59 Carden St.

Greyhound scheduling kerfuffle resolved?

Posted by Magda
I haven't taken the Greyhound between Guelph and Kitchener much since the establishment of a terminal at Sportsworld. At that time, it became almost insurmountably complicated to figure out when the bus left and arrived at downtown Kitchener.

So I went to the bus station this afternoon with a bit of trepidation, hoping to get the downtown Kitchener-Guelph schedule but not expecting much. But it seems the kerfuffle has been sorted out. Not only am I looking at the downtown-to-downtown schedule right now, you can also look up the schedule online.

Look for an update here on how well that bus service works, provided I make it to work on the Greyhound tomorrow afternoon.

The secret bus stop?, Sept. 2, 2008
You're lucky to be reading this, July 21, 2008

Update: I made it here safely and ontime, so I guess the problems are resolved.

Drivers doing their best: union

Posted by Magda
Local bus drivers are concerned about calling stops, but they're doing it the best they can until new hardware arrives to announce stops automatically, the union says.

I got an email this morning from Gary Daters, president of the local union. Here's what he said:

Regarding “stop calling”. We have health and safety concerns just like all of the other transit properties. Unfortunately we are in a position where we are all waiting for the appropriate equipment. In the meantime we are doing the stop calling to the best of our abilities. This is a temporary solution which we hope to have resolved for the safety of the passengers and drivers alike.

I also spoke with a driver in the square who said while she supports the idea of stops being called and does it herself for most stops on her route unless she doesn't know their names -- she said she doesn't mess with the little piece of paper provided by the city listing all the stop names -- and tries to call them extra loud when she recognizes one of her passengers as someone who in the past has specifically asked her to call the stops, she doesn't believe it's safe, especially for newer drivers.

But drivers here aren't formally boycotting the idea, as drivers in Waterloo Region are.

All aboard, Jan. 9
Calling out stops a strain: drivers, Jan. 8

Read all about it in tomorrow's paper.

Takin' the train

Posted by Magda
So I've finally made it through the GO transit strategic plan, and found little for Guelph that we didn't already know. But here are some of the highlights:

• The service plans to extend buses or trains to run throughout the day to to St. Catharines/Niagara
  Falls, Brantford, Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge, and Peterborough
• Rail lines will be extended to bring peak-period trains to Guelph on the Georgetown line, which will be doubled
• GO's commuter ridership is the fifth highest in North America, and about 85% of the cost of running the service comes from fares, making it one of the most fare-funded services on the continent
• The service covers an area of 8,000 square kilometres, with a population of 6 million
• By 2020, ridership outside the Toronto core is projected to triple, and ridership in the core to double

(The image above is from the strategic plan, showing that Guelph will have peak period, peak direction rail service every 30 minutes or better, with counter-peak and off-peak service hourly or better, by 2020.)

The secret bus stop?

Posted by Magda
An update on adventures with Greyhound: you might remember that I tried to take the bus from downtown Kitchener to Guelph on the first day Greyhound officially lauched its new service from Sportsworld in Kitchener. It made for a long and uncomfortable trip.

I tried it again this morning and I have this to report: it's better, but not ideal.

By which I mean, buses still run between Guelph and downtown Kitchener, only you can't really find out the departure times. When you look on the Greyhound website, it lists the departure times for some of the buses leaving downtown Kitchener for Guelph -- but not all of them. I called Greyhound, and the customer service person gave the same times listed on the website. But when I actually got downtown, the Greyhound ticket-seller told me there were additional buses.

When I asked for the schedule upon arriving in Guelph, I was told there isn't one. When I told the clerk I couldn't get the right departure times from the website, she wasn't surprised -- apparently they're phasing out letting people know when the bus leaves from downtown Kitchener, since it's just a "drop-off location," not a "bus stop," she said. I'm not really sure what this means -- it looks like a bus stop and functions like a bus stop, except that unless you're in the know, you'd have a hard time figuring out when the buses actually leave.

But if you are in the know -- as I am after this morning's adventures -- you can figure it out: just look up the scheduled departures from Sportsworld, and add 15 minutes.

So, in case you're wondering, here's the schedule -- the only accurate schedule available on the internet, as far as I know.

Departing downtown Kitchener for Guelph:
7:15 am (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays)
8:50 am
11:30 am
1:30 pm
3:30 pm
4:15 pm
5:15 pm
6 pm
7:45 pm (Fridays, Sundays and holidays)
8:20 pm
10:05 pm

Departing Guelph for downtown Kitchener and Sportsworld
12:40 am
7:30 am
8:40 am
9:40am (Saturdays, Sundays and holidays)
10am (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays)
noon
2 pm (Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays)
3:25pm
4:25pm (Fridays)
5:05 pm
6:05 pm
7:05 pm
9:10 pm
10:40 pm

You're lucky to be reading this

Posted by Magda
There were several moments this morning when I wasn't sure I'd make it to work at all. I occasionally take the bus between Guelph and Kitchener, and it's generally efficient, not too expensive, and fast. This morning was a little different.

I inadvertently was the first person to take the bus to Guelph after the official start -- today -- of Greyhound service running out of Sportsworld, near the 401, in an attempt to garner more commuter traffic. A lot has been written, and there's been lots of confusion, on the issue -- not just among the public, but within Greyhound as well, as I found out this morning. Here's what happened:

Saturday: I decide to catch a ride with a friend to Waterloo. I check out Greyhound's online schedule, which indicates a Monday morning trip to Guelph that would get me to work on time.

