gets split into two branches, with 5A going down Airport Road instead of Goreway. Combined frequency will stay the same. 20-minute Saturday service for 5 too.
- 14 Torbram and 30 Airport Road will receive 20-minute midday service.
- 50 Gore Road will have reduced midday service, but weekend service increases to 35 minutes instead of hourly.
- New Mississauga Road route sometime in the future will go to Mississauga. Hopefully in Meadowvale Town Centre.
- Chinguacousy and McLaughlin will some time be extended into Mississauga territory, likely in 2015 with the Zum Steeles westward extension.
--- Chinguacousy and Mavis are totally disconnected since Brampton diverts 4 along Steeles, while Mississauga's Mavis branches splits at Derry. Yes, one of them reaches Brampton, but it runs during weekdays only. So there's a missing link between those two communities.
--- 3 McLaughlin serving Meadowvale Village is needed since despite the frequency increases, Mississauga's McLaughlin is still overcrowded at Square One itself and this has happened since the opening of the Mississauga campus, which made 66 act as the inter-campus shuttle.

Highlights for Zum:
- Due to the overwhelming demand for Zum, looks like they will stop ordering the small BRT buses, and all future orders will be the bigger buses, just like YRT does.
- 501 Zum Queen will reduce service, while 501A gets added service, running along the 407 7 days a week. The only service addition will be a 10-minute combined service during middays and early evenings, which parallels university hours. The rest will be splitting off the frequencies between the two branches, hence weekday late evening and weekend service for each branch will be every 30 minutes.
- 502 Zum Main will now run every 9 minutes during rush hours and 15 minutes during middays, plus 20 minutes during daytime Saturdays.
- 511 Zum Steeles will run every 8 minutes during rush hours, 20 minutes during middays, weekday early evenings, and daytime weekends, and 30 minutes during weekday late evenings and weekend evenings.
- Steeles West will come in 2015
- Queen West will come in 2016 to Mount Pleasant GO Station via Mississauga Road.

 

[ShonTron]

I had a quick look and plan to go to the open house tonight. There's a few specific questions and interested in how the new Shoppers World terminal will look and connect with the mall (the closest entrance will be the Zellers/Target which it will be in front of, but will be a sloppy, unintuitive mess of a walk in the fall and winter into the mall when Zellers closes for the conversion (there is a hidden direct mall entrance between Zellers and Canadian Tire)

The changes are less ambitious than the last two years, but they are interesting and still in the right direction. The only decrease (apart from the 11) is going from 30 to 35 minutes on the route 50 during weekday middays and early evenings, and I do not like non-clockface schedules when the service is more than 15 minutes between buses. But the service is being extended on both ends, it looks like.

The 511 will only be every 30 minutes on Sundays and late evenings, but 8 minutes during rush. Though the regular 11 doesn't see too many service cuts (rush 6* to 10 midday from 12 to 20 min, Saturday 20 to 30), and combined 15 minute service is offered 7 days a week, a considerable improvement as long as your origin and destinations are close to the express stops (which, being knowledgable of this route, most are.) I question the Zum stop at Finch and Steeles as there's nothing there. Finch/Darcel and/or Finch/Kenview would make more sense.

The 501/501A reworking is interesting. I think it makes sense, it would remove one or two buses from the route without affecting any intra-Brampton trips. I wish though that Viva Orange would be extended to Gore Road. It looks like 51A would be scheduled to connect with two GO trains at Lisgar, I wonder if there's a demand for Milton-Brampton travel that BT is trying to meet.

As for McLaughlin and Mavis/Chinguacousy, it's a worthwhile question to ask.

 

[aleesia]

The changes are less ambitious than the last two years, but they are interesting and still in the right direction.

I noticed that too. They have been less aggressive with their transit expansion which, in my opinion, makes sense since population growth is starting to slow down here anyways.

I question the Zum stop at Finch and Steeles as there's nothing there. Finch/Darcel and/or Finch/Kenview would make more sense.

I agree with this. Finch/Kenview makes much more sense than Finch/Steeles since you have Wild Water Kingdom in there, which can generate trips during the summer.

Finch/Darcel is also a good location for a Zum stop. Even though this is in Mississauga territory, 511 will not take away many riders from 22 going to Humber College since most likely the 511 will have already been an overcrowded bus by that stop.

The 501/501A reworking is interesting. I think it makes sense, it would remove one or two buses from the route without affecting any intra-Brampton trips. I wish though that Viva Orange would be extended to Gore Road. It looks like 51A would be scheduled to connect with two GO trains at Lisgar, I wonder if there's a demand for Milton-Brampton travel that BT is trying to meet.

Finally! 7.5-minute express service along Highway 7 during Sundays is pretty overkill and a money loser.

I wonder how much the cost is to put fare payment machines for Highway 27, Highway 50, and Gore Road. It's just three stops. So I'm pretty sure that it won't be a big problem for YRT to extend Viva Orange to Gore Road. Plus, the frequencies of Viva routes are starting to break away from the 15-minute clock-face schedule anyways. So extending it to the border can boost Viva Orange to a more sustainable and "wait-able" frequency.

I kinda thought that if Viva were to extend to Gore Road, then 501 can be cancelled altogether in favour of 501A. After all, this is the more popular branch. And a boosted annd extended Viva Orange can definitely handle those who'll go to Vaughan. They can assign bigger buses to Orange too, but I'm starting to drift away from the topic.

 

[MegaMax]

A shame that Brampton Transit is okay with watering down the Zum brand, as 511 Steeles will only have 30 minute service at times. Not the minimum 15 minute service promised at the beginning.