Map 1
Routes 94 and 23 in Orléans
and Blackburn Hamlet
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To
/ Destinataire: |
Chair and Members of
Transportation Committee/Présidente et membres du Comité des transports
|
File/N°
de fichier:
ACS2006-PWS-TRN-0008-IPD
|
|
From / Expéditeur: |
Acting Deputy City Manager / Directeur
municipal adjoint par intérim |
Date: 6 June 2006
6
juin 2006 |
|
Subject / Objet: |
Transplan 2006 Transit
Service Planning and Consultation Process – Results / Resultats du processus
de consultation et de la planification du service de transport en commun
transplan 2006
|
|
This memorandum summarizes the transit service
changes that will be made later this year, based on the proposals that were
circulated in February and March, the public consultation that took place in
March and April, and the discussions that staff held with the councillors for
the wards affected in April and May.
Some of the service changes differ from the
proposals that were circulated earlier in the year. The revisions are based on
the results of the consultation and subsequent discussions with the councillors
for the wards affected.
Most of the service changes outlined in this memo
will begin in September 2006. Some will
begin in June 2006, December 2006 or in 2007, as noted individually below.
BACKGROUND
City staff conduct the Transplan service planning
and consultation process each year: to evaluate suggestions that have been made
for transit service changes by customers, residents and employees; to plan
transit service changes that address the changing travel needs of city
residents, workers, students, shoppers and visitors, particularly in developing
neighbourhoods; to consult with transit customers and residents on the
proposals; and to make final plans based on the results of the consultation.
The evaluation of the suggestions to develop the
proposals and the final plans is conducted according to the Transit Service and
Fare Policies adopted by Council in 2005.
These policies include: a financial standard, to guide the level to
which funding is available to support new or low-ridership services; standards
on walking distances, to guide when and where new services should be introduced
in new areas; and standards on service hours, levels of service and service
capacity, to guide how frequently and over what hours of the week each service
element of the transit network is provided.
The Transplan process this year also included a
special process of planning and consultation with transit customers and
residents in Stittsville, following the direction given by Council in its
approval in 2005 of the new Town Transit Area funding arrangement. This process had two aims: to develop a
community consensus on the level of transit service to be provided in
Stittsville; and to determine the details of routes and hours of the week during
which service is provided.
The consultation and approval process for the annual
Transplan process has seven steps:
The results of the Transplan process for 2006 are
being presented in this memo rather than in a staff report to Committee because
staff and the Councillors for the wards affected have agreed on the service
changes to be made.
Maps illustrating the route changes described below
are attached to this memo.
DISCUSSION
New Route 94 on Innes Road in Orléans and Blackburn
Hamlet – September 2006 (Map 1)
Route 94 will be a new rapid transit bus route
starting at Trim and Innes, running west along Innes (including through
Blackburn Hamlet), then north on Blair to Blair Station and then west on the
Transitway through downtown to Tunney’s Pasture Station. Starting in September, this route will
operate during peak periods only, westbound to downtown in the morning and
returning east in the afternoon.
Additional periods of service will be introduced in future years as
ridership and budget allow. The service
will have a limited number of stops along Innes and Blair and transit signal priority
equipment will be installed along Innes; both of these will speed‑up
travel times and make this new service attractive to customers. Route 94 will replace parts of Routes 28,
21, 22, 30 and 35 where they now serve stops on Innes.
The introduction of rapid transit bus service along
Innes Road will build and support east-west travel patterns that will be
accommodated on the east-west light rail line or Cumberland Transitway when
built in the future.
Revised Route 23 in Chapel Hill South – September
2006 (Map 1)
Service in the Chapel Hill South area, south of
Innes and east of Blackburn Hamlet, is now provided by Routes 23 and 28. The section of Route 28 in Blackburn Hamlet
is being replaced by the new Route 94, described above. Route 23 will be revised to provide the same
level of service from Chapel Hill South that Route 28 now does, but over the
faster route to downtown that the current less-frequent Route 23 follows,
bypassing Blackburn Hamlet. The new
Route 23 will start at Pagé and Innes and run south on Pagé, west on Navan
Road, north on Orléans Boulevard, Longleaf and Orléans, then west on Innes and
the Blackburn Hamlet Bypass.
New Saturday Service on Route 136 in Orléans – June
2006
New Saturday service will begin in June on Route
136. Along with this new service, Route
135 will be changed to follow its regular Monday to Friday route on
Saturdays. Saturday and Sunday service
on Route 136 was removed as part of the 2004 budget reductions. Increased ridership now justifies Saturday
service and Sunday service will be added in a future year, as the population in
the area grows.
