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BC Transit (Victoria Regional Transit System) news and issues


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#6821 Cats4Hire

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Posted 31 July 2019 - 03:05 PM

Also if the bus says "full", that just means full seated load. 

That's annoying. I was hoping it was 

Light: You can easily get a seat
Medium: May need to stand 

Full: Bus is full.


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#6822 FogPub

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Posted 01 August 2019 - 12:23 AM

^ A four-stage scale would be even more useful:

 

Light - seats available

Medium - seats might be available

Heavy - standing room only

Full - this bus will not accept new passengers at this time.


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#6823 Rob Randall

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Posted 01 August 2019 - 09:31 AM

Also if the bus says "full", that just means full seated load. 

 

 WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY



#6824 Rob Randall

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Posted 01 August 2019 - 09:38 AM

full

fo͝ol/

adjective
1.
containing or holding as much or as many as possible; having no empty space.

"wastebaskets full of rubbish"
synonyms: filled, filled up, filled to capacity, filled to the brim, brimming, brimful, topped up; overflowing, running over
"her glass was full"


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#6825 Mike K.

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Posted 01 August 2019 - 09:45 AM

The technology does feel very 2008-ish, doesn't it? From the low-res graphics, to the odd-ball maps (with an insane amount of unnecessary landmarks [marshland, really?]) to the full/not full graphics depicting unconventional levels of capacity, it's all kinda hokey.

 

I hope they get it right and improve the system now that it's running and the bugs are being worked out.


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#6826 Cats4Hire

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Posted 01 August 2019 - 11:08 AM

The technology does feel very 2008-ish, doesn't it? From the low-res graphics, to the odd-ball maps (with an insane amount of unnecessary landmarks [marshland, really?]) to the full/not full graphics depicting unconventional levels of capacity, it's all kinda hokey.

 

I hope they get it right and improve the system now that it's running and the bugs are being worked out.

the map is just a rip of Open Street Map (https://www.openstreetmap.org/). which can be edited by anyone so the landmarks are just what whoever was editing thought was important (you'll notice a lot of areas have houses that just randomly stop for example. I do wish instead of just having 2 generic bus images at least one indicated the type of bus. If I was standing at Douglas/Fort heading to UVic and a somewhat packed 14 showed up but I could see a double deck 15 was just about to cross the JSB I'd probably just wait for the 15. 



#6827 Cats4Hire

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Posted 02 August 2019 - 04:21 PM

I noticed on Google Maps (both website and app) McKenzie at Blenkinsop (heading away from Uvic) has no scheduled buses. Instead those routes are on Blenkinsop at McKenzie (labeled at McKenzie at Blenkinsop) and when you search for directions (I did Root Cellar to Uptown) it directs you to cross the street and wait for the 26 on Blenkinsop. Does anyone know who this would be reported to? I don't see an option to report on Google Maps but I'm not sure if BC Transit could do anything about that and I see it confusing people.


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#6828 Mike K.

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Posted 08 August 2019 - 02:25 PM

BC Transit has issued a report to the Victoria Regional Transit Commission on the concept of free fares for youth.

 

It has been calculated that waiving fares for youth in the region will cost the transit system $4 million in lost annual revenues (3,500 students currently ride the bus regularly). In addition to that lost revenue, the costs to add additional services to increase ridership among students in grades 6 through 12 (grades 5 and below are not factored in as they are not believed to have high ridership volumes) will be as follows:

 

15% of student travel via bus: $0 (current levels)

25%: $3.85 million

30%: $9.86 million

35%: $16.8 million

 

These costs include service hour impacts and additional buses. Remember, these figures are in addition to the $4 million revenue loss.

 

Meanwhile, the report states this:

 

To gauge the potential for similar partnerships in the VRTS, BC Transit sent letters to School Districts #61 (Greater Victoria), #62 (Sooke) and #63 (Saanich), as well as to organizations that expressed support for fare-free youth transit, namely the Federation of Independent School Associations in BC (FISABC) and the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association (GVTA). At the time of this report, no responses had been received from any of the school districts or FISABC, with the GVTA responding that it would be willing to partner with the Commission to advocate for additional funding from higher levels of government to support fare-free youth transit.

 

 

So as we've been saying, if you make something free, you have to assume that uptake will increase, even if frivolous, but it will have a significant impact on the organization providing the service and the means through which those services are funded.

 

Another issue raised in the report is the lack of bus storage facilities in the region. Both Victoria and Langford are full. The costs to build a new facility is not factored into the $4 to $17 million annual cost increase for student ridership levels of 25-35%.

 

Link: https://www.bctransi...s/1529705554164


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#6829 Nparker

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Posted 08 August 2019 - 02:42 PM

So "free" buses could cost taxpayers an additional $20 million/year.  :whyme:



#6830 Mike K.

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Posted 08 August 2019 - 03:00 PM

The reality here is the costs will be monstrous if 1/3 of students decide they would like to ride the bus for free. There's no free ride, as they say.


