1.             TRANSPLAN 2010 RECOMMENDED SERVICE CHANGES

 

CHANGEMENTS Du SERVICE RECOMMANDÉS dans LE TRANSPLAN 2010

 

 

 

Committee RecommendationS AS AMENDED

 

That Council receive for information the following changes to the OC Transpo network, for implementation in the fall of 2010, in order to improve service for transit customers:

 

1.         Revise Route 122 to introduce all-day service along North Service Road and a portion of Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard east of Champlain Drive and into Taylor Creek Industrial Park, replacing part of the current Route 130 and all of Route 193;

 

2.         Revise Routes 177 and 171 to introduce new all-day service on Route 177 to accommodate residential growth in Barrhaven South; and

 

3.         Revise Route 184 to operate west of Eagleson Road to provide peak-period service to new residential areas of Kanata South.

 

 

RecommandationS MODIFIÉES du comité

 

Que le Conseil prenne connaissance des changements suivants au réseau d’OC Transpo, pour mettre en vigueur à l’automne 2010, en vue d’améliorer le service pour les usagers du transport en commun :

 

1.                  Modifier le circuit 122 afin d’introduire un service toute la journée le long du chemin Service Nord et sur une partie du boulevard Jeanne d’Arc à l’est de la promenade Champlain et dans le parc industriel Taylor Creek, en remplacement  d’une partie du circuit 130 actuel et de tout le circuit 193;

 

2.         Modifier les circuits 177 et 171 afin d’introduire au circuit 177 un nouveau service toute la journée pour les secteurs résidentiels en croissance à Barrhaven-Sud; et

 

3.         Modifier le circuit 184 à l’ouest du chemin Eagleson afin d’offrir un service en période de pointe dans les nouveaux secteurs résidentiels de Kanata-Sud.

 

 

Documentation

 

1.         Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability report dated 28 April 2010 (ACS2010-ICS-TRA-0006).

 

2.                  Extract of Draft Minutes 45, Transit Committee meeting of 10 May 2010


Report to/Rapport au :

 

Transit Committee

Comité des services de transport en commun

 

and Council / et au Conseil

 

28 April 2010 / le 28 avril 2010

 

Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager/Directrice municipale adjointe, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability/Services d’infrastructure et Viabilité des collectivités

 

Contact Person/Personne ressource : Alain Mercier, General Manager/Directeur général

 Transit Services/Services du transport en commun

613-842-3636 x2271, Alain.Mercier@ottawa.ca

 

Orléans (1), Barrhaven (3), Gloucester-South Nepean (22), Kanata South (23)

Ref N°: ACS2010-ICS-TRA-0006

 

 

SUBJECT:

TRANSPLAN 2010 RECOMMENDED SERVICE CHANGES

 

 

OBJET :

CHANGEMENTS Du SERVICE RECOMMANDÉS dans LE TRANSPLAN 2010

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

 

That Transit Committee recommend that Council receive for information the following changes to the OC Transpo network, for implementation in the fall of 2010, in order to improve service for transit customers:

 

1.                  Revise Route 122 to introduce all-day service along North Service Road and a portion of Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard east of Champlain Drive and into Taylor Creek Industrial Park, replacing part of the current Route 130 and all of Route 193;

 

2.                  Revise Route 170 to operate on Cedarview Road to bring all-day service closer to new residential areas west of Cedarview;

 

3.                  Revise Routes 177 and 171 to introduce new all-day service on Route 177 to accommodate residential growth in Barrhaven South; and,

 

4.                  Revise Route 184 to operate west of Eagleson Road to provide peak-period service to new residential areas of Kanata South.

 

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité du transport en commun recommande au Conseil de prendre connaissance des changements suivants au réseau d’OC Transpo et de les mettre en vigueur à l’automne 2010, en vue d’améliorer le service pour les usagers du transport en commun :

 

1.                  Modifier le circuit 122 afin d’introduire un service toute la journée le long du chemin Service Nord et sur une partie du boulevard Jeanne d’Arc à l’est de la promenade Champlain et dans le parc industriel Taylor Creek, en remplacement  d’une partie du circuit 130 actuel et de tout le circuit 193;

 

2.                  Modifier le circuit 170 pour qu’il desserve le chemin Cedarview toute la journée afin de rapprocher le service des résidents des nouveaux secteurs résidentiels à l’ouest de Cedarview;

 

3.                  Modifier les circuits 177 et 171 afin d’introduire au circuit 177 un nouveau service toute la journée pour les secteurs résidentiels en croissance à Barrhaven-Sud; et,

 

4.                  Modifier le circuit 184 à l’ouest du chemin Eagleson afin d’offrir un service en période de pointe dans les nouveaux secteurs résidentiels de Kanata-Sud.