Extensions of Route 99 to Place d’Orléans and to
Tunney’s Pasture – September 2006
Route 99 is the major cross-town rapid transit bus
route that does not pass through downtown.
It is an important element in the future transit route network concept
approved by Council in November 2005 as it carries people east-west without
operating buses on Albert and Slater.
It will also be valuable to carry people around the areas affected by
the construction of the light rail line between 2007 and 2009. The route will be extended east to start at
Place d’Orléans Station instead of at Blair Station. This extension will make cross-town travel easier from Orléans to
Carling Avenue, Bayshore and Kanata.
This service will continue to operate Monday to Saturday until 10:00
p.m.; Sunday service and later evening service will be added in future years.
Some trips on Route 99 will also be extended on
Holland to Tunney’s Pasture Station in peak periods from Monday to Friday. Currently, more frequent service on Route 99
is provided east of Carling and Holland than west of there, because ridership
levels are higher. By extending these
trips to end at Tunney’s Pasture in the morning and start there in the
afternoon, a new connection will be available between the east end and Tunney’s
Pasture that does not require people to travel through downtown.
Extension of Route 22 in Orléans – 2007 (Map 1)
Route 22 will be extended south on Trim south of
Innes. This change will be introduced
in 2007, when population of the new residential areas is high enough to meet
the warrants for new service.
Extension of Route 232 in Cumberland – September
2006 (Map 2)
A small extension will be made to rural express
Route 232, which provides service from Bearbrook, Vars and Carlsbad Springs
villages to downtown. Buses will now
start and finish east of Vars and will provide new service on sections of
Devine and Dunning roads.
Revised Route 126 in Pineview – September 2006 (Map
3)
A small change will be made to Route 126 in the
Pineview area, west of Blair between Innes and Road 174, to avoid a difficult
left turn at Beaverpond and Blair and to have buses turn left onto Blair at a
signalised intersection. Service to the
bus stops on Beaverpond will be made by southbound trips on Route 126 rather
than by northbound trips as at present.
Councillor Bellemare has asked staff to examine the
possibility of a traffic signal at Beaverpond and Blair, and if a signal is
installed, staff would examine Route 126 again, to determine the arrangement
that best meets customers’ travel needs.
Extension of
Route 95 to Barrhaven Town Centre – December 2006 (Map 4)
Some trips on Route 95 will be extended beyond
Fallowfield Station to the new Strandherd park and ride lot and to the growing
shopping area at Marketplace, in Barrhaven Town Centre. Starting in December,
when the park and ride lot is complete, this route will operate from Monday to
Friday; Saturday and Sunday service will be introduced in future years as
ridership and budget allow. The service
will have a limited number of stops along Fallowfield and Greenbank, to
speed-up travel times and make this new service attractive to customers.
The introduction of rapid transit bus service along
Fallowfield and Greenbank will build and support travel patterns that will be
accommodated on the section of the Southwest Transitway between Fallowfield and
Strandherd when it is built in the future.
This extension of Route 95 will also in future connect with the
north-south light rail line at Barrhaven Centre Station.
Extension of
Route 186 in Stonebridge – September 2006 (Map 5)
A small extension will be made to some peak period
trips on Route 186 in the Stonebridge area, west of Jockvale and south of the
Jock River. Service in this new area
will be increased as the population grows.
Revised Routes
60 and 65 in Kanata – September 2006 (Map 6)
Routes 60 and 65 will be revised so that it is Route
65 that provides peak-period service to downtown from the stops on Penfield
Drive and so that Route 60 operates directly along Teron Road. This change will give a shorter travel time
for the many customers travelling from the Morgan’s Grant area in northern
Kanata, and the smaller number of customers who travel from the Beaverbrook
area will have a longer travel time.
Revised Route
96 in Kanata and Stittsville – September 2006 (Map 8)
Three changes will be made to the trips on Route 96
that operate beyond Terry Fox Station to Stittsville. First, within Kanata, the route will be changed, so that buses
operate north-south on Castlefrank and no longer on Terry Fox. This will return convenient all-day service
to an area that has not been well-served since the budget reductions of
2004. Service on Terry Fox will
continue to be provided by Route 118.
Second, in Stittsville, the route will be extended into the residential
and employment area in the southeastern part of the village. Buses will continue beyond the current end
of the line north on Shea, east on Abbott, north on Granite Ridge, east on
Harry Douglas, south on Iber, then returning west on Abbott. The third change is to the frequency and
hours of service. Route 96 service on
Castlefrank and to Stittsville will now operate every 30 minutes from Monday to
Saturday and every 60 minutes on Sundays.
