In the Year 2012: Route extensions and changes on Rideau Street

OC Transpo released their 2012 Business Plan a week ago and in case you missed my previous posts on the plan, you can look at Presto Cards, Billboards for ads and bus arrival displays, and Park and Rides.  Today, we'll look at some ideas in the plan that calls for extending routes 94 and 99.

When the Strandherd-Armstrong bridge opens later this year, OC Transpo plans on extending route 94 to Riverview station and extending route 99 to the RCMP office in Barrhaven. Existing customers of either routes must be cringing.  The problem with route 94 is that it is such a long route and as soon as it operates with car traffic in the suburbs, it is no longer "rapid-transit" anymore.  There are more chances of the route being delayed when the route is far too long.  The route might better if it's broken in two like the old route 2 from Blair to Bayshore.

As for route 99 serving the RCMP offices.  Currently, there are two peak period routes (94, 199) and one regular route (176) serving the RCMP building on Leikin. I'm not sure how many RCMP staff members take transit, but, assuming service levels stay the same, four routes seems a bit much to serve a single company

There are plans to revise OC Transpo service to Gatineau: “The OC Transpo bus routes extending into Gatineau will be revised to provide new connections with the STO’s Rapibus service, reducing

operating pressure on Rideau and Wellington Streets in downtown Ottawa.” This seems vague at this point in time. From what I understand, this may imply there will be fewer STO buses operating on Rideau and Wellington, which will be replaced by more OC Transpo service to STO's future Rapibus. For OC Transpo customers on a Rideau or Wellington bus, one would hope this means faster service in the bus lanes.

Multitasking behind the wheel

Unreal:

That's terrifying. The above video is of an STO driver filling out and filing paperwork while driving on what is reportedly one of Gatineau's busiest roads. With traffic obviously moving all around him. I don't even want to imagine being on that bus, or being a driver alongside him.

From a CBC article on the incident:

"Dominique Leclerc, speaking for Société de transport de l'Outaouais, said the driver's behaviour was unsafe and that the service would speak with him to get "his version."

"The bus driver's union wouldn't comment on the video, but a union official told CBC News the recording might violate the driver's privacy rights."

I'd be interested in hearing what kind of defence the driver might be able to come up with. I can't imagine a circumstance that would make that transgression acceptable.

While it's true that the video is likely a violation of the driver's privacy, you'd have to be kidding yourself to expect someone not to when you're doing something so ridiculous. Did you see the part where he stuck his arms through the wheel and onto the dash to grab some papers?

Like I said, unreal.

Alternative public transit: Car-sharing

I had never heard of car-sharing programs until I recently came across an article in the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Chronicle-Herald. The idea, basically, is communal shared ownership of a number of cars coordinated by a managing body. Members make an annual payment plus an hourly rate when they use the car (in Halifax's CarShareHFX program, it is $250 annually, plus $10/hour for peak times or $3/hour for down-times. The fees are all-inclusive, covering fuel, insurance, and maintenance, and are charged directly to a credit card. According to the article, it's a successful system in some cities:

"The effect on congestion, parking and emissions can be spectacular. CommunAuto, Montreal’s car-share service — the first one in North America — reckons that 250 cars in its fleet take 3,500 cars off the road.

"In fact, car-sharing has become so mainstream that green property developers in cities like Ottawa are including car-share memberships in the amenities of their condos, and providing space for car-share vehicles to park right inside the building. Some foresee a day when the developer’s obligation to provide parking will be sharply reduced for buildings that incorporate car-sharing in their design."

According to the Wikipedia page on the phenomenon, there are more than six hundred cities globally that have some form of car-sharing program, including Ottawa's Vrtucar program. According to Vrtucar's official website, "You have 24-hour access to a fleet of cars stationed conveniently in Ottawa neighbourhoods." There are several different pricing plans for people with different needs, so check out the website if you've got any interest.

And if you're a reader from outside the Ottawa area, or you're travelling somewhere else, you can see a listing of cities with available car-sharing programs at CarSharing.net. For many people, the arrangement would be both cheaper than owning a car, less difficult, and better for the environment. And it offers another possibility for transportation, especially as the city's transit strike continues to drag on.

How 'green' is public transit, really?

Slate e-Magazine's Green Lantern takes a look at environmental questions, and this week they took a look at just how environmentally-friendly public transit travel really is. At first glance it looks like a simple question, but when you factor in the infrastructure costs and the wasted resources for low-ridership (but still necessary) trips, it gets a little foggy. Here's part of what the Green Lantern had to say:

"A train produces more emissions per trip than any car, bus, or truck; it makes up for that fact environmentally because it carries a lot more people. It stands to reason, then, that if you ride in a full sedan on a day when the train is pretty empty—and, in particular, if you are in a fuel-efficient car—the car could conceivably be greener per passenger mile. (The study says a car would need to have about three passengers—double the average—to break even environmentally with the typical train.) The numbers are even more striking for buses, which can experience extreme variability in ridership between peak and nonpeak hours. At peak hours—with 40 riders onboard—the Berkeley researchers find that buses often look like the greenest option, producing fewer greenhouse-gas emissions than even the average train per passenger mile. At off-peak hours, a bus looks a lot worse, performing even more poorly than a gas-guzzling pickup truck.

"Does that mean we shouldn't run buses or trains during off-peak hours? No. If you want people to ride public transportation at rush hour, you need to make it possible for them to get around the rest of the day, too. (Not to mention the fact that some people—for either physical or economic reasons—simply can't drive.) And as long as those buses and trains are kept running, it's better—environmentally speaking—to take public transportation, since the marginal impact of your trip will be very low."

Prince of Wales: better served by better public transit?

A couple of days ago, the Ottawa Citizen reported on the potential expansion of Prince of Wales Drive. Council is predictably split: near-suburban and suburban councillors are on board, while central councillors are opposed.

It would be an expensive project, according to estimates:

The city has already earmarked $15 million just for the property acquisition and design for the project. A smaller project, to widen Limebank Road, cost $44 million.

The two-year, $700,000 environmental assessment for the Prince of Wales project is under way and the road, if approved by council, could be built by 2013.

A few paragraphs into the story, one critic of the widening suggested that public transit might be a better solution to congested roads.

David Jeanes, of Transport 2000, said he is disappointed that the city seems so intent on building more roads for cars when there may be rail and other public transit solutions to get more people around. He said there's no point in getting more cars up to intersections such as Prince of Wales and Hog's Back, where there is "no capacity" for more vehicles.

"Widening Prince of Wales doesn't seem to make sense," said Mr. Jeanes. "Unfortunately, the city's policies are: Build what we can, rather than build what we need. They're all short-term decisions. I'm very frustrated."