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

The Transplan planning and consultation process is conducted each year to receive suggestions for transit route changes from customers, to plan route changes consistent with the policies and service standards approved by Council, to consult with customers and residents on route change proposals, and to make recommendations based on the results of consultation.

 

This report describes and seeks approval for transit route changes to be made later this year based on the route change proposals that were subject of public consultation during the months of March and April 2010.

 

The recommended service changes for 2010 focus on the extension of service into new residential and employment areas and are consistent with the service standards approved by Council in May 2005.

 

All of the recommended service changes are within the current Urban Transit Area and will not require any changes to the Urban Transit Area By-Law.

 

 

DISCUSSION

 

The recommended route changes continue the ongoing improvement of the OC Transpo system to accommodate changing travel needs by expanding service into new residential areas and by expanding service hours in employment areas.

 

Revise Routes 122, 130 and 193 - Orleans (Document 1)

 

It is recommended that Route 122 be changed to operate along North Service Road and along a portion of Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard, east of Champlain Drive to Place d’Orléans Station. This will provide all-day service to the growing residential areas along North Service Road as well as to the new campus of la Cité collégiale. This will bring these areas within a convenient walking distance of all-day service.  This revision will also provide quicker connections to Place d’Orléans Station for current customers using Route 130 along the section of Jeanne d’Arc east of Champlain.  This service recommendation will make service better for approximately 400 new customer-trips each day along North Service Road at full build out.  Travel time to and from Place d’Orléans Station for customers south of Trim Station will be increased on Route 122 since this route will be removed from Highway 174, however, connections can still be made Monday to Friday at Trim Station to Route 95.

 

It is recommended that Route 122 also be modified to operate into the Taylor Creek Industrial Park located just west of Trim Road and north of St. Joseph Boulevard.  This area is currently served by a limited number of peak-period trips on Route 193, operating between Place d’Orléans Station and Trim Station.  The industrial park has recently grown to include a diversity of other land uses and services such as the Legion, a bowling complex and other sport clubs, a day care centre, and dental and doctors’ offices requiring people to travel to and from the area throughout the day. Introducing all-day service into the Taylor Creek Industrial Park reduces the walking distance for customers travelling to and from this area and overall makes transit service better for customers.

 

As part of this change, Route 193 would be removed. Service along St. Joseph Boulevard west of Tenth Line and on Centrum Boulevard would continue to be provided by Routes 120, 135 and 136.  Approximately four customer-trips each day currently made on Route 193 will have the inconvenience of a longer walk to reach transit at either St. Joseph Boulevard and Tenth Line or at St. Joseph Boulevard and Taylor Creek Drive. All of these customers will still be within a convenient walking distance of these stops.

 

The proposal to introduce all-day service into Taylor Creek Park was very well received during the consultation process. A total of 42 comments were received.  Of these, 38 were in favour of this proposal and four were in opposition, citing either the removal of Route 193 along St. Joseph Boulevard east of Tenth Line or the longer travel time on Route 122.

 

La Cité collégiale was informed of the recommendation for all-day service along North Service Road and acknowledged this as a good service introduction of the first phase of this campus.

 

Another part of the proposal for the Orléans area presented to the public was to extend Route 130 to introduce all-day service along Vineyard Drive to reduce walking distance to all-day transit service for all the residents in this community.  However, this proposal was withdrawn during the public consultation process as it was clear from the feedback received that the residents along Vineyard Drive were not in favour of this route change.

 

Revise Route 170 - Barrhaven/South Nepean (Document 2)

 

It is recommended that Route 170 be modified to provide service along Cedarview Road between Kennevale Drive and Jockvale Road to reduce walking distance to all-day transit service for transit customers in the new residential areas west of Cedarview.  It is projected that 30 new customer-trips each day would be made on Route 170 from the new area.  There are currently ten customer-trips each day which would have a longer walk to Route 170 as a result of this route change, but these customers are still within a convenient walking distance of all-day service.  Overall, there is more customer benefit to re-route Route 170 closer to the new residential area.

 

During the consultation period, one comment received was in favour of the extension of Route 170 along Cedarview Road and there were no objections to the proposal.

 

Route 70 will continue to provide peak-period service along Flanders, Maravista, Weybridge and Jockvale.