Sunday night: I check the online schedule again, because I've forgotten the time. There is no morning trip. I play around with the website for a while, then realize my trip is now listed as departing from Sportsworld at 8:45 am and arriving in Guelph at 9:40. It's not listed as passing through downtown at all. It's listed as a 55-minute trip. And I have to get to Sportsworld, without a car. Hardly attractive, or easy.

Today, 8am: A friend has agreed to drive me to Sportsworld. We hit the road.

8:30am: We arrive at Sportsworld. At this rate he may as well have driven me to Guelph. We can't find the station. Ask at the Sportsworld McDonald's, but they don't know. Call Greyhound from the Kitchener phone book, and it's actually a Grand River Transit number. Finally I call the Guelph Greyhound office, and get directions. The station is actually a trailer. They're building a bus-shaped bubble, the staff tell me, but it's delayed. That'll be temporary, too, until they build a proper station. I buy a ticket in the trailer. While I'm waiting, the staff explain to me that the bus does still stop downtown. They say they'll look into the problem with the online bus schedule.

8:55am: I inquire whether the bus is coming. Staff make some phone calls.

9am: The bus is downtown Kitchener. For whatever reason, it isn't coming through Sportsworld at all. The kindly Greyhound employee drives me from Sportsworld to the bus.

9:15am: We arrive downtown Kitchener. The bus is waiting for me. It was supposed to depart from downtown at 9. The 3 or 4 other people on the bus don't actually glower at me in frustration.

9:50am: We arrive at the Guelph station, just ten minutes late. Shortly after that, I arrive at work, feeling something like I've just fought a battle.

My colleague, Nicole, is working on a story about the Greyhound changes. It'll likely be in the paper tomorrow -- I'll post a link here.

More GO buses coming to Guelph

Posted by Magda
GO transit is adding weekend bus service to the University of Guelph bus loop. Check out the new schedules here.

Transportation a hot topic

Posted by Magda
The ministry of transportation can't seem to stay away. There's action going on in the next little while on three fronts -- highway 7, the Hanlon, the GTA West corridor.

• You can now comment on what you think about the new plan for Highway 7. The planning study is available here. I can't seem to find anything online about the commenting process -- the province took out an ad in the Mercury on Saturday about it, but doesn't seem to have posted anything on the web. But the short version of what was in the paper is that if you want to comment on the proposed highway or get on the ministry's mailing list, you can contact
   
  • Alla Dinerman, the project manager with MMM Group, hired by the province to do a detailed design of the highway, at dinermana@mmm.ca or 1-866-311-2266, or
  • Dennis Regan, the project manager on the Ministry of Transportation side, at dennis.regan@ontario.ca or 519-873-4548.

           You can also read more about this in the Mercury tomorrow.

• Wednesday: The final meeting of the group of folks redrawing the Hanlon Expressway. In past meetings they got aerial photos of the highway and drew on interchanges, service roads etc to tell the province how they want the highway to look.

• Monday: Overview of the study into the GTA West corridor -- the area from the 401 to just south of Fergus, and the 400 to Guelph -- and issues of transportation demand management. There's *lots* of information about this study online at www.gta-west.com.

Investigating a new transportation corridor

Posted by Magda
The province held its first meeting of the GTA West study group yesterday. They're looking at better transportation links between here and Toronto. David Graham is on the group; read his take on the meeting here.

Go arrives

Posted by Magda
There's a notice on A8 of the Mercury today about the Go transit environmental assessment to bring rail to Guelph and beyond. Here's part of what it says:

"THE STUDY: GO Transit, the Province of Ontario's interregional public transit service for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas, is undertaking a Preliminary Design Study and Class Environmental Assessment to expand rail services from Georgetown to Kitchener. The Study will review potential sites for the construction of new rail stations and layover facilities, and will also identify potential improvements to the existing rail line between Georgetown and Kitchener.

"THe PROCESS: ... An Environmental Study Report (ESR) documenting the preliminary design work, anticipated environmental effectsf of the project and commitments to mitigation measures will be filed for public and agency review at the completion of hte study...."

It also gives instructions to comment on or be involved in the studey. To do that you can contact one of these people:

Leonard Rach, RJ Burnside and Associates, 170 Steelwell Road, suite 200, Brampton, L6T 5T3, 905-793-9239 ext. 302, leonard.rach@rjburnside.com

or

Bruce Sevier, GO Transit, 20 Bay St., suite 600, Toronto, M5J 2W3, 416-869-3600 ext. 5213, bruce.sevier@gotransit.com

How do you get to work?

Posted by Magda
The city is trying to get you out of your car. To start with, they've figured out how many people are in their cars in the first place.

UG and Stone Road Mall (8,000 employees): 77% go in cars, 23% use other modes
Downtown (5,000 employees): 83% in cars, 17% use other modes
Northwest business district (18,500 employees): 96% in cars, 1% by bus
Southeast business district (3,500 employees): 95% in cars, 2% by bus
Southwest business district (5,000 employees): 87% in cars, 2% by bus

Read more about the transit meeting where these stats and others were discussed, here.