07-16-2019, 07:24 AM
ijmorlan Wrote:Quote:One of the things I don’t like about this city is that we nowhere have waiting areas for buses that are part of adacent buildings. Imagine how much more pleasant the bus would be, especially in winter but also on a hot summer day or in the rain if one could wait in an indoor room with a big window looking out to see the bus coming.
Not feasible at every bus stop, obviously, but anywhere that a bus stop is next to a large building it should be possible to do with some planning, and if the different groups involved would actually communicate with one another instead of each just blundering along doing what they do.
A similar comment applies to LRT stops. One of the goals of planning in this city should be to incorporate existing LRT stops into new developments. For example, a future UW building could be built right across the tracks, making the LRT stop an indoor part of that building. Similar types of development would be reasonable elsewhere when new buildings are built. And obviously the central terminal area should have been designed so that LRTs would stop under a roof that is part of the terminal itself. Imagine if I could leave my office, use a UW bridge to get to the building including the UW transit stop, take the LRT downtown, and transfer to a Go train without going outside. Or the people in the article could board a bus at a regular bus stop, then transfer to LRT and then to another bus, without getting rained on.
I don’t mind that LRT wasn’t built that way — obviously it would increase costs — but based on current practice, I don’t expect anything like this to happen for the foreseeable future. It’s just not on the radar of planners or developers, even when it doesn’t have to cost more.
This is a beautiful dream, but sadly I can't imagine this working anywhere here with the exception of the Universities. Even if a developer were forward-thinking and wanting to support transit, there would be such a high likelihood of property tenants and occupants getting a whiff of it and reacting with snobbery and fear ("they want to have bus riders use our lobby? You know what kind of elements that will attract. Why encourage people to loiter on our property?") that I don't think the idea would get very far anywhere.