 

Revise Routes 177 and 171 - Barrhaven/South Nepean (Document 3)

 

It is recommended that new all-day service on Route 177 be introduced to the area west of Jockvale Road in the communities of Stonebridge West and Half Moon Bay. The current Route 177 provides a limited peak-period service between Half Moon Bay and Marketplace, where customers can transfer to Route 95.  Route 177 will be extended to also serve Stonebridge West via Cambrian Road, Greenbank Road, Dundonald Drive and Kilbirnie Drive and operate in a one-way loop to provide the necessary service coverage within existing resources.  Buses will run every 30 minutes in peak periods and every 60 minutes at other times, Monday to Saturday.  The projected number of new customer-trips each day from these areas will be 300, as development continues.

 

The resources to operate this service will be re-allocated from Route 171.  Route 171 will be reduced from a 30-minute frequency to operate hourly in the off-peak periods and on Saturday.

 

A total of four comments were received on the Route 171/177 proposals. One comment was in favour of the introduction of all-day service into Half Moon Bay and Stonebridge West and there were three suggestions for future express service into this area.

 

Further minor changes are expected to these routes in connection with the opening of the Southwest Transitway to Barrhaven Centre in the spring of 2011.

 

Revise route 184 - Kanata South (Document 4)

 

It is recommended that the current peak-period Route 184 be revised to serve the new residential areas of Kanata South west of Eagleson Road to reduce walking distance for customers.  Route 184 provides service to the community off of Hope Side Road and along Eagleson Road to and from Eagleson Station and Terry Fox Station.   This route would be extended to operate along Romina Street and Fernbank Road as an interim connection, with future extensions along Templeford Avenue and Cope Drive. It is projected that this service change will make transit service better for approximately 80 customer-trips each day by reducing walking distances, and is expected to increase ridership from new developing areas.

 

There were five comments received about the Route 184 extension along Romina Drive in Kanata South.  All comments were in favour of the proposal. 

 

 

CONSULTATION

 

The consultation period was held during March and April.  Leaflets were distributed on board buses, information was posted on Octranspo.com, leaflets were dropped off at households in new service areas, and open houses were held in cooperation with Councillors.

 

Comments from customers were received in writing by mail, e-mail and fax.  In all, 52 comments were received. Forty-five comments were in favour of the changes, four were opposed and three had other comments or suggestions on how to improve the service.

 

 

COMMENTS BY WARD COUNCILLORS

 

Councillors Desroches, Feltmate, Harder, and Monette agree with the staff recommendations as positive steps to improve transit service for the residents within their communities.

 

 

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

 

There are no legal/risk management impediments to the implementation of this report’s recommendations.

 

 

CITY STRATEGIC PLAN

 

The recommendations contained herein directly and indirectly support the following objectives of the Strategic Plan.

 

A1.   Improve the City’s transportation network to afford ease of mobility, keep pace with growth, reduce congestion and work towards modal split targets.

 

B1.   Attain transit goals (30% modal split) by 2021.

 

E6.    Require walking, transit and cycling oriented communities and employment centres.

 

F2.    Respect the existing urban fabric, neighbourhood form and the limits of existing hard services, so that new growth is integrated seamlessly with established communities.

 

F4.    Ensure that City infrastructure required for new growth is built or improved as needed to serve the growth.

TECHNICAL IMPLICATIONS

 

N/A

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

There are no financial implications associated with this report, as all of the service changes will be made within the budgeted transit service levels.

 

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION 

 

Document 1    Orléans – Routes 122, 130 and 193

Document 2    Barrhaven/South Nepean – Route 170

Document 3    Barrhaven/South Nepean – Routes 171 and 177

Document 4    Kanata South – Route 184

 

 

DISPOSITION

 

Upon the approval of the recommendations in this report, staff will begin work to put the route changes in place for September 2010. In some cases, where construction is not yet complete, some elements of the service changes will not begin until later in 2010.

 

Transit customers will be advised of these service changes this month on octranspo.com and in detail by leaflets distributed on board buses several weeks before the changes begin.  Transit staff will assist Councillors in preparing any information to be distributed locally.

 

Suggestions for further service changes from transit customers, residents and employees will continue to be collected and evaluated for future years’ planning processes.

 

All of the service changes will be assessed after one year of operation to check that they are meeting their objectives and that they remain the best way to provide transit service in the areas affected.  Any changes which are found to be unsuccessful will be removed or revised, as appropriate.

