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Brampton Transit/Zum

MegaMax said:
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.
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So what services do you propose that they cut in order to always run 15 minute service then?

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
Again, that was unnecessarily harsh, Dan.

To answer the question in a nicer way, my guess is that there just isn't the demand for 15 minute express and the 30 minute local service on weekends and later evenings. It's still double the service as there is now if you are going between any of the Zum stops (which, apart from that hyper-crowded flea market at Parkhurst, most passengers will during off-peak employment times). It's a legitimate question, though.
 
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When you're down to 30 mins, you may as well get rid of the Zum and just improve frequency on the local bus. Frequency is freedom; having a local bus that runs every 30 min and an limited stop bus that also runs every 30 min (and will only save, what, 5 mins over the local) is not the best use of resources and would likely not pass a proper travel time benefit analysis.

They should have just started a limited stop Steeles bus (an 11E or a 111) to operate during higher-traffic periods Monday-Friday. Save the Zum brand for when you can guarantee a 15 minute minimum service level.
 
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That's probably true. I think the resources would have been better putting more buses on the Main Street route to guarantee 15 minute service at all times. The 11 certainly needed to be beefed up and the queue jumps will really help on that street's congestion, but Monday-Friday 11E (or call it the 111) and improved weekend service (take it from 30 to 20 minutes even) would have made more sense, as there's no major routing difference between the two, where 501 and 502 at least serve different purposes.

The 511 might save up to 10 minutes end-to-end because of the more direct routing on the eastern end and the less frequent stops, at least if the schedules are not padded.

I think that the reason that this is part of "Zum" is because of the federal and provincial capital funding directed to specific "BRT" measures, like the road works and BRT-style hybrid buses. Steeles was in the mix because it needed bus priority measures and better service, and the funds were available, so it would be required to run "Zum" buses (funded as a capital cost) to get the money to do it.
 
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ShonTron said:
Again, that was unnecessarily harsh, Dan.

To answer the question in a nicer way, my guess is that there just isn't the demand for 15 minute express and the 30 minute local service on weekends and later evenings. It's still double the service as there is now if you are going between any of the Zum stops (which, apart from that hyper-crowded flea market at Parkhurst, most passengers will during off-peak employment times). It's a legitimate question, though.
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I don't think that it was harsh. It's a fact of life, and these decisions have to be made. BT - just like YRT, MiWay and yes, the TTC - don't have an endless pool of money from which they can draw from year after year. I personally happen to agree that a half-hourly express service is frankly a waste of time, but until some measure of permanent funding is achieved the agencies will always have to make the hard decisions about improving route "A" or route "B". Or improving "A" at the cost of "B", which is what it looks like here with Zum Steeles.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
I was happy with the changes/possible expansions that aleesia stated in her post, but yes: I do think 30 minute service on the Zum is absurd. It is supposed to be a BRT not a regular bus service. The ZUM main street to square one is already slow as hell whenever I wait for it. 15 minute wait minimum is needed, maybe 20 for the weekends. or maybe it's just that I'm an impatient student...
 
Colvis said:
I was happy with the changes/possible expansions that aleesia stated in her post, but yes: I do think 30 minute service on the Zum is absurd. It is supposed to be a BRT not a regular bus service. The ZUM main street to square one is already slow as hell whenever I wait for it. 15 minute wait minimum is needed, maybe 20 for the weekends. or maybe it's just that I'm an impatient student...
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It's "his". My username is the name of my fiancee.

I gotta admit that 19 is sometimes faster than the 502, rendering the denial of 19 serving Shoppers World useless.

502 will run every 15 minutes during the midday come September. Rush hour, evening, and weekends will still have the same frequency as today.
 
I don't have pictures, but both the east and west stops of Zum on Steeles at Dixie, West, and Rutherford are up. The last two have the bus jump lanes in the intersections.

We probably won't see the bus jump/transit priority measures in use at Dixie/Steeles until Fall 2013. Peel is doing a massive yearlong intersection reconstruction there.
 
DKsan said:
I don't have pictures, but both the east and west stops of Zum on Steeles at Dixie, West, and Rutherford are up. The last two have the bus jump lanes in the intersections.

We probably won't see the bus jump/transit priority measures in use at Dixie/Steeles until Fall 2013. Peel is doing a massive yearlong intersection reconstruction there.
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Makes sense to bundle in transit priority measures (like queue jump lanes) in with regular road works, in order to minimize capital costs. Rip the whole thing up once, so that it causes minimal delays, and so that the construction comes out of the road works budget, and not the transit capital budget. There probably is a bit that comes from the transit capital budget, but it would most likely be significantly less than it would be if the queue jump lanes were being added independently of any large-scale intersection reconfiguration.
 
I was by the new Shoppers World terminal Tuesday. There's a month left to go, and while the framing for the building is complete and the canopies installed, there's a lot of work left. The new bus entry and exit onto Steeles and Main still has to be built, the medians punched and the new signals installed on Main.

Maybe the new terminal won't be ready, but with the addition of the 511 and artics coming on-line for September, I can't see the old one handling the demand.
 
Service changes are up for Sept 4.

http://www.brampton.ca/EN/residents/transit/Schedules-Maps/Pages/ScheduleSeptember4.aspx

511 Steeles Züm and the new Shoppers World Terminal are delayed until late November. An increase in 11 peak service (every 5 min) will do for now. Meanwhile, all other changes planned in the Spring PIC are implemented - the 23/A goes to Mount Pleasant Village, route 35 and 50 are rerouted, with 50 improving some periods from 60 to 35 minutes, but still against clockface scheduling; the 5A (Bovaird via Airport Rd) and 51A (Lisgar GO) are implemented, plus minor improvements for routes 7, 30 and 502.

Most important change is to the 501/A. Now every second bus, 7 days a week, is 501a, reducing service in Vaughan to every 30 min, as YRT cuts service on Orange to every 30 min. BT is improving service on Queen to every 10 from every 12-15 middays and early evenings weekdays.

Route 8 becomes a victim of increased running time, going from every 40 to every 45 min. But no cuts.
 
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MegaMax said:
November 26 changes, 511 Zum Steeles starts up.

http://www.brampton.ca/EN/residents/transit/Schedules-Maps/Pages/ScheduleNovember26.aspx
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This is interesting. 511's supposed 30-minute service now becomes 20-minute service, and weekend service is cut to just the core hours, instead of ending at around midnight. I definitely understand this.

Finally for 23's 30-minute Sunday service!

And ShonTron wouldn't like 53 and 54's midday service frequency adjustment: to 32 minutes. But still, with the combined frequency of 16 minutes, it's just as frequent as MiWay's 66.

Probably the second biggest news after 511 is that despite the reduced frequency, 11 will serve Signal Hill Avenue, which will connect it to TTC route 60 Steeles West. So, Steeles can now be traversed continuously from the Morningside area to Lisgar GO by transit.
 
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