9623 replies to this topic

[Jason-L]

^I don't understand that techie mumbo-jumbo and still can't understand why something never works when you need it most.

I believe it's all explained under Murphy's Law.  With a health dose of Finagle's Law in there, too.  Toss in little of von Moltke's paraphrased "No plan survives first contact with the enemy", and you'll have a pretty good idea of why somethings don't work when you need them most.

 

Plus, for all the technical aspects, IT is mostly magic and ritual with uncertain results at the best of times.

[Cats4Hire]

Poor UVic. all the school districts and Camosun are closed but UVic is open.

[Mike K.]

BC Transit’s website is very simple. It doesn’t need to interface with other mins, etc. I sure hope that with the live tracking technology they’ve got coming up users won’t experience increased access issues.

[Cats4Hire]

That site is run by a third party and doesn't seem to have had any issues. It's also open source (you can dl all the info on BC Transit's site) so I'm hoping some of the "Transit" apps will add it in. This one for example seems perfect for it https://play.google....app.droid&hl=en

[sebberry]

Looks like BC Transit will be rolling out a trial of using phones and credit cards to pay bus fares.

 

https://www.timescol...fare-1.23633661

 

Imagine that - things we already have in our pockets, vs having to go out and buy passes, tickets or find change in a hurry.

[Cats4Hire]

They seem to really be trying to make it more convenient to take the bus (bus lanes, real time tracking, now this). Hope it works out.

[AllseeingEye]

Purely FYI I just got home off the # 14; for anyone waiting/expecting/depending on service to Latoria Road - Happy Valley - Triangle Mtn areas - the dispatcher came over the radio to advise service was shut down to those areas until the latest snowfall abated. That said its already stopped snowing at our place on the Gorge so hopefully those neighborhoods will see a resumption of service soon....

[Brantastic]

http://www.victoriab...lquJSGbFY4aVOrY

 

According to Victoria Buzz, BC Transit will be adding smartphone payments at some point in 2019 or early 2020 with the intention of adding credit and debit soon after. 

[Mike K.]

Here's the bid information:

 

BC Transit is seeking a relationship with a Contractor who will provide demonstrated abilities and significant experience in the delivery and implementation of an Electronic Fare Collection System and Cashbox.

 

Through this NRFP, BC Transit is looking to replace its current fare collection system. The current fare collection system at BC Transit is comprised of an electronic fare collection component as well as a cash collection component. BC Transit is looking to enhance and replace both components of its fare collection system. This NRFP will allow Proponents to respond with Proposals to enhance and replace either the electronic fare collection component or the cash collection component or both together.

February 11, 2018 - Amendment
Please see attached Amendment #1; Revised A1 Cash Collection matrix; Revised A2 Electronic Fare Collection matrix. [I was unable to find the amendment]

[Cats4Hire]

I also think they should change some of the stop names to name the major street it's near opposed to some random street the stop happens to be closer to. For example both directions the 30 says "Carey at McKenzie" but south 31 is "Glanford at Jolly" and north is "Glanford at Melba". I'm sure more people could tell you were "Glanford and McKenzie" is than either of those. Another one is the last stop heading downtown on Hillside is "Hillside at Ross". Ross isn't even on that side of the road and has barely anything on it. "Hillside at Douglas" would be infinitely more helpful (the other direction actually is "Hillside at Douglas" despite being closer to Ross).

 

Weirdly they do that kinda in some places. Douglas/Field says "Douglas at Field (Bay St.)"

Seems they did. I was on a 31 from Royal Oak and the sign/call out now say "Glanford at Mckenzie" although I can't confirm for north. Also for some reason the 39 is "UVic via Royal Oak Exchange" in the call out (the sign still just says "UVic via Royal Oak")

[Cats4Hire]

Can 9s be double deckers? I was at Camosun Lansdowne heading down and a double deck 9 heading to UVic passed us. Weirdly it was just after a standard 9 and a standard 4 followed shortly after it (this was like 11:00 so there shouldn't have been that many that close). I wish I grabbed a photo but by the time I realized I couldn't get an angle where the number was visible. 

[Mike K.]

Do you live in the Burnside/Tillicum or Jubilee neighbourhood? BC Transit is seeking feedback as it reviews routes and transit services.

Victoria – BC Transit is seeking public input and feedback through open houses in the Jubilee and Burnside/Tillicum local areas for phase two of the Local Area Transit Plans from March 11 until March 14.

Changes under consideration in the Jubilee and Burnside/Tillicum areas include improvements to local transit routes, implementing new routes to service local areas, and realigning existing routes to increase service efficiency.

Feedback gathered through these public consultations will help BC Transit to develop recommendations to the Victoria Regional Transit Commission on how to improve existing services and identify future service needs.

Open House Schedule


Monday, March 11
10:00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.
UVic - Student Union Building

3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Oak Bay Recreation Centre

Tuesday, March 12
10:00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.
Jubilee Hospital

Wednesday, March 13
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Camosun Interurban - Huber

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Camosun Lansdowne - Fisher

Thursday, March 14
10:00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m.
Victoria General Hospital

4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Tillicum Mall

If you’re unable to attend the open houses, fill out a survey at https://form.simples...sitFuturePhase2

[Cats4Hire]

Filled out Burnside survey. Interesting proposals.

