car4041
Active Member
12. If the Sheppard transit vehicle had its own lane separated from other vehicles, received all green lights and fare payment was done prior to boarding to allow for speeds similar to a subway, BUT stopped only at cross-streets, how would this affect your transit usage? Please select the most appropriate option.
1. I would take transit much more often than I do now, the extra vehicle speed would make it more appealing
2. I would take transit about as often as I do now, and would appreciate the extra vehicle speed over the extended walk
3. I would take transit about as often as I do now, and have no opinion whatsoever on this new arrangement
4. I would take transit about as often as I do now, but would prefer having the local stop over walking out to the next major road, even if the ride is faster
5. I would take transit much less than I do now or stop using it altogether, as this local stop is an important factor for choosing transit
So basically you gave them two alternatives: (a) their current bus commute, or (b) a transit vehicle with its own lane, all green lights, off-board fare collection, subway-type speeds, and stopping only at cross-streets.
Given all the positive stuff in alternative (b), I don't think it's surprising that people gave positive answers. But it doesn't really say much about their attitudes towards stop spacing in particular, because stop spacing is not isolated as a factor.
(It's also not clear how to interpret "only at cross-streets" -- what exactly is a cross-street? Bay Mills/Aragon crosses Sheppard, so isn't it a cross-street? Who knows how people interpreted this. "Main roads" or "arterial roads" would probably be clearer -- or just show them a line diagram to avoid the language issue entirely.)
I think a more targeted question would be more informative. What if you asked them to choose between two possible route diagrams, one with more stops and a longer travel time, and one with fewer stops and a shorter travel time. This would control for the other factors such as dedicated lanes and signal priority, giving us a better idea about where people stand on the speed-vs-accessibility issue in particular, rather than lumping it together with universally positive things such as signal priority.