 


ORLÉANS – ROUTES 122, 130 AND 193                                                         DOCUMENT 1

 

 


BARRHAVEN/SOUTH NEPEAN – ROUTE 170                                            DOCUMENT 2

 


BARRHAVEN/SOUTH NEPEAN – ROUTES 171 AND 177                         DOCUMENT 3

 

 


KANATA SOUTH – ROUTE 184                                                                       DOCUMENT 4

 


                TRANSPLAN 2010 RECOMMENDED SERVICE CHANGES

CHANGEMENTS Du SERVICE RECOMMANDÉS dans LE TRANSPLAN 2010

ACS2010-ICS-TRA-0006                                                                        Orléans (1), Barrhaven (3),

                                                                                      Gloucester-South Nepean (22), Kanata South (23)

 

Mr. Pat Scrimgeour, Manager of Transit Service Design, spoke to a PowerPoint presentation, which served to provide Committee with an overview of the report.  A copy of this presentation is held on file with the City Clerk.

 

Councillor Bloess began by thanking staff for the way in which they responded to a petition received from the Orléans Legion with respect to Transit services in the industrial park there.  He wondered if staff would be monitoring this service and increasing it as needed.  Mr. Scrimgeour responded affirmatively.

 

Councillor Legendre referenced slide three (3) of the staff presentation and asked for an explanation of the circumstances surrounding Route 170.  Mr. Scrimgeour explained that Route 170 currently ran south on Cedarview, then along Jockvale, then Weybridge, then Maravista, then Flanders, then Kennevale.  He advised that there was a new residential area west of Cedarview and their nearest all-day bus service was currently the 170, which meant they had to walk across Cedarview and down Kennevale to Flanders in order to get to the bus.  As a result, staff had proposed running the bus directly south on Cedarview, removing all-day service from a section of Weybridge and a section of Flanders.

 

Responding to follow-up questions from the Councillor, Mr. Scrimgeour stated that, based on the changes proposed at recommendation 1 of the staff report, Weybridge and Flanders would continue to have rush-hour service but would no longer have all-day service.  He maintained the nearest all-day service would be out of Cedarview and Jockvale, Cedarview and Maravista or Kennevale and Flanders.  However, he reported that more people had reacted in opposition to the staff proposal than in favour of it.  Staff viewed this as an opportunity to have more discussion with the community, particularly given that Transit Services would be consulting people throughout Barrhaven in planning bus routes in relation with the opening of the Southwest Transitway. 

 

Councillor Harder thanked Councillor Bloess for agreeing to move a motion to defer the proposed changes to Route 170 and advised that a number of people in the community had approached her on this matter.  She indicated she was very concerned that the City was not serving the people living to the west of Cedarview.  However, she submitted the issue related to the entire package of proposed Transit changes in Barrhaven.  She noted that the Southwest Transitway would be completed and would open much sooner than earlier expected and the City needed to ensure it took every opportunity to make this successful.  One of the problems in Barrhaven related to the fact that in recent years, the community had been developing, the population had been growing, but the City had not been adding more transit routes.  For this reason, and in light of the upcoming opening of the Southwest Transitway, she advised that she and staff would be taking the time to have a public consultation process and work on this area.  In closing, she talked about some of the specific challenges in providing Transit services in this area, suggested the City would have to be more innovative in its approach, and expressed her hope for a positive outcome.

 

At this juncture, Councillor Bloess introduced a motion to defer the changes proposed for Route 170.

 

Responding to questions from Councillor Legendre with respect to the motion, Mr. Scrimgeour confirmed that staff did not have a problem with the motion.  He explained that in order to anticipate the Southwest Transitway’s opening next spring, staff would have to complete community consultation through the middle part of this year and come back to Committee with recommendations for route changes in connection with the opening. 

 

At this juncture, Committee voted on the motion.

 

Moved by Councillor R. Bloess

 

WHEREAS OC Transpo staff has confirmed that the plan for Barrhaven routes supporting the South-West transitway in Barrhaven will be deferred until late 2010 for further comprehensive analysis and community consultation; and

 

WHEREAS Route 170 changes are being met with widespread community disapproval;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Transit Committee direct staff not to proceed with the proposed change to Route 170 at this time, that further consultation be conducted with the community through the Councillor’s office, and that proposals to improve access to service for the area west of Cedarview be presented along with any recommended route changes in connection with the opening of the Southwest Transitway extension.

 

                                                                                                CARRIED

 

Councillor Bloess posed questions about improving services to new developments off Renaud Road in terms of increasing the hours of service, whether there was a threshold of population or ridership that would automatically trigger all-day service and with respect to the proposed new Park & Ride lot at Chapel Hill.  Mr. Scrimgeour advised staff would be monitoring the number of residences in the area and watching current ridership to see when the right time would be to increase hours of service.  He confirmed that construction of a new Park & Ride lot at Chapel Hill would provide another transportation node in the area, which would have an impact on ridership.  He explained that Transit Services did not have a policy to guide levels of services in terms of population or ridership thresholds. However, he indicated there were commonly used practices in this regard and that staff would be monitoring population and ridership in the area.