8: have it directly turn from Finlayson/Burnside instead of using Gorge/Tillicum

9: Boost service to 15 mins during the day

11: Reduce service (picked up by 9)

21: Extend to Royal Oak exchange (seemingly all)

22: More 22A routing, routes arriving at VGH for 7:00 AM shifts

23: Local route to connect Holland/Wilkinson/Tillicum Mall. Basically runs the current 22 route but terminates at Tillicum Mall, proposed to interline with 53 at VGH

24: Continues to Tillicum Mall via Gorge

25: Continues to Tillicum Mall via Cowper/Obed

40: Dockyard to UVic via Admirals/McKenzie, Frequent service (15 min or better)

53: Pulled down to VGH, would have trips that arrive before 7AM.

 

Wil do the other one and post their proposals later if no one else does.

[Cats4Hire]

Jubilee proposals:

1: (New route?) basically current 1 but instead of terminating south OB goes up Beach/OBA to Jubilee Hospital. Interlines with 5

2: Terminate at Oak Bay Marina, says boosted service but looks around the same as current

5: Essentially 22 from DT, goes up Lansdowne to Cadboro Bay (Giving Camosun Lansdowne a direct route downtown that doesn't come from UVic) and basically 2A to Jubilee Hospital. Interlines with 1. Also mentions splitting 22 but I don't see that anywhere else.

7: Uses Richmond instead of Foul Bay

8: Terminate at Jubilee hospital 

11: Uses Foul Bay instead of Uplands, turns on Cedar Hill X giving service in there instead of just using Ring Road

14: Uses JSB instead of Bay and Foul Bay instead of Richmond

18: Does 11's current Oak Bay routing, terminates Jubilee hospital. 

 

Well the Jubilee terminal is going to need to be expanded quite a bit. If all these happen that would be 6 total buses terminating in there (1 and 5 seem to interline there so I guess 4 and a half). That 11 routing where it just turns off Henderson instead of using Ring Road is a little dumb too.

[Brantastic]

Some interesting proposals. The proposed change to the 14 seems awfully redundant to me. Why repeat the same path as the 15 between UVic and Vic West and switch the 7 to Richmond? That just makes it take way longer to get downtown for residents on Richmond Rd, and reduces the potential for a wider variety of destinations for residents along Foul Bay/Henderson. Keeping the 7 on Foul Bay means just as much service to downtown but with two ways of getting there, with one also giving access to Oak Bay Village, Cook Street Village, etc. It also means residents of Oak Bay Village wouldn't have a direct route to UVic without walking all the way to Fort or Richmond.

I'd definitely be in favour of the 40. An extra 4+ busses per hour along eastern McKenzie would be amazing, and Saanich west of the Pat Bay has terrible connectivity to UVic (besides Tillicum), and this route would be more viable with the new interchange.

[Brantastic]

Btw, I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but it would be great if BC Transit would adopt some sort of transit frequency map, like the following:

https://www.dropbox....0.33-2.png?dl=0

It's a bit out of date, but this map is just fascinating to analyze and is a useful tool for people who are visual learners, like myself.

[Cats4Hire]

Btw, I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but it would be great if BC Transit would adopt some sort of transit frequency map, like the following:

https://www.dropbox....0.33-2.png?dl=0

It's a bit out of date, but this map is just fascinating to analyze and is a useful tool for people who are visual learners, like myself.

On schedules and maps (https://bctransit.co...edules-and-maps) scroll to the drop down box near the bottom (under the map, labeled "additional maps") and select "Greater Victoria" for an updated one of what you posted or the two under it for those specific areas

[FogPub]

Some interesting proposals. The proposed change to the 14 seems awfully redundant to me. Why repeat the same path as the 15 between UVic and Vic West and switch the 7 to Richmond? That just makes it take way longer to get downtown for residents on Richmond Rd, and reduces the potential for a wider variety of destinations for residents along Foul Bay/Henderson. Keeping the 7 on Foul Bay means just as much service to downtown but with two ways of getting there, with one also giving access to Oak Bay Village, Cook Street Village, etc. It also means residents of Oak Bay Village wouldn't have a direct route to UVic without walking all the way to Fort or Richmond.

I'd definitely be in favour of the 40. An extra 4+ busses per hour along eastern McKenzie would be amazing, and Saanich west of the Pat Bay has terrible connectivity to UVic (besides Tillicum), and this route would be more viable with the new interchange.

The 14 is a major and frequent route and could benefit from the more efficient track along Foul Bay.  The 7, being a minor route, gets bumped.  The 15 is an express and its stops along Foul Bay are quite widely spaced, not much use for local service.

 

Not being able to get from south Oak Bay direct to UVic is a headache, for sure.  If there's enough outcry, they'll tweak something to fix this I think.

[Cats4Hire]

The 14 is a major and frequent route and could benefit from the more efficient track along Foul Bay.  The 7, being a minor route, gets bumped.  The 15 is an express and its stops along Foul Bay are quite widely spaced, not much use for local service.

 

Not being able to get from south Oak Bay direct to UVic is a headache, for sure.  If there's enough outcry, they'll tweak something to fix this I think.

My issue looking at this is how much service does Richmond need? In the AM 14s run every 10 minutes with full doubledeckers so how much of that is from View Royal and Fort and how much is Richmond? If enough is Richmond the 7 doesn't have doubledeckers and currently seems to be ~15 mins service all day.

Also Foul Bay already gets backed up with like 5 4s all empty except the one standard bus in front that's packed full. Sure between Fort and Lansdowne could have boosted service but is boosting the 9 and adding the 11 and 14 (while only removing 7) the answer? There's not a lot of pull over room along Henderson and only 2 lanes so I could see long lines of buses just trying to get up Foul Bay/Henderson.

[sdwright.vic]

Why do they always want to axe the 11 service on this side of the route? It is highly used and always busy