Revised Routes
164 and 169 in Kanata – September 2006 (Map 9)
Routes 164 and 169 will be revised to provide
improved service to the residential area along Hope Side Road in southern Kanata. An extension of Route 164 will provide
peak-period service every 30 minutes from Crownridge and Hope Side Road
directly to the Eagleson park and ride lot and to Terry Fox Station, where
customers can transfer to other routes, including Route 96 to downtown. Route 169 will be shortened to begin in the
Bridlewood area and will continue to provide limited service from there to
employment areas in northern Kanata and northern Nepean.
New Route 261
and Revised Routes 262 and 263 in Stittsville – September 2006 (Map 8)
Route 261 will be a new rural express route from
Stittsville to downtown, replacing the eastern part of the current Route 262
and providing a shorter travel time for customers from the eastern part of
Stittsville. Route 262 will be extended
to serve new residential areas in the southern and southwestern parts of the
village. Routes 261 and 263 will both
connect to Highway 417 at Terry Fox and this will change to the Palladium
interchange when the new section of Huntmar is open. All three routes will no longer stop at the Eagleson park and
ride lot in Kanata in the morning peak period, to reduce travel time for
customers from Stittsville. (Service on
other routes is being increased from the Eagleson park and ride lot.)
Downtown Trips
Removed on Routes 126, 140, 148 and 149 – June/September 2006
All morning peak period trips on Routes 126, 140,
148 and 149 will end at Hurdman Station instead of at LeBreton Station. Customers going downtown will transfer at
Hurdman Station, as they already do on their return trips in the
afternoon. (A very high-frequency
service is available in peak periods between Hurdman Station and
downtown.) The change on Routes 140,
148 and 149 will begin in June 2006 and the change on Route 126 will begin in
September 2006 in conjunction with the introduction of the new Route 94, which
serves the same area. This change will
reduce the number of buses in service on Albert and deadheading out of service
on Slater during the morning peak period and also makes operating resources
available for use elsewhere on the system.
Current transit customers on Routes 126, 140, 148
and 149 were notified of the service change along with the Transplan service
change proposals. As expected, very few
of the comments from current customers on the routes were in support of the
change, as they will have only inconvenience and the benefits of the revised
route network will be felt more generally over the whole system and over
several years. The Councillors for the
areas affected were advised of the change and the reasons for it.
Other
Proposals Examined
A change was proposed to Route 130 in Orléans, to
provide new service to the growing shopping area along Innes. Because of the inconvenience that this
change would have made for many of the current customers of the route, this
proposal has been withdrawn. Other
options will be developed for consultation in a future year.
During the consultation process on the transit
service arrangements in Stittsville, a suggestion was made to change the plan
for the new Route 261 to provide new service on Fringewood and to remove
service from Harry Douglas. This
suggestion will be evaluated for possible consultation in a future year.
NEXT STEPS
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.
Most of the service changes outlined in this memo
will begin in September 2006. Some will
begin in June 2006, December 2006 or in 2007, as noted individually above.
Suggestions for further service changes from transit
customers, residents and employees will continue to be collected and evaluated
for future years’ Transplan processes.
Any service changes that are required to allow for
the construction of the north-south light rail line will be planned and
evaluated after the selection of a contractor and the development of a
construction staging plan. If
consultation is required on any such changes, it would be conducted later in
2006 or during 2007.
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.
Original Signed by
R.G.
Hewitt
A/Deputy
City Manager
cc: Alain Carle, Director, Transit Services
Mayor and Members of Council
Attachments:
Map 1 – Routes 94 and 23 in Orléans and Blackburn
Hamlet
Map
2 – Route 232 in Cumberland
Map
3 – Route 126 in Pineview
Map
4 – Route 95 extension to Barrhaven Town Centre
Map
5 – Route 186 in Stonebridge
Map
6 – Routes 60 and 65 in Kanata
Map
7 – Route 164 in Kanata
Map
8 – Route 96 in Kanata and Stittsville / Routes 261, 262 and 263 in Stittsville
Map 1
Routes 94 and 23 in Orléans
and Blackburn Hamlet
Map
2
Route
232 in Cumberland
Map
3
Route
126 in Pineview
Map
4
Route
95 extension to Barrhaven Town Centre
Map
5
Route
186 in Stonebridge
Map
6
Routes
60 and 65 in Kanata
Map
7
Route
164 in Kanata
Map
8
Route
96 in Kanata and Stittsville / Routes 261, 262 and 263 in Stittsville