 

Councillor Monette referenced the proposal to introduce all-day service into Taylor Creek Park, noting that the report indicated a total of 42 comments were received.  He surmised that this did not include the petitions received from the Orléans Legion, which contained close to 200 names, and the petition received following the public meeting, which contained another 100 names.  Therefore, he wanted the record to show that the City had received a lot more than 42 comments.  He reported that the proposal had been very well received by Taylor Creek businesses, representatives of Cité collégiale and residents of Petrie Landing.  He congratulated staff on the process followed in response to the two very different proposals put on the table and the respect shown to residents through this process.

 

Responding to a question from Councillor Leadman, Mr. Scrimgeour confirmed that the current report reflected the major route changes being recommended for September of this year.  However, he re-iterated that more work would be done with respect to route changes in connection with the opening of the Southwest Transitway in early 2011. 

 

The Councillor referenced an e-mail received with regards to a change to Route 97 and asked whether this had been considered or whether staff could look at it.  Mr. Scrimgeour advised staff had looked at it and continued to do so.  He explained that the people who wrote the e-mail would benefit from the change they were proposing but that it would be a clear inconvenience for a large number of other people.  Therefore staff needed to compare the number of people for whom it would be a benefit with the number of people for whom it would be an inconvenience and whether there was any way of mitigating the inconvenience before making any recommendation to change the route.  In closing, he confirmed that there would be a follow-up on the e-mail. 

 

Chair Cullen recalled that when dealing with Transplan 2009 the previous year, the City had made changes to Route 18.  As a result, he and Councillor Leadman had received a number of inquiries, including a petition asking for a review.  He recognized that some of the changes had been necessary because of capacity constraints.  However, he asked staff to walk Committee through the changes west of Tunney’s Pasture.  Mr. Scrimgeour showed a map depicting how Route 18 was laid out until the end of August 2009, a copy of which is held on file with the City Clerk.  He explained that it had operated from the Brittania area through Lincoln Fields, along Carling, through Carlingwood, north on Woodroffe, east on Richmond Road, north on Churchill, parallel to the Transitway on Scott Street and then into downtown.  He reported that with the changes made the previous year, which overall simplified the route network in the area, all areas were still covered by service and in some instances, it was more frequent and more convenient service.  He advised that the area from Brittania to Carlingwood was served by Route 16, which still provided a direct connection into downtown ran more frequently that Route 18 had previously.  The short section of Woodroffe Avenue between Saville Row and Richmond Road had seen a reduction in frequency of service because it had previously been served by Routes 18 and 87 and was now served only by Route 87.  Similarly, the area on Richmond Road and Churchill into Westboro station was previously served by Routes 2 and 18 and was now served by Route 2, which ran at the same frequency but more reliably, though it did not provide the direct ride into downtown previously provided by Route 18.  He indicated the section of Scott Street between Westboro and Tunney’s Pasture was now served only during rush hour by Route 150 whereas it had previously had all day service but the ridership was very low.  He added that east of Tunney’s pasture, the area was served by Route 16, but less frequently along Scott Street and Route 159 had been introduced to run mid-day only, Monday to Friday, from Westboro Station to Carlingwood in order to maintain the local connection previously provided by Route 18.  He reported staff was exploring the possibility of linking Route 159, which ended at Westboro, with Route 18, which ended at Bayview, and extending its hours to Carlingwood through a bit of the morning and afternoon rush hours in order to restore this part of the connection.  He explained this was tied into getting the schedule right and advised that staff would be talking to any councillors whose wards might be affected by the ultimate solution.

 

Responding to a follow-up question from Chair Cullen, Mr. Scrimgeour confirmed that staff hoped to have a solution in place for September.

 

Following these exchanges, Committee voted on the item as amended.

 

That Transit Committee recommend that Council receive for information the following changes to the OC Transpo network, for implementation in the fall of 2010, in order to improve service for transit customers:

 

1.      Revise Route 122 to introduce all-day service along North Service Road and a portion of Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard east of Champlain Drive and into Taylor Creek Industrial Park, replacing part of the current Route 130 and all of Route 193;

 

2.   Revise Routes 177 and 171 to introduce new all-day service on Route 177 to accommodate residential growth in Barrhaven South; and

 

3.   Revise Route 184 to operate west of Eagleson Road to provide peak-period service to new residential areas of Kanata South.

 

                                                                                                CARRIED as amended