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#6831 Cats4Hire

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Posted 08 August 2019 - 03:35 PM

I wonder if they're including those "double buses" they have. For example Sept-June there's a 22 that terminates at Spectrum School and a normal one like 5 minutes later with barely anyone on it so Spectrum could almost fill a whole extra 22 before they need to add any extra service than what they already provide. I've also seen the 26 that starts at Gordon Head in the afternoon next to the one from UVic although not as often, almost empty by Shelbourne (not sure which came from where but that doesn't really matter)

#6832 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 08 August 2019 - 03:48 PM

There's no free ride, as they say.

 

gas grass or ass nobody rides for free. 

 

(am i allowed to say that?)


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 August 2019 - 03:48 PM.

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#6833 Cats4Hire

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Posted 08 August 2019 - 08:16 PM

So the actual document won't load (just a garbled mess of symbols) but it seems the mayor of North Saanich is proposing 75 service increase on Tuesday? I know I'm one of the first to complain about the 30/31s interlined with it but does it really need to be increased outside of when it already is? Say Mid-Feb when I take a 30/31 interlined with a 75 it's always nearly empty by the time we get to my stop which is still like 12ish minutes from Royal Oak and I doubt that many people get on inbetween. https://www.bctransi...s/1529705553765



#6834 Cats4Hire

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Posted 08 August 2019 - 08:20 PM

Oh this one loads. I still don't get what they're asking though. Was 75 service cut at some point? 75 currently runs the whole trip during rush hour so I'm not sure what needs to be "restored" https://www.bctransi...s/1529705554529



#6835 Mike K.

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Posted 08 August 2019 - 09:46 PM

It was Central Saanich that wrote the letter, and once upon a time the 75 was a significantly more formidable route than it is today. Today it just feels like a feeder from the Royal Oak exchange to Butchart, whereas before it was a major downtown-peninsula route.
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#6836 Cats4Hire

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Posted 09 August 2019 - 05:20 AM

It was Central Saanich that wrote the letter, and once upon a time the 75 was a significantly more formidable route than it is today. Today it just feels like a feeder from the Royal Oak exchange to Butchart, whereas before it was a major downtown-peninsula route.


I thought it would make more sense to be Central Saanich but the minutes list "Mayor Orr" who is of North Saanich. The mayor of Central Saanich is Ryan Windsor and none of the counselors have the last name Orr.

Back on topic I guess that makes sense. Unless a ton of people would start using it again though I'm not sure service levels really need to be boosted during the day when hardly anyone seems to be traveling between Central Saanich and Downtown.

#6837 sebberry

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Posted 09 August 2019 - 05:42 AM

BC Transit has issued a report to the Victoria Regional Transit Commission on the concept of free fares for youth.

 

It has been calculated that waiving fares for youth in the region will cost the transit system $4 million in lost annual revenues (3,500 students currently ride the bus regularly). In addition to that lost revenue, the costs to add additional services to increase ridership among students in grades 6 through 12 (grades 5 and below are not factored in as they are not believed to have high ridership volumes) will be as follows:

 

15% of student travel via bus: $0 (current levels)

25%: $3.85 million

30%: $9.86 million

35%: $16.8 million

 

 

Is this just in the CoV or Greater Victoria?  

 

Remember, only the CoV so far has proposed the idea of a Sunday bake sale to fund this.  


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#6838 Mike K.

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Posted 09 August 2019 - 05:45 AM

Hold on, looking at the 75 schedule they’ve brought it back into downtown! I don’t know when they would have done that but the last time I rode on the 75 I had to catch it at RO.

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#6839 Mike K.

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Posted 09 August 2019 - 05:53 AM

Going by social media feedback people are quite upset about the costs Transit is forcasting should youth not be required to pay a fare.

Basic economic theory, and I mean the most basic of economic theory, is being discarded. It’s a known fact that something free is used more than something with an associated cost.

But that’s beside the point. The entire exercise behind the free fares was to increase the use of transit. That’s what it’s intended to do, said mayor Helps. So now that the numbers are in, and they’re staggeringly high, suddenly the increase in use is just a falsehood or a bunk forecast and free fares won’t have any negative impact on the system.

Luckily cooler heads will prevail, I’m sure. $21 million will be required to handle even a doubling of students grades 6-12 who ride the bus.

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#6840 Cats4Hire

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Posted 09 August 2019 - 06:25 AM

Hold on, looking at the 75 schedule they’ve brought it back into downtown! I don’t know when they would have done that but the last time I rode on the 75 I had to catch it at RO.

That's just a summer service level boost since they almost fill by Hillside then completely empty at Butchart Gardens. During the rest of the year at Royal Oak they turn into a 30 or 31 so technically you can ride between Downtown and Saanichton all day but instead of getting to Royal Oak via Pat Bay you go via Carey/Wilkinson or Carey/Glanford. In the AM/PM rush it also goes all the way from first run until around 9:30 AM and I think from around 3:30ish to 5:45ish.



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